Naturally, being the good, nitpicky Doper that I am, when I saw this cartoon, I thought immediately that I could improve on Gahan Wilson’s work by changing the word “peacefully” to “peaceful.”
After after, based on the drawing, he had to have been referring to her inner state, not modifying the way in which she died. (She’s in a yoga headstand position, dead, w/ paramedics in attendance.)
The caption: “Well, at least we know she died peacefully.”
I’d say it could go either way. I’m hard pressed to think of a cause of death that would both not disrupt such a delicate yoga position and be considered a not peaceful mode of death. So she died peaceful and peacefully, and “peacefully” sounds better in that sentence anyway.
I thought it was a funny cartoon (and I’d go with “peacefully” myself) but $125 for a small print!? At that price, I want the signature to be original and to be personally thanked by Mr Wilson.
Wilson was born not far from here in Evanston, IL in 1930. So he’s about 77, not too old for his line of work. Not that it should matter. With his sense of humor, I’m sure he’ll still be producing funny cartoon even decades after his death.
Agreed. You could use “peacefully” to describe the process of death or “peaceful” to describe the state of the person while dying. I’m fine with “peacefully,” it “sounds” better, but I can see where someone would want “peaceful.”
Man, I wish I was as witty and creative at any point in my life as he is at 77. I loved Nuts and still marvel at his work in Playboy. Can anyone tell me how to pronounce his name?
As a professional editor, I don’t think “she died peaceful” is acceptable. If you wanted to use the word “peaceful” to signify her state of mind, and not the mode of death, you wouldn’t construct the sentence that way. You’d write “She was peaceful when she died,” or some such. But as constructed, the only acceptable meaning and usage is “she died peacefully.” IMHO.
The reference to Dylan Thomas is not particularly relevant, because Wilson was writing a caption, not a poem.
The cartoon seems to be a reversal of the usual mode of violent death. You would never say, “At least she died violent.” It has to be “violently.” For the caption to work as a comment, therefore, it has to read, “At least she died peacefully.” Accept no substitutes.
