10 Incredibly Subtle Jokes From The Simpsons You Might Have Missed

10. Fun With Acronyms ('Much Apu About Nothing')

From the surveillance van emblazoned with Flowers By Irene to the unfortunate abbreviation of Krusty's Komedy Klassic, The Simpsons has never resisted the opportunity to play around with acronyms. But it's highly likely that, for many viewers, the show's most daring example may have gone unnoticed. In the wake of Proposition 24, a referendum that threatens Springfield's illegal immigrants with deportation, Apu is forced to apply for US citizenship. Through flashback, we see him graduate from Caltech (that's the Calcutta Technical Institute, where he came first in a class of seven million) and later receive his doctorate from...the Springfield Heights Institute of Technology. With its sign barely onscreen for a few seconds and no oversized initials to give it away, the joke doesn't immediately leap out at you. But here's where a sharp eye for acronyms really pays off.