Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

HTDE: The Breakfast Rule

March 4, 2026

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  • The 'breakfast rule' on *Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!* is a guideline used to determine if content is too gross for broadcast, based on whether a listener would be disgusted while eating breakfast. 
  • Technical Director Lorna White serves as the final line of defense in vetting potentially offensive or gross material before the show airs. 
  • The grammatical possessive form of the listener's name, 'Autumns' (A-U-T-U-M-N apostrophe S), requires a double possessive ('Autumns's') which experts found awkward, leading to a discussion about creating a new Unicode punctuation mark for her unique name. 

Segments

Introducing the Breakfast Rule
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(00:00:23)
  • Key Takeaway: The ‘breakfast rule’ is the internal standard used by the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! team to vet content for excessive grossness.
  • Summary: The segment introduces the concept of the ‘breakfast rule’ used by the production team to judge inappropriate content. Lorna White, the technical director, is described as the last line of defense whose radar signals when material might offend the audience. The rule asks how grossed out a listener would be if they were eating breakfast while hearing the segment.
Colonoscopy Humor and Editing
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(00:02:11)
  • Key Takeaway: A segment about a New York Times article praising colonoscopies, including the prep, was edited because the description of the laxative prep was deemed too graphic for broadcast.
  • Summary: The team played an edited segment where a writer praised colonoscopies, even calling the prep a ‘diarrhea vacation.’ The unedited portion, which was cut, involved a graphic description of the laxative preparation process. The hosts noted that the phrase ‘salad coming out of one’s butt’ was the specific visual detail that likely crossed the breakfast rule threshold.
Grammar Question: Possessive Name
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(00:07:38)
  • Key Takeaway: A listener named ‘Autumns’ (A-U-T-U-M-N apostrophe S) needs guidance on how to correctly form the possessive of her name, which is inherently possessive.
  • Summary: Listener Autumns Hope has a name spelled with an apostrophe S, which is part of her legal name. She seeks advice on how to correctly write the possessive form of her name (e.g., ‘Autumns’s car’). Mary Norris, a New Yorker copy editor, was consulted, suggesting the awkward ‘Autumns’s’ but admitting the situation is difficult.
Creating New Punctuation Marks
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(00:12:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Introducing a new punctuation mark requires convincing the Unicode Consortium, which standardizes characters for global computer use, through a formal proposal process.
  • Summary: The discussion pivoted to creating a new punctuation mark specifically for Autumns’s possession needs, involving punctuation expert Keith Houston. Houston explained that new symbols must be proposed to the Unicode Consortium, which vets them based on criteria before they can be standardized across operating systems. Currency symbols and new Japanese era names are examples of character additions treated as emergencies.