Monday, March 20, 2006

Two jokes I didn't get

In both cases, because I was too young to understand the full context.

From, I believe, Mad Magazine:

A fake advertisement touting some particular make or model as The Rolls Royce of Cars.
That's it. Even after Dad (was it you?) explained the irony of this to me, I still thought it made sense. And in a way, I totally still do.

I think the second one was actually told to us (Lisa, you were there weren't you?) by Mom in the What's Happening to Me? days. I picture us sitting on a bench in a mall outside the store where we've just bought the book. I doubt that was the sole location of The Talk, but I have to admit it's what stuck in my mind.

So anyway, the joke:
A mother and father have decided that it's time to explain the Facts of Life to their son and daughter. After the mechanics of procreation have been explained, the boy looks down at himself, then over at his sister, then back at himself. Skeptical, he turns to his parents and demands, "you mean to say you did that TWICE??"
My reaction at the time: Well, sure, they must have. Plus, the whole part about the kid looking at himself and then at his sister? Really really really makes it sound like the whole family is sitting there naked.

3 comments:

Jennifer March 20, 2006 11:52 AM  

No way. What's Happening to Me? was written by Peter Mayle.

Peter. Mayle.

Well, you call a kid that, what else is he going to write about? I submit, for your perusal, a list of books by Peter Mayle:

Where Did I Come From?
What's Happening to Me?
A Dog's Life
Acquired Tastes
Hotel Pasties*
French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew

Maybe he and his sister (Pussy Fee Mayle) were the ones in the joke.

[* Oh all right, all right. It's actually Hotel Pastis, and pastis is nothing more than the licorice flavored drink of choice in the South of France. But the hotel is set in the town of Brassiere-les-Deux-Eglises, so I think it still counts.]

Anonymous March 20, 2006 3:30 PM  

(What is "No way" (at the top) about?)

The Rolls Royce of cars? That's a good one which I don't remember hearing before. But I like it.

The "you did that TWICE?!" joke is one I first heard years ago and have told occasionally over the years. Maybe you heard that one from me, and the Rolls Royce one from Mom?

Jennifer March 20, 2006 6:03 PM  

Two jokes I didn't get and a whole entry (comments included) that Dad didn't get.

I didn't mean that you told me the Rolls Royce joke - I saw it in Mad Magazine. But I didn't really get why it was funny and you (or Mom) explained it to me. It was, however, just a brief conversation and one you wouldn't necessarily remember.

"No way" can I believe that the quintessential introduction-to-puberty book was written by someone whose name is Peter Mayle. Peter as in, well, no offense but Peter as in Dick. And Mayle as in Masculine. Okay, I guess you probably got that part, but I spell it out here to explain why my reaction was "No way."

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