Just did the Math, if we assume that “today” in the strip is 2021, then Ms. Olsen would have been at least 70 if she bought her new muscle car in 1972 after starting her first teaching job. Yeah…that sounds about right.
Actually, you could just buy a muscle car. Starting with the 1964 Pontiac GTO until high gas prices, insurance rates and emission standards killed then off in the early 70s, every American manufacturer had a least one model with the biggest engine that would fit under the hood. Those were the good old days.
I think the approved locution would be "You didn’t use to just buy . . . " Use plus the infinitive is nowadays pretty much confined to the past tense, but it wasn’t always, as in “Fred uses to drink three cups of coffee in the morning, he used to drink five or more”. “Empty ‘do’” in a past tense or negative construction confuses things a bit, but the grammar is straightforward.
You didn’t USE to buy the car. Used is a verb in past tense. When making a negative, the auxiliary (helping) verb takes on the past tense and the main verb doesn’t.
When I first started drawing up Frazz, Mrs. Olsen was supposed to be two-dimensional and terrible. Not that I believe that’s how teachers are, or how people are in general. I just thought that’s how storytelling worked. You had a villain. And I figured the honest thing to do was make the villain absolutely a villain. I’m not sure where I got that idea — after all, I’ve always been a fan of movies and novels where the good guys ranged from flawed to so bad you weren’t sure there were really any good guys in the vicinity — and it didn’t work for doodly squat anyway.
I’d like to say I recognized my mistake and quickly grew bored with the evil Mrs. Olsen. But it’s more like Mrs. Olsen didn’t like her role as it was written and gradually changed it. (Trust me, that’s how it works.) She developed. Now my challenge, as the writer, isn’t to find new, charming sides to her personality. The challenge is to keep her cantankerous enough, consistently enough, that the bursts of character still have a little element of surprise. Plus, you still need a villain. Just not a pure one. Those, it turns out, are as boring in a story line as they are in real life.
gduncan58 over 3 years ago
1970 Buick GSX Stage III, now that was a bad-ass muscle car!
aKG1 over 3 years ago
I could see her in a 1970 Dodge Charger painted Plum Crazy.
Tigrisan Premium Member over 3 years ago
Some of us still do spend hours making it bad*** and keeping it bad***. Alas, it’s becoming a dying art form…
Yakety Sax over 3 years ago
POWER WHEELIE SHOOTOUT DRAG RACING OLD SCHOOL AMERICAN MUSCLE CARS AT BYRON DRAGWAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpPni9A0jfY
TOTALED Muscle Car Returns to the Road After 35 Years! Flooded LeMans Gambler Car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnGSXXooAGg
The Old Wolf over 3 years ago
We learn that “parked in her rickety old garage is a brand new shiny red Super Stock Dodge.”
Geophyzz over 3 years ago
Is this strip set in Pasadena?
Ignatz Premium Member over 3 years ago
Caulfield, we were cooler than you will ever be.
Old Girl over 3 years ago
That old girl has a history.
sandpiper over 3 years ago
Caulfield just got a shot of the young and reckless Mrs. Olsen. He’s boggled but not out.
rugeirn over 3 years ago
So, in this fictional world, she can say this to a child in a school, but in the real world we have to * it out. After all, children might see it!
DonLee2 over 3 years ago
Keep asking those questions, Caulfield. A rewarding experience for interviewer and interviewee.
Darwinskeeper over 3 years ago
Just did the Math, if we assume that “today” in the strip is 2021, then Ms. Olsen would have been at least 70 if she bought her new muscle car in 1972 after starting her first teaching job. Yeah…that sounds about right.
lagoulou over 3 years ago
She was a hot mama!
Buck B over 3 years ago
Actually, you could just buy a muscle car. Starting with the 1964 Pontiac GTO until high gas prices, insurance rates and emission standards killed then off in the early 70s, every American manufacturer had a least one model with the biggest engine that would fit under the hood. Those were the good old days.
Jimmyk939 over 3 years ago
Get a starter kit, say the 1980 Buick Grand National, and go from there
JerryBryson over 3 years ago
She taught Frazz in his day, do I recall correctly?
Uncle Bob over 3 years ago
Don’t make an * * * of yourself Caulfield…
Kawasaki Cat over 3 years ago
She has a shiny red super stock Dodge in her gararge. Now I’m showing my age.
Jethro Flatline over 3 years ago
Ask her how to tune a four barrel carburetor, Caulfield.
Mikey over 3 years ago
It must be gooder english day!
Colorado Expat over 3 years ago
Muscle cars were straight-line bad*** – braking & cornering, on the other hand…
Thinkingblade over 3 years ago
It would be fun to see a few retro strips showing her in her day. Was she young and sassy? Tom Boy tuning her car? Inquiring minds …
Stephen Gilberg over 3 years ago
Anyone else concerned that an elementary school teacher said something censorable to a student?
AndrewSihler over 3 years ago
I think the approved locution would be "You didn’t use to just buy . . . " Use plus the infinitive is nowadays pretty much confined to the past tense, but it wasn’t always, as in “Fred uses to drink three cups of coffee in the morning, he used to drink five or more”. “Empty ‘do’” in a past tense or negative construction confuses things a bit, but the grammar is straightforward.
hekko Premium Member over 3 years ago
You didn’t USE to buy the car. Used is a verb in past tense. When making a negative, the auxiliary (helping) verb takes on the past tense and the main verb doesn’t.
Richard S Russell Premium Member over 3 years ago
Once again the redoubtable Mrs. Olsen gives us just a tiny glimpse of the amazon behind the patient, professional facade.
Ninette over 3 years ago
We didn’t say bad to mean the opposite.
Andrew Bosch Premium Member over 3 years ago
It is an eye-opener when you first learn about the other parts of your teachers’ lives.
MoeyTehr over 3 years ago
For some reason, I suddenly heard Margo Martindale as Mrs. Olsen and you can’t convince that’s not Olsen’s actual voice.
6th Billiard Ball Student over 3 years ago
What? No hot 5 Star General food recipes included?
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 3 years ago
Jef Mallett’s blog
When I first started drawing up Frazz, Mrs. Olsen was supposed to be two-dimensional and terrible. Not that I believe that’s how teachers are, or how people are in general. I just thought that’s how storytelling worked. You had a villain. And I figured the honest thing to do was make the villain absolutely a villain. I’m not sure where I got that idea — after all, I’ve always been a fan of movies and novels where the good guys ranged from flawed to so bad you weren’t sure there were really any good guys in the vicinity — and it didn’t work for doodly squat anyway.
I’d like to say I recognized my mistake and quickly grew bored with the evil Mrs. Olsen. But it’s more like Mrs. Olsen didn’t like her role as it was written and gradually changed it. (Trust me, that’s how it works.) She developed. Now my challenge, as the writer, isn’t to find new, charming sides to her personality. The challenge is to keep her cantankerous enough, consistently enough, that the bursts of character still have a little element of surprise. Plus, you still need a villain. Just not a pure one. Those, it turns out, are as boring in a story line as they are in real life.