Category / Oy

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – June 29th, 2024

And I still maintain that the ugly Internet phenomenon of “trolling” started being called that from a metaphor on the fishing practice (dragging a baited hook behind a quiet small boat), and not the Scandinavian bridge-dwelling threateners.

Are we done with Bizarro for this post? Never say so!

I was preparing to protest that the expression is traditionally “strait and narrow” — which would be preferable despite its redundancy. The pattern of redundancy in rhetorical pairs remains hale and hearty, though some may wish it null and void.

But no! The useful sources recognize only “straight and narrow”, with just a nod to the echoes of “strait”. Here’s Etymonline f’ristance [in entry for straight (adj.2) = “conventional,” especially “heterosexual,” 1941]:

probably suggested by the stock phrase straight and narrow path or way, “course of conventional morality and law-abiding behavior” (by 1842), which is based on a misreading of Matthew vii.14 (where the gate is actually strait); another influence seems to be strait-laced.

No, let’s not get started on straight-jacket!

Et tu, Jeremy?

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – June 15th, 2024

Rather dumb word-argument. But it prompts memory of an assortment of senior-targeted advertising campaigns which for a while used the phrasing “age 50 or better” or “age seventy-and-a-half or better” etcetera. It was supposed to be obvious, yet a sort of joke, that better would mean older. At least one that I heard regularly for a while did change to older; but then later reverted to better ; so I guess there was some complaint but it got resolved, or just overruled.

Come to think of it, probably the word-level associations of squashing things must have played a role in my lifelong aversion to the vegetable of that name.

Chak notes “I’ve read En attendant Godot several times, and I still don’t have a clue.”

Could one expect Godot to comment? Waiting for your comments below.

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – June 08th, 2024

Phew, a lot of work to get there!

Indeed, they are said to have a high turnover.

But Day by Dave wasn’t done with punning for the week yet.

Mary Ellen sent this one in. Why backpacking alpacas? Why does everyone look so miserable? And why are the men in what looks like monks’ robes while the alpacas are using folding maps and modern looking backpacks?

It’s somewhere between an OY (wordplay on alpacah and backpackah) and a CIDU.

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – June 01st, 2024

My friends on road trips used to enjoy “What’s that up in the road? A head?”. (Oops, accidental repeat from 25 May.)

Also fun on road trips: Look out, there’s a fork in the road!

TBH, I’m not entirely sure if “branch” in the last panel is actually intended as a pun.

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – May 25th, 2024

There is a rather old joke involving a misunderstanding of that kind of signage (and based on a now-possibly-objectionable euphemistic term) — but wait!, it turns out this Crabgrass is not using that joke, but rather one based on a different misunderstanding of it.

Picked up from Counterpoint

Is that an electric plug in her hand, at the end of a wire? So she has unplugged a phonograph from playing one of the objectionable original versions?

It’s very simple, but (therefore?) almost perfect.

(it was established in the previous days that these are temporary tattoos)

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – May 11th, 2024

I guess I missed out Part I. This is trying hard, maybe too hard, but deserves to be seen for cheerful persistence even if not really for brilliant OY-ness.

Since this strip seems to offer a pun every day, it is hard not to over-indulge. But this one was immediately right in the OY spirit!

Ohhhh nooo! There is no way to stop at just one!