Humor in Math Textbooks So, I was looking though a problem section in Dummit and Foote, and found this amusing "definition." I actually tried googling it, but I can't find any reference to these associated primes being called "assassins," so I guess it's there just for the humor? !Hi Someone also pointed out to me the fact that one of the section titles, "A Word on Free Groups," has a pun in it, something I hadn't even noticed. Do Dummit and Foote, or any other "dry" math textbooks, have terse bits of humor like this?

I haven't read Dummit and Foote, but googling assassin together with "associated prime" did bring up a few algebraic references, for instance this question on MO. It seems that the term _assassinator_ is also used with the same meaning.