Comics I Don’t Understand

Chinese??

Cidu Bill on Mar 25th 2010

For what it’s worth, this strip was followed by one of those periodic strips that focuses on Luann’s breasts:

Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Greg Evans, Luann, comic strips, comics, humor | 30 responses so far

30 Responses to “Chinese??”

Kamino Neko Mar 25th 2010 at 12:12 am 1

Well, no, it’s not a Chinese proverb - it’s clearly of English language origin, but formatted as faux-Chinese grammar.

But it IS good advice for singing. Look at her in the first panel of the second strip - she’s singing to the floor (or her toes, to tie it in with the advice), which makes proper projection and enunciation hard, if not impossible. She might not actually be singing through her nose, but she’s not going to be able to project properly, and that’s going to screw up her sound no matter what she’s actually doing otherwise. (Doing a quick experiment, though, I do end up singing through my nose when slouching like she is, so, maybe it is a universal thing.) Her posture in the last panel is, perhaps, a tad overdone, but thrusting your chest out is part of proper projection.
Arthur Mar 25th 2010 at 12:15 am 2

Translation: If you sing to your toes (i.e. keep your head down),
you’ll sound nasal. The question I have is whether it’s a translation
of a Chinese proverb, or whether they say that because it sounds
vaguely Chinese. Luann obviously thought it was in Chinese until she
parsed it properly.

I’m a little surprised at this kind of humor today.

The follow-up strip shows her singing normally, then singing much
better with her head up (and after having been touched by the boy).
rain Mar 25th 2010 at 12:47 am 3

Beasts?
Elyrest Mar 25th 2010 at 12:56 am 4

“For what it’s worth, this strip was followed by one of those periodic strips that focuses on Luann’s beasts:”

rain - Thank you. I didn’t even notice that till I read your comment. I will admit that I sometimes have trouble controlling my beasts. They just don’t make a bra strong enough. Maybe music will help.
Cidu Bill Mar 25th 2010 at 01:15 am 5

Damn… I don’t know what it is about that word that I mistype it that way almost every time. I do know how to spell it, really I do, but for some reason my fingers always hit the keys wrong.
Cidu Bill Mar 25th 2010 at 01:18 am 6

On the other hand, I don’t have to worry about remembering exactly which savage thing music hath charms to sooth, because I’m going to type both words the same anyway.
Seth Finkelstein Mar 25th 2010 at 01:42 am 7

The key to the first strip is that in the second panel, Luann doesn’t see a balloon filled with English words in front of her. She’ s hearing a bunch of syllables. Like the joke with magic words of “Ohwa-Agoos-Siam”.
drdan Mar 25th 2010 at 01:57 am 8

at least he didn’t ask her to sing from her Diaphragm
The Bad Seed Mar 25th 2010 at 05:27 am 9

As for singing through your nose, that refers to the upper palate, which should vibrate when you sing properly. When done right, it does feel like the sound is coming from a chamber behind your nose.
mitch4 Mar 25th 2010 at 06:58 am 10

Along with the “Oh Wah Tagoo Siam” factor, the saying is awkward in that it spells out the bad side of the situation, without really cueing us in on that. Cf. “Many hands make light work” which is advice about what to do, while the singing one is advice about what to avoid … after you figure that out.
Dyfsunctional Mar 25th 2010 at 06:59 am 11

Seth has it. Chinese is, as far as I can tell, a language of simple one-syllable phonemes strung together. The rhythm of spoken Chinese makes it an easy target for English-speaking humorists. I could cite examples here, but not without sounding like an insensitive clod.
yellojkt Mar 25th 2010 at 07:48 am 12

Music hath charms that sooth the savage breast, beast, whatever.
Heather D Mar 25th 2010 at 09:04 am 13

The Bad Seed makes an important point. You’re all assuming that this is a warning — ‘don’t sing down to your toes, you will sound nasal’. But proper vocal technique DOES use the nasal passages. Adds resonance, timbre, clarity, etc etc. My first reading of the comic was that this was ADVICE, as in “sing with your whole body, all the way down to your toes, and use your nasal passages for resonance.”

Then there’s also the fact that traditional Chinese singing is VERY nasal. It’s a very different sound than typical Western singing. So for the Chinese, singing through the nose would be a GOAL, not a warning.

That interpretation doesn’t seem to agree with the following strip, of course, where it seems the problem is indeed that she’s singing to the floor, all hunched over. So the artist doesn’t know about proper singing technique (beyond standing up straight), or Chinese singing…
GP Mar 25th 2010 at 09:29 am 14

#12,
Or soothe, even.
Karen Mar 25th 2010 at 09:51 am 15

Okay, I was in choir all through high school and college, and I never heard this advice. As Heather D pointed out, Chinese singing is very different from Western-style singing, so that proverb doesn’t work at all.

Of course, if the strip were just all about, “Stand up straight, don’t sing from your throat and nose, and for gosh darn sakes, enunciate and SMILE when you sing, girls!” which is what I heard from Sister Gertrude in high school, Mr. Cute Australian Guy wouldn’t have had a chance to touch Luann near her beasts.
[Fran]cisco Mar 25th 2010 at 10:05 am 16

So much opportunity and nary a word from Nicole?!?

I love the way this group can grab a typo and run with it; the commentary is often more entertaining than the original strips.
CIDU Bill Mar 25th 2010 at 10:53 am 17

Yes, [Fran] cisco, especially when it’s at my expense.
Keera Mar 25th 2010 at 12:22 pm 18

Oh, I do wish today’s young people would STRAIGHTEN UP. Oh, heck, a lot of women my age could do with a slap upside the head and a reminder to stop looking at their feet, too, instead of letting them complain about how fat they feel and how bad their bra fits and that their back/shoulder/neck hurts and they look 10 years older than they are. And all the times I’ve heard in meditation class “Sit with a straight back,” and instantly half the class whines about how hard it is, and they can’t do it, and if they try, it hurts.

Sorry. Had to rant. Thing is, Luann’s breasts actually do look that good once she STRAIGHTENED UP. She’s not just drawn that way, y’know?

OK. I’m done. Really. Whew. Thanks for letting me get this out. Came straight from the diaphragm.
Elyrest Mar 25th 2010 at 12:53 pm 19

“I love the way this group can grab a typo and run with it”

Cidu Bill (17) - Of course it’s mainly at your expense because you are like a parent. When you’re a kid and your parent does something wrong you jump all over it. Finally some power! Plus we know you have a good sense of humor (you’d have to with this bunch) so we run roughshod.

On that note - Keera (19), of course I complain about how my bra fits - it’s full of beasts.
Elyrest Mar 25th 2010 at 12:54 pm 20

Whoops Keera @18.
Kamino Neko Mar 25th 2010 at 12:55 pm 21

No, Bad Seed, ’singing through your nose’ is a bad thing.

Here’s one of many, many sites giving advice on avoiding it.

And singing to her toes is what she’s doing in the first panel.
Keera Mar 25th 2010 at 12:58 pm 22

LOL! Elyrest #19.
Matthew Mar 25th 2010 at 02:06 pm 23

The saying, “Music has charms to soothe the savage breast”. It’s from Congreve’s MOURNING BRIDE.

As for the typo, Bill, there’s is the Freudian analysis, but we needn’t examine that here.

As for the advice, it is good, and it’s apparent that Quill’s mother heard or concocted this adv ice, and it had a “Chinese” sound to it, so she called it an old Chinese proverb.

Finally, I take issue with Bill’s remark that one of these strips “focuses on Luann’s breasts”. Yes, they are more prominent when she stands up straight & pulls her shoulders back a mite, but the strip has not placed them in the panel’s center nor remarked on them at all. We focus on them, because Greg Evans’s style is DRENCHED in sex. It is one of the reasons that LUANN is worth reading. It has a sexual subtext a mile long & a mile deep, but barely below the surface.
Daniel J. Drazen Mar 25th 2010 at 02:42 pm 24

“Sing through nose” reminds me of when my choral director in college wanted us to sing so that the sound comes not from the throat but sort of resonates in the sinuses. This is especially good WRT singing high notes and going for the overtones instead of just belting out the melody.

Of course that WAS choral singing so maybe it works different for soloists.
Heather D Mar 25th 2010 at 03:06 pm 25

Daniel, it’s not different. That’s what I was referring to above. I’m a professional classical musician, I know a thing or two about proper singing technique.
jjmcgaffey Mar 26th 2010 at 04:21 am 26

24 (among others) That was what puzzled me about the original strip too - the nasal resonance was something much urged by my college choir director. On the other hand I asked my mother about it (she’s currently singing in a church choir) and she instantly identified it as instructions to look up and sing forward, not looking down. Which also makes sense - I got that instruction too - but the way the ‘proverb’ is phrased definitely obscures its meaning.
Chakolate Mar 26th 2010 at 07:48 pm 27

Keera (18) I used to show people how to lose 40 pounds instantly - I just corrected my terrible posture. I seriously looked 40 pounds lighter.
Mark in Boston Mar 27th 2010 at 01:03 pm 28

What the hell is a savage breast?
Matthew Mar 27th 2010 at 01:55 pm 29

I am sure that Zach Weiner or SATURDAY MORNING BREAKFAST CEREAL has portrayed a savage breast ofr two in his time, Mark, but Congreve referred to inner emotional turmoil or upheaval.
Dave Van Domelen Mar 29th 2010 at 11:36 pm 30

Shortpacked has picked up this particular baton.