“are we good” is something people say this millennium.
And everyone knows if you quote the current trends the result is supposed to be hilarious.
Exactly. And in fact it covers both near-variants of that popular phrase, for “I’m satisfied” and “we’re in agreement”.
In addition, the phrase “I’m good” has also acquired a secondary meaning, besides being a simple assertion about a particular position on the “naughty/nice” scale:
This is a question that would normally be asked of a significant other. Here, it’s been transposed to an entirely different relationship. It’s out-of-place, and therefore humorous.
I think it is just that Santa is looking for people/kids who have been “good”, ie behaved well, the opposite of naughty, kind and so on, but the person on his lap (who is the right size for a kid but looks about 60) thinks the modern response to “how are you?”, which is “I’m good” rather than “I’m well”, is enough to get her a present.
But just saying “I’m good”, without the foregoing question, is not enough to distinguish the “I’m well-behaved” from the “I’m well” meanings of “I’m good”. So “Are we good?” is needed, in this case meaning “by saying I’m good, have we satisfied the conditions to go forward with the other part of the transaction, ie you giving me a present? Are we good to go?”
Narmitaj, I have to partially disagree. Yes, it’s not just the “who’s been good or bad” behavior judgment. But I think the additional meaning is not the one you adduce, the reply to “how are you?”.
The other sense, I suggest, is what I earlier called “I’m satisfied”, and think matches what Kilby and his Calvin strip are getting at too. This might be phrased also as “I don’t want any more ; don’t go further with it”
(All of that is for the “I’m good” part. The “Are we good?” is also a modern meaning, here “Are we still in conflict, or has that matter been quelled?”)
I’ll just say I’d never seen that Bloom County / Calvin & Hobbes mashup before. Sometimes the supplemental comics are better than the main one.
My opinion is that the kid is trying to expedite things. “I’m ‘good’ so that’s all you need, right?”
@ Brian – Kid? What “kid”? Everyone that Baldwin draws looks middle-aged, closer to geezer than adolescence.
Ok, smaller person currently on what seems to be possibly Santa’s lap.
Beside the appearance (and size) of the female sitting on Santa’s lap, the attitude in her dialog had me completely convinced that she was an adult. It wasn’t until I read Brian’s “kid” reference that I realized that both she and the midget accountant in line (the one still holding a CVS receipt) were really supposed to be children (he’s actually holding an oversize Christmas list).
Comics I Don't Understand 
“are we good” is something people say this millennium.
And everyone knows if you quote the current trends the result is supposed to be hilarious.
Exactly. And in fact it covers both near-variants of that popular phrase, for “I’m satisfied” and “we’re in agreement”.
In addition, the phrase “I’m good” has also acquired a secondary meaning, besides being a simple assertion about a particular position on the “naughty/nice” scale:
This is a question that would normally be asked of a significant other. Here, it’s been transposed to an entirely different relationship. It’s out-of-place, and therefore humorous.
I think it is just that Santa is looking for people/kids who have been “good”, ie behaved well, the opposite of naughty, kind and so on, but the person on his lap (who is the right size for a kid but looks about 60) thinks the modern response to “how are you?”, which is “I’m good” rather than “I’m well”, is enough to get her a present.
But just saying “I’m good”, without the foregoing question, is not enough to distinguish the “I’m well-behaved” from the “I’m well” meanings of “I’m good”. So “Are we good?” is needed, in this case meaning “by saying I’m good, have we satisfied the conditions to go forward with the other part of the transaction, ie you giving me a present? Are we good to go?”
Narmitaj, I have to partially disagree. Yes, it’s not just the “who’s been good or bad” behavior judgment. But I think the additional meaning is not the one you adduce, the reply to “how are you?”.
The other sense, I suggest, is what I earlier called “I’m satisfied”, and think matches what Kilby and his Calvin strip are getting at too. This might be phrased also as “I don’t want any more ; don’t go further with it”
(All of that is for the “I’m good” part. The “Are we good?” is also a modern meaning, here “Are we still in conflict, or has that matter been quelled?”)
I’ll just say I’d never seen that Bloom County / Calvin & Hobbes mashup before. Sometimes the supplemental comics are better than the main one.
@ Grawlix – The one above was the first of Breathed’s “April Fool’s” strips, a second one appeared a year later:
My opinion is that the kid is trying to expedite things. “I’m ‘good’ so that’s all you need, right?”
@ Brian – Kid? What “kid”? Everyone that Baldwin draws looks middle-aged, closer to geezer than adolescence.
Ok, smaller person currently on what seems to be possibly Santa’s lap.
Beside the appearance (and size) of the female sitting on Santa’s lap, the attitude in her dialog had me completely convinced that she was an adult. It wasn’t until I read Brian’s “kid” reference that I realized that both she and the midget accountant in line (the one still holding a CVS receipt) were really supposed to be children (he’s actually holding an oversize Christmas list).