The Most Hilarious Tom Haverford Nicknames From Parks And Recreation

Throughout its seven seasons, Parks and Recreation quickly established itself as one of the sweetest, most optimistic, and funniest shows on television, thanks in large part to its incredibly endearing and talented cast of characters. Anchored by Amy Poehler's performance as Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation, like The Office before it and Brooklyn Nine-Nine after, perfected the workplace comedy by filling the room with funny, fully developed characters, with all of whom would be a delight to share an office.

From the surly-yet-sensitive Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) to dark-yet-driven April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) to lovable doofus Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) to Leslie's eventual husband, and big-time nerd, Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott), Pawnee's Parks and Recreation department is stocked with lovable faces, and one of the very best is undoubtedly Tom Haverford, played by Aziz Ansari. A wannabe playboy entrepreneur — despite his relatively low-level job and the fact that he lives in the middle of Indiana — Tom never stops trying to become a legend. Throughout the series, he experiences plenty of ups and downs, but is always unapologetically himself.

With creations like "treat yo self," a day devoted to pampering, and Rent-a-Swag, his ultimately successful clothing rental service for cool kids, Tom made himself unforgettable by being completely unlike anyone else in the Parks department, right down to his manner of speaking. Here are the funniest and most hilarious pieces of Tom Haverford wordplay from Parks and Recreation.

"Soulmates," the tenth episode of Parks' third season, has plenty of delightful moments, including a cookoff between Ron and Chris (Rob Lowe) to determine whether red meat or lean meat is better (unsurprisingly, it's red meat). The reason everyone remembers the episode, though, is definitely the talking head spot in which Tom lists all of his nicknames for everything from food to household appliances. After Leslie inexplicably achieves a "soulmate-level match" with one of Tom's many online dating profiles, she offers to take him to lunch, figuring it might not hurt to see why they matched in the first place. Tom's first question is if there will be "apps and zerts," and from there, one of Parks and Recreation's best moments was born.

In Tom's talking head, he rattles off several of his nicknames at warp speed and wins over audiences forever. As he explains, "'Zerts' are what I call desserts. 'Tray-trays' are entrées. I call sandwiches 'sammies,' 'sandoozles,' or 'Adam Sandlers.' Air conditioners are 'cool blasterz' with a Z; I don't know where that came from. I call cakes 'big old cookies.' I call noodles 'long-ass rice.' Fried chicken is 'fry-fry chicky-chick.' Chicken parm is 'chicky-chicky-parm-parm.' Chicken cacciatore? 'Chicky-catch.' I call eggs 'pre-birds' or 'future birds.' Root beer is 'super water.' Tortillas are 'bean blankies.' And I call forks ... 'food rakes.'"

Before long, this became one of Parks and Rec's most famous moments, and even spawned its own website. If you've ever used a silly food nickname, you clearly have Tom Haverford to thank.

By the end of the show, Tom finds a way to succeed by turning his many failures into an inspiration to others struggling to succeed in business. In real life, Aziz Ansari, who played Tom for seven seasons, has proven to be equally as successful.

Much like many of his Parks and Rec co-stars, Ansari wasn't the most familiar face when the show began. Thanks to its popularity, however, more and more opportunities presented themselves to this sharp young star. Beyond his stand-up career, which was in full swing before his time on Parks, Ansari went on to appear in films like Funny People and I Love You Man. The best was, however, yet to come.

After Parks and Recreation wrapped up in 2015, Ansari was free to move on to his first big solo project, and he knocked it out of the park with his Netflix original comedy series Master of None. The show's first season, which was written by Ansari and Alan Yang (a former Parks scribe who actually penned "Soulmates"), attracted critical acclaim for its sharp writing and introspective point of view, and its ambitious second season made history with an Emmy Award for Writing for Lena Waithe for the touching, groundbreaking episode "Thanksgiving". Speaking of history, Ansari set a record as well by becoming the first Asian-American actor to win a Golden Globe for acting in 2018.

Ansari is still at home in Pawnee, however, and is set to return as Tom Haverford in a half-hour special reuniting the Parks and Recreation team on April 30, 2020 at 8:30 PM on NBC ... though there's no word yet if Tom will come up with any more food nicknames this time around.