I am pretty sure ericnorstog knew about Jonathan Swift, since he was "startled by my Swift reply". 

He just wasn't following how my Tom Swift pun was meant to evoke Jonathan Swift (hint, ericnorstog... they share a last name!). What do they say about having to explain a joke removes all hint of humor? At this point we've ridden the joke until it fractured a leg and we had to put it down.