Things I Learned From Watching Cartoons

Valerie Cullers 29 Comments

 

Daffy-1-[1]When I was a kid, I enjoyed watching cartoons. My parents would let us watch them for about an hour on Saturday mornings. Then we would have to get dressed and do our assigned chores. In high school, I would watch them every now and then just to enjoy the wit of those who wrote the scripts. 

Some people think watching cartoons is a waste of time, but I have learned some important things from them:

1. If you are a Coyote trying to catch a Roadrunner, DO NOT open a box marked ACME. It won’t end well, you will be making a trip to the ER. You can bet on it.

2. If you and your girlfriend are Russian agents, stay away from a talking Moose and Squirrel. They will outsmart you every time and you will get caught by the authorities.

3. When watching Daffy Duck, always keep a dictionary nearby. He will be using words you cannot understand.

I had to put that last one on the list because I learned the most from watching Daffy Duck. He was a rather excitable character and expressed his emotions well. He also had a great vocabulary and wasn’t afraid to use it.  When I was little, I had to look up some of the words he used. Some of those words I still use today. 

One of my favorites that he used was the word palaver. It can be used as a noun or a verb, but when used as a verb it means “to talk unproductively and at length.” That word allowed me to categorize excess verbiage when I heard it. If I was trying to buy a car and the salesman would go on and on, I was listening to him palaver. If I was in a class and the subject was boring, same thing. If I was listening to an opinion show and the guest was going on and on at length without saying anything constructive, you guessed it, palaver. When I am trying to discern the truth about something, I try to ignore the palaver and listen for any facts in the discussion. 

Palaver…we hear it all the time. It is so nice to put a word on it. And to think I learned the concept and the word from watching a cartoon!boom-2028563__340[2]

 

(With apologies to Wile E. Coyote!)

29 thoughts on “Things I Learned From Watching Cartoons”

  2. They don’t make cartoons like those classics anymore! I also love Chip and Dale and how they tormented Donald Duck. You had me laughing so hard, the gal from the adjoining office came over to see what was going on! So as Bugs Bunny once said to the magician, “Of course you realize this means war” (Look up Case of the Missing Hare) It is now my mission to make you bust out laughing 🙂

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  11. “Palaver”, my late Dad’s favourite word for an Aunt who always nattered on. I asked him what it meant. He said, “look it up”. From them on, it was our private joke whenever we saw her. An eyeroll or a knowing smile, this word conjures up beautiful memories of my precious Dad.

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