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?
I assume so.
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.
[Rant]
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.
[/rant]
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.
But you know what happens when you make an assumption, right? You’re an ass, and the ump will shun you.
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
So you’re just *assuming *that the joke is older?
You turn into Lou Piniella?* :eek:
I only mentioned Lou because of his current visibility in a bottled-water commercial . This is no reflection of my feelings about Lou Piniella, the man, the baseball player, and the manager.I believe David Letterman’s writers were the first to change the ending to, “…you make an ass out of Uma Thurman.”
Hey! The first time I saw that was on The Odd Couple also. It was funny as hell then. Not so much now.
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
Another vote for “never heard it before The Odd Couple.”
“When you assume…you’re a jackass.”- Stephen Colbert
I’m with you; so much so that, when an educated and reasonable assumption is called for, I use the word “deduce.”
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.
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.
But when you deduce, you are DED, U CE!
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.