Or perhaps it is twelve and it comes after the final elipses (and there is a final elipses), and Pirraro couldn’t fit it in the balloon. Or perhaps the word will be said an indefinite number of time because the guy has to make the word sound just right (see Howard Hughes- or at least “The Aviator”)”.

“Do you know how to keep someone with OCD busy? Give them a rug with tassels. They’ll never be able to leave the house.” — Paula Poundstone

OK, it’s absurdly unlikely and doesn’t make the cartoon any funnier, but it’s not actually impossible.

“Look at the drum, Craig!”

I recently thought that a tuna fish was as big as depicted on Ziggy’s plate (a common misconception, I’ve since found out).

Some co-workers and I were once talking about the relative size of fish and one said that tuna is much bigger than salmon. (I had thought that salmon was the bigger fish.) After revealing that I didn’t know this fact, a co-worker said, “Don’t you know your ‘Robotech’ history?” (In brief, “Robotech” is a Japanese animated cartoon that was fairly popular in the United States in the mid-80s.)

I grew up on “Robotech,” and I remember the scene he was talking about fairly well: Stranded and hungry on a space fortress out in space, the protagonist Rick Hunter sees a giant fish floating out in space near one of the fortress’ airlocks. He ventures outside of the foretress in a makeshift spacesuit, and manages to bring the fish in, but accidentally shuts the airlock on the fish’s neck, losing all but the giant head. Fortunately, this fish-head is enough for him and his friend to live on until they are finally rescued.

This cartoon dealt with giant human-like aliens (called “Zentradi”, which were at least five times taller than most humans) that could, with the proper technology, shrink down to normal human size (or grow back to their “normal” size).

I had thought that the fish that Rick Hunter carried back inside was a fish “giganticized” with Zentradi technology (utilizing a bit of foreshadowing). It wasn’t until recently (when I had this discussion with my co-workers) that I learned that that fish was just a normal-sized tuna fish, and not a “Zentradi tuna.”

So there went one childhood belief straight out the window. Despite that, we all agreed that “Zentradi Tuna” would be a great band name.