# Nobody got my witty one-liner at work today **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797 "2010-05-26T04:10:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/41 "2010-05-26T14:57:05Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > Bummer, dude. FWIW, I would have roared. > > For the record, that’s [“Entrance of the Gladiators”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrance_of_the_Gladiators) ([YouTube link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B0CyOAO8y0)). > [@Colophon](#): > > Ah, of course. (But is it just me that has a hard time associating the bouncy fairground organ tune with gladiators?) Are you not entertained? Joke shamelessly stolen from [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=437177) ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/42 "2010-05-26T14:59:42Z")
How’s this for an example of ancient pop culture? Mick Jagger was staying at the Playboy Mansion one time, and walked into a room to find Hef beating the absolute snot out of Dennis Weaver. Shocked at what he saw, Mick shouted, "Hey, Hugh, off of McCloud! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/43 "2010-05-26T15:20:17Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Hey, you. > > Get offa my clown. 😛 **switches to the third earwig launched by this thread** ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/44 "2010-05-26T15:44:55Z")
In all seriousness, I didn’t know I could have the Rolling Stones and Bippy the clown playing earwigs in my head both at once. this is the inaugural (heh!) run of my dual earwig playback circuits. Unexpectedly, the competing tempos are far more distracting than the disharmony. Isn’t it bliss? ---
**Author:** ![Kickback\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/cdc98d/32.png) [@Kickback\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kickback_Joe)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/45 "2010-05-26T16:26:11Z")
I found it funny but maybe it is because according to my son, who just moved out, I am old. My buddy from Albuquerque called me the other day upset because of the exact same thing as the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/46 "2010-05-26T16:36:25Z")
> [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > Don’t you approve? Are you a pair. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/47 "2010-05-26T16:37:54Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > How’s this for an example of ancient pop culture? > > Mick Jagger was staying at the Playboy Mansion one time, and walked into a room to find Hef beating the absolute snot out of Dennis Weaver. > > Shocked at what he saw, Mick shouted, "Hey, Hugh, off of McCloud! What’s the difference between Mick Jagger and a Scotsman? Mick says, “Hey, you, get offa my cloud.” The Scotsman says “Hey, McCloud, get offa my ewe” ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/48 "2010-05-26T16:39:10Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > third earwig > [@TruCelt](#): > > I didn’t know I could have the Rolling Stones and Bippy the clown playing earwigs in my head both at once. Although I despise both terms (gross!), it’s usually called an ear **WORM**. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/49 "2010-05-26T16:45:30Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > … > > Isn’t it bliss? Wait! You didn’t really just say that… did you? ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/50 "2010-05-26T16:52:40Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Wait! > You didn’t really just say that… did you? What, don’t you approve? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/51 "2010-05-26T17:23:01Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I can’t look at the videos from here, but to me “send in the clowns” is a stock phrase, so yes I find it a funny, if slightly obvious (!) joke. It doesn’t make me think of any tune in particular, though, so I’m not sure what the ear-worm comments are. “Send in the clowns” is a stock phrase that predates the Stephen Sondheim song. It’s from circus lingo, and was used when a disaster or problem occurred – the clowns would be sent in to distract the audience. Here is the definition from [Urban Dictionary](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Send%20in%20the%20clowns). Sondheim himself apparently explained that he wrote the song to reference the existing phrase in a theatre sense, meaning “if the show isn’t going well, let’s send in the clowns”. That said, I immediately got the joke and thought it was funny, but then whenever I see or hear about a clown, either “Send in the Clowns” or “Be a Clown” (“Make 'Em Laugh”) starts running through my head. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/52 "2010-05-26T17:35:21Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Are you not entertained? > > Joke shamelessly stolen from [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=437177) What the heck? I started a thread asking exactly what that tune is that I thought might be “Send in the Clowns”? I don’t remember that! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/53 "2010-05-26T17:48:06Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Although I despise both terms (gross!), it’s usually called an ear **WORM**. So 'tis. Oh well. Hey – you – get offa my cloud! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/54 "2010-05-26T18:49:52Z")
nm. Ninja’d by **Scarlett67**. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/55 "2010-05-27T16:53:25Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Slow on the uptake? Maybe they just aren’t well versed in ancient pop-culture. I certainly wouldn’t have gotten it. Ancient pop-culture? YOU! LAWN OFF! ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/56 "2010-05-27T19:50:46Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > The OP made me smile – this made me giggle uncontrollably. Oh, yes, this. The Beatles one is hilarious. Congrats to your dad. I’d have got the joke in the OP (and I agree, I don’t think it’s generational - I’m 22), but I don’t think I’d have laughed out loud unless the person in question had only hummed it (extremely deadpan), as **panache45** would have done. Just a quirk in my sense of humour, I guess. Or, reading the Mick jokes further on, I suspect it might just be that I’m a huge Beatles and Stones fan, whereas Sinatra - he’s great, yeah, but I’m just not as into him. Beatles one is still the best (and I do like the Stones better, as a rule). ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/57 "2010-05-27T19:52:59Z")
[I feel your pain](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=521029). ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/58 "2010-05-27T21:13:48Z")
Leaving church one Sunday, I told the priest that every sermon he preaches is better than the next. He smiled and thank me; I don’t think he got it. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/59 "2010-05-27T22:43:29Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > My wife missed one yesterday… I was telling her that my manager had been kicked out of a nightclub at the weekend (which although unlikely is not totally impossible to imagine). > > The problems started when the DJ played “Come on Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners… True confession time: I had to look that one up. Popular culture (even 30 years ago) is pretty much a closed book to me. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797/60 "2010-05-27T23:16:40Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > No – after you say "Send them in, you _have_ to say “There ought to be clowns” first. > > _Then_ (preferably after they’ve come in) you get to say “Don’t bother. They’re here.” Exactly. Just saying “Send them in” is too generic and common a phrase to suggest you’re making a reference. Any well-placed pop culture joke has to have something just slightly off-kilter and distinctive enough that even if they don’t get it, it will make people do a minor double take–“Why’d he put it _that_ way?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-got-my-witty-one-liner-at-work-today/540797.md?page=4)