# The Far Sides I don't get **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2003, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068 "2003-11-19T10:39:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/1 "2003-11-19T10:39:50Z")
OK, So I’ve been through the first book of the complete Far Side today and I thought I’d keep a list of the ones I don’t get. And I got cow tools. For these things I think mostly their cultural references I don’t know. 12/18/80 - It looks like Ahab spearing a very large boot. 9/14/81 - These sailors find a pea green boat with two little skeletons inside. This must be some reference to a childrens story. 3/15/82 - These two guys are in a bar and apparantly opening a certain type of beer causes a very large spider to burst through the wall. Was this an old beer commercial? 8/14/84 - A hunter shoots and kills an elephant who has a pencil tucked behind his ear. 8/2/86 - A very large flabby man is being reassured by his doctor that a small cut on his arm is just a flesh wound. Is it a pun that he has a lot of flesh on him? Usually if I have a hard time I just think simpler and I’ll get it but here, I’m lost. Did you find the doubles? I made note of one of them. 9/10/86 is a repeat from earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/2 "2003-11-19T11:10:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fern Forest \* > \*\*OK, So I’ve been through the first book of the complete Far Side today and I thought I’d keep a list of the ones I don’t get. And I got cow tools. For these things I think mostly their cultural references I don’t know. > > 9/14/81 - These sailors find a pea green boat with two little skeletons inside. This must be some reference to a childrens story.\*\* The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat. They took some honey, and plenty of money wrapped up in a five pound note. I’d have to see the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/3 "2003-11-19T11:23:25Z")
> [@](#): > > 12/18/80 - It looks like Ahab spearing a very large boot. Traditionally fishermen get their lines caught up old old shoes and boots. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/4 "2003-11-19T11:29:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fern Forest \* > **12/18/80 - It looks like Ahab spearing a very large boot.** A play on the joke about unlucky fishermen catching a boot instead of a fish? > [@](#): > > **3/15/82 - These two guys are in a bar and apparantly opening a certain type of beer causes a very large spider to burst through the wall. Was this an old beer commercial?** I think this is a reference to the Schlitz Malt Liquor bull, who would indeed come bursting through the bar wall. > [@](#): > > **8/14/84 - A hunter shoots and kills an elephant who has a pencil tucked behind his ear.** Maybe a play on the idea that “elephants never forget”? It would help if we could see these; there might be some detail that you incorrectly interpreted or didn’t report here. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/5 "2003-11-19T12:10:12Z")
I did include the original publication date so if you had access to the complete Far Side you could go directly to the panel and see for yourself. Thanks for the help all. I get them now. So for the elephant one the joke is “ahh, so that’s why they don’t forget. They write things down.” Perhaps the joke for the last one is that the guys got so much flesh the odds on him hurting anything vital with a small cut is almost nil making it almost always just a flesh wound as the doctor predicted. I feel better now. I now get every Far Side I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/6 "2003-11-19T13:16:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fern Forest \* > \*\*3/15/82 - These two guys are in a bar and apparantly opening a certain type of beer causes a very large spider to burst through the wall. Was this an old beer commercial? > \*\* Bear in mind I don’t have it in front of me, but this sounds like a reference to the Kool-Aid Man more than anything else. 🙂 The Schlitz Malt Liquor bull didn’t burst through a wall, did it? ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/7 "2003-11-19T13:23:50Z")
It was a big angry spidery looking monster. It’s got about one foot through the wall before one guy leans over and says to the other guy “Don’t open _that_ brand of beer.” I figured it was a commercial thus my perhaps too simplistic description of the cartoon. It must be the bull. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/8 "2003-11-19T13:30:56Z")
I was hoping they’d be online somewhere. There is a thefarside site, but it’s a shill for two videos Larson’s made! (I know!) I found another site via Google that promised The Far Side online, and it turned out to be a porn gateway. Uh-oh. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/9 "2003-11-19T13:39:43Z")
There used to be quite a lot of the Far Side cartoons which could be found online. Gary Larson took legal action and got it removed. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/10 "2003-11-19T13:50:23Z")
Could the one with the “it’s just a flesh wound” be a joke at the black knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie? After getting his arms and legs cut off, he keeps insisting “it’s only a flesh wound” as he attempts to bite King Arthur’s knees. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/11 "2003-11-19T13:53:45Z")
There are just too damn many too. And nearly impossible to search. Unfortunately I bet they wont be e-booking “The Complete Far Side.” It’s always sad when you reach the edge of the internet and stare off into the nothingness beyond. I will thank you however for your state’s incredible use of your tax dollars **dantheman**. Their archives is the greatest on-line archives I know. You guys spoil me so bad it’s shocking when I can’t find stuff on-line. Ooh, here’s an idea. I went to the text search from Amazon and searched for “luposlipaphobia” and was able to call up that strip. Unfortunately none of these strips has any good words to search for. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/12 "2003-11-19T13:55:12Z")
Eh? What archives would those be? National Archives? ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/13 "2003-11-19T14:04:27Z")
It might help if you included the captions (if any) for these. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/14 "2003-11-19T14:06:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by N. Sane \* > \*\*Could the one with the “it’s just a flesh wound” be a joke at the black knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie? After getting his arms and legs cut off, he keeps insisting “it’s only a flesh wound” as he attempts to bite King Arthur’s knees. \*\* That wouldn’t explain Larson’s careful attention to the copious amount of fatty flesh on the man’s body. Plus being published in 1986 it would seem a bit odd to be making such an out of date reference. I’m pretty sure my previous guess was correct. [These](http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/html/index.html) archives. Maryland’s Archives. I use them all the time for genealogical research. Some of those early judicial records are just some good reading too. Boy those early colonials are a wild bunch. I’m just giddy because of 655 which they just released a few hours ago. Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/15 "2003-11-19T14:10:48Z")
Well! You’re welcome! Enjoy them, with my compliments. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/16 "2003-11-19T14:21:06Z")
Ahab and the elephant didn’t have captions. And the caption on the pea green boat one just listed what they saw. For the beer one it’s exactly “Wait! Wait! … Don’t open _that_ brand of beer.” For the last one “As I suspected, Mr. Sullivan – just a flesh wound, just a flesh would.” “The Complete Far Side” doesn’t appear to have been indexed by Amazon and it does look like these comics appear in the smaller galleries which have been indexed. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/17 "2003-11-19T14:22:55Z")
Ahem. They do NOT seem to appear in the smaller galleries which have been indexed. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/18 "2003-11-19T14:41:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoe \* > \*\*Traditionally fishermen get their lines caught up old old shoes and boots. \*\* Is the OP is aware that Ahab is the protagonist of _Moby Dick_, in which he’s a whaling captain pursuing a legendary great whale? So naturally in the cartoon he gets a gigantic boot instead. As would any whaler, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/19 "2003-11-19T16:24:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*Bear in mind I don’t have it in front of me, but this sounds like a reference to the Kool-Aid Man more than anything else. 🙂 The Schlitz Malt Liquor bull didn’t burst through a wall, did it? \*\* Oh, yes he did. I remember those commercials well. “Two weeks in the desert, and you offer us _beer_?” ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068/20 "2003-11-19T16:47:32Z")
All right. . . now could someone please explain the one that shows a guy rounding a corner, about to be stepped on by a giant bird foot? The caption reads: “Harold would have been on his guard, but he thought the old gypsy woman was speaking figuratively.” What the hey? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-far-sides-i-dont-get/214068.md?page=2)