I rarely let April Fools’ Day go by unremarked. Lately, I’ve been on the “April Fish” kick, playing on the French version of April Fools’ Day. I don’t know why, but the idea of sticking a paper fish on someone’s back just strikes me as charming, strange and—for some reason—very French. It’s a bigger deal than you might think. I do know that the chocolate shops in France begin to fill their windows with large chocolate fish in late March, just like chocolate Easter bunnies. Before the April Fish thing, April Fools’ Day often was a day for letting Ludwig speak his mind. I enjoy doing that, too.
The Cat Gets His Tongue
By Jimmy Johnson
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114 responses to “The Cat Gets His Tongue”
JJ: Thanks for the reminder.
TIP for today. I’d be more cautious about what to post there.
http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/
I need to find out why the French think this is funny. I am sure that the French wonder the same thing about us though. I hope that they find A&J funny….except when it is subtle. lol
Paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.
BTW, I am not a fan of practical jokes or surprises, unless it is a way of conveying good news.
To put it in perspective, remember that the French apparently thought Jerry Lewis was a comedic genius.
Jackie, if you are going to plead for something, perhaps clothes that are falling off would be an aid.
No, Ghost, this is my new CPA , I am paying him.
Thought you’d like to know I am showing promise in losing weight, not my clothes. The latter is far easier than the former.
Without you and I we’d only have JJ for entertainment We can take up some of the load.
Love Jackie
Steve: “BTW, I am not a fan of practical jokes or surprises, unless it is a way of conveying good news.” Amen, emb
Perhaps at least some of my love of sundresses stems from an incident some years ago when I was seated in the waiting area of a bank, across from a man and his lissome blonde wife. Her sundress, worn (properly) sans brassiere, was a size or two too large, making every move she made (and she was making a lot of them) an adventure in “OMG, which one is she going to show next?”
I’m sure the fact they were waiting to see a male loan officer had nothing to do with her choice of attire.
But yes, Jackie, I am very proud that you are showing signs of weight loss…even if I am not there to see them. 😉
Ghost, Arlo famously noted, “There’s just something about a peek.”
Any attempt to add the link (it is on this site, not GoComics) immediately sends the post to Davy Jones’ Locker. 🙁
Debbe, Michigan/Michigan St is a huge rivalry. MSU in the final four would not like to be referred to as Michigan. That’s all. When meeting someone on the street with some form of MSU attire the proper greeting is “Go Green’ with the response of “Go White”
A few days back, someone noted that Robin seemed to have left us, and maybe was happy about that. In contrast, I thought [but didn’t post] that Robin was a neat addition, and hadn’t been gone all that long. After all, JJ cannot feature everyone from Meg to Gus and every place from the beach to the water cooler all at once. Happily, Robin is back and has been initiated into the club.
Joyeux April Fish! emb
My boss is from France and I asked him if anyone had put a fish on his back yet. He was pleasantly surprised that I understood the custom. He is out of town but coming back today and I was thinking of making a photocopy of a fish and put it in his chair, but then I would have missed his reaction.
“Joyeux poisson d’avril!” would have been better. Around here, the paper fish would most likely be an eelpout, a much despised local fresh-water cod, but perfectly good eating.
Peace, emb
emb, a minority report over on TDS holds that Robin is “trouble”. I don’t see that, either.
Oh and I still don’t think Robin and Janis are the exact same “size”, either.
I took off a while this morning to carry my Mom to get her hair trimmed. (She likes that, and it makes her feel better). As a bonus, I got to see what my pneumatic and pulchritudinous hair stylist was wearing today. (I like that, and it makes me feel better.)
Ironically, she was wearing a low-cut leopard-skin pattern top. (See “9 Chickweed Lane” comments above.) I’m not sure if that made her feel empowered, but it brought out the animal in me. 🙂
Why don’t I feel old? Everyone seems to be much older, even the ones who are biologically younger. It has nothing to do with how I dress, I could be any age and would probably dress the same.
Except when I get smaller I will go back to wearing Lands End and LL Bean. Probably not Orvis, too rich.
Going to go get a Ford truck brochure after I go eat some oysters.
I get A&J in a newspaper, the way the Good Lord intended. 😉
When I went to GoComics to view today’s strip, I was curious as to why Robin is wearing Mr. Spock’s Star Fleet uniform today…
…and her hair is still not silver.
Me, I don’t just love anything French, but I want to be French. Oh, well, at age 57, I don’t guess that’s going to happen.
I like French bread and French kisses.
Ghost, how do you like this guy’s dance partner?
http://www.al.com/birmingham/#/6
So I’m eating a light 1 April lunch in my dining nook about 1300, facing the N lawn, my 9-yr old flowering crab [no leaves here yet], and the older spruces on the berm. A crow flies in low over the lawn to the E, and lights in the crab, only it’s not a crow but a hawk. Just perches and looks around, eventually leaves, low swooping flight N of the neighbor’s home to the W. Obviously a LARGE Sharp-Shinned or more likely a Cooper’s. Did not get a real good look at the end of its tail feathers: more rounded in Cooper’s, almost squared off in Sharp-Shinned.
Consulted Peterson [copy on the breakfront within reach] after hawk left. “Female almost crow-sized.” I’ve seen enough different birds in the crab for scale; it was a female Cooper’s. For a most casual birder, I’ve done well at that window.
Pretty much confirmed my sighting, in ’06 or ’07, when I was out on that lawn. Sharp dickey bird cry behind me, turned and saw a hawk on the lawn with a starling in its talons. Looked around as though asking itself, “What do I do next?”, then flew S with its prey. Considering starling size, that was either a large female Sharp-Shin, or more likely, a male Cooper’s.
Peace [accepting nature as it occurs], emb
[No charge for apostrophe lesson.]
Ages ago, wife called me down basement to watch a ballroom dance contest. [Possibly on ice skates, but that’s not what I remember. [Wife was a most understanding spouse.] Various couples did nicely; I’m not qualified to judge dancing skills. The guys were all fully covered, though not all in identical tuxes. One couple stood out, he dressed in whatever, she in a mesh body stocking, with minimal bosom coverage and a thong. We never saw the judges, just heard their voices, maybe 3-5 of them. One woman remarked [not acidly], “She has a nice tusch.” [Speelcheck doesn’t spell tusch that way, nor tush.] She did. Nobody fell down or any such, but that couple came in last. To me, they all seemed to dance/skate? quite well.
Peace, emb
…and then there is French Lick, Indiana
emb, I think the actual word is tuchis, which according to the online dictionary is Yiddish slang for the bottom/buttocks. Non-Yiddish speakers probably tried to enunciate the word as they saw it and it came out as tush. My ex and I saw hawks several times in our yard in TN. Really attractive birds.
I saw several honeys on that link, Mark. Were you referencing just one of them?
Debbe 😉 Yes, French Lick is good, too.