Who was the first to make an ass out of u and me?

[Biggirl]

I remember the first time I heard that joke. It was The Odd Couple and Felix got a traffic ticket. Instead of paying it, he took it to court and had a whole presentation ready. At one point in his cross-examination, the witness said, "Well, I just assumed. . ."

Felix wrote the word on his chalkboard and then graphically pointed out how assuming makes an ass out of you and me.

But this joke feels older to me. Are there any earlier tellings of this joke or did it originate with The Odd Couple?

[Tom Tildrum]

Are there any earlier tellings of this joke...?
I assume so.











:D

[Thudlow Boink]

I've heard it attributed to Benny Hill, but I don't know whether he originated it. I suspect the very first person to make the observation may be lost in the mists of anonymity.

[middleman]

I hate this expression with a passion.

While the likely original usage only applied to uneducated assumptions, people now LOVE to use it any time the word assumption is used.

Darn it. There are times when it is appropriate or even necessary to make assumptions.

[Sigmagirl]

I remember when it appeared on The Odd Couple, and it got such an uproarious and extended laugh that I -- pardon me -- I assumed that most people had not heard it before. If it was a recycled joke, I feel pretty certain it was an obscure one.

[HoboStew]

Darn it. There are times when it is appropriate or even necessary to make assumptions.But you know what happens when you make an assumption, right? You're an ass, and the ump will shun you.

[Biggirl]

I've heard it attributed to Benny Hill, but I don't know whether he originated it. I suspect the very first person to make the observation may be lost in the mists of anonymity.

I'm looking for TV shows or movies or maybe radio shows or even a Broadway show where this joke appears before it appeared on the Odd Couple cite. The Benny Hill Show is a possibility since it began it's run a year before The Odd Couple did, but I don't think so. I would have remembered it from there-- I assume.


P.S. The Benny Hill Show- 1969 through 1989
The Odd Couple 1970 through 1975

[panache45]

But this joke feels older to me.
So you're just assuming that the joke is older?

[cochrane]

But you know what happens when you make an assumption, right? You're an ass, and the ump will shun you.
You turn into Lou Piniella?* :eek:


* Sorry, Cubbies fans. :D I only mentioned Lou because of his current visibility in a bottled-water commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uzULboIx3o) . This is no reflection of my feelings about Lou Piniella, the man, the baseball player, and the manager.

[AskNott]

I believe David Letterman's writers were the first to change the ending to, "...you make an ass out of Uma Thurman." :D

[Leaffan]

Hey! The first time I saw that was on The Odd Couple also. It was funny as hell then. Not so much now.

[What Exit?]

Felix wrote the word on his chalkboard and then graphically pointed out how assuming makes an ass out of you and me.

But this joke feels older to me. Are there any earlier tellings of this joke or did it originate with The Odd Couple?
This is very odd, I just asked someone about this on Saturday and I thought about starting a thread on it. The older people I put the question to, did not remember the joke predating the Odd Couple.

I hope you get an answer. I am very curious about it also.

Jim

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Another vote for "never heard it before The Odd Couple."

[mobo85]

"When you assume...you're a jackass."- Stephen Colbert

[Krokodil]

I first encountered it in this crappy 1971 film, Bless the Beasts and Children (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068286/).

[Sigmagirl]

I hate this expression with a passion.

While the likely original usage only applied to uneducated assumptions, people now LOVE to use it any time the word assumption is used.

Darn it. There are times when it is appropriate or even necessary to make assumptions.


I'm with you; so much so that, when an educated and reasonable assumption is called for, I use the word "deduce."

[Yllaria]

Another datum point for "heard it first on the Odd Couple". I have to say, it was funny the first time. But only the first time.

[Just Some Guy]

Darn it. There are times when it is appropriate or even necessary to make assumptions.

Such as when one uses depth perception.

For some reason people who just spit out that line don't care to have someone point out just how stupid it is.

[Bryan Ekers]

I'm with you; so much so that, when an educated and reasonable assumption is called for, I use the word "deduce."
But when you deduce, you are DED, U CE!

[Robot Arm]

I can't decide which would be weirder, Benny Hill stealing from The Odd Couple, or The Odd Couple stealing from Benny Hill.

I've seen this bit on both shows, but don't know which one was first.

[photopat]

I first heard it on the Odd Couple, along with the joke in the ghost episode about the ritual phrase "Owah Tagoo Siam."

It was funny at the time and slightly shocking since I hadn't heard words like Ass too often on network tv in the early '70s.

[priapus]

I've heard it often.I just say,"you make an ass out of u,not me.Just you."

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

along with the joke in the ghost episode about the ritual phrase "Owah Tagoo Siam."
Now that one I recognized as a variation on a gag I'd heard before. They did it on Dick Van Dyke as "Igottano slikaban ana."

[Freddy the Pig]

I remember when it appeared on The Odd Couple, and it got such an uproarious and extended laugh that I -- pardon me -- I assumed that most people had not heard it before.Yep. I was 11 or 12 when that episode first aired, and I remember my parents laughing so loud that I poked my head in from the next room to ask what was so funny. They gave no indication they had heard it before.

One question, though--was it "you make an ass out of you and me" in the show? Either because my parents read it back to me wrong, or because my memory is faulty, I remember it as being "you make an ass out of me", with the longer version coming later as the joke got recycled and re-told.

[samclem]

Using Google Books, you can find a cite from a 1966 issue of PMI, Photo Methods for Industry. http://books.google.com/books?id=ufoiAAAAMAAJ&q=%22make+an+ass%22+assume+date:1900-1975&dq=%22make+an+ass%22+assume+date:1900-1975&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0&pgis=1

You have to learn how to search inside the issue, then you have to make sure to make sure that the issue isn't more recent. VERY many false Google Book hits. I did the work. It's there.

So, it predates The Odd Couple.

[Biggirl]

Thanks, sam!

I wish I knew what I meant when I said it "feels older". It just struck me as an uncensored Marx Brothers. I also wish I knew why an photo industry mag would want to publish it. I guess they use some harsh language when discussing pictures.

And yes, they not only said the word "ass", Felix actually circuled the word rather heatedly. It was seriously funny the first time.

[Monstera deliciosa]

Yep. I was 11 or 12 when that episode first aired, and I remember my parents laughing so loud that I poked my head in from the next room to ask what was so funny. They gave no indication they had heard it before.

One question, though--was it "you make an ass out of you and me" in the show? Either because my parents read it back to me wrong, or because my memory is faulty, I remember it as being "you make an ass out of me", with the longer version coming later as the joke got recycled and re-told.

It was definitely you make an "ass out of you and me". Felix had a blackboard in the courtroom and as he said "when you assume" with a heavy emphasis on the first syllable, he wrote out the letters A S S, which he circled, then the U, which I think he circled, then the M E, which I think he also circled. And IIRC, the court case was not about a traffic ticket, but allegedly scalping tickets to some event (that I don't remember.)

[Biggirl]

It was definitely you make an "ass out of you and me". Felix had a blackboard in the courtroom and as he said "when you assume" with a heavy emphasis on the first syllable, he wrote out the letters A S S, which he circled, then the U, which I think he circled, then the M E, which I think he also circled. And IIRC, the court case was not about a traffic ticket, but allegedly scalping tickets to some event (that I don't remember.)

There was some underlining going on there too. And I believe you are correct about the ticket scalping. I think I mixed up episodes in my mind.


Looking at the years it ran, I now remember I didn't see it in it's original run but on reruns on a local NY channel. And now my kids can see it-- 'cause we have cable.

[cochrane]

It was definitely you make an "ass out of you and me". Felix had a blackboard in the courtroom and as he said "when you assume" with a heavy emphasis on the first syllable, he wrote out the letters A S S, which he circled, then the U, which I think he circled, then the M E, which I think he also circled. And IIRC, the court case was not about a traffic ticket, but allegedly scalping tickets to some event (that I don't remember.)
Yes, Oscar and Felix were arrested for scalping a ticket to a Broadway play, since Oscar couldn't get a date. It was the episode called "My Strife in Court," first aired on February 16, 1973.

Thanks to Youtube, here's the famous courtroom "assume" scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKlWGZHEO7Q&feature=related), complete with uproarious applause.