A curling wave of crimson jam surrounds small folded cloth pieces on a blue-and-white plate.

Original artwork, not a still

Father Dougal

It’s like a big tide of jam coming towards us, but jam made out of old women.

— Father Ted  ·  1995

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker compares an approaching mass to a tide of jam, then complicates the image by saying the jam consists of old women. The unexpected second detail makes an already unusual comparison stranger. Its comic effect comes from combining a crowd, a flood and a sticky food.

Context reviewed

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