Monday, December 1, 2008

Easily Amused



Undaunted by the reaction (or lack thereof) to the turkey gumbo story, I'm going to share a few more things that made me laugh.

First, there was the package of Turkey Kielbasa. In small letters it said, 'Made with pork for better flavor.'

And here below, cut from a local newsletter . . .




I don't even want to think about what the plans are for that poor injured girl. And I've heard of people wringing their hands but didn't realize one needed equipment to do so . . .

Okay, okay, I know about old-timey washing machines. And I expect that the family of the girl with the broken back just wants help fencing in a dog. But still . . .

Call it Found Humor -- these odd phrasings that suggest a different meaning than was intended. As a writer, I have to be really aware of double meanings, so perhaps it's natural that I see humor where none was intended.

A newspaper headline that read "Student Suspended Over Broken Pencil Sharpener" had me imagining a child hanging in the air above a pencil sharpener. "Odd punishment,' I thought, "and probably illegal."





How disappointing to read that the child had the blade from a broken plastic pencil sharpener in his backpack. For which he was kept out of school for a few days.

When it come to humor, I'm a cheap date. Monty Python, The Firesign Theater, P.G..Wodehouse, I Can Has Cheezburger . . . these are a few of my favorite things.

I even got a grin out of disobeying the instructions on the beige sticker.

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3 comments:

Tammy said...

Oh I get them! (This time...;-) I find humor in things like this too, and sometimes cackle out loud at the most inappropriate times. I love I can Haz Cheeseburger. If I need a laugh, I always head over there. The local newspapers are always fodder for unintended humor (and typos)...
Take care,
Tammy

Susan M. Bell said...

Oh boy...icanhascheezburger.com is one of my absolutely favorite sites. It is the very best for a quick laugh (especially since I love cats so much).

I love the turkey kielbasa thing. My favorites are things like the warning on shampoo (do not take internally) or the hair dryer (do not use in bathtub)...such as that.

I've seen P.G. Wodehouse's name around, but never read anything of his. Any recommendations of where I should start?

Vicki Lane said...

P.G. Wodehouse is best known for his Jeeves and Wooster series (also a TV series, also done on audio books and as a radio show)