Cat Cook (Cartoon)

[thedaffodils]

Aside from our regular menu, we have several items the chef dragged in

Hello! Could someone else interpret the attached cartoon for me?

I don't understand why it is interesting.

several items the chef dragged in = our chef can cook other dishes?

drag in = put in?

Please click the thumbnail image for a full-size picture. Thanks in advance.

[MrPedantic]

Hello Daffs,

There is a common phrase: "look what the cat dragged in!". It is a jocularly dismissive comment about e.g. someone who has just entered the room.

Cats tend to "drag in" birds and small rodents. ("Drag in" means "bring in", with an implication that the thing brought is not entirely willing to be brought.)

In a restaurant where cats wait on cats, and serve food presumably cooked by cats, the "chef's special (dish)" might literally be "something the cat dragged in" (i.e. a bird or small mouse).

Thus the humour lies in taking a metaphorical phrase and presenting it as literal.

(I feel my explanation may well have killed the very small residue of humour the cartoon may have had.)

MrP

[thedaffodils]

Hello MrPedantic,

Thank you very much for your interpretation.

[RonBee]

"It looks like something the cat dragged in" is a well-known English expression. That is what makes that cartoon hilarious.



It's very funny.

[thedaffodils]

RonBee,

Indeed! Very funny. It is the first time for me to read the idiom. I admire the cartoonist's conceiving.

Glad you enjoy it.

Cheers!