Comic strips CAN be difficult?

[HaraKiriBlade]

This is taken from the famous comic strip, Garfield.

Jon: Bad date, Garfield.
We went to a fancy restaurant.
And I ordered her a tennis shoe souffle.

Garfield, thinking (as he always does): properly prepared, they're really quite tasty.

Hmm, did Jon ruin his date by ordering the date mate (is this ok?) a 'tennis shoe souffle'? and why? Is there something about a tennis shoe souffle? I've never tried it myself.


And in a today's issue of somewhat less known comic strip, Born Loser, a woman is sitting in a table that has donuts, chips and a bottle of pop on it. And she's having a donut, and she goes:

Sigh... my food pyramid is more like a big fat octagon!

Certain things about food pyramid must be a common sense, otherwise comic strips, which in my opinion should be a no-brainer, wouldn't use it as a theme. (And to think that I have no idea what food pyramid should be like...)

Donuts, chips and pops are carb and / or fat-rich, and lack just about everything else. How does that make the food pyramid a big, fat octagon like she says? Does this comic strip successfully get accross its intended message to average joes? was it easy to understand for you, native speakers?

[Tdol]

I don't understand the Garfield one, I'm afraid. The food pyramid is the proportion we should eat thigns in. It's upside down, with fats at the point, and vegetables, etc, in higher proportion. The octagon just reflects the poor diet- fat, fat and more fat.

[Triganempire]

I realise this is a very old post, but I only just found it browsing the site.

So I will explain the Garfield reference, to assist anyone else who stumbles across this thread.

You need to understand that in 'posh' restaurants in the English speaking world, menus are often written in French or Italian, and sometimes no translation is given. You are expected to order by pronouncing the dish properly. I know it sounds crazy, but it is true. It is just a form of snobbery.

In the cartoon, Jon has taken a lady to a restaurant, and tried to order, but got his pronunciation so wrong that he ordered a souffle made from a tennis shoe! (there is no such dish, really of course).

Garfield's response is based on the joke that runs through the cartoon series, that Garfield is so greedy that he will eat anything, and has even previously eaten tennis shoes!