Want to get a joke ruined for you by it being explained? Well, now's your opportunity.
'The Simpsons' jokes are arguably one of the better examples of just how quotable a pop culture entity can be. It's up there with the likes of 'Friends', 'Anchorman', 'The US Office', and 'Mean Girls'. Sure after 32 seasons, it's bound to be.
From Homer's "You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel", to Marge's 'I just think they're neat", to Bart's long list of prank calls - there's many more besides to choose from.
And now, one of the writers of 'The Simpsons' jokes since 1992, Josh Weinstein, has kicked off a Twitter thread asking fans to put forward some moments that they may be in need of decoding. He and writer Bill Oakley are the reason why seasons seven and eight are just so good.
But it turns out that a hell of a lot of jokes that went around the writer's room was spawned from simple misunderstandings and mishearings. Or, simply, there was no hidden meaning intended.
Take a few minutes to read this sweet, sweet Twitter thread on 'The Simpsons' jokes.
So, for years, there have been Simpsons jokes/lines people misunderstood or misheard, like The Great Hank-Scorpio-"Yes Once"-Goodbye-To-A-Shoe Debate and "Carhole".
What have you misunderstood or never got?
List them in this thread & I or other Simpsons folk'll try to answer. pic.twitter.com/O7T82SsQX4
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
What?! Oh my god, IS it based on people wearing a towel over their ears?! Until this very moment, I had never even thought that and I loved this line as you did, just because it was absurd. This is now the one case so far that I actually don't know! & this is one of my fav lines!
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
You might be right. Wow, this one is a mindblower for me! For 25 years, this never even crossed my mind.
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
Yes, again, it's the simplest answer - Ralph dreams of being a Viking.
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
Not 100% positive about this one 'cause I don't remember if I was there when it was pitched/written, but him having a children's ticket is the joke BUT yes, it also works well because he is acting childish.
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
It's "car hole"! To me, that's clearly a Moe-style phrasing. If he had said "car hold", I would think he's Canadian or British or from some place that had ever-so-slightly different words for things and that wouldn't make sense.
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
Both these lines (Mabel & beets) are just funny because they're funny, that's it, no particular reference to anything. Analyzing them, the beets line is funny because Lisa's enthusiastic about such a mundane thing & the Mabel line is funny for its oldtimeyness.
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
I think I got fired for that!
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 22, 2020
That was my joke so I can say for sure it's not a reference. It just happens to have a lot of the same letters as "s-e-x in front of the c-h-i-l-d-r-e-n" Relevant to this thread, some of my best jokes are based on mishearing/misunderstanding things, like "Uosdwis R Dewoh"
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 22, 2020
As the person who pitched this line, I can tell you I intended it to be about touching Groundskeeper Willie, not the innuendo.
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
I think the joke is - because you can't see their mouths moving - the show could put in any football team it wanted depending on the year the episode aired.
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
Total non-sequitor. Again, the simplest, most obvious answer is true. People, god bless 'em, want to give the Simpsons credit for making clever references all the time but half the time, it's not a reference to anything, just a funny line.
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
I'm not 100% sure on this one (more like 80%, even tho it's one of our episodes) but I believe "chippie" is oldtimey slang for a "cheap or loose date" or "floozie", implying a gangster's moll eagerly tearing into a fancy dinner. It's all supposed to be in Untouchables-style lingo
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
Yes, the joke is just it's a terrible, terrible drawing that clearly doesn't represent anything.
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 21, 2020
I was not there for this but have been in awe of this joke for years. I can only guess the censor didn't get it or perhaps even notice it as a joke. This is just a guess, though. Any other Simpsons folk know the story behind it?
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) December 22, 2020
Holy cow yes. After seeing this exchange it took me a good two minutes of STRONG concentration to get the joke, so I’d bet $50 they just thought the joke was that a snappy-named place used to be called simply “Chuck’s”, which is what I thought for a good two innocent minutes!!!!
— Cabel (@cabel) December 22, 2020
*Just in case the joke needs further explaining*
Sneed's Feed and Seed.
Following that same formula with Chuck's.
Chuck's Fuck and Suck
Or with Cabel's.
Cabel's Fable and Sable— polah (@PolarCoded) December 23, 2020
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