Judge, 1926-04-03 · page 11 of 36
Judge — April 3, 1926 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Explanation for Modern Readers This Judge magazine page contains three distinct humor pieces: **"Tuning Up"** (top left): A comic poem about golf season's arrival. The speaker describes obsessively practicing golf indoors—damaging his home in the process—while humorously invoking famous golfers' names (Compston, Massey). The joke is the amateur's delusional confidence despite his chaotic preparation and terrible actual skill ("score about nine to a hole"—meaning nine strokes over par). **Garden Cartoon** (top right): Mr. Weed tells Mr. Reddish he'll have a garden—but the punchline is that four neighbors will instead, implying Reddish's gardening efforts will fail or spread destruction. **"Foreign Phrases and Their Meanings"** (right side): Puns translating actual Latin/French legal and classical phrases into mock-English homonyms. Examples: "*Lex non scripta*" (unwritten law) becomes "No writers on Lexington avenue"; "*Terra firma*" (solid earth) becomes "He's the terror of the firm." This satirizes pretentious use of foreign phrases by offering absurd alternative interpretations. The bottom illustration shows amateur confusion reading seed catalogs—another gardening incompetence joke.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Tuning Up I" starting to mutter, to fondle my putter, To roll “em around on the rug, I'm getting the feeling, I’m smashing the ceiling, I'm bit by the seasonal bug! I'm using a bigger and whippier jigger. I'm dropping ’em dead in the sink, With sweet sounding swishes, I’m breaking the dishes, I'm putting the lights on the blink! I'm swinging my brassy, like Comp- ston or Massey, I'm shooting ‘em low with my cleek, I'm curing my twister! I'm raising a blister! T'm beaning my wife on the beak! I'm taking no chances on grips and on stances, I'm gaining my ultimate goal. I'm sure and I'm steady, I'm getting all ready— To score about nine to a hole. Smoff Mr. Werv—I see you're gonna have a garden this season, Mr. Reddish. Brxkvotent Mr. Repvisit—Nope—but four of my neighbors are. Foreign Phrases and Their Meanings [toro parentis. His parents have locomotor xia. Jus canonicum, Just a cannon. La fame non vuol leggi. A famous bootlegger. Lex non scripta. No writers on Lexington avenue. Limae labor. It is labor to pick lima beans. Lite pendente. A chandelier. Locus standi. You have to stand on a local. Ma chére. My chair. Ma fois. Ladies first. Robe de chambre. Robbing a cham- at ee ber. ON i] \ vii Sie rolo,-sie jubeo. Everybody's i I) Hi] Hh sick. CTT Similia similibus eurantar. The currants were all alike. Sine die. Sign on the dotted line and die. ste, viator. His sister's an tor. Summum bonum. He pulled some bone. Tempus Sugit. Tempting a fugi- DIFFICULTIES OF AMATEUR GARDENING tive. Trying to make out the specifications on the onion page of the seed Terra firma. He's the terror of the catalog. — firm. F. P. Pitzer comicbooks.com