15 Classic Fake Parts and Prank Errands (and Where They Come From)

Every trade has its traditional pranks for the new person. They send you for a part that sounds real and does not exist. Here are 15 of the best known, with a short explanation of why each works.

1. Blinker fluid. The most famous of all. Turn signals are electric. Full story here.
2. Muffler bearings. A muffler has no moving parts. Read more.
3. Left-handed screwdriver. A screwdriver works in either hand. The joke sends you looking for a special version that turns the opposite way.
4. Sky hook. A hook that hangs from nothing. The full explanation.
5. Bucket of steam. Steam escapes before you can carry it. Often requested together with “a long weight”.
6. A long weight. You are told to “wait” for it at the stores. The pun does all the work.
7. Striped paint (or tartan paint). Paint comes in one colour at a time.
8. Glass hammer. Sounds like a delicate precision tool. Would break on first use.
9. Left-handed monkey wrench. The wrench version of the left-handed screwdriver.
10. Headlight fluid. Blinker fluid’s cousin.
11. Prop wash in a bucket. The aviation favourite: prop wash is the air disturbance behind a propeller, so you cannot carry it.
12. Rubber nails. Nails that bend when you hit them.
13. Metric crescent wrench. Adjustable wrenches do not need a metric version, which is what makes the request funny.
14. Elbow grease. A real saying for hard work, treated as a product.
15. Shore line, by the metre. A nautical-sounding favourite: a piece of the coast, ordered by length.

Why these pranks last

They are harmless, the victim is usually in on it by the afternoon, and everyone remembers their own. Good pranks teach something too: the new person learns the names of real parts while discovering which ones are not real.

Making it kind

Check out our short guide on how to run a harmless first-day prank so that it stays friendly.

The Etel-Tuning catalogue

We have collected dozens of parody parts in our shop, from the Transmission Sand to the Wireless Showerhead. Nothing is actually sold, but the product pages are a lot of fun.