There are many ways to define the American Dream, but surely being your own boss is one of them.
Dreamer
Category / CIDU
CAPITALism?
Okay. This is a vending machine that sold him a vending machine, which presumably would sell him an even smaller vending machine, and so on. But why “CAPITALISM”?
Seedless
Dale sends this in: “I get drilling a hole and putting in a straw in to drink presumably the water and, thanks to Google, the reference to Adolph Menzel a Realist artist. But looking at his work, I didn’t see anything like fake versions of real stuff.
What I don’t get is what’s the green and maybe also pink putty for. Why do the watermelons have spots and seams from end to end? Are these not supposed to be watermelons? If these two were making fakes then why is she slurping?
Oh and what’s that critter poking its head out from behind the woman’s leg?”
Somebody Call the Wagon
In this comic from 1948, the joke is clear, but the term “somebody call the wagon” isn’t. What does wagon refer to?
A quick internet search isn’t much help: “In Irish slang, the term “wagon” is commonly used to refer to an individual, typically a woman, who is perceived as being overly flirtatious or promiscuous.”
The Usual
By definition, it’s no surprise when someone orders their usual, but what’s the joke?
Just Ducky
In the words of Chico Marx: Why a duck?
Hey there!
Boise Ed sends this in: “Some commenters feel that the little rectangular solid is supposed to represent a hay bale. From panel 2, I infer that its name is “going.” At this point, I’m totally lost.”
Is it “42”?
Markus sends this in this puzzler from SMBC:
“The hovertext is:
“Friend of Wigner is actually private slang in physics, which means ‘willing to talk about Quantum Foundations'””
“The extra panel does not really help, either:”
“So, I summon the mighty Oracle (i.e. the CIDU readership) to instill some sense in this comic.”
Hyphen
Casting about for understanding
From travelgirl again:
Seems to be my day… guy is asking for a podcaster with what looks like someone lying on the ground surrounded by people…
I almost feel like I’m old enough to be screaming “get off my lawn” when I don’t get some of these jokes :)
Uh, right. The fact that the gawkers are all white might be a clue. There’s a longstanding meme that podcast audiences are largely white, though that seems to be changing: a quick search suggests that “The percentage of white podcast listeners has dropped significantly from historical highs, with figures around 58-59% in 2024 compared to 67% in 2014”. I guess that’s a meaningful change, though it’s only slightly over a 10% drop. I did like a line I heard where some guy said, “I’m so white, most of my sentences start with ‘I was listening to a podcast…'” I might be guilty of this myself at times.
Notwithstanding all that, I still can’t get to anything resembling a joke?!
Comics I Don't Understand 