# Did my brother invent this joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919 "2010-06-20T22:41:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/1 "2010-06-20T22:41:32Z")
What do you call the cookbook of the dead? The om-nom-nomicon. Has anyone heard this before? ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/2 "2010-06-20T22:45:29Z")
I haven’t heard that as a joke before but one of my favorite cooking blogs is called [Omnomicon](http://www.omnomicon.com). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/3 "2010-06-20T22:55:29Z")
Just WHEN does your brother think he invented it? That might have some bearing. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/4 "2010-06-20T23:26:58Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Just WHEN does your brother think he invented it? That might have some bearing. He says about a year ago (maybe two?) He’s not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Paragonkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c0e974/32.png) [@Paragonkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paragonkid)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/5 "2010-06-21T08:06:01Z")
Om nom nom is a Lolcat phrase for eating and nom is a Lolcat phrase for food. Could that help?? ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/6 "2010-06-21T08:11:24Z")
Where does the “dead” part come into play? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/7 "2010-06-21T08:20:52Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > Where does the “dead” part come into play? 😕 This is a really geeky joke although pretty clever. It is a play on the name Necronomicon which is a fictional book mentioned in the stories of H.P. Lovecraft but doesn’t really exist. ‘Necro’ means dead. > **[Necronomicon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necronomicon)** > > The Necronomicon, also referred to as the Book of the Dead, or under a purported original Arabic title of Kitab al-Azif, is a fictional grimoire (textbook of magic) appearing in stories by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in Lovecraft's "The Nameless City". Among other things, the work contains an O... ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/8 "2010-06-21T10:36:57Z")
Perhaps it should be “the cookbook of the dead _cats_.” [or “lolcats”] ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/9 "2010-06-21T13:01:31Z")
I always thought the “om nom nom” originally came from Sesame Street - the sound Cookie Monster makes when eating a plate (or two) of cookies, or anything else for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/10 "2010-06-21T14:46:42Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Just WHEN does your brother think he invented it? That might have some bearing. The earliest reference I could find to an Omnomnomicon is [Dec. 10, 2007](http://veganpr0n.com/?cat=23). Here’s an [August 8, 2008](http://forum.rpg.net/archive/index.php/t-407304.html) that uses the word as the punchline to a joke. (“Q: What is the Space Sharks’ holy book of rites called? A: The Omnomnomicon!”) It’s from some sort of RPG forum, and I have no idea what Space Sharks are, but I presume they eat a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/11 "2010-06-21T15:10:44Z")
Thanks **pulykamell**. Each predates my brother’s earliest recollection. I don’t think he frequents RPG sites. It’s possible he thought of it independently, but it seems more likely he encountered at least the word “omnomnomicon” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/12 "2010-06-21T15:37:38Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > Thanks **pulykamell**. Each predates my brother’s earliest recollection. I don’t think he frequents RPG sites. It’s possible he thought of it independently, but it seems more likely he encountered at least the word “omnomnomicon” I wouldn’t discount the idea of coming up with it independently. It happens all the time. I’ve had many instance in which I thought I came up with a novel idea, only to find through googling that the idea had been done half a dozen times before. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/13 "2010-06-21T15:39:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I wouldn’t discount the idea of coming up with it independently. It happens all the time. I’ve had many instance in which I thought I came up with a novel idea, only to find through googling that the idea had been done half a dozen times before. Sadly seconded. There are very few truly new book plots, or jokes, around today. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/14 "2010-06-21T23:36:43Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > I always thought the “om nom nom” originally came from Sesame Street - the sound Cookie Monster makes when eating a plate (or two) of cookies, or anything else for that matter. Me too. Or, to be more precise, they both come from the same root: an onomatopoeia of putting food in your mouth while still letting sound come out. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/15 "2010-06-21T23:51:41Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > I always thought the “om nom nom” originally came from Sesame Street - the sound Cookie Monster makes when eating a plate (or two) of cookies, or anything else for that matter. I wouldn’t discount the idea of coming up with it independently. It happens all the time. I’ve had many instance in which I thought I came up with a novel idea, only to find through googling that the idea had been done half a dozen times before. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-my-brother-invent-this-joke/543919/16 "2010-06-21T23:58:36Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I wouldn’t discount the idea of coming up with it independently. It happens all the time. I’ve had many instance in which I thought I came up with a novel idea, only to find through googling that the idea had been done half a dozen times before. I had to go back and figure out why there were a few posts between your apparent double post 🙂