Kilby sends this in, wondering why it was run on September 11, 2022. There are some standard characters (Ahab, Diogenes, Napoleon), among others. I’ve earnestly tried to figure out the two characters in the upper right corner of the 2nd panel, but frankly I don’t get it.
But by hitting the random button at GoComics, I see many that are understandable in any language.
For obsessives who feel you need to see the Carolyn Hax column this accompanied, here is a guest link. For the rest of you, the connection to the cartoon is just that the advice question involves parent/child conflict.
Don’t you want to hear a few more rrrrr’s in that?
Ludwig is such a patient little guy! This semi-LOL is in truth mostly an Awww for the ailurophile crowd. And the White Meat Chicken Florentine from Fancy Feast Medleys in the 3oz can with green label is a standby in the Mitch4 household.
Comics I Don't Understand 
“This Frank and Ernest is a CIDU to me. 8 isn’t straight. ”
That’s the point. 8 isn’t straight, that’s why he wants to be straightened.
I don’t think their appearance in the second panel needs an explanation; presumably they were selected simply as a well known pair of comical street hobos. However, a credit for the homage would have been courteous, and doing a little bit of research before borrowing them really isn’t too much to ask.
P.S. @ Pete – The German word for “rollercoaster” is “die Achterbahn“, or literally “(figure) eight lane” (from the twisted shape of early models). On the other hand, the mathematical terms for “even” and “odd” in German are “gerade” and “ungerade“, meaning “straight” and “crooked”, respectively. So whether an “8” needs straightening depends on one’s linguistic point of view.
The Bizarro at the end is the second recent example of a cartoon about not getting cartoons or comedy, which we might feel tempted to adopt as some sort of motto image for CIDU.
@ Mitch – I don’t remember what the other one was, but I think this Bizarro is far too negative for anything that would be permanently connected to the CIDU website.
Sports commentators love to use the phrase “crooked numbers” to refer to numerals larger than 1.
BTW, I didn’t mean that the other recent one was another Bizarro, though I had some hesitation over how to phrase it to avoid that inference. (But I don’t remember what strip it was from. If I had more energy today, I would try following the “Meta” tag links.)
Crooked numbers? Does anyone remember the less famous song about how to spell Mississippi? “M I crooked letter crooked letter I, crooked letter crooked letter I, humpback humpback I.”
Mark in Boston: No, but I recall the immigrant who got slapped when heard muttering “First Emma coming, then I’s coming twice, then I’s coming twice again, i pee-pee and then I come again.” He didn’t know why, since he was just reminding himself how to spell “Mississippi.”
(You’ve been a wonderful audience. I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress, and drive safely!)
Is there a category for spelling rimes? I learnt the Miss Ditty in 1954. Also, “Chicken in the car, car won’t go, that’s the way you spell Chicago”. Any nomenclature help will help. Lyrical Acronyms perhaps.?
It didn’t have additional hints or cues, but the tune and rhythm made unforgettable Jiminy Cricket’s spelling song for E-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a.
@ Shrug – For some reason that reminded me of the old canard in which a rabbi was harshly criticized for making the (Catholic) “sign of the Cross” every time he left the house. He replied that it wasn’t any sort of cross, he was merely checking to make sure he had his “spectacles, testicles, wallet, and watch” all in their correct places.
I believe a Tom Slick cartoon did a pretty similar Indianapolis 500 joke way back when.
@ billytheskink – Did you mean the “Apple-Less Indian 500” (1967)?
“E-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a! If you want to know the answers here is the way!”
Paul Whiteman, Bing and Bix teach you how to spell Constantinople: https://youtu.be/BKjwqo8GcLE
Fascinating, MiB! The piece also takes in reciting the alphabet. Some of the cut rhythms in spelling out the city name remind me of how it was done in the Jiminy Cricket “Encyclopedia” (linked in earlier.)
I had never heard of this piece, and when I saw “Constantinople” mentioned I thought it might be the famous “Istanbul was Constantinople”. Here’s a version older than the one many people today think of as standard.
If you want musical help in reciting the alphabet, try this song: https://www.loc.gov/item/2009537088/
It was written a good 50 or more years before the Three Stooges performed it … and …
It was written by the same composer who wrote the Three Stooges theme song “Listen to the Mocking Bird”!