Feb 5th 2013 08:16 am Royal Pain
I ran across this old cartoon from 1996, which relates to remarks I made yesterday. Despite the horrible object lesson of Diana’s fate, nothing changes, does it? I saw a headline just this morning (I didn’t read the article!!) about Kate showing her “baby bump.” And when did they start calling it that? I prefer, “In the family way.”
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
48 Responses to “Royal Pain”
sandcastler on 05 Feb 2013 at 8:25 am #
Maybe it is called a baby bump because 40% of the babies are now born into nontraditional family groupings.
nickchick on 05 Feb 2013 at 8:32 am #
Or as my Mama used to whisper to other adults (if children were around)…She’s pg.
TonyG on 05 Feb 2013 at 8:44 am #
My parents would say she is in a “motherly way”.
Nancy in Bucks County on 05 Feb 2013 at 8:45 am #
My mother still says they are fragrant.
Rickmeister on 05 Feb 2013 at 8:48 am #
“With child” sounds more like the King’s English, if you ask me (which, of course, you didn’t).
Tom from the Front Range on 05 Feb 2013 at 8:52 am #
I prefer the much less euphemistic “bun in the oven.”
billinbossier on 05 Feb 2013 at 8:55 am #
I thought the people who actually waste their keeping up with such things, (the grammer Nazis?) decided last year that ‘baby bump’ was no longer acceptable. Of course, they didn’t give us another expression to use. I still just say, ‘She’s pregant”.
Jeff in Ann Arbor on 05 Feb 2013 at 8:57 am #
My grandfather, a big, burly plumber who fathered five children between 1910 – 1917, got very embarrassed at the mention of pregnancy. His primness seemed very incongruous with his appearance, but I guess that despite his working class origins, he was a product of the Victorian era.
Ursen on 05 Feb 2013 at 10:55 am #
What happened to the word “preggers”? And why the statement from the father “we are preggers.”? No she is pregnant, you just helped put her in that misery.
Boise Ed on 05 Feb 2013 at 11:45 am #
Fragrant??? That was how she described me, after gym class.
Ghost Rider 6 on 05 Feb 2013 at 12:30 pm #
Enceinte. Oh, wait. I used that over the weekend. (“Used” it, Mindy. Not “caused” it.)
After Tom Smothers was told by his brother that “poignant” meant “pregnant with feeling”, he referred to a woman as being “six months poignant”.
Denise in Michigan on 05 Feb 2013 at 12:33 pm #
JDS, thank you for the Tony Robinson link you posted yesterday! I look forward to viewing it.
Ursen on 05 Feb 2013 at 12:54 pm #
Of course you can bypass the whole issue by adopting. That’s what we did, an excellent way of going about it. We got two wonderful children, and they got a home, a win-win for all involved. Couldn’t be more our children if they had been biological, one foreign, one domestic, special needs both, and wouldn’t change a thing. More couples should adopt, it is no more expensive than paying medical and hospital bills, and lots of children are waiting for forever homes.
Country Boy on 05 Feb 2013 at 12:58 pm #
“Looks like she done swallered a watermellen seed.”
Neal in Bahstawn on 05 Feb 2013 at 1:02 pm #
Billy Wilder’s “One Two Three” ranks as one of the best comedies ever made, and it contains one of the best word gags ever filmed.
The set-up: Expatriate Coca Cola executive C. R. MacNamara (Jimmy Cagney) and his wife, Arlene Francis, are the unwilling hosts of the wild teenage daughter of Coca Cola’s president. The uncontrollable daughter (easily Pamela Tiffin’s best role) has been out all night for the past month and, one morning, she isn’t feeling well. A German doctor is called in, he examines her, and says there is no problem. The following dialog ensues:
German doctor: “She’s fine, she’s just… how do you say it… she’s ‘schwanger’.”
Jimmy Cagney: “What do you mean, she’s ‘schwanger’? I don’t know what it means…”
From upstairs, the MacNamara young son, who along with his sister have overheard the exchange, says, “I know what it means.”
Cagney: “So, what does it mean?”
Son: “You told me not to use words like that.”
The now incredibly anxious Cagney says, “Just tell me what it means!”
The daughter yells out, “It means she’s going to have puppies!”
Bryan on 05 Feb 2013 at 1:24 pm #
I’ve never been able to fathom the fascination of the masses with “celebrities”. Why should any of us care what an actors waistline looks like or with whom they are sleeping? Same goes for politicians and athletes. And foreign Royalty should be even less of a concern.
But then, I’ve been told I’m odd. I’ll just have to take my wife’s word for it.
Denise in Michigan on 05 Feb 2013 at 1:53 pm #
Amazing that we can each use such vastly different euphemisms for a basic thing like pregnancy and still all know what is meant. Pretty wonderful, too, since we do this sort of thing for all kinds of concepts all the time and it works. (I feel most comfortable using “expecting” or “expectant”.)
JDS on 05 Feb 2013 at 2:18 pm #
I’m guessing that the Queen doesn’t refer to the Princess as being “Knocked-up”.
Elizabeth II on 05 Feb 2013 at 2:27 pm #
Let us not become vulgar. The Duchess is with Royal Heir. If you shall continue to defame the Royal Family, I will have to ask James to banish you from The Village.
Brad on 05 Feb 2013 at 2:47 pm #
I find “preggers” to be offensive, although I can’t pinpoint exactly why. I think it’s probably part of a bigger problem — the idea of having a family and raising a child is lost in the hoopla of the “event” of pregnancy. It reminds me of the relatively new term “Bridezilla”. Too much emphasis on the wedding and not enough on the marriage.
Soleil on 05 Feb 2013 at 2:59 pm #
The Halloween that I was heavily pregnant with our son, I dressed up as an oven, complete with red coils on the top and a door with a window on it (with a plastic bun, of course)
My husband dressed as a baker.
Mindy from Indy on 05 Feb 2013 at 3:09 pm #
Soleil, That is awesome. Too funny.
I found today’s real time strip funny – until I had to battle (and lost to) a coffee pot. There is not a whole lot more gross than a nasty coffee pot.
JDS on 05 Feb 2013 at 3:23 pm #
Oops! Sorry Betty, I must have lost my head. I’ll be more care with my posts in the future.
Elizabeth II on 05 Feb 2013 at 3:43 pm #
Please address me as Your Majesty, seeing you’re American, no bow shall be required. Are we quite clear on protocol?
Ghost Rider 6 on 05 Feb 2013 at 3:50 pm #
Did someone crown Virgin Mindy?
Sorry, sweetheart. Just having a little harmless fun at your expense. Have a great day.
Mary in Ohio on 05 Feb 2013 at 4:10 pm #
Bill in Bossier -None of my Grammers or Grampers were Nazis.
Mindy on 05 Feb 2013 at 4:14 pm #
Ghost, why do you always think that I’m going to say something? Look how long I waited today! [Not to mention that we just got back from the hospital.] First it was Virgin Mindy. Then it was Ms. Collins. Now it’s Elizabeth II. I wonder if Tsar Nicholas is standing in the wings ready to make his appearance?
What my Dad would have said, God bless his little Pea Pickin’ Heart, was, “She’s knocked up.” Dad was known for being diplomatic. It’s amazing, considering that I was Daddy’s Girl, just how little of that I’ve picked up, no?
And the only way Virgin Mindy could get crowned would be playing checkers.
sandcastler on 05 Feb 2013 at 4:18 pm #
The one day I am out of the village the Queen visits and GR6 “crowns” VM.
Czar Nicholas II on 05 Feb 2013 at 4:21 pm #
Nyet! Nyet!
sandcastler on 05 Feb 2013 at 4:21 pm #
Mindy, by any chance was your daddy Tennessee Ernie Ford? I clearly recall that was his tag line.
Mark in Boston on 05 Feb 2013 at 5:19 pm #
There’s a story I read about Bert Lahr, who was quite a hypochondriac.
A chorus girl fainted during a rehearsal of a play, and a doctor was called in. Lahr was hanging around near the doctor as he questioned the chorus girl.
Doctor: “Have you been feeling faint any other time in these past few days?”
Lahr: “Say, doc, sometimes I feel kind of faint.”
Doctor: “Do you feel nauseated in the morning?”
Lahr: “Say, doc, I’ve been feeling kind of sick in the morning.”
Doctor: “Mr. Lahr, if you please, I’m trying to find out if this girl is pregnant.”
emeritus Minnesota biologist on 05 Feb 2013 at 5:28 pm #
Lovely discussion of preggers and such. The euphemisms I have the most trouble with are “passed away”, “passed on”, “is now dancing before the Lord”, and such. No, my wife died. Happens to everybody. I’ve actually trained my wonderful broker [see below] to use die and died and such / wife and me [e.g., "when you die, the charitable remainder will go to xxx ..., etc.]
As to coffee makers, our black one eventually died, and the white one sure does get dirty fast. However, what’s worse than coffee for discoloration is tea. A tea mug develops a cake that does not easily dishwash clean. Needs at least a “toughy” [deliberately misspelled to keep this blog out of court]. There, I already have a black one, a freebie from a brokerage that will remain nameless, and that helped get America into this recession in ’08. I’ve an agreement with my current broker, whose firm had no or little part in that debacle, not to use it in public. [This is return for her not forcing one of her mugs on me. I have too many, I hate to waste stuff, and said broker is getting used to that. She is wonderful.]
Tea also proves that “stainless steel” is not stainless, it is, as Germans say, “Rostfrei”. I have an oversize dessert spoon [not full tbs.-size], made in China. I call it my “Chinese teaspoon”. I use it to squeeze teabags against when I have steeped a cup of tea, and the spoon is so strong it has not bent in >10 years of use. Its stain is phenomenal, very difficult to remove, even with the plastic scrub. Tea stains American “stainless”, too, and the cake in my black china mug is also phenomenal.
Ghost Rider 6 on 05 Feb 2013 at 5:39 pm #
Funny, I don’t remember Tennessee Ernie Ford tag line ever being “She’s knocked up”.
Because, Mindy, you usually DO say something. And don’t think I haven’t noticed you being proactive that way.
BTW, try to stay out of hospitals. People die there. Seriously.
Mindy from Indy on 05 Feb 2013 at 6:04 pm #
emeritus Minnesota biologist, Thank you! I’m glad I’m not the only one who dis-likes “passed on” and such. Unfortunately, I get looked upon like some sort of soulless cretin if I use some variation of die. I could say more on the subject, but this is not the forum for it.
)
As for coffee vs. tea stains, I would have to agree. I received a small, white tea pot from my grandmother. She’d never used it. I do; despite my best efforts, it’s no longer so white inside anymore. (And grandpa had a couple of those super-strong tablespoons – U.S. Army issue.
Mindy on 05 Feb 2013 at 6:05 pm #
I am just so chagrined. Seriously. I’m chagrined to the soles of my dainty little webbed feet.
JDS on 05 Feb 2013 at 6:26 pm #
Dearest Your Majesty, Okie Dokie. American/Irish Catholic actually. I LOVE your hats.
sandcastler on 05 Feb 2013 at 6:42 pm #
GR6, twas the “Pea Pickin” I was referencing in Mindy’s post. This is a hard village to play, betting Shakespeare is glad he never off Globed a play here.
Ruth Anne in Winter Park on 05 Feb 2013 at 7:21 pm #
About tea stains – I had a pitcher that I used for iced tea that I assumed was permanently brown. Then for some reason I decided to I use it for orange juice or lemonade or something similarly acidic. As I recall, most of the stain went away.
Mark in TTown on 05 Feb 2013 at 10:17 pm #
Don’t know about tea stains, but my mom’s old bathtub had some stains I thought were permanent. One day I spilled some hydrogen peroxide on the tub and the stains it hit disappeared. So I cleaned the rest of the tub with it and it did a very good job.
And I totally agree with Arlo in the retro strip. It is someone else’s marriage and it is definitely not anybody else’s business!
Jerry in Fl on 05 Feb 2013 at 10:58 pm #
I find that “she’s going to have a baby” still gets the idea across. By the way CB, you’re in the right thread.
Jerry in Fl on 05 Feb 2013 at 11:14 pm #
Take a Q-tip and dab hydrogen peroxide on your teeth for whiter teeth.
Jerry in Fl on 05 Feb 2013 at 11:24 pm #
Better check on your property in the Soloman Islands guys.
Ghost Rider 6 on 05 Feb 2013 at 11:38 pm #
Top Ten Plays Billy Shakespeare Would Have Written If He’d Lived in A&Jvile:
10. Merry Mindys of Windsor
9. Midsummer’s Night’s Whoopie
8. Taming of Ms. Curtis
7. Love’s Handcuff Key Lost
6. Merchant of Google
5. As You Like The Thermostat Set
4. Luddie’s Tale
3. Comedy of Arlo
2. All’s Well That Ends With Janis In The Tub
1. Much Ado About Everything
Mindy on 06 Feb 2013 at 2:45 am #
I love that phrase, “off Globed,” sandcastler! It took me a second to catch the pun and then I chuckled and snorted and giggled and laughed and guffawed and howled and smirked. And don’t forget snickered. John looked at me askance. But he asks ance quite often and I paid no attention. I was too broke to pay attention. And, no, Ghost, Ance is not Devil Ance. He speeled his moniker A N S E. Which Mindy are you affiliating with Widnsor with regard to Wee Willie?
sandcastler on 06 Feb 2013 at 7:40 am #
GR6, excellent list, especially fond of number 6.
Mindy, glad my little word play caused you so much joy. It just flitted into me mind after learning the Queen had graced our fair village.
phil in Missoula, MT on 06 Feb 2013 at 9:51 am #
eMb, et al.
To clean my tea cup, I use the goop that my wife uses to clean the glass top stove. A couple of drops on a damp paper town works wonders.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 06 Feb 2013 at 12:55 pm #
I have found that tea stains come off fairly easily with a chlorine-based bleach — sometimes, even as you watch. Look for sodium hypochlorite on the list of ingredients. Use undiluted for fastest effect.
The MBH and I have been watching the dozens of little birds which appear as if by magic outside the sliding door of our TV room. For years I had thought they bore a name like “dusky finch” or “dusky sparrow”. Finally got to google-image them yesterday and found they are, apparently, “dark-eyed juncos”. The head, neck, and all upper surfaces are black, but not shiny black (as in a crow); rather a dead black or dark charcoal-gray. Everything underneath is quite white – matching the snow. Only the beak is stumping me: some google pictures seem to show a thinner, more elongated beak (such as found on insectivores) and others show a shorter, wider beak as used by seedivores (ha! I made that one up!). Anyone here know which is proper for those juncos – or if any such perceived difference makes any difference in identification?
GR6: I would alter, slightly, your list #2 to “All’s Well That Starts With Janis In The Tub”…just sayin’.
Meryl A on 12 Feb 2013 at 12:57 am #
Pregnant was considered such a thing not to be mentioned in mixed company that Lucy Ricardo was never said to be pregnant, but having a baby. They were not allowed to use the word pregnant as it was felt the public would be offended and embarrassed by the use of the word. They almost did not allow the plotline, but could not figure out what else to do, other than take the show off the air during her pregnancy, which no one wanted to do.