Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for May 10, 2011

You’re quick Calvin - she’s just quicker!

Day Two! I’m enjoying these oldies!

Cookie…..mh, mh……!

She’s too quick for you, Clavin!

Mom probably tried that trick, or something like it, when she was Calvin’s age.

No, Calvin

It was worth a shot! Maybe next time shout some less extraordinary suggestions before you ask for cookies…

Its when she says, ‘go ahead, ride on the roof’ that he should worry.

Too predictable with certain things, Calvin.

G’Morning, Mike, Grog & Marg!

Hey, it was a try. After all, no harm, no foul.

Kinda fun to notice how much C&H artwork evolved over the years…

Hobbes originally had black pads on his front feet/hands. Bill decided he didn’t like them and soon dropped them. Hobbes also grew alot taller in a short time…

COME TO THE DARK SIDE!! We have COOKIES!!!

Mom knows you all to well Calvin…next time try puppy dog eyes, that might work…lol

With Calvin, I doubt there’s a question he can pose that Mom can reasonably say “yes” to.

Good Morning, Marg, Mike & ♠Lonewolf♠

@grazer - But I think Mom was much cuter in that(^ today’s ) era…

Here is a “Pearls Before Swine” parallel for today’s strip:

PearlsBeforeSwine_April2011

Rat was more successful than Calvin.

(Mr. Ed: Thanks for the HTML formatting tip for Web links.)

Calvin, you should have said MAY I. Hobbes would know better. Isn’t that right, Hobbes? I’ll bet you even have a clever rejoinder. I’m counting on it. BTW, I know an English teacher who is a stickler for may I instead of can I when someone wants to go to the bathroom.

“Sure Calvin, and while you’re up there, clean the gutters.”

Hi Puddleglum2

What does the teacher require them to say? I’m guessing it’s “May I go to the can?”

May I give my linguistic opinion, if I can?

“May I” is an example of trying to decide where to compromise between being an English purist and giving in to the evolution of the language.

Over the years, I’ve observed that when people place their orders at fast food restaurants, the language has evolved from

“May I please have….” to “I would like….” to “Can I have……” to “Kin I git…..” or simply, “Gimme a…..”

In that context, giving in on the “may vs. can” debate doesn’t seem all that bad.

– Hobbes

Not so much that she’s on to you Calvin, more likely she’s been there - done that.

It was amusing to watch my children go through the process. They did not quite figure out that we had so many (time shifted) shared experiences.

Hi Hobbes, “Having confidence in your obedience I wrote unto you, knowing that you will also do more than I say.” Philemon 21 (but not more than I wanted) :o)

Speaking of may, I searched for “You May Think” by the Cars this morning and of course it was “You Might Think”, which is wryly amusing because I am often annoyed that may is almost always used instead of might these days. Generally, I think might is better in this context and may is better in the can vs. may context.

Love Mom’s look, third panel!

Puddlegum.

are you saying that might is right ???

(LOL)

It does seem that English, or “American”, has devolved to the point that clarity of meaning is no longer necessary when communicating; instead of making a clear statement we have to continually explain ourselves to those who don’t “get it”. Oh well, the more I rant and rail against poor grammar the more isolated I become.

Hey Calvin! Its very hot today. Leav the cookies to mom. Lets go out n have some chilled beer :).

Call Hobbs too.

wizodd: I believe another version of this philosophy is, ” it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

When my students ask “Can I go to the bathroom?” I reply with, “I’m not medically qualified to make that determination.” It doesn’t take most very long to learn… :>)

Time to learn the fine art of baking your own cookies.

Nice try Calvin get the worst over the to the source.

I found that if you DON’T ask, the answer is AUTOMATICALLY ‘no’…soooooo, you might as well ask, huh? lol

Hobbes, even more persnickety was the rule for using “will” and “shall”–as I learned it, “The rule is… to express a future event without emotional overtones, one should say I shall, we shall, but you/he/she/they will; conversely, for emphasis, willfulness, or insistence, one should say I/we will, but you/he/she/they shall.” (John Wallis, 1653)

I doubt very many people bother to make that distinction.

As long as there is cookies there is a challenge and Calvin will win some how.

Wiseguy411, I might, if I may, but if I may not, I will/shall need might to overcome the lack of permission.

Fogger_man, That English teacher I mentioned earlier used to say “I don’t know whether you can or not, but I’m not going to help you”.

JAMEJO said, …the more isolated I become.

“Yet I have left me 7,000 in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.” I Kings 19:18 (and I’m one of them) BTW, apparently you don’t object to split infinitives. :o)

JAMEJO, add to that the fact that no one is listening to what the other person is saying because they are too busy getting ready to say what they are going to say next.

Nice try but next time ask if you can have a beer instead, it might work.

Anybody know what happened to Watterson? Calvin doesn’t look like Calvin anymore and none of the strips are funny.

Hi JAMEJO

I’ve also noticed that the English that is used behind the fast-food counters has been devolving in recent years, from

“Can I help the next person in line?” to “Next person in line?” or “Can I help you?” to “Can I help whoever is next?” to “Can I help who’s next?” to “Can I help you next?” to “C’nelp younext?”

Many English teachers used to stand at the front of the line and refuse to order their food until the person behind the counter properly said, “May I please help the next person who is waiting in the line?”

But, from what I understand, there are now very few of those teachers left, since most have died of starvation. You know, natural selection and all that.

–Hobbes

x

I hope Calvin remembers her on mothers day, she deserves it!

SUSAN NEWMAN:

On Saturday we reached the final strip before Bill Watterson went on his 9-month sabbatical in 1991. At that point the syndicate began early reruns from 1985, so now we are back at the beginning of Calvin and Hobbes.

Calvin should have a training session with his lawyer, Hobbes because his mother is about a light year ahead of him…

HALP! I’ve been collecting paper copies of C&H and, recently, decided to tape them into a notbook. One of them, a Sunday edition dated Nov. 19, had the punchline panel, along with the preceding panel torn out and I’d like to know the punch line. I’ve been looking at the backdated Sunday editions of C&H in GoComics and I’ve gotten as far back as 2007 (they begin in the 1980s) and I can’t find this particular one, although a few are repeated.

Let me describe it to see if an “expert” can tell me where in GoComics it may be found: It has many panels, with no dialague: Calvin’s mom is letting him out the door while anxiously looking at her watch; Calvin’s running at top speed. When he see Susie he suddenly realizes something; meanwhile, back home, Calvin’s mom sees that he forgot his paperbag lunch. Calvin is shocked to realize that he’s forgotten his lunch; Susie looks at C; Calvin runs home; his mom runs with the lunch; C takes a shortcut over a picket fence thus missing his mom running to the busstop, C at home sees his lunch isn’t where he left it. C’s mom, at the busstop is told by Susie that C ran home. C’s mom meets C and hands him his lunch only to see that the schoolbus has departed; she yells at C and puts C in her car to drive him to school. At school C runs to the locker where Susie is. C’s mom closes her front door and the next 2 panels are missing. The final 2 panels must be great - please somebody help me!

Puddleglum2:

One of my favorites is, “Take your time going, but hurry back!” … don’t think about it too hard… :>)

Trivia time: what were Hobbe’s first words in the strip?

May I add this to the word debate?

I shall!

They’s more than one way to say things!

See, I can.

Will I get posts correcting my grammar?

Were Hobbes’ first words either, “No thanks, I’m full,” or, “We’re kind of stupid that way”?

Ayre Uygur - it is a great ending! The strip you’re looking for is from September 24, 1994.

(Edited to remove spoiler.)

Testing……….Testing………..Testing………..

The origin of Hobbes . . .

What happened to all the commas?

Interesting… you can only see the comments if you’re not signed in?

And the blank lines?

And the italics?

And the ability to edit previous comments? (Poor Dogsniff…..)

Are those HOMEMADE COOKIIIIEEEES!!!!?? I LOVE homemade cookies!! :D

I have seen this 3 times now in calvin and hobbs. they must be repeating.