A small brown dog sits beside a bowl of spaghetti on a red and cream checked cloth.

Original artwork, not a still

Mr. Burns

Dogs are idiots. Think about it, Smithers. If I came into your house and started sniffing at your crotch and slobbering all over your face, what would you say?

— The Simpsons  ·  1989

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker asks Smithers to imagine the speaker behaving like a dog in Smithers’s home. Sniffing and slobbering would seem offensive from a person, so the comparison is offered as proof that dogs are foolish. The joke applies human social expectations to ordinary canine behaviour.

Context reviewed

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