Hmm, do these depend on NOT counting “schmear” as a variant form of “smear”? Oh, I recognize the specialized meaning, but don’t see that it invalidates the connection.
“Schmear,” in New York, is very specifically the normal amount of cream cheese applied to a bagel. Saying “… of cream cheese” marks you as an outsider, just like waiting for a green light to cross Eighth Avenue.
Grawlix’s sense is absolutely correct: the “Rubes” panel first appeared here in November 2018, whereas the “Frank & Earnest” strip has a 2019 copyright, so the “few” days turns out to be 375 of them.
P.S. I have seen the spelling “beigel” in (much) older transcriptions, but in “modern” German usage the word has been re-imported from American English (rather than from Yiddish), so the spelling uses a plain “a“, instead of an umlauted “ä“, which would have been a much better phonetic match to the correct pronunciation.
Ah; it’s only two — I debated spelling it shmear for clarity, but went with what the previous poster used, and because being German, I prefer the German orthography…
In a “Prairie Home Companion” story, the phrase “a slab of pie” was used to refer to a portion (presumably “apple” or “pumpkin”), but I don’t know if that’s generic Minnesota-ish, or just one of Keillor’s own linguistic quirks.
Given the prevalence of Christmas-themed packaging in practically ever other category of grocery and household products, I’m actually surprised “Yule” Tide has not been made yet. Ditto “Christmas” Cheer detergent…
Comics I Don't Understand 
Milt’s move looks more horizontal to me.
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Hmm, do these depend on NOT counting “schmear” as a variant form of “smear”? Oh, I recognize the specialized meaning, but don’t see that it invalidates the connection.
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“Schmear,” in New York, is very specifically the normal amount of cream cheese applied to a bagel. Saying “… of cream cheese” marks you as an outsider, just like waiting for a green light to cross Eighth Avenue.
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So “schmear” is to bagel as “mit schlag” is to Viennese hot cocoa?
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I have a sense of deja vu regarding “Schmear”. I think the vandalism one might be a repeat.
While I’m at it, have you folks seen bagels spelled as “baigels” on signs. I remember at least one in the Boston area.
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Grawlix’s sense is absolutely correct: the “Rubes” panel first appeared here in November 2018, whereas the “Frank & Earnest” strip has a 2019 copyright, so the “few” days turns out to be 375 of them.
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I think the vandalism one might be a repeat.
Seems familiar to me as well.
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P.S. I have seen the spelling “beigel” in (much) older transcriptions, but in “modern” German usage the word has been re-imported from American English (rather than from Yiddish), so the spelling uses a plain “a“, instead of an umlauted “ä“, which would have been a much better phonetic match to the correct pronunciation.
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I didn’t realize there were three spellings: Bagel, Baigel, Beigel.
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Somewhat akin to Betelgeuse vs Beetlejuice.
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And Bialy, which is not really the same thing. Though “a bialy, please” is an acceptable answer to “what kind of bagel would you like?”.
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So if “schmear” is just the normal amount of cream cheese, why is a special term needed for it? Why not just say “bagel with cream cheese “?
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Because “Bagel with schmear” is one less syllable.
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That sounds reasonable larK. But I might argue that for Americans, two common words are preferred over one word with 3 consecutive consonant sounds.
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Ah; it’s only two — I debated spelling it shmear for clarity, but went with what the previous poster used, and because being German, I prefer the German orthography…
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Like larK said.
Also, New Yorkers don’t say “pizza pie” or “slice of pizza”: it’s “pie” and “slice.”
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In Philly, snobbish cheesesteak places will as “With or without?” and sneer if you don’t know what they’re asking about.
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*ask
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Are there places where people actually say “pizza pie” routinely? Nobody around here does, it’s just “pizza”.
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This is from the menu of the restaurant at which we ate last night . . . Gino’s NY Pizza . . . but no one actually SAYS it . . .
Pizza by the Pie
. . . as opposed to . . .
Pizza by the Slice
. . . which IS said, whilst ordering it.
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In a “Prairie Home Companion” story, the phrase “a slab of pie” was used to refer to a portion (presumably “apple” or “pumpkin”), but I don’t know if that’s generic Minnesota-ish, or just one of Keillor’s own linguistic quirks.
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I’m a Minnesotan, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard or used the term “slab” of pie.
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Given the prevalence of Christmas-themed packaging in practically ever other category of grocery and household products, I’m actually surprised “Yule” Tide has not been made yet. Ditto “Christmas” Cheer detergent…
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So is asking for a schmear of cream cheese like asking for pie with a la mode?
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Yeh, pie in the à la mode fashion.
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I’ve heard “slab of pie,” and I’ve never eaten pie in Minnesota.
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jglor, I’d compare it more to asking for pie a la mode with ice cream.
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“Ya want that with the au jus?”
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I’d always thought a ‘slab’ was larger than a ‘piece’. but smaller than an entire pie.
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So I looked it up; ‘slab’ is usually associated with ‘slab pie’, which is square rather than round.
https://www.google.com/search?q=slab+of+pie&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b
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Good one – Christmas ‘Cheer’! Thankfully, no pumpkin pie spice detergents. Yet.
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Arthur: you mean “with the au jus sauce”… undergrad dining hall actually did that.
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But in more recent years – a schmear has become less cream cheese than a cream cheese sandwich on a bagel.
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