# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/101 "2003-08-09T23:02:38Z")
What about that one on Comic Book Guy’s shirt when Lisa joins Mensa? //C:DOS:RUN, something like that. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/102 "2003-08-10T00:02:47Z")
In the episode where Bart breaks his leg and is stuck in his room for the summer and they do this whole Alfred Hitchcock thing where Bart thinks he witnessed Ned Flanders murdering his wife: When he’s trying to get Lisa to go over to the Flanders’ and investigate, she refuses at first. So Bart says something like “Fine. Then you can critique the one-act play I’ve been working on.” Then he starts reading the dialogue from his play. “Kippers for breakfast, Aunt _Helga?_ Is it St. Swivin’s [sic] day already? 'Tis, replied Aunt _Helga_.” The way he emphasizes the name “Helga” strikes me funny. Anyway, is this a reference to something? ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/103 "2003-08-10T02:06:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Giraffe \* > \*\*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? \*\* My WAG, but since the first step in AA is for the alcoholic to admit that he is powerless to stop drinking, this may be Barney’s way of interpreting its meaning. ---
**Author:** ![xzebit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f05b48/32.png) [@xzebit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xzebit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/104 "2003-08-10T03:41:51Z")
Just a WAG but was Aunt Helga referring to that play with the blind girl…i believe it was called Helen…or at least that was her name. Anyway i was wondering about the episode where Bart discovers the comet that is headed towards Springfield. When Principal SKinner is talking about the comet he almost claimed as his but another principal…i believe he said Principal Kahoutek…had called it in first. As soon as he says it the clouds get dark and lightning strikes in the sky and Skinner says… I got back at him, though…him and that little boy of his too. I was thinking this referred to something else…im not sure…Oh Yeah and Springfield is in Kentucky…right? I’ve heard them make a few jokes about that ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/105 "2003-08-10T04:29:25Z")
Thanks for mentioning that episode, \*\*cuauhtemoc \*\*. I have always wondered about it, too (though that hasn’t kept me from quoting it. A lot. “Is it St. Swiggins Day already?” “'Tis!”) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/106 "2003-08-10T04:35:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by teemingONE \* > \*\*What about that one on Comic Book Guy’s shirt when Lisa joins Mensa? > > //C:DOS:RUN, something like that. \*\* You’ve probably mangled the above a bit, but I can tell that it’s meant to look like a DOS command and would be pronounced “See DOS run”. So it’s a computer geeky play on the old Dick and Jane “See Spot run” readers. ---
**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 10, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/107 "2003-08-10T05:24:39Z")
Thanks to all who have set me straight on the whole “brevity is the soul of wit” thing, from context to meaning. . . ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/108 "2003-08-10T05:26:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cuauhtemoc \* > \*\*“Kippers for breakfast, Aunt _Helga?_ Is it St. Swivin’s [sic] day already? 'Tis, replied Aunt _Helga_.” > \*\* I can’t help with the Aunt Helga reference, but [**St Swithin’s Day**](http://www.pagan.drak.net/braglorin/information/festivals/swithin.html) is a real Saint’s Day in Britain (July 15). Supposedly, if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day it will rain for the next forty days, and if it doesn’t – it won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Seraphim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Seraphim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seraphim)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/109 "2003-08-10T06:05:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by teemingONE \* > \*\*What about that one on Comic Book Guy’s shirt when Lisa joins Mensa? > > //C:DOS:RUN, something like that. \*\* Actually, its C:\DOS\RUN …that’s how a directory called RUN (inside your main DOS directory) would look using DOS command line. As mentioned above its a geeky allusion to those “See Spot Run” stories. You can actually buy that shirt [online.](http://www.computergear.com/cdosruntshirt.html) ---
**Author:** ![Seraphim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Seraphim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seraphim)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/110 "2003-08-10T06:11:26Z")
Oh, and here’s one that I’d like to know: In the episode where Homer strands himself, Bart, and the Flanders out at sea during a Junior Camper outing, at the end Ernest Borgnine and some campers are singing “Bingo” around a campfire. The camera shifts to the viewpoint of an unseen creature that stalks them from behind the bushes, then leaps towards Ernest’s face as he screams. Was this a reference to something? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/111 "2003-08-10T06:30:41Z")
> [@](#): > > In the Bobo episode there’s a really odd sequence where the family discovers the Teddy bear through the fish tank. Perhaps it’s this (from the SNPP): - “The Mind’s Eye” {rl} - scene with the aquarium, with Jan Hammer-esque music ---
**Author:** ![OpusThePenguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7bcc69/32.png) [@OpusThePenguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpusThePenguin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/112 "2003-08-10T10:15:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Seraphim \* > \*\*Oh, and here’s one that I’d like to know: In the episode where Homer strands himself, Bart, and the Flanders out at sea during a Junior Camper outing, at the end Ernest Borgnine and some campers are singing “Bingo” around a campfire. The camera shifts to the viewpoint of an unseen creature that stalks them from behind the bushes, then leaps towards Ernest’s face as he screams. Was this a reference to something? \*\* I always thought it was Jason from the Friday the 13th slasher flicks. The creepy synth music accompanying the creature’s POV kinda suggests that. ---
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/113 "2003-08-10T10:43:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xzebit \* > \*\* . . . and Skinner says… I got back at him, though…him and that little boy of his too. \*\* This appears to be one of the MANY “Wizard of Oz” jokes that pop up on the show (“I’ll get you, My Pretty, and your little dog, too!”). On one of the other threads, there was mentioned the episode where Homer puts on Henry Kissenger’s glasses and spouts off about "The sum of the square of two sides of an isosoles triange . . . ". This is the same line the Scarecrow says after he’s given his diploma. Of course, no one corrected HIM! (In context, it’s a pretty funny line. The Wizard had just said that lots of people have no brains, but they do have a diploma, and that makes anything they say sound right.) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/114 "2003-08-10T14:51:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cuauhtemoc \* > \*\* > When he’s trying to get Lisa to go over to the Flanders’ and investigate, she refuses at first. So Bart says something like “Fine. Then you can critique the one-act play I’ve been working on.” Then he starts reading the dialogue from his play. > > “Kippers for breakfast, Aunt _Helga?_ Is it St. Swivin’s [sic] day already? 'Tis, replied Aunt _Helga_.” > > The way he emphasizes the name “Helga” strikes me funny. Anyway, is this a reference to something? \*\* I think it’s a fairly generic spoof, like Homer’s sugar speech that was mentioned earlier. According to an English major friend of mine in college, most of the plays she read for British Drama sounded exactly like Bart’s play above. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/115 "2003-08-10T15:19:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xzebit \* > \*\* > Anyway i was wondering about the episode where Bart discovers the comet that is headed towards Springfield. When Principal SKinner is talking about the comet he almost claimed as his but another principal…i believe he said Principal Kahoutek…had called it in first. As soon as he says it the clouds get dark and lightning strikes in the sky and Skinner says… I got back at him, though…him and that little boy of his too. > I was thinking this referred to something else…im not sure…Oh Yeah and Springfield is in Kentucky…right? I’ve heard them make a few jokes about that \*\* Kahoutek was a comet of note in (I believe) the mid-1970’s. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/116 "2003-08-10T20:39:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\*I think it’s a fairly generic spoof, like Homer’s sugar speech that was mentioned earlier. > > According to an English major friend of mine in college, most of the plays she read for British Drama sounded exactly like Bart’s play above. \*\* Thanks, that’s kind of what I thought. IMO, the line is brilliant enough by itself, without any more specific meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Shellhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e56c9b/32.png) [@Old\_Shellhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Shellhead)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/117 "2003-08-10T20:56:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pesch \* > \*\*My WAG, but since the first step in AA is for the alcoholic to admit that he is powerless to stop drinking, this may be Barney’s way of interpreting its meaning. \*\* I think that this is a riff on the fact that alcoholics/drunks are extremely bold/fearless/brave, simply because… uh they’re drunk & therefore have no thoughts of consequences. Reminds me of Who Shot Mr. Burns… _Barney pulls out shotgun_ Ahhh… THERE’S that inflated sense of self esteem! ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/118 "2003-08-11T14:18:36Z")
How about the joke from yesterday’s rerun, about the Mennonites vs. the Amish? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/119 "2003-08-11T15:06:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*How about the joke from yesterday’s rerun, about the Mennonites vs. the Amish? \*\* Well, the Amish split off from the Mennonites because of what the Amish considered to be the Mennonites’ moral laxity and worldliness. The Mennonites have never had a policy of seperation from the outside world, as the Amish do, and they exist today as a mainstream conservative Christian denomination. ---
**Author:** ![Skwerl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Skwerl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skwerl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980/120 "2003-08-12T19:08:07Z")
In the episode where Sideshow Bob hypnotizes Bart so he’ll kill Krusty, there’s a scene where he’s mixing the plastic explosive. He tastes some of it and says in a weird voice “That’s goood plastic explosive!” They’ve used that voice in other episodes, always in the context of “That’s goood…” Jon Stewart’s done a similar voice on the Daily Show. It has to be a spoof of someone, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-jokes-you-didnt-understand-hopefully-explained/192980.md?page=7)