A brass funnel connects to a curved copper pipe with a yellow rubber duck at its outlet.

Original artwork, not a still

Tom Lehrer

Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

A cheerfully grim joke twisting the familiar idea that you get back what you put in. Comparing life to a sewer keeps the encouraging structure but swaps in an unpleasant image, so the comforting saying becomes a wry, slightly dirty warning.

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