Subpar

Cidu Bill on Aug 4th 2009

subpar.gif

Filed in Adam at Home, Arnold Palmer, Bill Bickel, Brian Basset, CIDU, comic strips, comics, golf, humor | 32 responses so far

32 Responses to “Subpar”

  1. Kate C Aug 4th 2009 at 12:36 am 1

    Isn’t subpar (below-par) good in golf? So the mix of drinks is better than average?

    Why does the drawing look so. . . off in this strip? It’s mostly in the eyes.

  2. Marshal Aug 4th 2009 at 01:11 am 2

    For those who might not know:
    This is a real drink. The iced tea can be sweatened of unsweatened.

  3. Marshal Aug 4th 2009 at 01:14 am 3

    Kate C:
    Yes subpar would be good. Lowest score in golf wins.

  4. Kedamono Aug 4th 2009 at 01:42 am 4

    Marshal, I think you mean “Sweetened” and “Unsweetened”.

  5. Marshal Aug 4th 2009 at 01:48 am 5

    Yeah, “Sweetened” or “Unsweetened”.

  6. spamhead Aug 4th 2009 at 02:25 am 6

    Er, I’ll take unsweatened, thanks.

  7. Molly J Aug 4th 2009 at 04:22 am 7

    They’d best be careful. They don’t want to tee off their one customer.

    Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

  8. Mitch4 Aug 4th 2009 at 04:34 am 8

    From the “Jokes my dad and uncle Walt told each other but I was too young to understand” collection: “Golfers all over the world admire Arnold Palmer’s putts.”

    Or more elaborately: “They might not admit this out on the green, but when they get back to the locker room, [complete as above]”.

  9. Lola Aug 4th 2009 at 07:04 am 9

    Maybe I’m wrong (and someone here will certainly let me know), but I always thought that subpar and under par have two different, actually opposite, meanings. A subpar performance on the course would actually be a score that is over par. It’s a groaner no matter which term he used, but I have to wonder which way he meant it. Unless that’s the joke, that the drink is being complimented and illiterately denigrated at the same time.

  10. Susan in Nc Aug 4th 2009 at 08:32 am 10

    Not regarding the comic but there is an official Arnold Palmer Tee.
    http://www.arnoldpalmertee.com/
    Had one recently at a restaurant in Durham, NC. Very good!

  11. John DiFool Aug 4th 2009 at 09:24 am 11

    “Why does the drawing look so. . . off in this strip? It’s mostly in the eyes.”

    Yeah, Children of the Corn type eyes. If he drinks what they’re serving he’ll Become One of Them…

  12. Marshal Aug 4th 2009 at 09:33 am 12

    Lola:
    dictionary.com lists the meaning both ways.
    1. Not measuring up to traditional standards of performance, value, or production.
    2. Below par in a hole, round, or game of golf.

    I do believe that under par is what is normally used in golf.

  13. padraig Aug 4th 2009 at 09:51 am 13

    I’ve heard golf folks (of which I am not one) use “subpar” mostly to mean below par, i.e. a subpar round. However, the term “par” actually comes from the financial arena, where it refers more or less to a bond’s face value. So originally something going subpar was bad.

    It’s all about the context, baby.

  14. BGneiss Aug 4th 2009 at 09:54 am 14

    I’ve noticed the change in this strip’s drawing style for a while now. Does anyone know if there’s a new artist?

  15. BGneiss Aug 4th 2009 at 10:02 am 15

    Yes, new artist: http://blog.timesunion.com/comics/whos-drawing-adam-at-home/117/

  16. Heather D Aug 4th 2009 at 10:15 am 16

    Thanks for that BGneiss, I’d been wondering about that. I actually dropped the comic from my online lineup because it just wasn’t funny anymore, in addition to the drawing style change. Not that it was ever Foxtrot-worthy, of course, but at least it was often amusing. Then it changed to just dull.

  17. Frosted Donut Aug 4th 2009 at 11:19 am 17

    @HeatherD: It’s still written by Bassett, he’s just handed the drawing chores over to Rob Harrell, who used to have his own strip, “Big Top.”

  18. Stupendous Girl Aug 4th 2009 at 11:33 am 18

    I’m with Lola, et al–in my mind, “subpar” is usually used outside of a golf context to describe something that isn’t up to snuff. “Under par” is used for golf scores.

    BUT, as for the comic as a whole, if the kids know who Arnold Palmer is, well enough to make the “subpar” joke, doesn’t the “we’ll serve anyone” comment seem odd? Either they know he’s referring to the famous golfer (vis a vis the drink named after him) and not himself, or they don’t, and think the guy’s name is Arnold Palmer, in which case, the “subpar” joke is misplaced. You can’t have it both ways. Unless Katie is supposed to be joking with her “we’ll serve anyone” remark, but I think those kids are a little young to come up with that kind of comeback…

    As usual, I’m probably overthinking it.

  19. ty Aug 4th 2009 at 12:36 pm 19

    “We’ll serve anyone” is a standard bartender joke, eg. ” Do you serve (Black Russians, Tom Collins, etc)? We’ll serve anyone.” Probably goes back to vaudeville or beyond. It’s reasonable that the kids heard it somewhere.

  20. Lihtox Aug 4th 2009 at 01:21 pm 20

    The “we’ll serve anyone” joke works if the kids know who Arnold Palmer is, but not his eponymous drink, and I think the second joke is just a pun, with “subpar” having two different (even opposite) meanings. I would laugh if someone made the joke in a conversation, anyway.

  21. RobynS8971 Aug 4th 2009 at 01:58 pm 21

    Argue all you want about sub and under par, I have a beef with marshal and “Sweetened” or “Unsweetened”, here in the South it’s sweet or un. Short and simple.

    And ANY fast food establishment with sweet or un and lemonade will give you a “1/2 & 1/2″, Bojangles is especially courteous about making a 1/2 & 1/2. And I KNOW it’s an Arnold palmer, but they WILL stare at you blankly if you ask for one!
    If you are adding lemonade to sweet down here prepare for diabetic coma. Best you make it with un and lemonade for best flavor!

  22. Dusty Poodle Lives! Aug 4th 2009 at 02:08 pm 22

    Yes, the new artist for Adam is Rob Harrell who used to have the exceptional Big Top (which Adam gave a nod to via the T-shirts the kids bought on their recent trip with Dad to the circus.)

  23. Dan V Aug 4th 2009 at 03:27 pm 23

    It did take a while to get used to the new look, but I think the strip is generally funnier than it used to be. I was about to drop it from my queue when the change happened. Maybe Brian Basset writes better when he’s not drawing, too.

  24. Dan Aug 4th 2009 at 05:04 pm 24

    Huh! So a half tea, half lemonade really is called an Arnold Palmer? Did not know that.

  25. Mitch4 Aug 4th 2009 at 06:27 pm 25

    I used to get this mixed up with “Long Island Iced Tea”. An unsafe confusion …

  26. turquoise cow Aug 4th 2009 at 06:48 pm 26

    i had never heard of an “arnold palmer” iced tea, though i’ve heard of the golfer, mostly because my dad’s a fan of the “sport.”

    i thought this was a shameless plug for Arizona’s Arnold Palmer Iced Tea, but maybe that’s only because I work for a supermarket.

    Thank the gods I’m on vacation next week.

  27. Jeff S. Aug 5th 2009 at 04:39 pm 27

    RobynS8971, there is no such thing as unsweetened iced tea in the South. It’s a myth. My dad used to be an iced tea drinker and he was a diabetic too. During each trip we took to Florida, he had to switch to water because no one knew you could make a gallon of iced tea without adding a quart of sugar to it.

  28. Charlene Aug 6th 2009 at 12:12 am 28

    Doesn’t all commercial ice tea contain lemon? I mean, every single brand on the store shelf?

  29. Marshal Aug 6th 2009 at 12:22 am 29

    Charlene:
    An Arnold Palmer is probably just a variation on a lemon tea.
    Lemon tea might be stronger though depending on how much lemon you
    add to the tea.

  30. RobynS8971 Aug 10th 2009 at 01:07 pm 30

    Jeff S. - when a Southern ‘friend’ complained his tea he bought “Up North” wasn’t sweet, my son replied “Because Northerns aren’t so presumptious that everyone wants a pound of sugar in their gallon of tea.”
    And Charlene, down here you can get sweet tea, un, sweet with lemon , decaf ice tea (sweet or un) and my fav (from Wawa) - lemonade tea, which is (full circle here) an Arnold Palmer! Ta da!

  31. Michael Aug 10th 2009 at 08:31 pm 31

    Pardon me for being dense, but I still don’t get the “subpar” joke, for either meaning.

  32. Morris Keesan Aug 16th 2009 at 02:25 pm 32

    (still catching up after a two-week vacation)
    Charlene, whether you can get unsweetened bottled iced tea depends on where you are. In New England, I never see it without sugar and flavoring (the closest to “plain” iced tea is usually sweetened with lemon).
    But I’ve gotten iced tea with no sweetener or other flavor in it at highway rest stops in Ohio and/or Indiana.

    And restaurants in New England often make iced tea with just water and tea bags, and let customers add their own sugar.

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