Comments on: I don’t think that word means what Cylene’s father thinks it means

By: [Fran]cisco

[Fran]cisco — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:45:56 +0000

@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.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:11:32 +0000

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!

By: [Fran]cisco

[Fran]cisco — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:56:37 +0000

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.)

By: Morris Keesan

Morris Keesan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:14:49 +0000

I’m with The Bad Seed on this. I think we’re just supposed to figure that the father is a pretentious jerk.

By: The Bad Seed

The Bad Seed — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:54:54 +0000

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.

By: Dave in Boston

Dave in Boston — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:11:28 +0000

Maybe her parents work for the financial arm of the Greek government…

By: mkilby

mkilby — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:09:57 +0000

My first impression was that “derivative” referred to (chemical) substances used when cooking.

By: NoAlias

NoAlias — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:27:37 +0000

maybe her cooking is like those 500 Chicken recipe books - 1-chicken with thyme, 2-chicken with sage, 3-chicken with rosemary…..

By: turquoise cow

turquoise cow — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:33:07 +0000

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).

By: jglor

jglor — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:25:53 +0000

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.