# Simpsons jokes you didn't understand. Hopefully explained! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980 "2003-08-04T22:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![CadburyAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@CadburyAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CadburyAngel)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/81 "2003-08-09T05:35:43Z")
Thank you so much, guys. Rory Calhoun. Smithers just… gets… Mr. Burns. It’s so cute. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/82 "2003-08-09T06:04:46Z")
I don’t know the show, **Wolfian** , but IMDb says Yeardley played Louise Fitzer. All I know is that she really sounds like Lisa, so you’d probably know if you heard her… ---
**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:** [August 9, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/83 "2003-08-09T06:22:50Z")
**CalMeacham** is correct about the _Bride of Frankenstein_ reference. ---
**Author:** ![Ryle\_Dup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Ryle\_Dup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryle_Dup)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/84 "2003-08-09T06:57:23Z")
Can someone actually _explain_ “Brevity is the soul of wit” rather than just leaving me in the dark? ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/85 "2003-08-09T06:57:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wolfian \* > \*\*What’s with the chase scene in the episode where Bart plays hookie? It feels like a send-up of Predator or something like that. \*\* Are you thinking of the episode where Bart skips and sees the confrontation between the clumsy waiter and Diamond Joe Quimby’s nephew? Skinner is following him through all kinds of stuff, walks through a river, etc. I always thought it was referencing Terminator. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/86 "2003-08-09T07:13:25Z")
Didn’t really seem like Terminator, the river bit seemed kind direct. I don’t know, some of these seem to be more references to general cliches than anything in particular. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/87 "2003-08-09T08:01:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ryle Dup \* > \*\*Can someone actually _explain_ “Brevity is the soul of wit” rather than just leaving me in the dark? \*\* Okay, **Ryle Dup** , but it won’t be brief, so something will be lacking from it’s soul. 😉 Part One: It’s (_Brevity is the soul of wit_) a commonplace truth. It appears to have first been penned by William Shakespeare (it’s a line from _Hamlet_, but I couldn’t give you the context. Probably when Hamlet is getting ready to stage the play that accuses his uncle of regi/fratricide, but I’m not guaranteeing that). It means that if you have something witty to say, and you take three paragraphs to say it, you will not have as great an impact as if you say it in a sentence or two. Part Two: _The Reader’s Digest_ is a magazine, published monthly, that specializes in reprinting articles from other sources (other periodicals, books, collections of essays, etc.). It is common for the offerings in _The Reader’s Digest_ to be abridged, or condensed, for considerations of space. _The Reader’s Digest_ also offers condensations of books, primarily popular novels, for sale through their book club (typically, a three-inch thick volume will contain condensations of four to five books). That _The Reader’s Digest_ will chop to pieces and shorten any bit of writing they get their mitts on is such a cliche that it’s a pretty easy-to-recognize joke (probably someone has suggested that they change their name to _Rdr’s Dgst_). Part Three: The quasi-_Reader’s Digest_ featured in the Simpsons episode in question, has on its masthead, the motto: “Brevity is . . . wit.” The joke is that they even condensed the famous line they chose for their motto. So, now that I’ve sucked all of the brilliance out of it, do you get the joke? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/88 "2003-08-09T08:17:46Z")
> [@](#): > > It appears to have first been penned by William Shakespeare (it’s a line from Hamlet, but I couldn’t give you the context. Probably when Hamlet is getting ready to stage the play that accuses his uncle of regi/fratricide, but I’m not guaranteeing that). It means that if you have something witty to say, and you take three paragraphs to say it, you will not have as great an impact as if you say it in a sentence or two. Aww, **kaylasdad** , the line isn’t even funny unless you get the context right! 😉 Yes, it’s a great truth - a lot of writers after Shakespeare have made similar remarks - but it’s FUNNY because Polonius says this in the middle of a typically obtuse speech. From [Act II, Scene ii](http://www.bartleby.com/46/2/22.html): > [@](#): > > Pol.: My liege, and madam, to expostulate > What majesty should be, what duty is, > Why day is day, night night, and time is time, > Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time; > Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit > And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, > I will be brief. Get it? He has been neither brief nor witty. And on he goes… > [@](#): > > Your noble son is mad. > Mad call I it; for, to define true madness, > What is ’t but to be nothing else but mad? > But let that go. > Queen.: More matter, with less art. > Pol.: Madam, I swear I use no art at all. > That he is mad, ’tis true; ’tis true ’tis pity, > And pity ’tis ’tis true. A foolish figure! > But farewell it, for I will use no art. > Mad let us grant him then; and now remains > That we find out the cause of this effect, > Or rather say, the cause of this defect, > For this effect defective comes by cause. > Thus it remains, and the remainder thus. And then he shows them a letter Hamlet wrote to Ophelia and explains Hamlet is mad because Ophelia has rejected him. “Hath there been such a time… That I have positively said, “’Tis so,” When it prov’d otherwise?” he asks the King. Of course, everything he assumes and says is dead wrong, and the audience knows it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/89 "2003-08-09T08:19:05Z")
Oh, and I’d add that the Simpsons line is also funny because Reader’s Digest has shortened a quote about brevity. And it was a six-word quote to begin with. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/90 "2003-08-09T10:08:04Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by kaylasdad_ > It means that if you have something witty to say, and you take three paragraphs to say it, you will not have as great an impact as if you say it in a sentence or two. Actually, (just to pick a nit) in this case wit refers to intelligence, or wisdom. Polonius is actually saying that wise people don’t need to go on and on forever about a subject; they can make themselves understood without excessive excessive verbosity. The irony is that Polonius unwittingly describes himself as stupid, not as lacking humour. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/91 "2003-08-09T12:31:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*I don’t know the show, **Wolfian** , but IMDb says Yeardley played Louise Fitzer. All I know is that she really sounds like Lisa, so you’d probably know if you heard her… \*\* If you ever saw Greg’s secretary Marla on Dharma & Greg, you know what she looks like. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Improved\_Scott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f17d59/32.png) [@New\_Improved\_Scott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Improved_Scott)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/92 "2003-08-09T16:26:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\*If you ever saw Greg’s secretary Marla on Dharma & Greg, you know what she looks like. \*\* She was also in “ **Maximum Overdrive** ” as the screeching newlywed. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/93 "2003-08-09T17:20:34Z")
I have another one, also from the SpringShield episode (apparently a very confusing episode for me): When Homer is in church trying to get people to help him fight Fat Tony, Barney stands up and says “Sorry, Homer, but I’m a coward now, like all recovering alcoholics.” WTF? Are they actually ripping on recovering alcoholics, or was I seriously whoosed? ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/94 "2003-08-09T17:32:43Z")
This one always mystifies me. It was the episode with feel-good guru Brad Goodman, and when Homer pulls into the parking lot to the seminar with the fam he says something like; “Here we are at the seminar we all agreed to go to.” And Bart says; “What an odd thing to say.” I mean, it IS an odd thing to say. Is that the point? zuh? ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/95 "2003-08-09T18:30:06Z")
Could someone explain why “Chuck’s Fuck & Suck” is funny? I mean, why would a store be called that? Especially a feed & seed store? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/96 "2003-08-09T18:43:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kung fu lola \* > \*\*This one always mystifies me. It was the episode with feel-good guru Brad Goodman, and when Homer pulls into the parking lot to the seminar with the fam he says something like; “Here we are at the seminar we all agreed to go to.” > And Bart says; “What an odd thing to say.” I mean, it IS an odd thing to say. Is that the point? > \*\* I think the point is that it’s the sort of odd thing people say in TV shows all the time, but not in real life. In a TV sitcom the dad might announce where they are and what they are doing there just so the audience will know, while in real life everyone in the car would already know that they had all agreed to go to a seminar and there’d be no reason to mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/97 "2003-08-09T19:44:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by voguevixen \* > \*\*Could someone explain why “Chuck’s Fuck & Suck” is funny? I mean, why would a store be called that? Especially a feed & seed store? \*\* It’s the implication that’s funny. The sign said “Snead’s Feed & Seed. Formerly Chuck’s.” It’s getting the very subtle, vulgar joke that’s funny. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/98 "2003-08-09T20:58:06Z")
> [@](#): > > If you ever saw Greg’s secretary Marla on Dharma & Greg, you know what she looks like. I really never watched Dharma and Greg, but she did have a bit part in _As Good As It Gets_, and I saw that one. ---
**Author:** ![MrSarcasticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@MrSarcasticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSarcasticus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/99 "2003-08-09T21:23:38Z")
In the Bobo episode there’s a really odd sequence where the family discovers the Teddy bear through the fish tank. I’ve asked about it countless times and it’s never been properly explained. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/100 "2003-08-09T21:30:13Z")
Yeardley Smith was the clerk with whom Daniel Stern’s character had an affair in “City Slickers”. Remember the argument he has with his wife before they go on the trip? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980.md?page=6)