Category / (Not a Cidu)

by EditorM

A squirrel in the hands is worth one on the dog

To finish up a (sort-of) week of synchros, we have this interesting pair from Mark in Boston, who says “I can’t say as I have seen much squirrel-carrying at all, ever, in the comics, until this past Sunday.”

Mark also sent a scan or picture of his physical paper, showing these actually adjacent. The Rose is Rose is good material for the discussion earlier this week about differences in layout and “extra” panels. And the Bliss is also an interesting case of oddities of publication schedule: this one was on GoComics and Bliss’s own site as 1/8, a date which can also be (more or less) made out in the drawing itself. But the newspaper for some reason printed it on 1/16 — and we have confirming evidence of that! —

by EditorM

Out, damned spot!

No, not a curse on the cartoon family dog — that would have taken a capital letter. Just an expression of upset over laundry problems.

At any rate, that seems to be the thematic connection for this synchronicity from Todd Tyler.

Todd also provides this paper scan and says “This synchronicity is made much worse by the location of Doonesbury and FBOFW as they were printed in the Delaware News Journal today.”

(Notice the layout differs between GoComics as above and this paper edition. Must play havoc for those comics that try to use fourth-wall tricks, like people climbing down from one panel to another!)

by EditorM

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, January 16th, 2022

Moon hits a double today:

Sent by Ken Berkun. Neither of us tried to look up the Carolyn Hax column this may have been used to illustrate.
Does anyone want to treat it as CIDU? If you think it might be more than the officiant turning the traditional “… or forever hold your peace” into a very modern and casual alternative expression. BTW, didn’t we previously have a discussion on whether that “speak now or …” clause is still announced these days?
by EditorM

Saturday Morning Oys – January 15th, 2022

We can discuss how dictionaries work, but I think I’m seeing (at https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/fugue and https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fugue ) that the musical and the psychiatric meanings of fugue are senses listed in one word entry, with just one etymology section for the joint entry — thus, that they are the same word historically. Etymonline is not helpful this time.
Not only is this playing between the musical and psychiatric senses of 𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘦, the caption depends on 𝐴 as both a musical key and the indefinite article, and 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳 as both musical mode and an age classification.

P.S. This cartoon along with an earlier Bizarro and other aspects of fugue, minor, a-minor, and somehow emo, are all fodder for Arnold Zwicky’s blog.

Guess the punchline (an oy)

When I saw the first panel I knew what the second one would be! Ókay, it’s corny and obvious — but that’s what’s fun about it.

Here’s your chance to duplicate that experience.

First:

And here the answer (slide up to uncover):

by EditorM

Non-synchro

An acknowledgement of using the same joke, about four years later, when the similarity was pointed out. From “Monster Picnic” in June 2021 (hat tip to Why Evolution Is True blog in 2022 where I saw it):

And by David Borchard in The New Yorker in 2016:

Monster Picnic acknowledged Borchart’s priority in this Twitter thread (see replies too):
by EditorM

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, January 2nd, 2022

But come to think of it, why would Connie be surprised at any of the elements of Jeremy’s forefront concerns as depicted? These are the interests he manifests in waking life as well.

It turns out they had a whole dinosaur-themed series; so this one may lose some of the charm of the Stegosaurus showing up in the conversation out of nowhere.

I was just tickled by the key idea here, of ironic and non-ironic being explicit seating options.

This may be a word-play comic, but it was seen too late to get in the Saturday New YOy collection.

And hot off the presses!