# Explain a Simpsons joke. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782 "2008-01-24T04:45:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/1 "2008-01-24T04:45:25Z")
Bart and Lisa win the race to the front of the plane and get upgraded to first class. Lisa: Bart, they’re going to pamper us! Bart: _Gasps in horror_ Lisa: _rolls her eyes_ Not literally! I don’t get the joke ☹ ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/2 "2008-01-24T04:47:30Z")
put in diapers? ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/3 "2008-01-24T05:03:31Z")
I agree with diapers. I don’t know where you are, but here in North America, Pampers is a brand of diapers. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/4 "2008-01-24T05:07:02Z")
Pampers is one of those that were first to hit the American market. It’s a very well known brand. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/5 "2008-01-24T05:12:56Z")
Um, maybe? The diaper thing seems a stretch. I think maybe you guys are misinterpreting it. To “pamper” is literally to overfeed, to cram with food, perhaps beyond the point of comfort and health. That seems a little odd too, but I dunno. Maybe some more context would help? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/6 "2008-01-24T05:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Um, maybe? The diaper thing seems a stretch. I think maybe you guys are misinterpreting it. To “pamper” is literally to overfeed, perhaps beyond the point of comfort and health. [/QUOTE] If you think that’s what has Bart concerned, you’re the one misinterpreting. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/7 "2008-01-24T05:17:04Z")
Yeah, actually, on second thought, I retract what I said. The diaper thing is probably right. At least, Internet searches for the quote indicate a lot of people taking it that way. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/8 "2008-01-24T05:50:13Z")
I don’t really buy the diaper thing. When was the last time you heard someone use the phrase “to pamper” and mean that they are going to put diapers on something? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/9 "2008-01-24T05:54:12Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Um, maybe? The diaper thing seems a stretch. I think maybe you guys are misinterpreting it. To “pamper” is literally to overfeed, to cram with food, perhaps beyond the point of comfort and health. That seems a little odd too, but I dunno. Maybe some more context would help? [/QUOTE] No more context is available. The Flight Attendant comes on the PA and says that due to overbooking two seats are available in first class. She goes on to say that according to regulation the first two people to the front get the seats. Bart and Lisa win the race, and the FA says “O.K., you two”. Then the lines in the OP are said. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/10 "2008-01-24T05:55:04Z")
[QUOTE=treis] I don’t really buy the diaper thing. When was the last time you heard someone use the phrase “to pamper” and mean that they are going to put diapers on something? [/QUOTE] Sure, the joke is a stretch but the diaper explanation is the only show in town, it’s the only explanation that makes sense. (Taking to pamper literally, ie showering Bart with attention to the point of discomfort, is an even bigger stretch). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/11 "2008-01-24T05:55:59Z")
[QUOTE=treis] I don’t really buy the diaper thing. When was the last time you heard someone use the phrase “to pamper” and mean that they are going to put diapers on something? [/QUOTE] Never, but Bart doesn’t know that. He hears the word “pamper” and associates it only with what he knows: diapers. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/12 "2008-01-24T05:59:12Z")
**GuanoLad** nailed it. Put that way, the gag isn’t even a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/13 "2008-01-24T06:02:21Z")
I concur with the diaper thing. When I was a kid my mom said stuff like “poopy pampers” and “put the pamper on the baby” all the time. Pampering, to some, is pretty much the same as “xeroxing” or “googling.” ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/14 "2008-01-24T14:34:41Z")
Definitely diapers. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/15 "2008-01-24T14:38:28Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Never, but Bart doesn’t know that. He hears the word “pamper” and associates it only with what he knows: diapers. [/QUOTE] That’s the subtle twist in the joke, I think - he thinks the ‘literal’ meaning of pamper is something to do with diapers (implying, perhaps, that he would consider the real meaning to be a derivative of the product name). ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/16 "2008-01-24T14:40:58Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] I concur with the diaper thing. When I was a kid my mom said stuff like “poopy pampers” and “put the pamper on the baby” all the time. Pampering, to some, is pretty much the same as “xeroxing” or “googling.” [/QUOTE] Yeah, watch a show like _The First 48_ and you’ll hear things like “He was a good daddy, he always kept our baby in pampers”. It’s a synonym for “diapers”, although one that probably doesn’t please the people who police the “Pampers” trademark. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/17 "2008-01-24T14:42:22Z")
Bart definitely knows what Pampers are from this exchange from Boy Scouts N the Hood: Nelson: What’s in the bag, wuss? [grabs it from Bart] Oh, look: [contemptuously] Campers’ Pampers. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/18 "2008-01-24T14:46:24Z")
Isn’t there a term for former brand names that become generic terms- aspirin and xerox for other examples? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/19 "2008-01-24T15:48:00Z")
Eponyms? Or more specifically, ‘proprietary eponyms’. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/20 "2008-01-24T15:48:50Z")
[QUOTE=Rube E. Tewesday] Yeah, watch a show like _The First 48_ and you’ll hear things like “He was a good daddy, he always kept our baby in pampers”. It’s a synonym for “diapers”, although one that probably doesn’t please the people who police the “Pampers” trademark. [/QUOTE] The trend in today’s television is product placement, because many viewers record shows and zip past the real ads. In other words, if a character said Pampers®, then Pampers paid for the mention. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782.md?page=2)