I don’t think that word means what Cylene’s father thinks it means
Cidu Bill on Mar 15th 2010
Has anybody ever called somebody’s cooking derivative? What would that even mean? Is Cylene’s mother expected to create a never-before-seen dinner every night?
Filed in Bill Bickel, One Big Happy, comic strips, comics, humor | 19 responses so far
Pirk Mar 15th 2010 at 12:11 pm 1
I’m trying to think if maybe there’s a word that sounds similar to derivative that her father might have actually said referring to her mother’s cooking which would actually make sense . . . Like a Family Circus style “kids get similar-sounding words mixed up LOL”
Gotta love this comic though. Starts with a hilarious plot for a short story (one that Ted Forth would absolutely love), ends with a really intriguing line drawing.
nonegiven Mar 15th 2010 at 12:32 pm 2
Derivative cooking, either leftovers or watching too much Sandra Lee
Elyrest Mar 15th 2010 at 01:09 pm 3
Drivel ? Maybe the food is “drivelative”.
George P Mar 15th 2010 at 01:29 pm 4
I was thinking that leftovers could maybe work, if you squinted, but, yes, Sandra Lee also works.
ty Mar 15th 2010 at 01:46 pm 5
I’m going with “left-overs = derivitive.” Although that sounds a little too post-modern for such an unenlighted attitude.
paperboy Mar 15th 2010 at 02:04 pm 6
Wow, this comic is positively prosaic.
furrykef Mar 15th 2010 at 02:15 pm 7
Derivative cooking is one half of the calculus of cooking, of course — though it’s more properly called differential cooking. (The other half is integral cooking.)
John Small Berries Mar 15th 2010 at 02:23 pm 8
I could swear I’ve seen a joke in the comics before about someone’s cooking being called derivative. Google is not helpful, though.
CIDU Bill Mar 15th 2010 at 02:39 pm 9
John, all that means is that the comic is derivative.
jglor Mar 15th 2010 at 04:25 pm 10
What’s strange is that it’s perfectly normal to call someone’s story derivative. I think it would have been funnier if the comment would have been something that applied better to cooking, and didn’t apply very well to writing. Like saying it was bland, or needed more salt or something. Ok, maybe not funnier, but it would have at least made more sense.
turquoise cow Mar 15th 2010 at 07:33 pm 11
derivative sort of works as a critique of art (or writing), but not so much of cooking, unless Cylene’s mother is attempting to create a new meal that is actually not new. That is, maybe she’s going for originality, but failing.
Or maybe Cylene misunderstood the argument - it began about cooking and then devolved into everything else (though I don’t know how many arguments would involve a husband insulting his wife with the word derivative, unless they were both really artsy people getting into a heated discussion about some work of art).
NoAlias Mar 15th 2010 at 11:27 pm 12
maybe her cooking is like those 500 Chicken recipe books - 1-chicken with thyme, 2-chicken with sage, 3-chicken with rosemary…..
mkilby Mar 16th 2010 at 01:09 am 13
My first impression was that “derivative” referred to (chemical) substances used when cooking.
Dave in Boston Mar 16th 2010 at 02:11 am 14
Maybe her parents work for the financial arm of the Greek government…
The Bad Seed Mar 16th 2010 at 05:54 am 15
I’m thinking that Cylene’s mother serves a lot of leftovers and/or Cylene’s father is a literary critic (I read the strip but no nothing of Cylene except that she’s snobby). Derivitive is still definitely a word that’s more expected in the context of writing than cooking though, so maybe we’re just supposed to take away that he’s an insufferable snob about everything.
Morris Keesan Mar 16th 2010 at 09:14 am 16
I’m with The Bad Seed on this. I think we’re just supposed to figure that the father is a pretentious jerk.
[Fran]cisco Mar 16th 2010 at 09:56 am 17
First of all, I’m on the side of “He’s complaining about too many leftovers,” though loving left-overs, I am totally unsympathetic. ;>
What I don’t get is how can “derivative” be an insult vis a vis cooking? Most cooking is derivative, especially the fine cuisines associated with so many cultures. The cuisine builds as the best cooks learn from each other and yesterday’s innovation becomes today’s best practice. Recipes are derived from the community’s experience. Enhanced, of course, by the chef’s skill, but the evolution of the cuisine is key.
Am I making any sense? Or have I gone off the deep end?
@BadSeed15: As I recall, “snobby” is the only thing one really needs to know about Cylene. (Caveat: It’s been several years since I followed this strip.)
Dan Mar 16th 2010 at 04:11 pm 18
Francisco, do you still love leftovers when the original meal was, you know, awful? Me either!
But I did think of leftovers here. The meals Papa has been eating have been derivative of previous meals. Still not too funny, but hey! Big word!
[Fran]cisco Mar 16th 2010 at 10:45 pm 19
@Dan18 — Well, no, I don’t. But less-than-excellent “original meals” are so rare in my household (i.e., my wife of many years is a seriously good cook) that such a meal does not survive to become leftovers; it passes directly to the trash. Which happens about once every 5 years. By this point, of course, you might be picking up hints as to why I enjoy leftovers. ;> It may be unfair.