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Caption Competition

I run a caption competition on Quora. Each week, I post a picture and people post captions and vote for them. The winner is the caption with most upvotes. One of the prizes is that the winning caption is made into a poster and displayed here and on my Pinterest page.

Each week the competition has a different theme. So far we’ve had captions about Dancing, Babies, Home Defence, Star Wars, Wonder Woman, the Air Force, Pandas, Elephants, Hospitals, James Bond, Victorian Governesses, Ancient Egypt, Quora, Goldfish, Babushkas, Goldfish, School, Police and Aircraft. Some of the winners are hilarious.

If you’d like to enter the competition then follow me on Quora.

63: Modi in Silicon Valley

Indian Prime Minister Modi visited Silicon Valley. Hilarity ensued.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 63 - Modi in Silicon Valley

Halloween 2015

Halloween always brings out the weirdos.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 62 - Halloween 2015

61: Trump

Several plays on the double meaning of ‘trump’ this week, but this reference to the great man’s hair got the nod.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 61 - Trump

Special: Independence Day

We'll be back, America... and next time the French won't save you.

60. Baboons

Bananas made a strong showing in this week’s competition.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 60 - Baboons

59. FIFA

This week the captions practically wrote themselves…

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 59 - FIFA

58. Skyscrapers

Some really inspired entries this week.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Compatition 58 - Skyscrapers

57. British Election

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, meets a schoolgirl. Hilarity ensues.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 57 - British Election

 

56. Snow White

This Star Wars/Snow White crossover generated a lot of great captions, but the one that won was…

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 56 - Snow White

55. Tippy Toe

Probably the most surreal caption competition so far.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 55 - Tippy Toe

54. Cricket World Cup

This looks more like rugby than cricket to me.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 54 - Cricket World Cup

53. Tsipras meets Merkel

Mutual incomprehension between the leaders of Greece and Germany this week.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 53: Tsipras meets Merkel

52. Star Trek

In memory of the death of Leonard Nimoy a caption competition tribute:

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 52: Star Trek

51. Valentines Day

Ah, Valentines Day! How can it get any worse? I know, let’s have a caption competition about it!

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 51 - Valentines Day

50. Sony Pictures

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the Caption Competition!

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 50 - Sony Pictures

49. Physical Poets

Uninvited guests? Vampires? A horrible accident in a paint factory? Just some of the captions for this week’s competition…

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 49 - Physical Poets

48. Cars

On my caption competition this week – gridlock!

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 48 - Cars

47. Clown

It’s not often that clowns are funny…

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 47 - Clown

46. Baseball

I’ve heard that baseball is a religion for some people…

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 46 - Baseball

45. Superfamily

This was the Halloween fancy dress special competition. Can you spot the ninja?

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competiiton 45 - Superfamily

44. Venice

This picture is actually of George Cloony’s wedding in Venice. But our captioners had other ideas…

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 44 - Venice

43. Satellite

It’s a little known fact that my first word was ‘satellite’, so this competition had special resonance for me.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 43 - Satellite

42. World Cup

Crazy football fans met crazier captions this week.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 42 - World Cup

41. Goose

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Oh yeah it’s a bird.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 41 - Goose

40. Fields Medal

A bit of an obscure one this week unless you like maths. Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman to be awarded a Fields Medal for “Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics”.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 40 - Fields Medal

39. North Korea

North Korea and marathon running. What can possibly go wrong?

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 39 - North Korea

38. The Pope

The Pope and Israel’s President, Shimon Peres, meet. Hilarity ensues.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 38 - The Pope

37. Sowing Machine

Entrants were asked to explain what was going on in this surreal photograph. They had some very strange ideas, mostly involving sowing machines.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 37 - Sowing Machine

36. Indian Voting

It’s the Indian elections, and Quora has a lot of Indian people on it, so this was a topical photo. There were several face-painting jokes but the V shape gesture inspired this winner.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 36 - Indian Voting

35. Astronaut

Gulliver, the movie Gravity and its star George Clooney were all mentioned but the winner was…

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 35 - Astronaut

34. Bunny

Some good captions this week about Catholic priests on the run and “bad hare” days, but this subtle threat was the winner.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 34 - Bunny

33. China

Lots of jokes about lighting your farts and the Olympics this week. But this game reference won.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 33 - China

32. Facebook

Lots of captions about Obamacare and the NSA, but this reference to the fact that President Obama has an account on Quora won. In case you don’t recognise him, that’s Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, on the left.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 32 - Facebook

31. Angel

We had the most entries ever for this one. References to smoking, Morgan Freeman and Burning Man lost to this superhero inspired caption.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 31 - Angel

30. Alien

Miss Universe, high heels, and dentists all lost out to this great caption:

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 30 - Alien

29. Doctor Who

Slot machines, spaghetti, and knitting were all popular, but the winner was this clever caption:

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competiton 29 - Doctor Who

28. Window Cleaning

These moonlighting superheroes were called on to combat Dirty Windows Man. But they were keen to get back to their real jobs.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 28 - Window Cleaners

27. Greece

This one got surreal. Prom dates, scotsmen, teapots, that rope in the top left corner. But the winner was fashionably late.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 27 - Greece

26.Penguin

Cutest picture ever. Lots of captions about tuxedos, Linux and dancing, but the winner was…

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competiton 26 - Penguin

25. Chimp

Great competition this week, and a lot of good captions, but this was the standout:

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 25 - Chimp

24. Babysitter

James Bond, TV Dinners and Steven Spielberg lost out to this grumpy baby.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 24 - Babysitter

23. Bicycle

Performance enhancing drugs were a popular theme this week. Although ladies underwear also featured…

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 23 - Bicycle

22. Tank

Wrong turns, Apple Maps, and the invasion of Afghanistan – this competition had it all; but the winner was…

Graeme Shimmin caption Competition 22 - Tank

21. Robot

Lots of racy captions this week.  Only a handful of the seventy-odd entries managed to reference something other than robo-human romance.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 21 - Robot

20. Cocktail Bar

More elephants, and a lot of surreal captions, this week. But the winner was this play on words.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 20 - Cocktail Bar

19. Dancing

Captions referencing Abba, One Direction and Go Go dancers were beaten by this one about the Harlem Shake.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 19 - Dancing - And they still say the Harlem shake only started in 2012?

18. Baby

A titanic battle of the super-captions this week. Although the person who spotted Pac Man deserved more votes too. Can you see him?

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition 18 - Baby

17. Home Defence

This week’s captions mostly seemed to concern sandwiches and who exactly was going to make them, but this reference to a TV series popular amongst humans beat them all.

Home Defence Caption Competition Winner - The Original Desperate Housewives

16. Star Wars

Tupperware, father-daughter relationships, chocolate cookies… this round of the caption competition had everything, but this was the standout winner.

Star Wars Caption Competition - I don't care if it IS casual Friday, Susan. The Emperor is coming today and I KNOW you were copied on the email.

15. Wonder Woman

Lots of clever responses to this one, involving boob-tubes, Spiderman and Amazon, but this dream sequence snuck ahead.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition - Wonder Woman

14. Air Force

I knew there would be a lot of knob-gags this week, but the sheer volume was a bit terrifying. This one was one of the more subtle.

Graeme Shimmin Caption Competition - Air Force. That's right, ma'am that cabin behind you is called the cockpit.

13. Panda

There were captions about disguises, bamboo and Kung Fu, but the idea that the Panda was looking for love was most popular.

Caption Competition. Man in panda suit on train. Caption: After three years of failed mating attempts, Chi Chi decides to leave the zoo and try his chances with Adult Friend Finder

12. Elephant

Last week, the winner was a caption about a shadow puppet of an elephant. This week, the real thing.

Caption Competition. Elephant getting in taxi. Caption: "Wear a skirt and ride a bicycle? Fuck this shit, I'm outta here."

11. Hospitals

There were some great entries for this one involving petrol, vodka and Captain America. But the elephant in the room was…

The doctor kept Adam distracted with a complicated shadow puppet of an elephant - Caption Competition.

10. James Bond

James Bond in the World is not Enough

9: Victorian Governesses

Captions for this one referenced Game of Thrones and American Apparel advertisements. But in the end old-fashioned innuendo won.

7. Dongle Framed

8: Ancient Egypt

Captions involving surfing and beaches were popular, as well as bizarre resemblances to Nintendo and iTunes. But this horror film reference won:

8. Egyptian Chainsaw Massacre Framed

7: Quora

Unsurprisingly, captions were focussed on Quora, its lack of monetisation and Quora Credits, the site’s internal currency:

Caption Competition 7: Quora

6: Goldfish

There were captions about Pink Floyd and Finding Nemo, but this Star Wars reference won:

Caption Competition 6: Goldfish

5: Babushkas

The foibles of internet dating and Nigerian scams were popular, but this reference to the sometimes fickle upvoting system on Quora won.

Caption Competition 5: Baboushka

4: Puppies

This was a close one, lots of captions about bad breath and kissing, but this more subtle joke won:

Caption Competition 4: Puppies

3: School

Captions about cone-heads, superglue and North Korean missiles lost out to this:

Caption Competition 3: Dunce

2: Police

This reference to the US government’s budget problems cleaned up.

Caption Competition 2: Sequester

 Caption Competition 1: Aircraft

Caption Competition 1: Harrier

Want to join in the fun?

If you’d like to enter the competition then follow me on QuoraIf you think the captions are funny then please share the post using the but­tons below.