”Is the Pope Catholic?” Synchronicity

Cidu Bill on Jan 30th 2010

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(spotted by Elyrest)

Filed in Bill Bickel, John Deering, Mark Parisi, Off the Mark, Strange Brew, comic strips, comics, humor, synchronicity | 16 responses so far

16 Responses to “”Is the Pope Catholic?” Synchronicity”

  1. dnd Jan 30th 2010 at 10:00 pm 1

    I don’t get it.

  2. Annie Benson Jan 30th 2010 at 10:40 pm 2

    Famous sarcastic ways of saying “yes”. Is the pope catholic? Do bears crap in the woods? (A cruder version of the word “crap” is usually employed.)

  3. dnd Jan 30th 2010 at 11:20 pm 3

    I still don’t get it. If the bear was driving a car, why wouldn’t he crap at a gas station? And with the house, how could the bathroom be spotless? Do the bears also bathe in the woods? Seems more likely that the bears would crap all over the floors, if they were used to crapping in the woods.

  4. Igelino Jan 30th 2010 at 11:21 pm 4

    The first one reminds me when I was in the states, asking for directions to a “toilet” or “restroom” seldom got a straight answer. But asking for directions to “McDonalds” always got an easy reply.

    The bear must feel the same way.

  5. Igelino Jan 30th 2010 at 11:23 pm 5

    Oh, dnd, bears don’t use gas stations or bathrooms. They go in the woods. Only in the woods.

  6. John in Tronna Jan 31st 2010 at 09:42 am 6

    @Annie: Sometimes the reply will have a slight twist: “Is a bear Catholic? Does the Pope…” You get my drift.

    I remember a cartoon once, showed some guys in the bushes in the woods — hunters, I think — and they spy a man in a mitre and robe squat over a log, surrounded by men with halberds. One says to the other, “Well, I guess this explains the religious affiliation of bears.”

  7. Dyfsunctional Jan 31st 2010 at 10:24 am 7

    The Far Side version had a few bears talking, with a caption along the lines of, “Does a bear…well, I know -you- do, Earl.”

    Charmin has a whole bunch of ads out with a family of animated bears who seem preoccupied with the process. I’d bet that a lot of people watch the commercials and say “I love those cute bears in the toilet paper ads” without getting the reference to the expression.

  8. David A. Rooney Jan 31st 2010 at 12:58 pm 8

    Dysfunctional - remember the ones with the cute talking roll of TP - how can you then use it for its intended purpose without feeling like a cruel sadist or something?

  9. Charlene Jan 31st 2010 at 01:02 pm 9

    Does anyone remember that before 1978, the phrase “is the Pope Polish?” was the rough equivalent of “Do pigs fly?”

  10. David N Jan 31st 2010 at 01:33 pm 10

    Yeah, the car-driving bear puzzled me too. Without it being next to the second one, I don’t think I would come to the answer of “crap”.

    Along the same lines (and to Charlene’s comment), the one I remember hearing before 1978 was “Is the Pope Italian?” (2 in a row being not, so far.)

  11. mitch4 Jan 31st 2010 at 01:38 pm 11

    @Charlene — I recall something like that, but still presupposing the affirmative: “Is the Pope Italian?”.

  12. Mark in Boston Jan 31st 2010 at 05:07 pm 12

    The bears have a music room too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q35e6h8_Xdo

    (Warning: offensive Warner Brothers cartoon stereotypes.)

  13. Kamino Neko Jan 31st 2010 at 08:17 pm 13

    “Is the Pope Italian?”

    Which has hilariously managed to continue in use despite the fact that the Pope hasn’t been Italian since 1979. (John Paul II was Polish, Benedict XVI is German.)

  14. Morris Keesan Feb 1st 2010 at 08:42 am 14

    Charlene, the only times I ever heard (or used) the phrase “is the pope Polish?” were during the term of office (reign? tenure?) of Karol Wotyla, and it was clearly an ironic variation of the standard “is the pope Catholic?” version.

  15. Nathan Feb 3rd 2010 at 12:42 pm 15

    I have to wonder what the Charmin bears do with their used toilet paper. You never see any actual toilets in those commercials.

  16. Todd Feb 7th 2010 at 12:43 am 16

    According to Wikipedia, it’s Karol Wojtyla. Makes it easier to look it up if it’s spelled right. (John Paul II’s real name, for those who don’t want to bother, but do want confirmation.)

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