I would never have made that connection. If you’re right, he should have let some other cartoonist do the joke – one who normally letters in all caps. If “view” is capitalized, it ruins the joke; if it’s lower case, it ruins the joke. If you can’t tell, it’s not much of a joke, but it isn’t ruined.
@ Arthur – I assume you mean “Small Caps“. 😉
P.S. This is to test whether WordPress can display “Small Caps”.
P.P.S. Nope.
I hadn’t heard of this tv show and had to google > “the view” TV show < to find out. But yes, for the joke to be clearer but not too clear perhaps ALL CAPS BUT WITH THE VIEW SLIGHTLY ITALICISED might have worked better.
What’s the markup for “slightly italic”?
. But in truth I think the cartoonist would have had to hand draw the letters.
Oops. si is the markup for slightly italic.
Hunh, and here I thought <si> did automatic conversion to metric units.
” If “view” is capitalized, it ruins the joke;”
I think it would be a necessity to make the joke clear.
I read Bill’s headline before the comic, but pretty sure I would have still gotten the joke right away. I don’t watch it, but it’s in the news every other day it seems, mostly for controversy. Just today I saw a story about the “uproar” over one of them calling another a B——h.
I would not have gotten it, at all. Now that you mention it, I do recall there’s a TV talk show by that name; I’ve never seen it and I don’t think it’s ever really impinged on my life. I would not have thought of it without the explanation here – possibly if it were capitalized or italicized something would have been triggered but probably not.
I loved this comic — the pun was perfect. Sometimes the parts of a pretty view all “talk” to me at once, too, just like on some TV shows.
Even with Bill’s comment, it took me a while.
Jack Benny: What’s the markup for slightly italic?
Mel Blanc:
Jack Benny: ?
Mel Blanc: ¿Qué?
Jack Benny: ¿?
Mel Blanc: Si.
Let’s try that again.
Jack Benny: What’s the markup for slightly italic?
Mel Blanc: <si>
Jack Benny: <si>?
Mel Blanc: ¿Qué?
Jack Benny: ¿<si>?
Mel Blanc: Si.
Can somebody who knows more about HTML/XML than I do please confirm that ALL of this chatter about “<si>” being a valid markup token is simply a joke?
Well for my part in it, I was indeed just joking. The object was to be gently teasing narmitaj over the notion of slightly italicising some text.
@ Mitch4 – I figured that, but then when the others chimed in, I wasn’t sure any more (especially after MiB’s exchange in Spanglish, which I still don’t understand). I even went so far as to try it out in a previous reply, but WordPress simply discards any token that it doesn’t choose to render, so that wasn’t a conclusive test.
@Mark in Boston
I seem to recall a version involving Johnny Carson.
The “si” routine was a running gag between Jack Benny and Mel Blanc with many different versions.
First Mel is a French sea captain. “You are the captain of this ship?” “Oui.” “Is there a woman on board?” “Oui.” “What does she look like?” “Wow.” “Wow?” “Oui.”
Then he is the Prime Minister of El Supremo. “You are El Supremo’s prime minister?” “Si.” “And El Supremo is demanding a ransom?” “Si.” “And he wants the ransom paid in beans?” “Si.” “What kind of beans?” “Soy.” “Soy?” “Si.” “What’s your name?” “Mel Blanc.” “Mel Blanc?” “Si.” “Si.?” “Mel C. Blanc.” “What does the C stand for?” “Cy.” “Cy?” “Si.”
I heard a recording of the episode. Apparently they ad-libbed from there. “Weren’t you French earlier in the show?” “Oui.” “Oui?” “Si.”
In one of the routines on the show Mel Blanc’s character has a sister. After all the “si” responses the woman is asked about. Who is she? (“Mexican” accent) – My sister. Your sister? Si. Sue.
Comics I Don't Understand 
I would never have made that connection. If you’re right, he should have let some other cartoonist do the joke – one who normally letters in all caps. If “view” is capitalized, it ruins the joke; if it’s lower case, it ruins the joke. If you can’t tell, it’s not much of a joke, but it isn’t ruined.
@ Arthur – I assume you mean “Small Caps“. 😉
P.S. This is to test whether WordPress can display “Small Caps”.
P.P.S. Nope.
I hadn’t heard of this tv show and had to google > “the view” TV show < to find out. But yes, for the joke to be clearer but not too clear perhaps ALL CAPS BUT WITH THE VIEW SLIGHTLY ITALICISED might have worked better.
What’s the markup for “slightly italic”?
. But in truth I think the cartoonist would have had to hand draw the letters.
Oops. si is the markup for slightly italic.
Hunh, and here I thought <si> did automatic conversion to metric units.
” If “view” is capitalized, it ruins the joke;”
I think it would be a necessity to make the joke clear.
I read Bill’s headline before the comic, but pretty sure I would have still gotten the joke right away. I don’t watch it, but it’s in the news every other day it seems, mostly for controversy. Just today I saw a story about the “uproar” over one of them calling another a B——h.
I would not have gotten it, at all. Now that you mention it, I do recall there’s a TV talk show by that name; I’ve never seen it and I don’t think it’s ever really impinged on my life. I would not have thought of it without the explanation here – possibly if it were capitalized or italicized something would have been triggered but probably not.
I loved this comic — the pun was perfect. Sometimes the parts of a pretty view all “talk” to me at once, too, just like on some TV shows.
Even with Bill’s comment, it took me a while.
Jack Benny: What’s the markup for slightly italic?
Mel Blanc:
Jack Benny: ?
Mel Blanc: ¿Qué?
Jack Benny: ¿?
Mel Blanc: Si.
Let’s try that again.
Jack Benny: What’s the markup for slightly italic?
Mel Blanc: <si>
Jack Benny: <si>?
Mel Blanc: ¿Qué?
Jack Benny: ¿<si>?
Mel Blanc: Si.
Can somebody who knows more about HTML/XML than I do please confirm that ALL of this chatter about “<si>” being a valid markup token is simply a joke?
Well for my part in it, I was indeed just joking. The object was to be gently teasing narmitaj over the notion of slightly italicising some text.
@ Mitch4 – I figured that, but then when the others chimed in, I wasn’t sure any more (especially after MiB’s exchange in Spanglish, which I still don’t understand). I even went so far as to try it out in a previous reply, but WordPress simply discards any token that it doesn’t choose to render, so that wasn’t a conclusive test.
@Mark in Boston
I seem to recall a version involving Johnny Carson.
The “si” routine was a running gag between Jack Benny and Mel Blanc with many different versions.
Here’s a script: http://www.jackbenny.org/Waukegan/Waukegan%20script%20original.htm
First Mel is a French sea captain. “You are the captain of this ship?” “Oui.” “Is there a woman on board?” “Oui.” “What does she look like?” “Wow.” “Wow?” “Oui.”
Then he is the Prime Minister of El Supremo. “You are El Supremo’s prime minister?” “Si.” “And El Supremo is demanding a ransom?” “Si.” “And he wants the ransom paid in beans?” “Si.” “What kind of beans?” “Soy.” “Soy?” “Si.” “What’s your name?” “Mel Blanc.” “Mel Blanc?” “Si.” “Si.?” “Mel C. Blanc.” “What does the C stand for?” “Cy.” “Cy?” “Si.”
I heard a recording of the episode. Apparently they ad-libbed from there. “Weren’t you French earlier in the show?” “Oui.” “Oui?” “Si.”
In one of the routines on the show Mel Blanc’s character has a sister. After all the “si” responses the woman is asked about. Who is she? (“Mexican” accent) – My sister. Your sister? Si. Sue.