# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/41 "2008-01-25T04:29:22Z")
[QUOTE=treis] Now that makes sense! Bart’s worried that they will literally cram him full of food. [/QUOTE] Where is Bart going to hear the archaic definition of a word like that? And he wouldn’t be upset at free food - he’s no Homer, but he can be a glutton himself. Sorry, **treis** , but you’re overthinking this. He’s worried they’re going to put him in diapers. This is the Bart who confuses stoats with corn. [Okay, okay, that’s many seasons later.] ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/42 "2008-01-25T04:30:25Z")
The Simpsons is full of jokes where a character knows something they shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/43 "2008-01-25T05:17:31Z")
[QUOTE=treis] Now that makes sense! Bart’s worried that they will literally cram him full of food. [/QUOTE] Yeah, it’s from the old Norse. ---
**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 25, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/44 "2008-01-25T05:17:42Z")
[QUOTE=treis] The Simpsons is full of jokes where a character knows something they shouldn’t. [/QUOTE] And this could one of those times but for the inconvenient and troublesome fact that it’s not _funny_ that way. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/45 "2008-01-25T06:35:16Z")
[QUOTE=treis] But how does “Not literally” explain anything then? [/QUOTE] Lisa’s vocabulary is better than Bart’s, but her word choice is not always perfect (she’s only 8, after all). She once described Krusty’s third nipple as [superfluous](http://nohomers.net/archive/index.php/t-37622-p-15.html) , when she should have called it [supernumerary](http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic735.htm) . ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/46 "2008-01-25T06:45:20Z")
cause really, aren’t all nipples on men superfluous? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/47 "2008-01-25T06:50:10Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] cause really, aren’t all nipples on men superfluous? [/QUOTE] That was my thought, but I didn’t want to trigger an Intelligent Design debate. They can be fun, though. Nipples, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/48 "2008-01-25T14:51:02Z")
[QUOTE=treis] But how does “Not literally” explain anything then? [/QUOTE] Because “pampering” someone, in the sense of babying them or giving them special treatment, is a metaphor derived from the original sense of “Pampering” meaning to put Pampers on. Okay, not really, but I can imagine a kid like Lisa thinking this. ---
**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 25, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/49 "2008-01-25T15:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Because “pampering” someone, in the sense of babying them or giving them special treatment, is a metaphor derived from the original sense of “Pampering” meaning to put Pampers on. Okay, not really, but I can imagine a kid like Lisa thinking this. [/QUOTE] You can? I just figured Lisa meant “pamper” as you described (“special treatment”) and the company that makes Pampers had a similar thought umpteen years ago and named their product accordingly. Bart, having a smaller vocabulary (though he _is_ familiar with the works of Pablo Neruda), thought only of the diaper name and not the original verb. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/50 "2008-01-25T16:36:55Z")
C’mon, it’s Bart. Even when he isn’t, he wants to be _thought of_ as cool. No way would he ever race to the front of the airplane if the prize was being put in diapers. Remember how mortified he was when his parents were looking at his baby pictures. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/51 "2008-01-25T18:14:36Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] they’ve hinted a few times that Moe is nicer than he lets on, like when he cries while reading _Little Women_ to the men at the homeless shelter, or his friendship with Maggie, or his adventures after the end of Homer’s boxing career. [/QUOTE] On the other hand, they’ve also hinted once or twice that he’s a lot nastier than he lets on, such as when he delights in the female panda (which is really Homer) being raped “Heh, you’re going nowhea sweetie”. Others may feel differently but one of the things that I love about the Simpsons is that the writers feel free to completely change someone’s character to suit whatever point they’re making at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/52 "2008-01-25T18:35:57Z")
[QUOTE=G. Odoreida] On the other hand, they’ve also hinted once or twice that he’s a lot nastier than he lets on, such as when he delights in the female panda (which is really Homer) being raped “Heh, you’re going nowhea sweetie”. [/quote] Hey, he’s honest about being ugly and hate-filled. 😉 That does fit with their habit of characters getting more extreme over the years. His relationships and feelings about women have also gotten pretty twisted. He’s a mess. Even his regular customers notice sometimes: Homer: Geez Moe, you’ve been a real crank lately. Moe: [pointing a shotgun at Homer] You take that back! Homer: You’re always pointing that shotgun at us. Lenny: And calling us dumbasses! Carl: Which we’re _so_ not. > [@](#): > > Others may feel differently but one of the things that I love about the Simpsons is that the writers feel free to completely change someone’s character to suit whatever point they’re making at the time. It’s got its pluses and minuses. I think people get too hung up on the minor stuff sometimes, but I like a certain basic level of consistency in the characters. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/53 "2008-01-25T18:38:36Z")
Moe is a nice guy sometimes, but we can tell he obvious takes part in some of the more sinful pleasures in life, such as when he assumes Alice in Wonderland is a spoof of a porno called Alice in Underpants, rather than the other way around. Then there’s his Deer Hunter-style Russian roulette ring, his panda-smuggling ring, his killer whale-smuggling ring, and whatever other illegal rings he has. ---
**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 26, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/54 "2008-01-26T01:12:29Z")
And him being banned from the church, and all. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/55 "2008-01-26T03:13:33Z")
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] Did anyone else expect this thread to be about “Sneed’s Seed & Feed?” [/QUOTE] “Formerly Chuck’s” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782/56 "2008-01-26T05:42:46Z")
[QUOTE=Rhythmdvl] [hijack] At the end of the Lord of the Flies-like episode, Jame Earl Jones (?) intones that the kids are rescued by “oh, say, Moe” or something like that. Is that just a quirk or is there some allusion that I’m missing?[/hijack] [/QUOTE] I’ve heard that it’s a reference to the somewhat jarring end of ‘Lord of the Flies’, where this naval officer shows up to interrupt the final confrontation between the kids and rescue them, a character that none of them had ever heard of before. With a usual Simpsons twist a’course! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-a-simpsons-joke/434782.md?page=2)