# Explain this cartoon to me? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 4, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325 "2013-02-04T18:49:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/21 "2013-02-05T08:12:17Z")
> [@colander](#): > > I swear, the New Yorker must have a policy of rejecting all cartoon submissions that are actually funny. OTOH, it was the New Yorker that gave us [On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog) (Peter Steiner, July 5, 1993). ---
**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:** [February 5, 2013, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/22 "2013-02-05T09:02:08Z")
I thought heliotrope was a colour. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/23 "2013-02-05T10:39:56Z")
Isn’t the New Yorker something pretentious people like to share with each other to show off their mental superiority? I imagine this is something they talk about as they sip their cup of tea with their pinky finger stuck out. Kind of like a real life Buzz Killington. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/24 "2013-02-05T12:42:12Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I thought heliotrope was a colour. Yes. It’s the colour of heliotropes. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/25 "2013-02-05T13:01:41Z")
Oh. Like oranges. I think. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/26 "2013-02-06T02:25:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **colander** nailed it. > It’s a cartoon by Booth, many of whjose cartoons aren’t subtle or “ha ha” funny. The joke in this one is her agitation and the looks and reactions from the others in the cartoon. It’s really a bit of drawn slapstick, and as subtle as a sledgehammer. All I can say is, Booth is no Jack Davis. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/27 "2013-02-06T05:50:14Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > All I can say is, Booth is no Jack Davis. Hell, he ain’t even Jim Davis. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/28 "2013-02-06T06:13:54Z")
My first reaction was: HOLY FUCK! 125 dollars? If they actually sell any of those, I think I found the joke. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/29 "2013-02-06T14:45:19Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > My first reaction was: > > HOLY FUCK! 125 dollars? > If they actually sell any of those, I think I found the joke. That’s my thought, too. The joke is whoever actually wastes his money on a print. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/30 "2013-02-06T16:53:44Z")
> [@colander](#): > > The joke is that the woman is getting very upset over a trivial gardening problem that does not warrant such a reaction. > > I swear, the New Yorker must have a policy of rejecting all cartoon submissions that are actually funny. I like the cartoon. As to funny New Yorker panels, didn’t they: [http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/They-were-bred-originally-to-be-hors-d-uvres-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints\_i8544642\_.htm](http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/They-were-bred-originally-to-be-hors-d-uvres-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8544642_.htm) ? David Sipress. I think it’s hilarious, and every time I see a Chihuahua being walked out in River Oaks, I think of this cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/31 "2013-02-07T01:34:43Z")
P.S. Shouldn’t a cartoon thread be in Cafe Society? Just asking. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/32 "2013-02-07T04:14:27Z")
> [@colander](#): > > Hell, he ain’t even Jim Davis. Oooooh, that’s gotta hurt. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/33 "2013-02-07T04:55:45Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > [For decades!](http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/It-s-broccoli-dear-I-say-it-s-spinach-and-I-say-the-hell-with-it-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8562908_.htm) > [@Senegoid](#): > > OTOH, it was the New Yorker that gave us [On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog) (Peter Steiner, July 5, 1993). > [@SirGalahad](#): > > I like the cartoon. As to funny New Yorker panels, didn’t they: > > [http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/They-were-bred-originally-to-be-hors-d-uvres-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints\_i8544642\_.htm](http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/They-were-bred-originally-to-be-hors-d-uvres-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8544642_.htm) The hell with it! I find all three of these to be hilarious. The one in the OP, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/34 "2013-02-07T10:37:19Z")
_New Yorker_ cartoons become funny once the caption is changed to [“Christ, what an asshole.”](http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/06/christ-what-an-asshole-is-only-001-of-new-yorker-caption-contest-subs/) Try it, it works for almost all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/35 "2013-02-07T19:12:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > As I said, it’s the _drawing_ of the animals that’s funny. No. That shitty ass drawing of the dog biting it’s ass is not funny. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/36 "2013-02-08T02:06:58Z")
Before I even opened the link I was going to guess that the OP was talking about a New Yorker cartoon. It is a different brand of humor that is sometimes funny because of the sheer absurdity. But not to everybody. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/37 "2013-02-08T02:18:03Z")
Now that it is pointed out to me, it does work as a sort of meta-humor. It’s funny because it’s exactly the kind of pretentious, unfunny cartoon you’d find in the New Yorker. So it works on that level. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/38 "2013-02-08T04:46:37Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > OTOH, it was the New Yorker that gave us [On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog) (Peter Steiner, July 5, 1993). Wow, he drew the most reprinted comic in the history of the New Yorker, and has earned just $50,000 from it? you can earn that much from 1 viral Youtube video. I guess that says something about how often people feel the need to reproduce New Yorker cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/39 "2013-02-08T05:19:08Z")
Cartoons are like gossamer and one doesn’t dissect gossamer. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325/40 "2013-02-08T15:36:16Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Cartoons are like gossamer and one doesn’t dissect gossamer. Unless you’re really really hungry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-cartoon-to-me/649325.md?page=3)