"it tastes but good"?


Is that a typo? Or an archaic way of talking?

10 comments:

dogboy443 said...

I love it! What year do we think? 1950's? Nice art style and color.

Jed Alexander said...

Except, in that context, "dead" is a...what? Adjective? Oh why did I even try to sound like I know anything about grammar? That GED isn't worth a damned...

Mark Martin said...

Date: October 31, 1949 (same magazine as the creepy grandpa)

I, too, thought of all the weird backstories hinted at in this seemingly innocent ad. And does that poor bird have to wear all that hot Eskimo garb even when he is not in the freezer with the fish? He must be about to smother under all that fur!

James Robert Smith said...

The only time I've heard "but good" used that way is when the tough guys would talk in the old gangster movies. They'd say stuff like,

"I'll take care of you, but good."

Dat kind o' thing.

Mebba da liddle boid is in da Soprano gang? Ya t'ink?

Mark Martin said...

No, if it was the Sopranos "dead but good" thing, there would be a how-it-tastes before "but good". The way she is saying it is like saying "You look but mahvelous!"

Mark Martin said...

I also love the way daughter just tosses that perfectly good haddock in the trash!

Colin Tedford said...

The bird wears the parka to protect its heart of ice. The daughter is freeing the haddock, tossing it down a tube to the ocean. The "but good" wouldn't have tripped me, but it does seem like an odd usage.

I'd like to call attention to the choice of the word "boned" in the 2nd panel. Also, I'm pretty sure "Fisherman's Dream" is a euphemism.

I like the drawing style here - and that li'l cyclops bird is a cutie!

Anonymous said...

I guess I like my seafood to taste fresh, but usually when a fish is "right out of the ocean," it hasn't been scaled or cooked yet. But good?

SRBissette said...

Man, I just hope they empty the garbage before the stink kicks in. I mean, mom isn't shown SEEING that action taking place -- her eye's on the cyclopean frostbird -- and that's gonna start reeking to high heaven pronto.

I may lose sleep over this.

BonzoGal said...

Man, what a romantic proposal. "Hey baby, I dig your haddock, if you know what I mean." (And by the look on the widder's face, she does.)