That’s not what the author meant!

I recently ran into not just one, but a pair of (independent) comics that I just happened to completely misinterpret when I first read them. Both readings were humorous, just, well, “different”.

At first glance I thought the woman was trying to trick innocent candidates into volunteering (only first-timers would be so silly as to actually raise a hand; anyone with jury experience would know that maintaining a low profile is the best strategy to escape selection). Then I re-examined the artwork and realized that the gag was just a simple pun. Ooops.


The author wasn’t making any unusual wordplay with “a star is born“, but I mistakenly identified a joke that was not there. The German term for “cataract” is “grauer Star“, and I forgot that it’s not called that in English, and was expecting the “googly eye” to go blind in the next day’s strip. Ooops again.


Feel free to chime in with similar experiences, if you like.

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, November 26th, 2023

Ewww-LOL here. Or Aaaggghhh-ewwww-lol?

“It’s not a snowman. It’s my grandpa, who froze last night.”


Kilby writes: This was a CIDU until I zoomed in to read the title panel and get a better view of the dummy:


Pick your religion:


But no, kids are NOT that stupid!



One for the cat people here.


Yikes!


But maybe the hippo would enjoy Dance of the Hours more!

Bikini Appliances


Although they were invented in the 1940s, household microwave ovens did not become widespread until the mid 1970s, but I know for certain that I’ve been using the verb “nuke” (as a synonym for “cook in a microwave“) for at least four decades, because I vividly remember the puzzlement it caused for a friend’s son in the early 1980s. I find it somewhat surprising that the term could become so commonly accepted in less than a decade, but thinking back, this may be the very first time that I have ever seen the word “nuke” used in this sense in printed (albeit comic) form.

Sitting around the laughing stick (Random retro LOLs, 2019 or before, Part 2)

Cleaning out old file storage services




An old favorite!

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Another old favorite


As so often with “Viivi and Wagner”, the thesis seems to be that men are pigs…


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Rebranding a Lead Balloon


This Rhymes with Orange strip might have worked perfectly back in early summer, but now it just seems awkward. The new corporate name just isn’t easy to adapt into usable slang, and even if it were, the political deadweight surrounding the takeover and renaming ruins any possible remaining humor.


In a curious instance of personal asynchronicity, it wasn’t until a couple of hours after I had written the text above (including the headline) that I saw Sunday’s Doonesbury, which needs no further commentary:

Saturday Morning OYs – June 10th, 2023

Thanks to jjmcgaffey for suggesting Rae the Doe, and

for calling this “a kerning pun!” to assist anyone who may find it puzzling.


And an OY-semi-CIDU from Maggiethecartoonist:

This song is in that peculiar category of musical quasi-familiarity, where I became acquainted with a piece from its use in advertising, or as a television theme song, that I probably never would have run into otherwise. “New Soul” by Yael Naim. “You’ve Got Time” by Regina Spektor. “One Week” by The Barenaked Ladies (this one I might have found otherwise). “Flower Duet from Lakmé” by Léo Delibes (this one I surely would have run into sooner or later, but did encounter first in the British Airways ads).
Most of those I put in a playlist at some point or even bought further work from the same artist ; but “Mister Roboto” always remained for me just “that song from one of those car commercials” until last week, when this cartoon appeared and I wanted to verify the idea suggested by the pun. (BTW, the car brand turns out to have been VW, and the sketch uses comic actor Tony Hale.)





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Twas the OY before Kicksmess – December 24th, 2022


Andréa sends in these. Good to see the Ministry of Silly Walks getting into the holiday spirit.



A perpetual favorite mixup:

… and what did we just say?


More Bizarro.


Here’s one for the “not a classic pun, but generalized language play” … also it’s time to acknowledge the “dad jokes” category in pop culture.