Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for January 16, 2016

I have underwear that have labels on the outside (no, I’m not wearing them inside-out).

Underwear? Whuzzat?

at least Rat didn’t say mattress labels

Rat must be the alter-ego of Stephen in the strip.

One malady?

2-for-1 sales where the product price is greatly increased first before applying the sale offer. …..EXAMPLE: a local store offers soda 12-packs in a BUY 2 AND GET 2 FREE deal, but at the same time bumps the 12-packs to a $7 each case price (24 cans) . When there’s no sale of this type offered, then the 12-packs drop back to under $5. Bogus?

Yes, I too have appreciated the trend away from underwear labels. My shirts still have them and they’re scratchy!

Stop buying in bulk, Rat. Try something more upscale & who knows, maybe you could get lucky with Larry’s wife, just like Stephen did.

But … Rat don’t hardly ever much of anything, does he?-Maybe now we know why.

Yes, you have to go around with the brand and washing instructions printed on your butt… so sexy!

My favorite malady for elimination would be the people who watch the cashier ring up their purchases, then we all stand around while they dig through their purses or pockets for payment.

Better answer would have been…Elimination of stupid people asking hypothetical questions only meant to incite whining about things that they cannot change.

The labels on my briefs covered the seam where the elastic was joined. Now without the label, the seam scratches instead, and is worse IMO.

Inside-out socks are the most egregious example of deliberately designed obsolescence in the garment industry today. You never know when the problem will strike. One moment your sock is fine, then whammo, it’s useless.

Those Walmart house brand tighty-whities had labels with painfully sharp corners when they were new. And that’s why i switched to boxers. Much better!

Except that Rat doesn’t wear clothes, so why would underwear or shirt labels bother him?

Maybe Rat is wearing clothes. The characters in Over the Hedge take off their “clothes” occasionally.

Ever since the “Warm old beavers” strip, which was completely different in Spanish (beverage = beaver age doesn’t carry over into Spanish) I added Spanish strips alongside their English counterparts. In a remarkable number of cases, the humor translates. I’m less surprised by the fact that humor sometimes doesn’t translate than by how often it DOES. Anyway, today’s is pretty much word for word. Today’s is pretty much a First World problem and I suspect people from any affluent society would get the joke.

I need the label to know which end my butt goes

don’t wear them Im very careful

I like how most companies are staring to just stamp the label instead of using a tag.

Humor seems to translate well if it’s based on common daily experiences, shared history, or stereotypes (Vikings like Hagar, cowboys and Indians, etc.) It works more often than you might think even with idioms, even if the idioms use different vocabulary. It doesn’t seem to work if it’s based on word structure (“beverage” —> “beaver age”) or inside jokes peculiar to one culture. A good example is Asterix, about a Gaul fighting the Romans. You find it all over Europe, because even places outside the Roman Empire get the story, but I’ve never seen it in the U.S. because Americans just don’t relate.

Rat is so serious about this issue that he’s been know to march down the street carrying a sign that reads, “DOWN WITH UNDERPANTS!”

If I may be excused a serious but selfish note for a moment: Parkinson’s Disease, because I (and many others, I’m sure) want more of Richard Thompson’s Cul de Sac and other wonderful art work!

Returning to PBS, I agree with Rat insofar as itchy labels are an unnecessary torture. But he rarely wears clothes, so is he being altruistic? Rat?

I actually agree with Rat. Labels irritate my skin and I have to cut them off.

xxx

At least no one’s tried translating the *# that Rat’s underwear is irritating out of him. Product effectiveness may be TooMuchInformation.

down with labels. people are so judgmental

Cancer. It’s taken two beloved people within a week. Rest in peace, Mr. Bowie and Mr. Rickman.

Thank you nwdryad

….and Mr. Messer

I like white, and light colored T-shirts. The printed “tag” is visible from the outside, and I don’t really like that. But it’s still better than a real tag.

Politicians who say they represent me but don’t actually do anything that I want.

Humans