RoR: Forum

Rebirth of Reason

Forum : Jokes : Measurement Omission?

Measurement Omission?

Little Nancy was in the garden filling in a hole when her neighbor peered over the fence. Interested in what the cheeky-faced youngster was doing, he politely asked, "What are you up to there, Nancy?" "My goldfish died," replied Nancy tearfully, without looking up, "and I've just buried him." The neighbor was concerned, "That's an... (Read More)

(Added by Marty Lewinter on 9/24, 1:37am)

Discuss this Joke (25 messages)

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 2:43am

Bad kitty.

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 3:02am

Bad joke. The use of "fucking" conflicts with the expected image of a little girl. (... and the little girl said, " No, I call my dog "Porkie" not because he is so fat but because he fucks pigs." -- same joke, you see.)

But the injected word has no purpose in this joke. The humor is in the fact that the hole is large to accomodate the cat.

However, how did the neighbor's cat come to eat the goldfish? It would be uncommon for the neighbor's cat to come to your house and be so familiar with it as to get your goldfish. It could happen. I am sure that someone here will say that they share a cat with a neighbor. However, you still have to set up that situation because it is uncommon. The joke fails to do that.

"... because he's inside the cat." is funny enough on its own as an old joke. However, Lewinter's added humor truly comes from the title, "Measurement Omission." That is a phrase well-known to Objectivists and the joke hinges on the point, a nice insight by Marty.

(But what is really funny is that anyone would invest such time and effort into this analysis -- and note that I went back an edited this, just to make sure that I got my ideas down pat. Philosophers, you gotta love 'em. Moving right along ... )

(Edited by Michael E. Marotta on 9/24, 3:06am)

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 8:07am

I am always amused when little kids swear - exactly because it conflicts with the image. One morning a little four year old darling was having his breakfast and when I poured milk on his ceareal it whooshed the utensil out onto the table. He looked up at me without a trace of malice and said "Pick dat goddamn spoon up." It was all I could do to muster a stern face.

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 9:06am

I agree Michael. The perfect example of a gratuitous use of the F word.

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 9:44am

Actually Ashley has the right of it. The use of the f-word is part of the joke.

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 10:08am

I must have a completely corrupted soul because when I see the little girl's pouting face in my mind saying that, with the "get you back" attitude, I crack up.

What I didn't find funny at all was burying a cat...

Michael

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 10:58am

Yeah - but dogs don't eat goldfish...

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 12:29pm

This is a tough room.

;-)

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 1:05pm

I think the critics of the joke are missing one major detail.

Why is she burying the cat? Because the cat is dead. Why is the cat dead? Presumably because this "innocent" little girl killed the cat for eating the goldfish.

The joke is not that the cat is buried. The joke is the sudden reversal of the girl's innocence that was set up in the earlier part of the joke. The swear word combined with the killing of the kitten are both meant to highlight this.

I liked it, Marty.

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 1:42pm

I assumed she buried the cat alive. Does that make me disturbed?

Sarah
Quickly shoving cannibalism thread into a closet

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 2:40pm

Yeah, little kids and the F word are hilarious. Once had a neighbor with a dog that barked too much. I learned how the neighbor dealt with it when I overheard his two year old son berate the dog: "Shut the fuck up!"

Other than by the joke, I'm also amused at the depth of the surrounding philosophical analysis. I wonder if maybe there isn't more to learn about Objectivists than I want to know. :)

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 2:36pm

This thread is corrupt.

--Brant

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 6:09pm

Scott Cram wrote: "Why is she burying the cat? Because the cat is dead. Why is the cat dead? Presumably because this "innocent" little girl killed the cat for eating the goldfish."

Well, yes, of course, Mr. Cram. I thought I had flogged a dead horse, but thanks for the extra lash, there Scott.

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 6:12pm

Don Teeter asked rhetorically: " I wonder if maybe there isn't more to learn about Objectivists than I want to know. :)"

You are A-is-fucking-A right there is -- and we are not about to compromise.
(Welcome to SOLO, Don!)

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 6:17pm

I condemn the use of the eff word, those who use the eff word, and those who speak to those who use the eff word.

The eff word is not funny.

NOT FUNNY!

[Ok, now all together, with feeling]

EXCOMMUNICADO!

I DAMN THEE!

I DAMN THEE!

I DAMN THEE!

EXCOMMUNICADO!

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 8:26pm

Hey, there's a newie! Right on, Michael.

Welcome to Solo, Don. I hope to see what you got in the near future.

And the rest of you, shut the fuck up about burying cats - dead or alive.

//;-)

Michael

(Edit - Burying goldfish or little kids, dead or alive depending on your mood and the status of the goldfish or kid at the time, is sanctioned.)
(Edited by Michael Stuart Kelly on 9/24, 8:29pm)

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 8:49pm

Scott DeSalvo wrote:

EXCOMMUNICADO! I DAMN THEE!"

Fuck this; I'm going to bed. :)

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 9:20pm

Alrighty, all this talk reminds me of a little song from my childhood.
Let's sing Matt to sleep....
================================================

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.

I don't know why she swallowed that fly.

I guess she'll fucking die!

I know an old lady who swallowed a spider.

That wriggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

But, I don't know why she swallowed that fly.

I guess she'll fucking die!

I know an old lady who swallowed a bird.

How absurd! They swallowed a bird!

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider

That wriggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

But, I don't know why she swallowed that fly.

I guess she'll fucking die!

I know an old lady who swallowed a cat.

Fancy that! She swallowed a cat!

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider

That wriggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

But, I don't know why she swallowed that fly.

That bitch is dead, of course!

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 9:24pm

Kat, that's not the version we learned in school, though similar, the ending was "There was an old lady who swallowed a horse...she died of course."

You just wanted to drop some more F-bombs...:P

Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 9:42pm

Joe,

It's obvious that Kat has no sympathy for a woman who would swallow a fellow feline, so she did not wait for the horse, of course.

She went and killed the ficking butch... er...

Hmmmmm...

Michael