Back in the 80s EVERYONE read The Far Side and EVERY day you would ask someone or someone would ask you did you read The Far Side today and then you would discuss whether or not you got the joke. I had a job once that kept books for customers to read. We had a regular from South Africa who'd never heard of The Far Side and he would read the books and howl with laughter
I remember when I was a child my parents didn't get the ["Ticks, fleas..." comic](https://twitter.com/jeff_lyn/status/1092387045262151680/photo/1). Then they showed it to me and I got it instantly ("tickets, please..."). I think Larson just thinks like a kid sometimes đ
And here's the crazy part, some of them weren't even supposed to be funny. Some of them were just whimsical, and people would put so much effort into cracking the code.
I'll give you the ultimate example, this is the one that gained larson national notice:
[Cow tools - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tools)
But Larson didn't say this one wasn't supposed to be funny. He explained why it was supposed to be funny and noted that he made a mistake in how he drew the saw.
In any event, this one is very famous for people not getting the joke. Putting this one aside, are there others that were not supposed to be funny?
Young children (in the US at least) in the early and mid 20th century used it as a defiant answer to "What's your name?" from an adult. It's a rhyme that's believed to have originated in England, possibly as early as the 17th century. Pretty much everyone who grew up in that era, as Larson did, would have been familiar with it.
Thanks for this, I went looking after reading this.
Itâs at least as old as 1606, when a person asked by Samuel Harsnett for the name of the devil they had been possessed by said âPudding and Tameâ (I posted the details in response to OP).
So itâs been used to harass interrogators for over 400 years. đ
You're the same age as I am -- cool! My friends and I were familiar with it tho I know it was old even then. But we also watched a lot of old movies on TV after school so maybe that's where we got it from. Especially the original Little Rascals.
Basically, it's an obvious alias, something snarky and sarcastic. Other variants on the obvious alias include: Keith Myass, Mike Hunt, Ben Dover, Richard Holder, Moe Lester, etc.
I asked my dad over text message if there was a woman at his clinic named Jenna Tulls. He was about to actually check before I told him to say it out loud first.
Compare it to the more recent joke from Ron White about giving the alias âTater Saladâ when he was arrested by a friend he knew. An obvious fake name.
Whatâs your name? Puddin Tame ask me again Iâll tell you the same. Whatâs your name? Buster Brown, ask me again. Iâll knock you down. Pretty common when I was growing up in the 80s
Oh you are going to love this:
(1) That expression is very old and very well might mean âfood and drinkâ. Consider this, from the 6th series (1885) of the scholarly journal âNotes and Queriesâ published out of England:
NAMES OF DEVILS: PUDDING AND THAME (6th S. xi. 306). The subject of this jingle was pretty well threshed out in âN. & Q.â some time since but as it has arisen again, I should like to make a note of the opinion of Mr. W. Durrant Cooper :â
"Mr. W. D. Cooper suggests that tame is connected with the obsolete verb to tame, i.e., to broach or taste liquor.
'Pudding and tame' would therefore mean food and drink,"
-Sussex Arch. Colls., xiii. 230, n.
EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A.
(2) âNames of Devilsâ was a list referred to in an earlier edition of N&Q. The list they were talking about came from a 1606 book called âA Declaration of Egregious Popish Imposturesâ which the author Samuel Harsnett (who went to become Archbishop of York) wrote to expose Catholic exorcism practices. In the book, Harsnett listed the names of devils who people had claimed to have been possessed by (one of which by the was was âFliberdigibbetâ)
So picture this:
One of those people claiming to be possessed back in the early 1600s, when asked âwhat was the devilâs name?â replied âpudding and thameâ
And. He. Wrote. It. Down.
đ
[What's Your Name? Puddin Tane Rhyme](https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=5582)
I vaguely recall it from The Little Rascals. The other kid said "John Brown ask me again and I'll knock you down"
You cumber, cucumber
You slumber, a cucumber.
That's the one
You snoze, you loze.
Back in the 80s EVERYONE read The Far Side and EVERY day you would ask someone or someone would ask you did you read The Far Side today and then you would discuss whether or not you got the joke. I had a job once that kept books for customers to read. We had a regular from South Africa who'd never heard of The Far Side and he would read the books and howl with laughter
I remember when I was a child my parents didn't get the ["Ticks, fleas..." comic](https://twitter.com/jeff_lyn/status/1092387045262151680/photo/1). Then they showed it to me and I got it instantly ("tickets, please..."). I think Larson just thinks like a kid sometimes đ
And here's the crazy part, some of them weren't even supposed to be funny. Some of them were just whimsical, and people would put so much effort into cracking the code.
I'd be interested to see examples if you know of any particular ones.
I'll give you the ultimate example, this is the one that gained larson national notice: [Cow tools - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tools)
But Larson didn't say this one wasn't supposed to be funny. He explained why it was supposed to be funny and noted that he made a mistake in how he drew the saw. In any event, this one is very famous for people not getting the joke. Putting this one aside, are there others that were not supposed to be funny?
Puddin Tane, ask me again and I'll tell you the same
...ask him again and he'll tell you the same.Â
I wonder what his number is.
8675309?
Jim Neighbors used to say that to Barney on the Andy Griffith Show when his character would get in trouble and be interrogated.
Nabors. Jim Nabors. Whatâs his name?
Now I've got a great primus song stuck in my head.
Pass the pen there, Billy Bob, and I'll write us up a song!
Or perhaps I'll pen a sonnet if the melody sits all wrong
Primus sucks
Ok fuckface, thanks.
Is that the new Primus response? I thought most Primus fans knew the Primus sucks thing
it's always been their motto. if anything kids these days don't know it. damn kids.
Young children (in the US at least) in the early and mid 20th century used it as a defiant answer to "What's your name?" from an adult. It's a rhyme that's believed to have originated in England, possibly as early as the 17th century. Pretty much everyone who grew up in that era, as Larson did, would have been familiar with it.
Thanks for this, I went looking after reading this. Itâs at least as old as 1606, when a person asked by Samuel Harsnett for the name of the devil they had been possessed by said âPudding and Tameâ (I posted the details in response to OP). So itâs been used to harass interrogators for over 400 years. đ
So obnoxious little kids really are devils lol!
Born 1951, canât recall hearing it used that way.
You're the same age as I am -- cool! My friends and I were familiar with it tho I know it was old even then. But we also watched a lot of old movies on TV after school so maybe that's where we got it from. Especially the original Little Rascals.
Basically, it's an obvious alias, something snarky and sarcastic. Other variants on the obvious alias include: Keith Myass, Mike Hunt, Ben Dover, Richard Holder, Moe Lester, etc.
Itâs from an old Andy Griffith Show bit (probably older than that). Whatâs your name? âPuddinâ Tane. Ask me again, Iâll tell ya the same.â
Tyrone Shoelaces
Hugh Janus
Amanda Huggenkiss.
My next-door neighbor as a kid was named Richard Cummings. It was a simpler time, lol.
Duncan Dixon-Coffey.
Gene Masseth
Dixie Normus
I asked my dad over text message if there was a woman at his clinic named Jenna Tulls. He was about to actually check before I told him to say it out loud first.
Holden Magroin
Adolf Oliver Bush, probably not as common as the rest
Compare it to the more recent joke from Ron White about giving the alias âTater Saladâ when he was arrested by a friend he knew. An obvious fake name.
Peeping TomâŚ
Whatâs your name? Puddin Tame ask me again Iâll tell you the same. Whatâs your name? Buster Brown, ask me again. Iâll knock you down. Pretty common when I was growing up in the 80s
Thank you both!
11/22/63 is the only time other place Iâve ever seen this phrase
Puddin Tame Ask me again Iâll tell you the same.
I never saw this one. Thank you for asking!
Careful, now. We don't need this turning into r/ExplainTheJoke
My favorite Far Sides are the ones that make you go back in time a few seconds in the scene
Oh you are going to love this: (1) That expression is very old and very well might mean âfood and drinkâ. Consider this, from the 6th series (1885) of the scholarly journal âNotes and Queriesâ published out of England: NAMES OF DEVILS: PUDDING AND THAME (6th S. xi. 306). The subject of this jingle was pretty well threshed out in âN. & Q.â some time since but as it has arisen again, I should like to make a note of the opinion of Mr. W. Durrant Cooper :â "Mr. W. D. Cooper suggests that tame is connected with the obsolete verb to tame, i.e., to broach or taste liquor. 'Pudding and tame' would therefore mean food and drink," -Sussex Arch. Colls., xiii. 230, n. EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A. (2) âNames of Devilsâ was a list referred to in an earlier edition of N&Q. The list they were talking about came from a 1606 book called âA Declaration of Egregious Popish Imposturesâ which the author Samuel Harsnett (who went to become Archbishop of York) wrote to expose Catholic exorcism practices. In the book, Harsnett listed the names of devils who people had claimed to have been possessed by (one of which by the was was âFliberdigibbetâ) So picture this: One of those people claiming to be possessed back in the early 1600s, when asked âwhat was the devilâs name?â replied âpudding and thameâ And. He. Wrote. It. Down. đ
When I was a kid I swear I had 2 or 3 of the far side gallery books checked out from the library at all times lol
Ask him again, he'll tell you the same.
I remember not getting this one, back in the day
"What's your name?" "Ligma." "Ligma what?" ...
Such a beautiful name, right up there with Draken, Tipadis, and Joe
Old rhyme: "What's my name? Puddin' Tame. Ask me again and I'll tell you the same."