# Larson comic - what's the funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [September 20, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434 "2023-09-20T20:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/41 "2023-09-21T00:59:50Z")
He’s filling up with water so he can go on a peeing spree with his buddies. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/42 "2023-09-21T01:02:41Z")
Is that something dogs do? Roam the streets with their buddies peeing on stuff? I wouldn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/43 "2023-09-21T01:03:22Z")
I take it you’ve never had a pet dog… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/44 "2023-09-21T01:04:48Z")
The tune for “John Brown’s Body” was later used in “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/45 "2023-09-21T01:04:59Z")
Peeing and sniffing other dog’s pee is instinctive behavior for dogs. A dog walk can be called “checking the pee-mail.” ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/46 "2023-09-21T01:06:43Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/47 "2023-09-21T01:08:27Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I saw this recently: Not all mixups result in nonsense. This caption switch improved _both_ comics: [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D2IqRFRWkAELaXC?format=jpg&name=large) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D2IqRFRWkAELaXC?format=jpg&name=large) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/48 "2023-09-21T01:08:32Z")
That was mentioned in the Wiki post. Julia Ward Howe found the original lyrics to be morbid and resolved to pen better ones herself. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/49 "2023-09-21T01:09:23Z")
Ooops ---
**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:** [September 21, 2023, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/50 "2023-09-21T01:13:06Z")
It just feels to me like there should be more to the joke. Something about the body shop should reference the lyrics of the song. Otherwise the joke would just be the title, and not the accompanying image. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/51 "2023-09-21T01:17:35Z")
They also use pee to mark their territories and property. Hence the old gag of dogs peeing on trees, fire hydrants, and people they happen to like. One of the funniest cartoons I’ve ever seen was about a guy taking his dog into the woods to show him how to pee on trees instead of furniture. The dog “gets” it and starts peeing on furniture standing on two legs instead of three. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/52 "2023-09-21T01:25:05Z")
My interpretation was somewhat similar, at least when I was a kid dogs loved drinking water from hoses (you can look up videos of this all over YouTube) and so the dog is “pre-gaming” by drinking out of the hose, like when dudes drink alcohol before hanging out with their buddies. So a dog looking forward to a rowdy all nighter would be drinking out of a hose. ---
**Author:** ![Bashorian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bashorian/32/3546_2.png) [@Bashorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bashorian)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/53 "2023-09-21T01:52:39Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > The hose symbolizes Lincoln’s prioritization of the Union over abolition. I took it as an existential representation of the Mason-Dixon line, but this made me think. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/54 "2023-09-21T02:32:20Z")
Sorry, I misremembered the caption: [![](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/cc/44/d9/cc44d9b19803c1e49c4a056b6de4568a.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/cc/44/d9/cc44d9b19803c1e49c4a056b6de4568a.jpg) Larson said he didn’t expect the response this one got. I guess he didn’t realize the composition was a bit off. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/55 "2023-09-21T02:43:27Z")
As an aside, I remember an issue of _ **Little Lulu at Summer Camp** _ where the kids sang this version around a campfire: _John Brown’s baby had a cold upon his chest,_ (3x) _so he rubbed it with camphorated oil._ I wonder how many other variants there have been. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/56 "2023-09-21T02:46:34Z")
It happened twice. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D2IqRFSWsAELLUa?format=jpg&name=large) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D2IqRFSWsAELLUa?format=jpg&name=large) ---
**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:** [September 21, 2023, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/57 "2023-09-21T10:49:41Z")
Theory: All _Dennis the Menace_ cartoons could be improved by replacing their caption with one from _The Far Side_. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/58 "2023-09-21T11:28:29Z")
Corollary: there’s no helping _Family Circus_ ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/59 "2023-09-21T11:31:06Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > s that something dogs do? Roam the streets with their buddies peeing on stuff? I wouldn’t know. Now you do! Ignorance…um…y’know… Dan ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2023, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/60 "2023-09-21T11:49:36Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > The hose symbolizes Lincoln’s prioritization of the Union over abolition. Yes, obviously. That’s the first thing I thought of when I viewed the panel, even before I read the sign. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434.md?page=4)