At Least He’s Not a Yam

Cidu Bill on Jul 31st 2009

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Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Rina Piccolo, Tina's Groove, comic strips, comics, humor | 16 responses so far

16 Responses to “At Least He’s Not a Yam”

  1. Pete Jul 31st 2009 at 12:45 pm 1

    He’s only slightly Amish. He doesn’t follow all the prohibitions of Amish culture, only some of them. It’s not funny, but also not hard to understand.

  2. Kate Jul 31st 2009 at 12:53 pm 2

    I’ve heard similar jokes about Jews who eat bacon being “Jew-ish.” “Ish” meaning somewhat, or approximately.

  3. Rebecca Jul 31st 2009 at 01:56 pm 3

    Amish teenagers - at least some of a certain sect of Amish or Mennonites, I’m not going to look it up - are allowed a period of time, about a year, I think, to live like the “English” (non-Amish) and do whatever non-Amish things they want. They often try clothes with actual colors in them, pants for girls, alcohol (copious amounts, wee!), drugs, illegal drugs (wee!), dating, sex (wee!), R-rated movies, cursing, electronic devices, whatever. It’s basically financed by the community. The idea is that young people can’t honestly commit themselves to the Amish lifestyle unless they know what they’re giving up first. It’s like all of teenage rebellion condensed into a few months.

    This comic reminded me of that.

    Also, there are plenty of sects or religions that think Blackberries are okay but forbid other modernized stuff, like the FLDS, so … yeah, I wasn’t really laughing at the comic, I was thinking about that.

  4. BGneiss Jul 31st 2009 at 01:58 pm 4

    Wow, the strip’s author has absolutely NO idea what “Amish” means! It might have worked if they hadn’t been on an apparent date (are those wine glasses?) and if he’d been in traditional Amish garb instead of an orange leisure suit, but this is all just too wrong to even be funny. The only time that Amish people wear anything but their traditional clothing is during “rumspringa”, when young adults (about 16 years old) can live out in the modern world (for a year, I believe) and party and sow all their wild oats, before deciding whether to go back to their communities and live the Amish lifestyle for the rest of their lives. Since this man has a beard, he’s a grown man who is married, and the Amish community would shun him (cast him out) because they don’t put up with this kind of shenanigans from adults.

    BTW… I’ve seen this kind of joke in regard to “Jewish” and it made me laugh, but this particular strip makes absolutely no sense because you absolutely are Amish or you aren’t. Sure, I know Jews who eat pork and shellfish and only go to temple on high holy days, but the same thing just doesn’t apply to Amish in any way. You either are or you aren’t, and all the rules are strictly enforced. Sure, sometimes some of the rules are bent a bit for survival purposes (i.e. little outhouse-sized phone booths at a far corner of the property, for conducting business), but there’s not a lot of leeway.

  5. James Jul 31st 2009 at 02:20 pm 5

    The Australian comic Flacco uses this gag: “I’m a Jew. Well… (waggles hand) I’m Jew*ish*.”

  6. Kate Jul 31st 2009 at 02:32 pm 6

    I do think it’s possibly to be “culturally Amish,” but not practicing. I had a college friend whose parents had grown up in the community, but who chose to live outside of it. Yet, it was still a big part of her childhood and values system, even though she lived a fairly conventional lifestyle in the suburbs. I don’t know if she would have ever referred to herself as “Amish,” though, mostly because of this sort of confusion. Maybe the cartoonist originally wanted to do the “Jew-ish joke, but feared being perceived as offensive?

  7. furrykef Jul 31st 2009 at 02:43 pm 7

    It also makes much more sense with “Jew-ish” because “Jew” is actually a word; “Jew-ish” would be “somewhat like a Jew”, which makes sense. But you try that with “Am-ish”, and you have “somewhat like an Am.” Doesn’t make sense anymore.

    - Kef

  8. Mark in Boston Jul 31st 2009 at 03:43 pm 8

    Shouldn’t it be “Jewishish” and “Amishish”?

    “Are you blue-ish? You don’t look blue-ish.” (Blue Meanie in Yellow Submarine)

  9. furrykef Jul 31st 2009 at 05:05 pm 9

    Shouldn’t it be “Jewishish” and “Amishish”?

    Strictly speaking, yes, but then it wouldn’t be as effective as a play on words.

  10. Judge Mental Jul 31st 2009 at 05:26 pm 10

    The comic is relying on the reader to be familiar with the “I’m Jew*ish*” with hand-waggle reference (notice the hand-movement lines in the third panel). Yes, as furrykef, points out, it doesn’t make as much sense because “am” isn’t a word, but given that you are (supposed) to already know the “jew*ish*” reference, it isn’t that far of a stretch.

  11. Kate Jul 31st 2009 at 08:09 pm 11

    Oh wait! You have the “Am” because he’s saying “I am” and then adds the “ish, ” which makes a little more sense (or did everyone else notice that already).

  12. furrykef Jul 31st 2009 at 09:27 pm 12

    Kate - the problem with that is, “I’m am” makes no sense either. And if you take out the ‘m, then you have “I am-ish”, which would probably be incomprehensible. It also doesn’t help that “am” is pronounced differently from the “Am” in “Amish” in most dialects of English…

    I think Judge Mental got it: the reader is supposed to know the “I’m Jew-ish” joke already. I think it still doesn’t really work, though.

  13. Powers Aug 1st 2009 at 08:12 am 13

    There is no need to be familiar with the “Jew-ish” joke to get this one. Everyone’s overthinking it; the fact that “Am” isn’t an adjective makes this less funny than the “Jew-ish” joke, but it’s still a valid joke.

  14. Rammy M Aug 1st 2009 at 11:28 am 14

    Of course it “made sense”, because (almost) everyone understood it.
    Maybe not real world grammar sense, but certainly comedy sense.
    I even found it funny, but “ymmv”.

  15. Jordan Aug 2nd 2009 at 12:11 am 15

    Why does Tina look on the verge of smashing a wine glass and cutting her wrists? The joke isn’t quite THAT bad.

  16. Mark in Boston Aug 2nd 2009 at 06:23 pm 16

    “A Yam. What? A Yam and that’s all. What? A Yam!”

    – Popeye the Sailor Man

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