When you were learning subtraction way back when, did you have to learn the names of the parts of the equation? Say you have the equation 3-1=2. The 3 is the minuend, the 1 is the subtrahend, and the 2 is, depending on where you went to school, the remainder or the difference.
Now, it’s likely been 60 years since I thought about that, but for whatever reason it’s the first thing I thought of for the prompt difference. And, when you think of it, what difference does it make? All I can think of is that it gave my arithmetic teacher something to spend a day talking about…
What’s the difference between a comma and a cat? A comma is a pause at the end of a clause, while a cat has claws at the end of its paws. That’s the cleanest joke of that sort I could think of. Trust me, you don’t want to hear the others.
I had a book once called Bennett Cerf’s Book of Riddles. The first riddle, of course, was "Who’s Bennett Cerf?" Wikipedia tells us
Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American publisher and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearances lecturing across the United States, and for his television appearances in the panel game show What’s My Line?
If you ever get a chance, watch the old episodes of What’s My Line? I think one of the game show channels runs them late at night. A contestant comes in and the panel (which usually included Mr. Cerf, Arlene Francis, Dorothy Kilgallen, and a guest celebrity) would ask "yes" or "no" questions and try to figure out what the person did for a living. There’s a YouTube channel with a bunch of episodes on it. Here’s one…
Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you each week by Linda Hill and this station. Now a word about the Reynolds Aluminum Tapper. Enjoy Hamm’s on tap in the Tapper!
I love that show and actually have been watching quite a few of these over my lunch time. I love Dorothy Kilgallen and am so intrigued by her death because I believe she was murdered…she knew too much. The young shy lady is so cute and funny that she makes cigars.
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I read the book “The Reporter Who Knew Too Much,” about Dorothy and what might have resulted in her death as well as who might have done it. She evidently got the opportunity to interview Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald (JFK’s assassin), but when they found her body they didn’t find her notes or anything like the beginning of a book. Very strange, and points to maybe the CIA or the Mafia, although the author thinks it’s someone totally unrelated. Definitely a good read…
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I used to love “What’s My Line”. The panel had a great sense of humor and made the show. I like the cat joke.
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The panel on “What’s My Line?” was made up of four highly-intelligent people. You could probably say that about all the Goodson-Todman game shows (To Tell The Truth, Password, I’ve Got A Secret, etc.) It wasn’t an insult to your intelligence to watch it.
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Great entertainment compared to now.
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Stuff now is an insult to the intelligence.
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Yes, it is!
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Used to watch What’s My Line all the time with my Grandmother. Never really got the appeal.
Now, the Man From Uncle…
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I think the appeal of What’s My Line was the panel, who were very erudite and had great senses of humor. Plus the idea of trying to figure out what crazy profession someone was in was an obvious attraction. “The Man From UNCLE” was always a great show and I wish it would come back to one of the nostalgia TV stations.
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I like the cat joke! Very good! I remember watching ‘What’s My Line’ all the time. It was good, and they were pretty funny sometimes. I think they did an updated one later on, which was good, too. 🙂
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“What’s My Line?” ended its network run in 1967 and there were syndicated versions that continued after that.
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I wondered how they wouldn’t recognize Jackie Gleason then I remembered the blindfolds. He was so good in The Honeymooners.
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Gleason was an amazing actor: very funny, but he could play serious roles as well. He played Minnesota Fats in “The Hustler” with Paul Newman, and the title character in the movie “Gigot,” which he also wrote. We used to watch his show every Saturday night when we were kids.
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He was great, ‘the great one.’ We watched his show every week too.
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