If Les and Gunther were not having this conversation in the gulag under the “supervision” of Uncle Al and Irma, I would be looking for the hookah as back in my university days, such conversations usually took place during sessions when the hookah was involved and/or after a night out at the local pubs near the university. Being that the lads are likely in SoCal, the possibility that Les visits the local dispensary is something to consider and perhaps Gunnie accidentally ate one of those brownies or gummies which Les left on the kitchen counter but I suspect Uncle Al would frown upon such behavior though it is legal in many parts of America……
Fiddler and violinist fit Gunther’s pattern; sing and vocal aren’t instruments, so they aren’t really part of this. Now, harp is both a noun and a verb, but we usually say harpist, though harper is also used.
And we drive on the parkway and we park in the driveway. I think that was from a stand up set from the great George Carlin who had some thoughtful insights into our language.
I love to see how Punk let Les do anything to him. The symbiosis between human and cat is perfect. I’m sure Punk never stops purring. Also, i like a lot how friendly Gunther and Les are since them become cousin.
All this grammar talk has got Les reaching for the snacks for Punk, and, himself, if for no other reason than to drone out Gunter. (And, why he is hanging around the house, when he’s got Betts to be with?)
That cat needs exercise. (And does anyone remember the old Gasoline Alley sequence, when the vet told the kitten’s owner it needed more exercise—so he started going jogging while holding the kitten?)
…Trumpeters – because that’s to distinguish that we’re better than everyone else. (But we have to let the drum – er’s in the club because if we don’t they keep poking us in the back with their little sticks while we’re trying to play. But make no mistake – Trumpeters are better than those tappers – just don’t let them know that we call them that behind their backs…)
English used to make so much more sense before the Norman Conquest, when the French took over. Language heresies, like silent consonants, were only the beginning.
I think what we are seeing here is a difference between germanic and romance words.
English is actually a real screwed up language. It started out as germanic. Then the Romans invaded. The the Norse invaded. Then the French invaded. Then it drifted a lot. So it winds up being a creole of a creole of a creole, and has many weird features. For instance, “cow” is germanic while “beef” is romance — most languages use the same word for the animal and its meat (like English does for “chicken” …. though “poultry”?).
The fact that we changed the pronunciations after setting the spelling doesn’t help.
The fact that the French invaders didn’t have three English letters and misread “Þe” (“the”) as “ye” doesn’t help.
The fact that we lost the second person singular almost completely doesn’t help (thee, thou, thine, etc; and irregular verb forms). (I suspect French influence, but it could have gone the other way for all I know.)
So, as people have pointed out, the -ist form relates to Italian (a romance language). The -er form appears to be on germanic words.
J. Scarbrough 17 days ago
Uhhh . . . this wasn’t the Sunday LUANN I saw at the newspaper I work at this week.
eolan59 17 days ago
Love seeing Punk
chaosed2 17 days ago
suck it up, buttercup!
outonalimb 17 days ago
“New York” isn’t a verb.
MeanBob Premium Member 17 days ago
That had to sting.
snsurone76 17 days ago
Punk is adorable here. I wonder if he met Puddles yet (I wouldn’t introduce him to Monstro, LOL).
beb01 17 days ago
so much beige. So bland. Am sleepy now.
Rhetorical_Question 17 days ago
Wow! Goback and graduate from high school?
daDoctah1 17 days ago
As the late Peter Schickele once pointed out, both “piano” and “piccolo” are adjectives.
Doneaver 17 days ago
Punk really grew between the second panel and the fourth.
Hello Everyone 17 days ago
This sounds like “Pearls Before Swine”.
Mordock999 Premium Member 17 days ago
Les?
Go back to school and get your G.E.D. son.
And Gunther?
That band you’re describing in the 1st panel sounds a lot like Blood, Sweat and Tears.
Or Chicago.
Or The Specials.
Speaking of the Specials, their UK hit “Ghost Town” would be very appropriate for Halloween. ;-)
sbenton7684 17 days ago
I love this crowd!!!
TheSkulker 17 days ago
Including you, Les. It’s “anomalies” not “anemones” and “perfectly” not “perfect”. But then, perhaps that panel was the purpose of the entire strip.
Dirty Dragon 17 days ago
Because who would want to admit to being a Trumpist?
TampaFanatic1 17 days ago
If Les and Gunther were not having this conversation in the gulag under the “supervision” of Uncle Al and Irma, I would be looking for the hookah as back in my university days, such conversations usually took place during sessions when the hookah was involved and/or after a night out at the local pubs near the university. Being that the lads are likely in SoCal, the possibility that Les visits the local dispensary is something to consider and perhaps Gunnie accidentally ate one of those brownies or gummies which Les left on the kitchen counter but I suspect Uncle Al would frown upon such behavior though it is legal in many parts of America……
Wilkins068 17 days ago
Roseanne Roseannadanna hated violins on TV
robinafox 17 days ago
Fiddler and violinist fit Gunther’s pattern; sing and vocal aren’t instruments, so they aren’t really part of this. Now, harp is both a noun and a verb, but we usually say harpist, though harper is also used.
Ellis97 17 days ago
Brooding man and total dork, they’re a crazy pair, but they make it work. It’s the Les and Gunther Show!
OneTime59 17 days ago
Old REO Speedwagon, “You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish”
Ignatz Premium Member 17 days ago
And a flute player is a flautist. Just to confuse everything.
Joe Cur 17 days ago
So by Gunther’s logic, that would make me a Jokester as opposed to a Jokeist
eced52 17 days ago
Are all the comics today trying to see who can use the most big words?
Count Olaf Premium Member 17 days ago
If you say Dearest Ann❤️Eiffel’s name three times into a mirror maybe she will come back. Let’s all try… Ann❤️Eiffel…Ann❤️Eiffel…Ann❤️Eiffel
DaBump Premium Member 17 days ago
Perfectly. And… “anemones”???
baskate_2000 17 days ago
Great pun!
grocks 17 days ago
But sing and fiddle are verbs; vocal and violin are not. So what’s the inconsistency?
kingsgate408 17 days ago
Do Les and Gunther ever wear t-shirts and blue jeans?
emjay1914 17 days ago
And we drive on the parkway and we park in the driveway. I think that was from a stand up set from the great George Carlin who had some thoughtful insights into our language.
The Wolf In Your Midst 17 days ago
I’m my own worst anemone.
comic reader 22 17 days ago
I really like Les and Punk!! Wish we saw more of them.
GaryCooper 17 days ago
Anemones?
johnaapc 17 days ago
Then what if…tromboner???
BC to LOTR Premium Member 17 days ago
Why do I read Luann?Redundant question?To be educated, by the educators. Now, I’ll go back to sleepy time.
BC to LOTR Premium Member 17 days ago
Dreaming of my punky faced Pyrenees. Her nicknames Included Monster, Beast, and Punkeyface. But she was truly my Sasha Girl.
prrdh 17 days ago
And then there’s ‘bagpiper’. While it’s true that you can bagpipe, using the word as a verb has nothing to do with music…
mindjob 17 days ago
When I want to be an anemone, I act like a flower and leave
Aladar30 Premium Member 17 days ago
I love to see how Punk let Les do anything to him. The symbiosis between human and cat is perfect. I’m sure Punk never stops purring. Also, i like a lot how friendly Gunther and Les are since them become cousin.
Lord King Wazmo Premium Member 17 days ago
Great, another visit with the Boring Bros. They’d get booed out of a nursing home dining hall.
Otis Rufus Driftwood 17 days ago
Have the Evanses been reading ‘Frazz’?
WoT_Hog Premium Member 17 days ago
But a lute player is not a lutist. He’s a “lutenist”. And a flute player is a “flautist”. Go figure.
Gen.Flashman 17 days ago
Then there is the old joke about the hard of hearing genie giving the man a 9" pianist.
The Quiet One 17 days ago
Well that was some useless information.
David Huie Green AmericaIsGreatItHasUs 17 days ago
Perfectly.
Anemone??
Which is NOT to say I didn’t enjoy it.
WilliamVollmer 17 days ago
All this grammar talk has got Les reaching for the snacks for Punk, and, himself, if for no other reason than to drone out Gunter. (And, why he is hanging around the house, when he’s got Betts to be with?)
EMGULS79 17 days ago
It’s about time Gunther made an appearance! As for English, it can be weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.
95 17 days ago
Anybody else hear Leo Gorcey’s (Slip Mahoney’s) voice?
Joe1962 Premium Member 17 days ago
Nice to Les and Punk.
EdmundBabe 17 days ago
Maybe a malaprop for anoesis
lnrokr55 17 days ago
I like Les and the cat! And Hendrix could Guitar all he wanted and no one complained! ;-)
davecat 17 days ago
That cat needs exercise. (And does anyone remember the old Gasoline Alley sequence, when the vet told the kitten’s owner it needed more exercise—so he started going jogging while holding the kitten?)
tlandis100 17 days ago
“They can’t all be gems…” (Mad magazine, Bonanza parody)
the dorf 16 days ago
Whenever I see Leslie, I think of another word that starts with a and ends with e.And I love Punk’s smile in the last frame.
JymDyer 16 days ago
“Trumpeteer” doen’t fit into the Gunthsplanation.
liberalnlovinit 15 days ago
…Trumpeters – because that’s to distinguish that we’re better than everyone else. (But we have to let the drum – er’s in the club because if we don’t they keep poking us in the back with their little sticks while we’re trying to play. But make no mistake – Trumpeters are better than those tappers – just don’t let them know that we call them that behind their backs…)
Ray Helvy Premium Member 12 days ago
English used to make so much more sense before the Norman Conquest, when the French took over. Language heresies, like silent consonants, were only the beginning.
divad27182 6 days ago
I think what we are seeing here is a difference between germanic and romance words.
English is actually a real screwed up language. It started out as germanic. Then the Romans invaded. The the Norse invaded. Then the French invaded. Then it drifted a lot. So it winds up being a creole of a creole of a creole, and has many weird features. For instance, “cow” is germanic while “beef” is romance — most languages use the same word for the animal and its meat (like English does for “chicken” …. though “poultry”?).
The fact that we changed the pronunciations after setting the spelling doesn’t help.
The fact that the French invaders didn’t have three English letters and misread “Þe” (“the”) as “ye” doesn’t help.
The fact that we lost the second person singular almost completely doesn’t help (thee, thou, thine, etc; and irregular verb forms). (I suspect French influence, but it could have gone the other way for all I know.)
So, as people have pointed out, the -ist form relates to Italian (a romance language). The -er form appears to be on germanic words.