Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The line is a joke that proves its own point, which is why linguists, editors and word nerds quote it more than almost any other comic-strip line. Calvin gets the last word in a debate about changing English by doing exactly what he describes. It is the standard reply in arguments over 'to access', 'to friend' or 'to google', usually offered with a grin rather than a complaint.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Calvin and HobbesShow the scene
In a Calvin and Hobbes daily strip from January 25, 1993, the talk turns to the habit of turning nouns into verbs, and the strip closes on the remark that verbing weirds language. The joke is the sentence itself: it uses 'verb' as a verb and turns the adjective 'weird' into one too. Bill Watterson collected the strip in Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, published in 1994, where Wikiquote places it on page 53.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: Conversion (word formation)Passage on Calvin and HobbesReference checked
- Wikiquote: LanguageWatterson entryReference checked
Context reviewed
