People suggest puns to me all the time but I rarely bite. Puns have to be very clever or unique or have a good visual to get me interested. In the case of this one, I just thought it was funny. Sadly, I can't remember who suggested this one or I'd give him/her props here.(I know I've mentioned other people suggesting jokes to me a lot lately, but it is because I'm going through a tremendously rough patch in my personal life right now and am having trouble writing humor. Depending on others for the extra material needed to keep up with my merciless joke-a-day schedule is a life-saving option.)
Most people who wrote to me liked this one, but one reader politely suggested that I was making fun of suicide and objected. I politely explained that the Pont Neuf in Paris is a very short bridge and people don't typically use it for suicide, just jackassing around. She felt better.
Another email came in from regular readers who said they were in Paris a few weeks before this cartoon ran and saw a guy jump into the Seine off another bridge. They wondered if maybe I was there and that was what inspired the cartoon. Oddly enough, I was there and, in fact, was the guy who jumped.
I wish. I haven't been in Paris for years and really need to go back. Maybe soon.
12 comments:
about a pun "if they groan you have succeeded" says my dad and that is a groaner.
I can't get enough of puns, and this one is fantastic!
I have to point out that there is another regular here who is in the process of moving to France.
Check out her blog and drool at the thought of actually LIVING IN FRANCE. I know I have.
I love puns. This is a great cartoon. And it's cool that you create stuff from what people suggest to you, specially fans.
Keep it up. :-)
Best/Worst. Pun. Ever! I just about fell out of my chair when I read this, though I still can't decide if I like puns because they're good or because they're bad.
If I ever get more than Halfway to France, you can come and visit me there, in central France, not Paris.
We have a river, and a bridge to jump off of into it, but you'd be more likely to break your neck than to drown in the shallow water.
I loved this cartoon so much I clipped it out of my LA Times, scanned it, and posted it on my blahg with an attribution to you and a link to BIZARROBLOG.
If you don't want me to do that, just let me know. I am new to the world of blogging and am not always sure about what is OK and what isn't. It's difficult to know if it would be stepping on your toes or free advertising!
I love your work and hope that your confidential personal problems sort themselves out for the good of all concerned. I'll be imagining everything working out for the greatest good.
Amitiés,
nyuck nyuck.. that's a knee slapper.
i hope whatever ails you currently works itself out... i'm having personal issues right now too (i can thank our plummeting economy for some of it), so keep your chin up. you're lucky you have so many people who love/support you, and it's especially humbling that you take requests for humor during this rough patch. friends are great sometimes, no? take care..
"jackassing around" ~ hah!
i know you don't feel like it, but you've been pretty damned funny lately. i particularly liked the john mcbush comment you made the other day.
Dear Mr. Piraro,
Although this is not the cartoon I saw in my local paper, I wanted to communicate to you that I was pleased to see your cartoon with the your signature and 7/19/08 w/Brandt depicting a Roman soldier in his chariot with a “Latin” caption on its backboard – particularly since there has been quite a resurgence of Latin studies. However, in the future may I suggest that, if you decide to use any Latin in your cartoons, you employ a more authoritative resource as, although the Latin is well meaning, it is seriously flawed. First of all, Latin is an analytic language, i.e., the endings of each word are significant inasmuch as the ending indicate the function of the word in the sentence. Thus, the endings used in your caption, do not make any sense grammatically. Secondly, your choice of words are more of a transliteration than a translation. Initial case in point, the ending of –ulus for parvulus is an affectionate diminutive which would suggest my darling little boy – which I doubt would be a term a Roman soldier would use for his son unless he was being very sarcastic and was not particularly pleased that his son has chosen academics over the military. Also, in Latin the personal adjectival pronoun, unlike English, follows its noun. Likewise, Rome, in the context that it is being used would require the Locative Case (Romae). In addition, quod may either be a Relative Pronoun or a Conjunction (meaning because); however, it should not be used to mean and. The two choices would be et or –que added to the end of the second word in the pair. (This latter choice would be more appropriate as it would indicate a close connection between the two paired words. In addition, peto usually means I seek or I demand. A more appropriate choice would be either ago or mitto, depending on how literal or colloquial you want to be. Given the above, your two choices would be: Filius meus et viaticus meus universitatem Romae missi sunt. (Literally: My son and my [soldier’s] savings fund are sent to the university at Rome.) or Fililus meus viaticusque ad universitatem Romae adeunt. (Literally: My son and my [soldier’s] savings fund go to the university at Rome.)
If you have any questions regarding the above or if I might be of any service, please do not hesitate to contact me – and keep your cartooning pen finely honed. I will be sharing your cartoon with my class.
Magister L. John Friia
Go back often, but please don't jump. :-)
You posses a finely tuned pun sense. Your selection never gets old and is always full of laughs.
This is still funny. I sent it to my Father when I first saw it. I recently came back to it beause it's one of those funny ones that sit in the back of my mind whenever I think of the Seine.
Maybe I'm more attuned becuase I lived in the Paris area when I was in high school.
Merci Bien!
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