Original artwork, not a still
Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is a mother's joke about the one lesson parenthood teaches: love does not make a teenager careful with the family car. Bombeck's whole method was the exasperated confession of an ordinary parent, which is why this still circulates on mugs, cards and every parenting-humour list.
Context reviewed
In context
May contain spoilersShow the scene
Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) wrote a syndicated newspaper humour column about suburban family life from the mid-1960s until shortly before her death. This line is credited to her as one of her ten rules to live by, in the list that the Tampa Bay Times ran with its April 1996 report of her death, where it appears alongside a rule about never having more children than you have car windows. No specific column, book or date has been found for it, and the wording varies from place to place (lend or loan, anyone or someone).
Sources (2)
- Tampa Bay Times: Erma Bombeck dies after transplant (23 April 1996)Her rules to live byReference checked
- Tucson.com article on BombeckQuote and column descriptionReference checked
Context reviewed
