Friday, March 06, 2009

High-Pitched Whistling

“High-pitched whistling” is an interesting description for the sound of a dental drill. I usually think of it as more of a grinding sound with the terrible smell of burn tooth.

The joke in today’s new-run of For Better or For Worse is more difficult to fathom. Is Dr. Patterson saying that he has done so much drilling that he thinks something is wrong when he doesn’t hear the drill going? Or is the joke that Dr. Patterson is sticking fingers in his ears to symbolize that he no longer has the high-pitched whistling in them? Or is the joke that Dr. John Patterson has two hands that look as though they have been mutilated by using a dental drill all day?

Actually, I think what has happened is a case of “I changed the joke after I drew the strip.” This is seen rarely with Lynn Johnston because she oftentimes builds the entire strip to set up the joke in the final panel. There are some giveaways:

1. John Patterson’s joke makes no sense. Why would something be wrong if he didn’t have high-pitched whistling in his ears?
2. The head placement of the April Patterson-esque dental assistant is very low in Panel 4. Typically Lynn Johnston does not do that unless she plans to put dialogue there. The word balloon above her head is not close to touching it, so I think there were supposed to be some extra words there originally.
3. John Patterson’s hand gesture does not match what he is saying. You put fingers in your ears to block sounds, not to point out which sounds you cannot hear. I think the joke originally had something to do with a sound the John Patterson was trying to block, most likely the sound of the drill in panels 1 and 2. What would the joke have been:

Assistant: Is something wrong, Dr. P?
John Patterson: Yeah! I can put my fingers in my ears and they touch together.

Assistant: Is something wrong, Dr. P?
John Patterson: Yeah! That pun you told yesterday was so bad, I am considering it a personal challenge to make a worse one. I want to tell a joke so bad, people will cover their ears.

John Patterson: Whew!...It’s been a long day!
Assistant: How long has it been, Dr. P?
John Patterson: It’s been soooo long, I think it’s been a whole Wheeeeeeek.

John Patterson:
Whew!...That drill is loud and noisy.
Assistant: How loud has it been, Dr. P?
John Patterson: It’s been soooo loud, if I don’t put my fingers in my ears, I am going to Weeeeeeeeep!

John Patterson: Whew!...That drill is loud and noisy.
Assistant: How loud has it been, Dr. P?
John Patterson: It’s been soooo loud, I would rather hear my wife shrieking at me.

6 Comments:

Blogger Holly said...

I just about spat my coffee across my laptop at "I can put my fingers in my ears and they touch together." Brilliant!

11:13 PM  
Blogger DreadedCandiru2 said...

howard,

I still stand by my theory that there's a slow leak in the nitrous oxide tank. John wants to say that he's so used to the sound the drill makes that silence throws him for a loop but he's sort of zonked out on the gas.

3:25 AM  
Blogger April Patterson said...

That assistant looks even more like April in the last panel than she did in yesterday's strip. Maybe John wants to pierce his eardrums because some residual part of his psyche realizes his yet-to-be-born daughter has dated Ted.

7:38 AM  
Blogger Destroyer of Worlds said...

Hehe! Your word commentary is funnier across the board than Lynn's. I didn't get it at all. I thought the patient had fallen asleep and his snoring was a whistling sound.

The smell of burnt tooth!? Wow, I must go thank my mother again for making sure all of her kids always brushed their teeth! None of us have a single cavity between us, so fear of the dentist is sort of an alien concept for us...I didn't even have wisdom teeth to extract!

The dental assistant looking like April...this will fit very nicely into my plans! *evil cackle*

10:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is scary how good you are at punning, Howard.

1:48 PM  
Blogger Muzition said...

Actually, when I get my teeth drilled at the dentist, the drill does indeed make a very high-pitched annoying sound.

9:40 AM  

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