I’ll admit right out that this is stupid, but it’s been weighing on my mind recently. I was thinking about this one particular gag from the Simpsons that I’ve always enjoyed:
Mr. Burns has sold the plant and is living with Mr. Smithers. He’s feeling like a bit of a burden and decides to make himself useful by taking care of Smithers’ grocery shopping. Upon taking Smithers’ shopping list off the refridgerator, he declares “I’ll go and get these items from the food jobber”. I love that line.
Among the difficulties Burns encounters at the grocery store is differentiating the catsup from the ketchup. This leads the shopkeeper to believe Burns has gone mental. He and Wiggum proceed to take Burns off to the booby hatch.
If Burns really didn’t know that catsup and kethup were the same thing, why didn’t he just buy whichever one Smithers had written on the list to begin with? He could have saved everyone a lot of trouble.
One bit that bothers me is in the episode where Otto almost gets married. Lisa points out that you’re not supposed to throw rice at weddings since birds eat it and explode.
Hey, Lisa’s the smart one. She’s supposed to point out the ULs, not the other way around. (But it’s okay with me if she violates the Laws of Thermodynamics.)
It’s one of those jokes about Burns being stuck in the past. ‘Catsup’ used to be much more commonly used as a name for what we know as ‘ketchup’, and he gets thoroughly confused by the modern preponderance of Ketchup. That’s how I interpreted it, anyway (hey, this is a guy who drive a Model T and answers the phone “Ahoy hoy”).
As I recall, Burns became confused when he looked at the catsup/ketchup display in the store and saw two names for what appeared to be the same thing (i.e., a thick red tomato-based sauce eaten with fries and burgers). Given his unfamiliarity with shopping in supermarkets, he wasn’t sure if this was the same product or two different ones. He also didn’t seem to be sure that Smithers knew the “difference” either.
Burns: Excuse me, where might I find the Burns-o’s?
Krusty: Sorry pops, they don’t put pictures of nobodies on cereal boxes.
Burns: (Picks up a box of Count Chocula) I supose this one looks a bit like me
I think it’s funny that he thought he had to get cereal that looked like him.
I don’t know if it counts, but in the episode where the Simpsons went to England, at one point Homer goes over to his big gun case in the corner and starts trying to figure out what gun he’s going to bring with him. I find that wierd consider marge made such a big fuss over homer buying a handgun, but apparently later consents to let him have an entire caseful.
But…but…he had Smithers’ written shopping list in his hand. A little googling has revealed the contects of said grocery list.
CEREAL
EGGS
US MAGAZINE
MILK
CATSUP
MUSTARD
LUNCHEON MEAT
CABBAGE
GREENS
JUICE
OINTMENT
SOAP
MOP
NAPKINS
The word catsup is on the piece of paper right there in Burns’ hand. How does the product known as ketchup even cause confusion? It’s not on the list.
As for those who suggest sloppy handwriting or illiteracy on the part of Mr. Smithers…He is a neat freak who plays with Malibu Stacy dolls. I’m pretty sure he has impeccable handwriting.
Williams’ character was overwhelmed by the vast quantities of choices of coffee brands. Burns, who has apparently never shopped for groceries in his life, could easily be overwhelmed by just two choices of a condiment.
