Cinnamon appears to be a rather large cat. I wouldn’t be picking her up at all without getting to know her a little first. A normal-sized cat can be vicious enough with strangers, so a large cat could deal some serious damage.
In the book, DC (D***ed Cat) was not a cute little Siamese like in the movie. He had a cat door to get outside; when he shook the house going through, it was time to put him on a diet again.
Given the way his skin appears green on my screen, my initial reaction was “Wow! That’s was quick. Emperor Norton doesn’t mess around!” . Then I read Panel 4… >_>
I’m pretty well read and have a pretty hefty vocabulary, but I still had to look up this particular usage of “buffet”.
From context I thought maybe it was another term for pantry, but apparently it’s “a cabinet with shelves and drawers for keeping dinnerware and table linens; a sideboard”, and the term is rather old fashioned and limited to North America.
~~~~~
Not sure this one’s a keeper. It’s a fairly specific term that will confuse most people because the other definitions are much more common, and I could just say “sideboard” or “dinnerware cabinet” for a ton more clarity without a loss of style.
I mean… sometimes a word with less clarity is worth using because it’s different and unique. I love to say “bumbershoot” instead of “umbrella”, because it’s a darn fun word to say and the context tends to make it obvious what the word means even when someone has never heard it before.
That’s definitely why I picked up “goink” from Shaenon’s work – it amuses me deeply and the meaning is self evident in any situation where I’m likely to use it.
“Buffet” though? It just sounds like you’re talking about a spread of food or an all-you-can-eat self-serve restaurant. It is almost guaranteed to confuse, and it isn’t fun to say or cool to use. It doesn’t make the grade for me, sadly.
I mean, the all-you-can-eat buffet is derived from the furniture – the idea was that all of the food was sitting out on the buffet instead of coming out of the kitchen already placed. I suspect it’s a more widely-mnown term than you think.
I don’t know if that follows. Treacle meaning “sugar syrup” is derived from treacle meaning “medicine” – the idea was you mixed your medicinal herbs with syrup to make them easier to take – but that doesn’t in itself mean the latter meaning is particularly common today.
I recognised it because my parents have one. Growing up, I used to confuse it with the wine cabinet, because most of the alcohol was kept in the cabinet in the buffet instead. Almost none of it was actually wine.
Perhaps it’s a regional usage as well? I grew up in upstate NY and it was not an uncommon word for that piece of furniture in that area (no idea about now, this was 30+ years ago, which might also play into the “old fashioned” part.) Or possibly nobody has furniture dedicated to dishes anymore, which also seems likely.
Millenials: “What’s furniture?”
Boomers: “The stuff you put in your house!”
Millenials: “You think we can afford houses?”
Boomers: “Well I did when I was your age!”
Millenials: “Yeah, and college tuition could be paid with a part time job then too.”
Boomers: “Grumble, grumble, kids these days… avocados… pah!”
I grew up (Chicago area, Germanic ancestry) in a household that had a buffet, and we added a credenza when my grandmother joined us. So to me, “sideboard” is the strange foreign term.
Agreed. I grew up in Texas and now live in downstate New York. I’ve never heard dinnerware cabinet or kitchen dresser. I have seen the word sideboard but haven’t seen one in person – I actually thought it meant a second table, like a console table. To me the tall one with glass doors is a china closet and the low one you can spread food on is a buffet.
Now go over to ravelry.com and ask for a definition of jumper, sweater or vest.
Made perfect sense to me, plus nice alliteration. I have a buffet (a cupboard to store dishes & other dining-related supplies, with a low counter surface or shelf suitable for laying out foodstuffs). I’m now considering keeping some burner phones in it, in case of emergency. Do people not say that anymore? Maybe it’s regional? I’m in the USA and over 50. My buffet is probably a bit older.
“Not sure this one’s a keeper. It’s a fairly specific term that will confuse most people because the other definitions are much more common, and I could just say “sideboard” or “dinnerware cabinet” for a ton more clarity without a loss of style.”
The fact that it is an old-fashioned term, and it’s still widely used in the US today, implies that it is indeed a “keeper”. And since Artie has lived his entire life in the US, it just makes sense that he would use a term that is common in the US.
And there is a subtle distinction between a buffet and a sideboard. A buffet has longer legs, whereas a sideboard has shorter (or no) legs.
And “dinnerware cabinet” is a LOT more cumbersome than “buffet”, plus it could refer to any kind of dinnerware cabinet, so it would provide less clarity, not more.
Just because you had to learn a new word today doesn’t mean that this one “will confuse most people”.
I’ve been all over the US, and I’ve heard it used everywhere I went. This is also borne out by the comments above, which are from all over the US, and even a couple from outside the continent, which means that it’s not limited to North America.
I’ve also been all over the US, and never once heard it, ever.
I’ve encountered the furniture in question, but it has always been known as a “sideboard”. And my perspective is just as borne out by the comments as yours, so you can put away your holier-than-thou attitude, please and thank you.
My ignorance of the usage of the term is perfectly excusable. Your snottiness, however, is utterly not.
Forgive my snottiness. I’m not at my best when I’m tired.
I don’t take issue with your ignorance of the word. I’ve learned lots of new words from reading comics over the years. I enjoy learning new words.
It’s your criticism of its use in the comic – effectively saying “you shouldn’t have done that,” and “I could have done it better” – that sets me off. You’re taking something that someone else has poured their lives into, and you’ve told them, “it’s not good enough.”
Your “clarification” might save some British English speakers a Google, but we North American English speakers would then have to Google ‘sideboard’. That is not a word that I have ever heard anyone say out loud (though I didn’t need to look it up, probably thanks to Terry Pratchett’s many books).
Though to be fair, I’ve also never heard a person call an item of furniture a buffet, nor could I tell you what a buffet/sideboard looks like or does…
…I’m a North American English speaker, though. *snickers*
It’s got to be some weird regional thing, and not a clean cut one, since people from all over are reporting being on both sides of the fence, despite having been to the same sorts of places. Probably can be traced to certain immigration patterns of people of certain backgrounds, hence why it’s not just in one discrete area.
As a Belgian with English as my fourth language, I knew this meaning of the word. I’ve read it (pretty sure John Irving used it) and heard it on the tv (my memory may be playing tricks but I seem to remember it from The Nanny, as a joke much like this post – Fran’s mom expecting a bunch of food when Niles is just referring to the furniture).
I choose to believe Cinnemon is in full Gaspode mode here:
“It wasnt that the dog had gone ‘woof!’, although that was practically unique in itself; most dogs in the universe never went ‘woof!’, they had complicated barks like ‘whuuugh!’ and ‘hwhoouf!’. No, it was that it hadn’t in fact barked at all. It had said ‘woof;.”
Perhaps A-Sig just wants to get the California non-human community stirred up and panicked and and just sent these two out to beat the bushes, so to speak, rather than actually expecting them to accomplish their objective?
If I picked up our own cat that way, I’d be missing a hand. Even an orange one as it is in Panel Three.
I managed to get away with doing it to my cat, but only if I sling her over my shoulder a few seconds later.
Cinnamon appears to be a rather large cat. I wouldn’t be picking her up at all without getting to know her a little first. A normal-sized cat can be vicious enough with strangers, so a large cat could deal some serious damage.
That reminds me of That Darn Cat with Haley Mills. That film and The Three Lives of Thomasina are two of my favorite “cat” movies.
I like both of those, but Disney’s AristoCats is at the top of my list (hence my opening comment on Saturday’s strip).
In the book, DC (D***ed Cat) was not a cute little Siamese like in the movie. He had a cat door to get outside; when he shook the house going through, it was time to put him on a diet again.
Given the way his skin appears green on my screen, my initial reaction was “Wow! That’s was quick. Emperor Norton doesn’t mess around!” . Then I read Panel 4… >_>
Might be time for a new screen. But check your settings.
“Aren’t you a kitty? Aren’t you?” takes on a more sinister tone when it’s being asked by a guy out to kill a bimorphic animal.
“Are you now or have you ever been a kitty?”
“There are burner phones in the buffet.”
I’m pretty well read and have a pretty hefty vocabulary, but I still had to look up this particular usage of “buffet”.
From context I thought maybe it was another term for pantry, but apparently it’s “a cabinet with shelves and drawers for keeping dinnerware and table linens; a sideboard”, and the term is rather old fashioned and limited to North America.
~~~~~
Not sure this one’s a keeper. It’s a fairly specific term that will confuse most people because the other definitions are much more common, and I could just say “sideboard” or “dinnerware cabinet” for a ton more clarity without a loss of style.
I mean… sometimes a word with less clarity is worth using because it’s different and unique. I love to say “bumbershoot” instead of “umbrella”, because it’s a darn fun word to say and the context tends to make it obvious what the word means even when someone has never heard it before.
That’s definitely why I picked up “goink” from Shaenon’s work – it amuses me deeply and the meaning is self evident in any situation where I’m likely to use it.
“Buffet” though? It just sounds like you’re talking about a spread of food or an all-you-can-eat self-serve restaurant. It is almost guaranteed to confuse, and it isn’t fun to say or cool to use. It doesn’t make the grade for me, sadly.
I mean, the all-you-can-eat buffet is derived from the furniture – the idea was that all of the food was sitting out on the buffet instead of coming out of the kitchen already placed. I suspect it’s a more widely-mnown term than you think.
Personally, I didn’t look it up. If it ever appears in the comic, I’ll know what it is because there are phones there.
I don’t know if that follows. Treacle meaning “sugar syrup” is derived from treacle meaning “medicine” – the idea was you mixed your medicinal herbs with syrup to make them easier to take – but that doesn’t in itself mean the latter meaning is particularly common today.
FWIW, I googled some pictures and I’d call it a sideboard, except some of them were taller than a person, which I’d call a kitchen dresser.
Yeah, where I’m from “sideboard” or similar is by far the norm.
Also, interesting etymology of treacle! Also not something I’m going to use for exactly the same reasons, but learning is fun!
I recognised it because my parents have one. Growing up, I used to confuse it with the wine cabinet, because most of the alcohol was kept in the cabinet in the buffet instead. Almost none of it was actually wine.
Addendum: we have never lived in North America.
Well that just leaves the other five inhabited continents…
*Rule Brittania starts playing from somewhere*
…dangit, I need to spray for imperialists again. You think you’ve rooted them out, but they keep creeping back in from somewhere…
Perhaps it’s a regional usage as well? I grew up in upstate NY and it was not an uncommon word for that piece of furniture in that area (no idea about now, this was 30+ years ago, which might also play into the “old fashioned” part.) Or possibly nobody has furniture dedicated to dishes anymore, which also seems likely.
Millenials: “What’s furniture?”
Boomers: “The stuff you put in your house!”
Millenials: “You think we can afford houses?”
Boomers: “Well I did when I was your age!”
Millenials: “Yeah, and college tuition could be paid with a part time job then too.”
Boomers: “Grumble, grumble, kids these days… avocados… pah!”
I grew up (Chicago area, Germanic ancestry) in a household that had a buffet, and we added a credenza when my grandmother joined us. So to me, “sideboard” is the strange foreign term.
Agreed. I grew up in Texas and now live in downstate New York. I’ve never heard dinnerware cabinet or kitchen dresser. I have seen the word sideboard but haven’t seen one in person – I actually thought it meant a second table, like a console table. To me the tall one with glass doors is a china closet and the low one you can spread food on is a buffet.
Now go over to ravelry.com and ask for a definition of jumper, sweater or vest.
Well if you take away the one word I identified immediately…
It’s about the painter, right?
It’ll be more fun when “squick” comes into play.
In usenet We Trust
Made perfect sense to me, plus nice alliteration. I have a buffet (a cupboard to store dishes & other dining-related supplies, with a low counter surface or shelf suitable for laying out foodstuffs). I’m now considering keeping some burner phones in it, in case of emergency. Do people not say that anymore? Maybe it’s regional? I’m in the USA and over 50. My buffet is probably a bit older.
Phones in the buffet,
But they can muff it,
Monster-fight squad comes in now.
Kittie-cat blighter
Meets a gunfighter,
And can only say, “Sigh, Meow.”
For that meaning the t is silent
Don’t buffet the buffet
…unless Artie is telling use that he has hidden his phones inside the personage of one James William Buffet, famed musicians…
“Not sure this one’s a keeper. It’s a fairly specific term that will confuse most people because the other definitions are much more common, and I could just say “sideboard” or “dinnerware cabinet” for a ton more clarity without a loss of style.”
The fact that it is an old-fashioned term, and it’s still widely used in the US today, implies that it is indeed a “keeper”. And since Artie has lived his entire life in the US, it just makes sense that he would use a term that is common in the US.
And there is a subtle distinction between a buffet and a sideboard. A buffet has longer legs, whereas a sideboard has shorter (or no) legs.
And “dinnerware cabinet” is a LOT more cumbersome than “buffet”, plus it could refer to any kind of dinnerware cabinet, so it would provide less clarity, not more.
Just because you had to learn a new word today doesn’t mean that this one “will confuse most people”.
I would not say that it’s widely used in the US. I’ve never heard to used to refer to anything except all you can eat.
I’ve been all over the US, and I’ve heard it used everywhere I went. This is also borne out by the comments above, which are from all over the US, and even a couple from outside the continent, which means that it’s not limited to North America.
I’ve also been all over the US, and never once heard it, ever.
I’ve encountered the furniture in question, but it has always been known as a “sideboard”. And my perspective is just as borne out by the comments as yours, so you can put away your holier-than-thou attitude, please and thank you.
My ignorance of the usage of the term is perfectly excusable. Your snottiness, however, is utterly not.
Forgive my snottiness. I’m not at my best when I’m tired.
I don’t take issue with your ignorance of the word. I’ve learned lots of new words from reading comics over the years. I enjoy learning new words.
It’s your criticism of its use in the comic – effectively saying “you shouldn’t have done that,” and “I could have done it better” – that sets me off. You’re taking something that someone else has poured their lives into, and you’ve told them, “it’s not good enough.”
Your “clarification” might save some British English speakers a Google, but we North American English speakers would then have to Google ‘sideboard’. That is not a word that I have ever heard anyone say out loud (though I didn’t need to look it up, probably thanks to Terry Pratchett’s many books).
Though to be fair, I’ve also never heard a person call an item of furniture a buffet, nor could I tell you what a buffet/sideboard looks like or does…
…I’m a North American English speaker, though. *snickers*
It’s got to be some weird regional thing, and not a clean cut one, since people from all over are reporting being on both sides of the fence, despite having been to the same sorts of places. Probably can be traced to certain immigration patterns of people of certain backgrounds, hence why it’s not just in one discrete area.
As a Belgian with English as my fourth language, I knew this meaning of the word. I’ve read it (pretty sure John Irving used it) and heard it on the tv (my memory may be playing tricks but I seem to remember it from The Nanny, as a joke much like this post – Fran’s mom expecting a bunch of food when Niles is just referring to the furniture).
I choose to believe Cinnemon is in full Gaspode mode here:
“It wasnt that the dog had gone ‘woof!’, although that was practically unique in itself; most dogs in the universe never went ‘woof!’, they had complicated barks like ‘whuuugh!’ and ‘hwhoouf!’. No, it was that it hadn’t in fact barked at all. It had said ‘woof;.”
Hopefully Cinnamon takes a few pages from Gaspode’s book and uses reality blindness – or in this case stupidity – to his (?) advantage.
“[Sigh] Meow” is a pretty accurate description of how one of our cats reacts to us whenever we disturb her. The other one is usually excited.
An impenetrable disguise!
Whoops, Echo Bravo has an orange hand in panel three
Is your sky as orange as this cat, as reported, Shaenon?
Yup.
Be careful breathing. This may be one of those situations where a mask might be useful.
“No. But I’ll settle for you.”
Perhaps A-Sig just wants to get the California non-human community stirred up and panicked and and just sent these two out to beat the bushes, so to speak, rather than actually expecting them to accomplish their objective?