An autistic woman currently wearing a shit-eating grin like the Cheshire Cat who got the cream will repeat her latest pun as many times as necessary until she gets the response she’s hoping for, sources have reported.

Olivia Buckingham, 34, and wife Navya Randhawa, 31, were watching a twee baking programme together when a familiar mischievous look came over Buckingham’s face, causing Randhawa to reflexively brace herself for some objectively tedious wordplay.

Buckingham explained: “Obviously with baking there were loads of puns to choose from – everything from ‘That really takes the biscuit’ to ‘That’s having your cake and eating it’. The piping bags had just come out so I was considering ‘She’s got that in the bag!’ but eventually it had to be my favourite, the classic ‘That’s the icing on the cake!’”

“And I waited for Navs to laugh, but she just had this glazed look on her face. Which was ironic because someone had just moved onto doughnuts. Ha! Haha! Anyway, then I said ‘That’s the icing on the cake!’ again because I thought she hadn’t heard me. She still didn’t respond, so I readied my elbow to nudge her in the ribs, but she just glared at me and then I got a bit frightened.”

Randhawa said: “Urghhh, the puns. I’m trying to train her out of it, like you’d do with a cat that keeps scratching the sofa. I’m thinking of getting a spray bottle.”

“If you got one of those, you could call it a ‘joker soaker’. I said, a ‘joker soaker’,” added Buckingham. “I said a – ”

Like what you’re reading? Make us your new special interest! Help us grow The Daily Tism by sharing our articles, following us on Instagram, Bluesky, Threads and Facebook, shouting us a coffee on Ko-Fi or joining our bonus-content-packed Club for Terrible Autistics by subscribing to our Patreon. We also now have merch! Check out your favourite headlines in comfy wearable form over on Teemill.

Our audio sitcom by and for autistic people, It’s a Superpower?? is out weekly wherever you get podcasts! Binge the whole season early and ad-free on Patreon.

You can also watch episodes one and two of our sketch show, The Daily Tism News, in collaboration with Turtle Canyon Comedy, or listen to episode three in audio form – and tune into our podcast, Autistic Women Oversharing to find out WAY too much about our writers.

We also now have merch! Check out your favourite headlines in comfy wearable form over on Teemill.