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| A or B |
| A: He is very good at sleep and has conquered it. |
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| B. In his sleep he dreams he is a viking, literally. With horn hat and all. |
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| Total Votes : 28 |
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Jason in Seattle
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 Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:43 pm Post subject: please help settle a simpsons debate |
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Remember the episode where Ralph is in Ms. Hoover's class and says something dumb and then Ms. Hoover goes "Ralph, just go and sleep while the other children try to learn" and he says "Oh, boy! Sleep, that's where I'm a viking!".
Does he mean that:
A: He is very good at sleep and has conquered it.
B. In his sleep he dreams he is a viking, literally. With horn hat and all.
I have always thought it was A but apparently a lot of people believe it to be B, their argument being that Ralph is stupid and it is out of character for him to make a metaphor like that. But to me, that's the whole point of the joke...that it's a weird thing for him to say.
BACK ME UP HERE, PEOPLE.
[MADE INTO A POLL BY JESSE] |
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jon
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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B.
Ralph wishes he is a viking. He cannot be a viking in real life, so must retreat to the land of Nod. Also, I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean an Erik the Red-type viking, probably more of a helmet-with-talking-horse-and-other-odd-Ralph-type-things kind of viking. |
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Jesse
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Sorry ace, it's B. |
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Jason in Seattle
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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| You are clearly wrong. |
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benadian
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm entirely with you on this, Jason in Seattle. Because the joke is, he can't conquer learning but he CAN conquer (in a viking-like manner) sleeping. The B option doesn't quite fly with me, that seems like too far-fetched an interpretation. |
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Jason in Seattle
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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| benadian wrote: | | I'm entirely with you on this, Jason in Seattle. Because the joke is, he can't conquer learning but he CAN conquer (in a viking-like manner) sleeping. The B option doesn't quite fly with me, that seems like too far-fetched an interpretation. |
Congratulations, you are now my favorite boarder. |
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jon
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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| If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure that in the episode commentary they indicate the answer is B. |
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terribleparable
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Joined: 01 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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Definitely A.
I always took it as a turn of phrase that Ralph didn't understand and was probably mispronouncing.
B makes no sense in the context of a dream Ralph may have. Ralph probably doesn't even know what a viking is, much less know enough to construct a fantasy world around one. This is the fictional kid who invented Wiggle Puppy. |
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Jason in Seattle
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:45 pm Post subject: |
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| terribleparable wrote: | Definitely A.
I always took it as a turn of phrase that Ralph didn't understand and was probably mispronouncing.
B makes no sense in the context of a dream Ralph may have. Ralph probably doesn't even know what a viking is, much less know enough to construct a fantasy world around one. This is the fictional kid who invented Wiggle Puppy. |
This is exactly how I feel. |
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jon
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:07 pm Post subject: |
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| terribleparable wrote: | Definitely A.
I always took it as a turn of phrase that Ralph didn't understand and was probably mispronouncing.
B makes no sense in the context of a dream Ralph may have. Ralph probably doesn't even know what a viking is, much less know enough to construct a fantasy world around one. This is the fictional kid who invented Wiggle Puppy. |
Why doesn't it make sense? That's your own conjecture about whether he knows what a viking is. And if he doesn't know what a viking is, then how can he refer to himself as one in his conquering of sleep? |
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Jason in Seattle
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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| jon wrote: | | terribleparable wrote: | Definitely A.
I always took it as a turn of phrase that Ralph didn't understand and was probably mispronouncing.
B makes no sense in the context of a dream Ralph may have. Ralph probably doesn't even know what a viking is, much less know enough to construct a fantasy world around one. This is the fictional kid who invented Wiggle Puppy. |
Why doesn't it make sense? That's your own conjecture about whether he knows what a viking is. And if he doesn't know what a viking is, then how can he refer to himself as one in his conquering of sleep? |
Because he is only vaguely aware of what it means. Remember "my cat's breath smells like cat food"? He is trying to make a comparison but it isn't very well thought out. Same idea behind this joke. He probably is vaguely aware of the concept of a viking and thought it would make sense to call himself one of sleep. I just don't picture him envisioning himself as a viking while he is sleeping. Plus, wouldn't they cut to some sort of fantasy sequence with Ralph in a hat and sword and the whole nine yards? Doing that would be the only point for having a joke like that. |
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wadeword
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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Every time Ralph goes to sleep, he is a viking. He always dreams about being a viking.
Next thing you will be saying, "Me fail English? That's unpossible." was intended as an ironic jab at the prescriptive grammarian nature of Ms. Crabapple.  |
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Jason in Seattle
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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| wadeword wrote: | | Every time Ralph goes to sleep, he is a viking. He always dreams about being a viking. |
But that isn't really even a joke, at least not a very funny one. |
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Horace Rumpole
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Jason in Seattle wrote: | | wadeword wrote: | | Every time Ralph goes to sleep, he is a viking. He always dreams about being a viking. |
But that isn't really even a joke, at least not a very funny one. |
Sure it is. Ralph is about as un-Viking-like as it's possible to be. Therefore, it's funny that he dreams of being one. If imagining Ralph in the horn hat doesn't seem funny to you, I just don't know what else to say.
It's totally B. |
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terribleparable
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Joined: 01 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Jason in Seattle wrote: | | jon wrote: | | terribleparable wrote: | Definitely A.
I always took it as a turn of phrase that Ralph didn't understand and was probably mispronouncing.
B makes no sense in the context of a dream Ralph may have. Ralph probably doesn't even know what a viking is, much less know enough to construct a fantasy world around one. This is the fictional kid who invented Wiggle Puppy. |
Why doesn't it make sense? That's your own conjecture about whether he knows what a viking is. And if he doesn't know what a viking is, then how can he refer to himself as one in his conquering of sleep? |
Because he is only vaguely aware of what it means. Remember "my cat's breath smells like cat food"? He is trying to make a comparison but it isn't very well thought out. Same idea behind this joke. He probably is vaguely aware of the concept of a viking and thought it would make sense to call himself one of sleep. I just don't picture him envisioning himself as a viking while he is sleeping. Plus, wouldn't they cut to some sort of fantasy sequence with Ralph in a hat and sword and the whole nine yards? Doing that would be the only point for having a joke like that. |
Exactly, Ralph doesn't realize that what he's saying means something very specific, he's just (mis)quoting something he heard somewhere.
| Horace Rumpole wrote: | | Jason in Seattle wrote: | | wadeword wrote: | | Every time Ralph goes to sleep, he is a viking. He always dreams about being a viking. |
But that isn't really even a joke, at least not a very funny one. |
Sure it is. Ralph is about as un-Viking-like as it's possible to be. Therefore, it's funny that he dreams of being one. If imagining Ralph in the horn hat doesn't seem funny to you, I just don't know what else to say.
It's totally B. |
No deal, this particular Simpsons joke is from when the show was still sly with its humor. That kind of humor may play in these later, Tex Avery-esque seasons of the Simpsons, but way back when that would've been a lame joke (even from Ralph). |
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