# Not so fast, Sparky! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 29, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745 "2020-07-29T19:18:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flitcraft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@flitcraft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flitcraft)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/1 "2020-07-29T19:18:46Z")
Where did the expression “Not so fast, Sparky!” (or “Not so fast there, Sparky!”) originate? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/2 "2020-07-29T19:26:55Z")
I believe it started with the comic strip _Barney Google_ which was hugely popular a hundred years ago. Barney Google had a racehorse named Spark Plug (nicknamed Sparky) who wasn’t very good at racing. Barney Google, the supposed lead character, became overshadowed by his horse and the strip was renamed _Barney Google and Spark Plug_. Having learned nothing from this, Google visited the south ten years later and met a local moonshine named Snuffy Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/3 "2020-07-29T19:34:20Z")
I think ‘Billy deBeck’ is my cousin. I also know a moonshiner. Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/4 "2020-07-29T21:32:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Having learned nothing from this, Google visited the south ten years later and met a local moonshine named Snuffy Smith. I hadn’t thought of “Barney Google and Snuffy Smith” in eons. And yeah, I think only once did I see ol’ Barney make an appearance. The year in and year out everyday characters were Snuffy and Loweezy and their kin. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/5 "2020-07-29T22:29:45Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I hadn’t thought of “Barney Google and Snuffy Smith” in eons. And yeah, I think only once did I see ol’ Barney make an appearance. The year in and year out everyday characters were Snuffy and Loweezy and their kin. According to Wikipedia, Barney Google last made an appearance in the strip in 2012 when he visited the Smith family. His most recent appearance before that was in 1997 during another visit. Despite this, the strip is still titled _Barney Google and Snuffy Smith_ (I can remember reading it as a child and wondering why). ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/6 "2020-07-31T17:12:53Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I also know a moonshiner. Does that mean you know how/where to get “the good stuff”? \< with dreams of driving down a road with a liquor store carton in the back full of empty 1.75L bottles dancing in their heads \> ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/7 "2020-07-31T17:56:10Z")
I do know where to get the ‘stuff’ Cannot vouch for it’s ‘goodness’ The moonshiner is an Albino black man. He also claims to be a witch-doctor. these things just write themselves ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/8 "2020-07-31T18:21:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > According to Wikipedia, Barney Google last made an appearance in the strip in 2012 when he visited the Smith family. His most recent appearance before that was in 1997 during another visit. Despite this, the strip is still titled _Barney Google and Snuffy Smith_ (I can remember reading it as a child and wondering why). So sort of like Godot (as in “Waiting for”), he’s the title character who never puts in an appearance? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/9 "2020-07-31T18:38:05Z")
Did you Google that? 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/10 "2020-07-31T18:46:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > So sort of like Godot (as in “Waiting for”), he’s the title character who never puts in an appearance? Did you know that Olive Oyl was the original lead character in the _Thimble Theatre_ comic strip? Popeye the sailor first appeared ten years into the strip and was supposed to be a minor temporary character. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/11 "2020-07-31T20:15:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Did you know that Olive Oyl was the original lead character in the _Thimble Theatre_ comic strip? Popeye the sailor first appeared ten years into the strip and was supposed to be a minor temporary character Popeye replaced Olive’s original boyfriend, Ham Gravy, who hired him to crew his ship for a treasure hunt. I read _Terry and the Pirates_ for years wondering when the pirates were going to show up. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/12 "2020-07-31T20:47:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Popeye replaced Olive’s original boyfriend, Ham Gravy, who hired him to crew his ship for a treasure hunt. 😮 I feel like I just found out my sister is my mother. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/13 "2020-07-31T21:01:35Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > 😮 > I feel like I just found out my sister is my mother. Here’s [Popeye’s first appearance](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c5/2f/b0/c52fb0cd60870b3eae5fa6f8f87fa432.jpg), together with Olive’s brother Castor Oyl and her boyfriend Harold Hamgravy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/14 "2020-07-31T21:11:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Popeye replaced Olive’s original boyfriend, Ham Gravy, who hired him to crew his ship for a treasure hunt. Ham Gravy was a nickname. His real name was Harold Hamgravy. It was Castor Oyl not Ham Gravy who hired Popeye. And before Popeye (or Bluto) showed up, Ham Gravy’s rival for Olive Oyl’s affections was the villainous Willie Wormwood. Did you think somebody using the username Little Nemo wouldn’t know this stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/15 "2020-07-31T21:16:17Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Did you think somebody using the username Little Nemo wouldn’t know this stuff? Of course I knew you would know it. I was just elaborating on what you wrote for the benefit of others. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/16 "2020-07-31T21:19:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > According to Wikipedia, Barney Google last made an appearance in the strip in 2012 [Wikipedia needs an update](https://joshreads.com/2019/12/those-have-to-be-some-extremely-twee-and-artisanal-tube-socks-to-come-in-a-box-rather-than-shrink-wrapped-plastic/). ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/17 "2020-07-31T22:26:37Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Here’s [Popeye’s first appearance](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c5/2f/b0/c52fb0cd60870b3eae5fa6f8f87fa432.jpg), together with **Olive’s brother Castor Oyl** and her boyfriend Harold Hamgravy. I’m going to need a hamburger now. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/18 "2020-07-31T22:34:42Z")
You really don’t want to get into the whole Oyl family if you value your sanity. Her father Cole (Coal) Oyl, mother Nana (Banana) Oyl, Uncles Otto (Auto) and Lubra Kent Oyl… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/19 "2020-08-01T01:59:03Z")
Castor Oyl’s wife, Cylinda Oyl. Interestingly, Cylinda Oyl disappeared from the strip right before Popeye appeared. Coincidence? Or the first comic strip character to transition? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745/20 "2020-08-01T05:05:51Z")
Since this is about comics, let’s move it to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-sparky/916745.md?page=2)