Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for August 03, 2011

  1. Username catfeet
    Catfeet Premium Member over 13 years ago

    Sounds like bribery!

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    Kamino Neko  over 13 years ago

    I find it kind of hard to believe Gene’s never heard of dowries. We learned about them in high school English…

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    SteveAz  over 13 years ago

    this is a very suddle HINT by her

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    KasperV  over 13 years ago

    As a Brit, I have to assume that “shoot the moon” is a US colloquialism that I’m not familiar with. Over her it means (or used to mean) “do a moonlight flit”, that is, move house in the middle of the night to avoid paying the back rent. Doesn’t sound like that applies here!

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    psychlady  over 13 years ago

    Cute!

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    Poncede  over 13 years ago

    @ steve parkes In the US, shoot the moon means to go for it all.

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    Logicman  over 13 years ago

    many similar concepts, including ‘dine and dash’ (not paying a restaurant bill) and ‘pump and go’ (gasoline stealing), but you’re right — I can’t think of any Americanisms for stiffing the landlord …. “Sleep and slide” comes to mind as one that needs to be created …. ? Sounds like it might be skipping out on a hotel bill though! :)

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    prrdh  over 13 years ago

    Another note: the American sense of “shoot the moon” apparently comes from the card game of Hearts, where it’s the equivalent of bidding a grand slam at bridge. “Go for broke” is probably the closest equivalent in both British and American usage; it does mean “go for it all”, as Leon says, but with the implication of losing a great deal if the gamble doesn’t succeed.

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    Galliglo  over 13 years ago

    I am an American who has never crossed the pond, but I have heard, and used, the term “midnight flit” often. Perhaps it is because we read so many British novels…

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    Jonni  over 13 years ago

    wow, many references here I think-the dowelry being a cartoonists library, and of course Hearts and dowry too. She has it right, shoot the moon when it comes to having a heart and a dowry! downright clever mr. Johnson

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    Varnes  over 13 years ago

    Back home, Arlo feels a disturbance in the force…

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    Kydex29  over 13 years ago

    Hmm… seems that unless the girl is just dead weight and no help at all to her family, it would make more sense for the guy to pay the dowry, as in many countries.

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    Boise Ed Premium Member over 13 years ago

    In some other societies, just the opposite tradition applied: the brideprice.

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    loganswift  over 13 years ago

    “Shoot the moon” is a term from Hearts, in which a player wins every single point card in play. Since you normally want to avoid winning point cards, attempting it is extremely risky (if you miss even one card, you’ll have such a bad round that you may never recover) and extremely rewarding (if you’re successful, you add all of those points to the totals of all three of your opponents).

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    Dirty Dragon  over 13 years ago

    So the ‘solution’ to no zoom feature on the A&J Sunday strips is to make the rest of the week no zoom as well?Really?

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    Comic Minister Premium Member over 13 years ago

    So that’s a Dowry.

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    jmo328  over 13 years ago

    Around here “shoot the moon” means turning around and dropping your drawers to flash a bare a$$ at someone or something.

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    candomarty Premium Member over 13 years ago

    Regarding “shoot the moon”: I STILL don’t get its meaning in this comic strip… at ALL. Unfortunate use of phrase, IMHO.

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    cbrsarah  over 13 years ago

    I’m just glad dowries went out of style.

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    KasperV  over 13 years ago

    Well, I’ve learned few things today! Thanks folks. (Funnily enough, I’ve got Partridge AND Fowler under my chair just now, along with the excellent English our English (and how to sing it) by Keith Waterhouse.)

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    mcnutt  over 2 years ago

    In the card game “Hearts,” as played in the United States, you do not want to end up with Hearts in your hand at the end game. It costs you points.

    Unless you can get ALL the hearts. If you get ALL the hearts, you get a BONUS score. It’s hard to do because all ANY of your opponents has to do is prevent you from taking a SINGLE heart.

    This is called “shooting the moon,” for reasons I have never discerned.

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