# Oh! I just got that! (sound of hand smacking forehead) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2001, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805 "2001-01-26T01:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/121 "2001-03-05T12:16:11Z")
Tequila Mockingbird. _SMACK_ sigh. I just told my mother (in Boston) the “Frugal Fannie/Cheap Ass” one. I could swear that, even through 8,000 miles of telephone cable, I could hear the coffee squirt out her nose. Ok, one of my own. I read the following joke when I was about 4 or 5 years old. Teacher: “Johnny, make a sentence containing the following words: detail, defeat, deduct, defense.” Johnny: “Defeat of deduct went over defense before detail.” Me (for the next 15 years): “Huh?” –sublight. ---
**Author:** ![Totoro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Totoro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totoro)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/122 "2001-03-05T13:57:27Z")
As a boston doper, the frugal fannies thing is a gigantic smack to the forehead. Sweet lord. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_The\_Younger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d9b06d/32.png) [@Paul\_The\_Younger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_The_Younger)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/123 "2001-03-05T15:52:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zgystardst \* > \*\ ***callie:** see [this post.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1166696#post1166696) And welcome to the board! \*\* **zgy** , thanks for the assist… If I may repeat, **there is no _thing_ about Cecil’s name** , just what turned into (I think) a very funny running joke, that has reached it’s end…there really is nothing else to be known, **thinksnow, redboss, and I were pulling your leg.** When I said his middle name was “Snipe”, I was referring to a “snipe hunt” – a practical joke version of a wild-goose chase. OK? :rolleyes: For those of you who will continue after this to believe that there is SOMETHING that we’re holding back from you…go rent a copy of “Alien Autopsy” and relax. (BTW, about 32 minutes in there’s a quick shot of some of the remains of the alien craft and you can just make out on the left near the charring, the letters **CCL-ADMS**. Coincidence? You decide…)[/sub] 🙂 And **zgy** , thanks for my very own forehead slap – ziggy stardust? How did I miss that? Paul ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/124 "2001-03-05T16:31:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SINsApple \* > \*\*Didja know that Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song are the same tune with different words? I know, I know. Even grade school kids know that, but I would just like to point out that three of us college kids were stunned by the realization last night. \*\* And also “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.” And you do know who wrote that little ditty, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_The\_Younger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d9b06d/32.png) [@Paul\_The\_Younger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_The_Younger)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/125 "2001-03-05T20:44:41Z")
Aaahhh, no…Robert Conrad? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaz)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/126 "2001-03-05T23:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balance \* > \*\*However, Guanolad’s Potter puns have inspired me to share a few of the things I noticed in the books that have so far \ everyone I’ve to whom I’ve mentioned them. (No doubt more people in England caught some of them.) Some of these are rather simple-minded, and others are quite obscure. Off the top of my head, in no particular order: > > Flourish & Blotts–The writing references are obvious. Moving on. > > _Unfogging the Future_, Cassandra Vablatsky–Cassandra > _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore, _A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch, _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander…these should be obvious when you look at them now. Quentin Trimble is too obvious. > > Remus Lupin–Again, too obvious. > > Sibyll Trelawney–A Divination teacher named Sibyll…need I say more? > \*\* OK, I guess I’m jsut stupid, but I really don’t get these… ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/127 "2001-03-06T00:12:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Didja know that Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song are the same tune with different words? I know, I know. Even grade school kids know that, but I would just like to point out that three of us college kids were stunned by the realization last night. Ooh, that reminds me: There’s a radio commercial running here with music in the background for “The Bear Went Over The Mountain,” and every time I hear it I end up whistling “TBWOTM” for hours. But the script for the ad makes the point that a “jolly good fellow” would use [whatever service they’re shilling, and I don’t remember what that is]. So I’ve thought _repeatedly_ – “‘Jolly good fellow’: what an strange, almost archaic phrase to drop in the middle of an American radio ad. That’s so odd.” Until I realized that the tune for “TBWOTM” is also the tune for “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow.” Duh. ---
**Author:** ![SpidyReb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@SpidyReb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpidyReb)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/128 "2001-03-06T00:25:55Z")
Okay, add me to the list. The ABC/Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star thing just completely blew my mind. I had no clue. I am approximately 2 months from a college degree and did not know this. Damn, I feel like a dork. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/129 "2001-03-06T00:47:13Z")
Kaz, don’t feel bad–I just didn’t want to type 'em all out at the time. Like I said, almost no one seemed to notice these (in some cases, just because they aren’t funny). I suppose my real point was that a lot of the things that \ us do so just because we aren’t paying attention, or don’t have the same background as the originator (like Fawkes the phoenix–the reference is obvious to most Brits, obscure to Americans). I’ll clarify, then you can go astound any Harry Potter fans in your vicinity. I think I explained “Cassandra Vablatsky” well enough–it’s a play on the names of two famous seeresses. “Flourish” refers to adding some elaborate embellishment to something you’ve hand-written–a big, looping signature or the like. Back when quills were in more common use, most people used a “blotter” to get excess ink off of the quill before writing, to avoid making blots or blotches of ink on the paper. Big desk calendars with space for doodling follow in this tradition. “Spore” is a play on fungal spores, hence the connection to the title. “Switch” wrote the book on “switching spells” and other transfigurations. “Newt Scamander”, with its amphibian first name and soundalike last name, invokes images of salamanders, which would fall under the “fantastic beasts” heading. “Trimble” wrote about things that made Quirrell “tremble”. These didn’t strike me as funny, so I glossed over them. “Remus Lupin” is a double reference–Remus was the twin brother of Romulus (after whom Rome was named); they were suckled by a wolf. “Lupin” is a play on “lupine” or “wolflike”. After Hermione provided his name, I was just waiting for him to were-out. “Sibyll” is a much more obscure reference than I made it out to be. [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary) defines “sibyl” as: > [@](#): > > Main Entry: sib·yl > Pronunciation: 'si-b&l > Function: noun > Usage: often capitalized > Etymology: Middle English sibile, sybylle, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French sibile, from Latin sibylla, from Greek Date: 14th century > > 1 : any of several prophetesses usually accepted as 10 in number and credited to widely separate parts of the ancient world (as Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Italy) > > 2 a : a female prophet b : FORTUNE-TELLER ---
**Author:** ![dr\_hermes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@dr\_hermes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dr_hermes)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/130 "2001-03-06T01:32:31Z")
In a book of **New Yorker** cartoons, I spent an hour puzzling over one page. A man is driving on a highway. The road sign in front of him says SCOTLAND 5 MILES. Just ahead is an overpass with a sign SCOTLAND 8 MILES\> I’m sure many of you have already figured it out, but I went over and over that darn drawing for the longest time until a character in a movie sang "Loch Lomond’ at which point a little light bulb clicked on over my head. ---
**Author:** ![Protesilaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Protesilaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Protesilaus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/131 "2001-03-06T01:37:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kinsey \* > \*\*And also “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.” > And you do know who wrote that little ditty, don’t you? \*\* It was Mozart, right? ---
**Author:** ![SINsApple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@SINsApple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SINsApple)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/132 "2001-03-06T02:00:37Z")
Sappo: Welcome to my world. 🙂 dr. hermes: Could you explain further, I still don’t get it. Kinsey & Protesilaus: Is the Mozart thing just a tidbit of info, or am I missing something even bigger? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/133 "2001-03-06T02:29:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dr hermes \* > \*\* > > In a book of **New Yorker** cartoons, I spent an hour puzzling over one page. > > A man is driving on a highway. The road sign in front of him says SCOTLAND 5 MILES. Just ahead is an overpass with a sign SCOTLAND 8 MILES\> > > I’m sure many of you have already figured it out, but I went over and over that darn drawing for the longest time until a character in a movie sang "Loch Lomond’ at which point a little light bulb clicked on over my head. > \*\* Well, since SINsApple didn’t get this joke, I believe “Lock Lomond” is the song that goes “You take the high road and I’ll take the low road and I’ll be in Scotland before ye…” Ryan W. Mead® ---
**Author:** ![Protesilaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Protesilaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Protesilaus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/134 "2001-03-06T02:47:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SINsApple \* > \*\*Is the Mozart thing just a tidbit of info, or am I missing something even bigger? \*\* AFAIK, it’s just a tidbit. If there’s something bigger, I’m right there with ya. ---
**Author:** ![Protesilaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Protesilaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Protesilaus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/135 "2001-03-06T03:10:55Z")
After thinking about it for awhile, I suppose **Kinsey** could be referring to the music to a song about sheep being written by a guy named Wolfgang, but that’s just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/136 "2001-03-06T04:08:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SINsApple \* > \*\*Kinsey & Protesilaus: Is the Mozart thing just a tidbit of info, or am I missing something even bigger? \*\* No, just a tidbit of useless information. Call it Today’s Trivia Question. Most people are usually surprised to find out Mozart wrote “Twinkle, Twinkle” but I figured the Dopers would know. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/137 "2001-03-06T04:49:00Z")
Actually, the piece is called “12 Variations on ‘Ah! Vous dirai-je, maman’”. (I don’t mean to sound like a smartie-pants if I have come across as one.) ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/138 "2001-03-06T06:44:59Z")
Wow, I feel proud that I knew most of these things (I’ve known the ABC/Twinkle/baa baa thing for years, and I sort of caught on that there is no Cecil thing…) But… A few weeks ago I was at a friend’s house listening to an MP3 of Peter Frampton singing “Do You Feel Like We Do” live. The only time I’d heard the song was 5 seconds of it from The Simpsons (I had that episode on tape…) It wasn’t until I listened to the whole MP3 that I realized…wait a minute, that’s no cheap microphone trick, he’s doing that **with his guitar!** Oh my god! That’s amazing! I can’t believe I never realized it until I listened to the MP3. They even have a little joke in that episode of The Simpsons where Jimbo says “Man…that guy’s guitar is talkin’!” I always thought he was just so stoned that he thought the guitar was making the noise, I never got that the guitar was ACTUALLY MAKING THE NOISE! (In my own defense, I did figure it out the first time I listened to the song.) I have a whole new respect for Frampton now. Another South Park name pun that I didn’t get at first (mostly because I just didn’t pay attention): The black kid (in “Cartman’s Silly Hate Crime 2000”) is named Tokin! As in “The token black guy!” _smack!_ Of course! ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/139 "2001-03-06T07:47:11Z")
just catching up here, from page 1…I _also_ took YEARS to decipher the “what has 4 wheels and flies [a garbagetruck]” joke. Ditto with “what’s black and white and red all over”. For many moons whenever I heard that joke I’d silently frown to myself: “NEWSPAPERS aren’t RED!” Those whacky literalist childhood years. ---
**Author:** ![dave99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@dave99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dave99)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805/140 "2001-03-06T08:50:04Z")
> [@](#): > > **Sue Duhnym I got more or less right off the bat, but Tequila Mockingbird whooshed me for ages. > Actually, I didn’t get it until I mumbled it out loud one day.** Now I feel dumb. That moment right when you finally get the joke, realize what you’ve missed is known to the British as “the penny drops”. My best example is when I got a printed invitation to a rave. All sorts of info, ya know: the date and time, the DJs spinning, drugs permitted, weapons forbidden, security by whatever company, and finally, a phone number to call on the day of the event. But what, I wondered, is the address? I went to look for the girl who gave me the invitation, and thankfully, before I found her I was stopped dead in my tracks and thought, “DUH!”. Then the other day my buddy told me regarding a girl on a diet, “If she doesn’t watch her figure, no-one will.” About two minutes later… oh. I get it now. Tequila Mockingbird. **DAMN** I feel dumb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-just-got-that-sound-of-hand-smacking-forehead/51805.md?page=8)