Judge, 1903-04-25 · page 10 of 16
Judge — April 25, 1903 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate humorous sketches satirizing rural/small-town American life and social pretension. **"His Sense of Humor"** mocks both rural school board ignorance and the applicant's empty verbosity. The chairman tests the candidate with deliberately nonsensical definitions ("incomprehensubble" isn't a real word). The applicant responds with plausible-sounding but meaningless jargon. Both parties are fooling each other—the chairman pretends to understand complex language he doesn't, and the applicant spouts gibberish confidently. The joke reveals mutual deception in rural education. **"Too Game"** shows a rabbit evading a fox, illustrating the phrase "too game" (stubborn/competitive). **"Chauffeur Versus Duelist"** is a brief wordplay: a famous duelist named Count Nodough has killed no one until becoming a chauffeur—suggesting automobile accidents are deadlier than duels, a commentary on the dangers of early automobiles. **"In Waterbury, Connecticut"** uses a child's malapropism: "conditioned" (athletic conditioning) becomes "conditioned" (academically failed), creating innocent humor through linguistic confusion.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HIS SENSE OF HUMOR. B)HE board of school supervisors for the Walnut Ridge district was examining an applicant who desired the position of instructor. The young man had satisfied them of his knowledge of geography, arithmetic and grammar. At this point the chairman of the board drew a magazine from his pocket, peered intently into it, and remarked, “Well, young feller, now we'll see whether you're up in the English language. What's the meanin’ o° incomprehensubble ?” “Incomprehensubble 2" faltered the applicant. Why, incomprehen- subble means the proximity of the corollary to the molecular ingenuity.” “Uh, huh! An’ what does disintegrate mean 2” Disintegrate means the general consanguinity of the hyperbole when affiliated with the zodiac.” ‘Jest so,” commented the chairman, nodding sagely at the other mem- “Now, what is the definin’ o subliminal ?” “Subliminal is when the overplus goes into perihelion with the deduc- hae tiveness of the instability and produces transfixity of the frangible proto- LG TL plasms.” “You'll do," announced the chairman, The candidate, overjoyed, shook hands all round, and left to gather his belongings and arrange to move into the neighborhood. «Purty smart feller, that,” observed one member of the board. i bers. =e TOO GAME. Yyffllda. Bunny—"' Gee whizz! either that game or this ice game has got to get out of here.” <SS “Yep,” said the chairman. ‘Good joke on him, though, me a-makin’ him think I knew all them big words, wasn't it?” . And down the road, about half a mile, the candidate was chuckling to himself, “Good joke on them. Blame ‘f I don't be- lieve they think I know what all them long words means.” CHAUFFEUR VERSUS DUELIST. I \\\ i | \\ Ottinger—* There goes Count Nodough, the HURRAH FOR STEVE! Faruen Greene—"' Mother, ye know how hard Steve ‘s bin tryin’ fer ter git in condition so’s ter be in the boat-racin’ down there ier college ?”” : Mrs. Greene—"' Yes."" Farmer Greene— Well, he’s got there—writes ter say he's bin conditioned."* IN WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT. famous duelist Henriques—* Did he ever kill any one?” Otsinger—« Not until recently, when he be- came a chauffeur.” Teacner—'* Now, Johnny, what happened on the fourth of July?" Jounny—" Our ball-nine played two games and busted the next day.” comicbooks.com