No Sale

[thedaffodils]

Scenario: (Re: American cartoon the Simpsons)

Bart was playing Frisbee with his dog.

Bart: "Okay, boy. Catch the Frisbee."

The dog caught the Frisbee, and Bart said, "Good catch, boy."

Dog responded, "Thanks, Bart."

And then it tossed the Frisbee back to Bart again. Unfortunately, this time the Frisbee hit Bart's head, and he dropped down. When Bart stood up again, there appreared two words -NO SALE in Bart's eyes each.

Question:

What does "NO SALE" mean in this context? Thanks!

[Tdol]

From what you describe, I'd guess it meant that Bart was no longer sold on the idea of the game, meaning he no longer liked it.

[thedaffodils]

From what you describe, I'd guess it meant that Bart was no longer sold on the idea of the game, meaning he no longer liked it.

Hi Tdol,

Thank you.

[Ouisch]

Loathe as I am to contradict Tdol, I must chime in with my own interpretation...

This particular incident was one of many pop culture references the Simpsons writers made during the series; in this case, it was a bit of nostalgia looking back at the way certain situations used to be presented in cartoons. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, there were certain common images used to imply that a cartoon character had been knocked unconscious or at least temporarily stunned. One of these was to have a tiny animated bird fly around the victim's head making a "cuckoo" sound, another was to have the pupils in his eyes turn to Xs. And yet another was to use the "No Sale" key that was common on cash registers at that time, which indicated that the transaction was nulll and void.

[thedaffodils]

Hi Ouisch,

Thank you very much for adding the American backdrop of the period between 1940s and 1950s.