# Obsure printing term in Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989 "2020-11-07T17:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/1 "2020-11-07T17:07:04Z")
In the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon “The Guns of Abalone,” there is a scene in which a British man is holding up a newspaper and another man is British reading the headline. The narrator says “…and there in black packer (?) were the words, 'Guns of Abalone Renew Firing.” (When the narrator gets to the word “packer” he says it with a slight British accent: “packah.”) See episode link, below: [Reference starts at 1:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMo2bllnB1c) From context, I’m guessing that “packer” refers either to the ink or the font/typeface of the headline–but I have no freakin’ idea! (Does “packer” mean “condensed font”?) I’ve found that “paka” was a British word for tobacco…could “black paka” have been a slang term comparing ink with chewed tobacco spit? (Seems highly unlikely, but this was all I could discover.) Please help me out, here, people! ---
**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:** [November 7, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/2 "2020-11-07T17:22:12Z")
It is pica, but they are using the word in a way that makes no sense. (It brings to mind the movie _[Centigrade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centigrade_(2020_film))_) > **[Pica (typography)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(typography))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The pica is a typographic unit of measure corresponding to approximately 1⁄6 of an inch, or from 1⁄68 to 1⁄73 of a foot. One pica is further divided into 12 points. > In printing, three pica measures are used: > Publishing applications such as Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress represent pica measurements with whole-number picas left of a lower-case p, followed by the points number, for example: 5p6 represents 5 picas and 6 points, or 51⁄2 picas. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/3 "2020-11-07T17:48:20Z")
If he’s saying “pica”, he’s not talking about the typographic unit of measure. His talking about the font. > The most widespread fonts in typewriters are 10 and 12 pitch, called _pica_ and _elite_ , respectively. from > **[Pitch (typewriter)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_(typewriter))** > > Pitch is the number of (monospaced) letters, numbers and spaces in one inch (25.4 mm) of running text, that is, characters per inch (abbreviated cpi), measured horizontally. The pitch was most often used as a measurement of the size of typewriter fonts as well as those of impact printers used with computers. > The most widespread fonts in typewriters are 10 and 12 pitch, called Pica and Elite, respectively. Both fonts have the same x-height, yielding six lines per vertical inch. There may be other... When I was in college, we always made sure to type our term papers on an elite typewriter, to pad out the page count. A newspaper might use pica, to pack more words into a smaller space. I just looked “pica” up in the dictionary. It is pronounced with a long “i”. I have been mispronouncing it for several decades. (And my professors, for decades before that.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/5 "2020-11-07T18:09:10Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > If he’s saying “pica”, he’s not talking about the typographic unit of measure. His talking about the font. Good idea, but typewriter fonts and newspaper fonts are usually different. And I found the Rocky & Bullwinkle episode on YouTube, and while it does sound like he’s saying “black pakka”, why specify black? Newspapers were _always_ in black ink. So _perhaps_ he’s actually saying “in black and white” and we’re misinterpreting? ---
**Author:** ![Vesicant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/43a26b/32.png) [@Vesicant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vesicant)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/6 "2020-11-07T19:59:44Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > why specify black Black is a font weight, heavier than bold. So it kind of means “screaming headline.” ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/7 "2020-11-07T20:06:48Z")
“Black and white” doesn’t sound like “black pakka.” I’m thinking this is some sort of antiquated British slang. But I have no idea what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/8 "2020-11-07T20:07:50Z")
But this was an American show. It’s been a while; did they use a lot of British slang? ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/9 "2020-11-07T20:10:13Z")
Yes, it was American, but these are British characters. If you listen to the narrator, as he’s saying the part about “black pakka” (or “black packer”) he lapses from American into British accent. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/10 "2020-11-07T20:12:16Z")
In that case, how about “pukka”? ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/11 "2020-11-07T20:13:10Z")
Also, Jay Ward had a quirky sense of humor. He liked to slip a lot of obscure jokes into the mix (eg, “The Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam.”) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/12 "2020-11-07T20:14:19Z")
Or even “The Guns of Abalone”, rather than The Guns of Navarone. ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/13 "2020-11-07T20:18:49Z")
That’s pronounced “puck-ah”–but it certainly makes sense! That would be like saying “absolute black.” I think you may have something, there! ---
**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:** [November 7, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/14 "2020-11-07T20:40:29Z")
“In black Pica” makes perfect sense to me, if Pica is a font. It would be like saying “There, in bold Impact” when talking about a meme today. It would fit the idea of it being newspaper jargon to mention the font. The test would then be to see if headlines in any British paper were in ultta-bold Pica (in the same way many memme pics use Impact Bold). ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/15 "2020-11-07T21:24:47Z")
Yes…except that’s pronounced “pie-cuh” and is very small…unless they’re using it ironically, like calling a short guy “Stretch.” ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/16 "2020-11-07T21:26:30Z")
> [@Hakushon](#): > > it was American, but these are British characters I always thought that they where Canadian. Where moose are from and Russia was only a iceberg away. ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/17 "2020-11-07T21:28:12Z")
If you watch the clip, you’ll see that the British characters I’m referring to are not Rocky and Bullwinkle, but little British (human) chaps. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/18 "2020-11-07T21:28:50Z")
> [@Hakushon](#): > > lso, Jay Ward had a quirky sense of humor. He liked to slip a lot of obscure jokes into the mix (eg, “The Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam.”) > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Or even “The Guns of Abalone”, rather than The Guns of Navarone. Those might be obscure _now_, but they were only adult _then_ – R & B has always been noted for it’s cross-over audience [The Rocky and Bullwinkle Effect: Why You Should Consider Marketing to Multiple Audiences | Entrepreneur](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248150) (sounds like “pica” to me) ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/19 "2020-11-07T21:34:10Z")
Y’all are right (everyone who said pica): it probably IS pica. ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/20 "2020-11-07T21:34:45Z")
…just pronounced very strangely. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989/21 "2020-11-07T21:37:19Z")
Whats that got to do with the price of milk? 😄 Sounded like “and there in black pacca” to me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obsure-printing-term-in-rocky-and-bullwinkle-cartoon/924989.md?page=2)