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As for this comic...
This comic text took me quite a while to compose, for obvious reasons. Now, to be clear, my exposure to the Jamaican diaspora is (in my humble opinion) a bit more robust than your average Canadian white guy. I grew up with some Jamaican friends when I was a kid. I've had a number of Jamaican friends over my adult life too. Heck, I even lived with a Jamaican family for a whole year in Oakville. I am a regular at the Jamaican Patty Shack in the Hamilton Farmer's Market. That is to say, I know many Jamaicans, but I definitely do not know Jamaicans well enough to assume a convincing patois. Snow I am not.
Thankfully, a number of Jamaicans have created numerous online resources for this sort of occasion. Particularly helpful were resources detailing the sorts of things that Jamaican mothers regularly say, because Jamaican mothers are legendary (along with Italian mothers, Chinese mothers, Irish mothers, and ... well, I guess most mothers are legendary the world over). So what Tyler's mother says from panel three onward has been carefully assembled from reasonably reliable sources and is the result of entertaining research.
The idea, by the way, is that Tyler's mother only lapses into her patois when she's super angry. This quirk has been mentioned before in a previous comic but we finally get to see it in action now.
And yes, as a few readers anticipated, Tyler's mother does not respect his desire to change his name to 'Tyler' after the white chicks' hostile 'Taylor' name takeover of '05. You called it.
Puck 542
NEW APRIL VOTING INCENTIVE!
Vote for Puck on TWC to get a message of support in these trying times!
VOTE TO KEEP NEWSPRINT OLD!
As for this comic...
This comic text took me quite a while to compose, for obvious reasons. Now, to be clear, my exposure to the Jamaican diaspora is (in my humble opinion) a bit more robust than your average Canadian white guy. I grew up with some Jamaican friends when I was a kid. I've had a number of Jamaican friends over my adult life too. Heck, I even lived with a Jamaican family for a whole year in Oakville. I am a regular at the Jamaican Patty Shack in the Hamilton Farmer's Market. That is to say, I know many Jamaicans, but I definitely do not know Jamaicans well enough to assume a convincing patois. Snow I am not.
Thankfully, a number of Jamaicans have created numerous online resources for this sort of occasion. Particularly helpful were resources detailing the sorts of things that Jamaican mothers regularly say, because Jamaican mothers are legendary (along with Italian mothers, Chinese mothers, Irish mothers, and ... well, I guess most mothers are legendary the world over). So what Tyler's mother says from panel three onward has been carefully assembled from reasonably reliable sources and is the result of entertaining research.
The idea, by the way, is that Tyler's mother only lapses into her patois when she's super angry. This quirk has been mentioned before in a previous comic but we finally get to see it in action now.
And yes, as a few readers anticipated, Tyler's mother does not respect his desire to change his name to 'Tyler' after the white chicks' hostile 'Taylor' name takeover of '05. You called it.
Well, mom’s not racist, but she steals the father’s lines. . so, she’s not sexist either.
Maybe just mad?
Just mad.
I knew a family that migrated from Africa, that’s EXACTLY what happened when the parents got good and pissed. Language returns to the speech they grew up with.
Yeah, this is definitely based on real life experience with friends’ parents.
And Bill Cosby’s lines, too.
Too soon.
No it isn’t. At least I don’t think so. I mean, he was funny once, and should we chastise people who own a VW?
My pastor grew up in Jamaica and came to Canada as a pre-teen in the 1970’s. When he is talking normally, you can tell he has lived in the Toronto area almost all his life. When he gets enthusiastic, however, the Patois flows free and fast and takes some thinking on my part to figure out exactly what is being said.
Oh G*d I hate her. Not that she’s entirely wrong, but the whole parent-knows-best thing does NOT work past the gae of about 10.
Therein lies the irony of angry parents. The harder you come down, the less effective it is usually.
We now know Tyler’s pet name for Daphne. Paternal usage of full name listed on birth certificate vs. Tornado Sirens. At least a warming siren is for everyone and doesn’t raise the panic beyond a seven. Full name, well over 13.
I don’t know if that was his nickname for her before panel four, but I foresee that it might BECOME his nickname for her in the future, at least under certain conditions.
And judging by that little smile of hers on hearing it, she might even find it amusing at times. Very RARE times, perhaps…
That’s what I said.
I have newfound respect for Tyler. He’s showing restraint but not much fear. He’s even managed to reassure Daphne by the last panel.
If you have a parent who screams at you, you usually learn that a calm reaction is the best approach. He’s a veteran at this.
explaines how he manages to deal with the sheer insanity of being friends with daph, not to mention being around the rest of her crazy family
Exactly. He’s used to being the eye of the hurricane, as it were.
So, he either gets into “trouble” a LOT, or she’s an abusive mother…
On the other hand, Dr Goldberg may need clean underwear by the time this is over.
Well, Dr. Goldberg is also a veteran at this. He may surprise you too.
I adore “Mamma Bear”.
Tho I must reveal I am disappointed she has shown so much restraint.
If only Daffy would act in a vulgar manner, so as to incite “Mamma Bear” into justifiable homicide.
But no … sob sob sob.
Daphne isn’t the type to tackle things directly. If someone cusses her out, she’ll take it silently and won’t react. Then she’ll have the person framed for treason and sent to a military prison the next day. It’s just how she rolls.
Though this will be an interesting challenge, because Tyler’s mother will get a certain degree of protection from her usual antics due to the fact that she’s Tyler’s mother. Daphne may need to learn to co-exist with a hostile force.
Good research and previous lampshading.
I can’t understand what she’s saying from panel 3 onwards, my only exposure to that accent is from the BBC show Murder in Paradise.
Somehow, I don’t think Tyler is taking her too seriously.
And I think she’d underestimated Hannah as well.
Everyone underestimates Hannah. That’s what makes Hannah so much fun.
🙂
His middle name is Aaron?
You better believe it!
Hahahaha very good 🙂 No end to the confusion
Also here he’s “Taylor” and not “Tyler.” His mother hasn’t accepted that, too.
@”EG”:
So, would “Taylor/Tyler” accept “tag” as HIS nickname … ?
😉 … 😛 … 🙂
Oh, that’s awful. I truly hope not.
@”EG”:
So, you have reason to suspect that certain “Initials”-based humor of the
“TAG – You’re It!”
… variety might not be to his liking … ?
#Just_Asking_For_A_Friend
😉 … 😛 … 🙂
Well, Taylor has some man genes besides the ones he wears.
Tyler is not Colin. He has a backbone. Colin is the type of guy who turns to jello things look scary. Tyler in more the type who rises to the occasion.
At first I misread Tyler’s statement as, “when it starts to sound like Klingon around here”, and it still fit.
Maybe funnier!
I swear to God, I had to scroll back up to see that it wasn’t Klingon. I think I glossed over it in the same way as Ichneumon. And yeah, it fits just as well.
OMG! When I read it the first time I saw the same thing!! lol Thankfully it clicked in my head almost right away that was wrong and I went back and reread more carefully. XD
Huh, me too. I was halfway going to ask EG about it, because I was waiting for the boob window and the throwing of heavy objects. This is way better.
The Titanic sank right about this time, 108 years ago.
Good riddance. Stupid big boat. No one liked it.
Dr. Goldberg is thinking, “one night, one night and my timid little boy has become a man. Time for the tal….. what did he just say? She is going to kill both of them.
I’m proud of that child of mine, such a fine putz.
Accurate. Very accurate.
“I couldn’t help it, Mom, Daphne was on the prowl.” is Taylor’s best defense.
When in this situation, a guy should never, ever blame the girl. Even if really it was the girl’s doing.
Goodness gracious yeah. He is being tested.
If he does anything but defend the girl, she dumps him for cause.
This is not momma’s intent, but it’s how it works.
In your comment about the comic I thought you had a typo meaning I can’t the the accent well enough on my own SO NOW I am not. And then I remembered Snow. Took a minute, my excuse is it is early.
Nope. Snow, the white Canadian reggae star. Who grew up around a bunch of Jamaican kids and learned a semi-convincing patois. (He’s actually had a few hits in Jamaica, so I think the semi-convincing part might actually verge on convincing.)
… and I was thinking what has Jon Snow to do with this …
A LICKY BOOM BOOM DOWN!
When you said Kingston I immediately thought ‘holy crap, Tylers mom has been in prison? Then I clued in ‘oh Kingston Jamaica, yeah that makes more sense’. Has Daphne met Tylers mom before or has her notoriety preceded her? Sounds like he introduced Hannah before prom.
Tyler’s mom has definitely met Daphne before. I get the idea that they’ve met, and the meeting concluded with his mom saying something like, “I don’t want that girl coming in this house.” Which is why they’re always at Puck’s.
They probably made Popsicles in her kitchen.
Now THAT’S a callback! I approve.
I was thinking Kingston, Ontario as well, because I have a lot of relatives in near Kingston, ON. No, not in the prisons, just around all those lakes and rivers over there and getting off the 401 in Kingston is the easiest way to get there.
I love Kingston, ON. And honestly, that Kingston is the first Kingston I would think of. But knowing my readership is mostly NOT from southern Ontario, I felt pretty confident that only a few people would think the way I do.
By the way, when things sound like Kingston ON, they sound like the Tragically Hip.
When things sound like Kingston, ON, they sound like a family reunion in my case.
I won’t lie… the “Kingston” reference flew right under my radar. For one thing, I have never been and know nothing about them (either of them). I am vaguely aware that a city in Canada named “Kingston” exists.
and yet… I still thought that line was absolutely brilliant, because on several archive crawls in a row, I read it too fast and thought you wrote “Klingon”.
…and that’s even funnier!
In more recent edits, I’ve changed it to ‘Jamaica’. Just for simplicity.
…That might be best. Foreign geography is not everyone’s strong suit.
Also, I have posted comments now without it going to an error screen, so whatever you did it worked 🙂
It was a broken plugin. I deactivated it and the error message went away.
You should put Tyler’s mom on the character page!
I will. Eventually. It usually takes me a while to update that.
Yea… Spot on. Domineering foreign-born/raised elitist mother, married to otherwise visibly passive native father. I imagine you’ve also made a lot of interesting observations in your time. My own mother had her bend. Pity she learned my Scot-Irish blood was too strong to suppress when I murdered my first cat and then donned my first kilt.
Either way, these last few pages do help explain Tyler’s interest in Daphne. If they had met in high school rather than as elementary school kid neighbors, I might find his developing romantic interest in her as something duplicitous on his part. Hopefully, you have him show more backbone now that he knows Daphne is indeed interested and fairly territorial about her otherwise comfortable relationship with him.
Now I’m curious how Puck and Colin are going to adjust to this development. Will they employ parental cunning and use little Miranda as a blocker to help suppress Daphne’s biological urges?
I think Tyler’s interest in Daphne has a few components to it. Certainly it’s a mild act of rebellion, but beyond that, I think he’s honestly just sort of imprinted on her over the years. She injected a sense of danger and fun into his life, and he became accustomed to it, and it’s too late to go back now. Also, Daphne is not without her good points. She’s loyal, and can show great kindness to the people she values. She does have a disturbing habit of treating people she doesn’t value like garbage, but that’s a lot of people, honestly.
I don’t think Puck and Colin will really care about this. No reason their ‘hands off’ approach would change now.
They’re probably thinking that a hellion like Daphne might have chosen a far worse type of guy, and they’ll be relieved that the responsible, non-felon Tyler is likely to be a good influence on her.
Exactly.
Daphne should have a sit-down with Hannah. If Hannah can fool Mama, maybe Daphne will eventually be able to also.
Daphne doesn’t fool Mama because Daphne doesn’t care to. Or hasn’t, until now. That might change.
Daphne doesn’t look intimidated at all. In fact, she looks rather amused. I get the feeling she’s been in this kind of situation before.
She’s grown up in Puck’s house. Puck’s house. Screaming women are like the air she breathes.
I understood everything except “Tick a bruck inna yuh haize?”
What does that mean?
“Tick a bruck inna yuh haize” literally means “Did you stick a brick in your ear?” It’s an idiomatic (and quite popular) expression meaning, “Are you hard of hearing, or are you ignoring me, or what?”
ahh yes moments of stress, Pain, or extreme anger we tend to revert to childhood and/or our native speaking/mannerisms. its funny to see when you have a person like me who moved around so much during childhood their inherent mannerisms are from everywhere.
You are international in your rage.
Mother needs a reality check Forbidding them to be together is going to make it more likely for them to get together. Kids always rebel at some point.
Pretty much. Preeeeeeeetty much.
She is secretly Shipping them but doesn’t want to be obvious so she is employing Reverse Psychology.
Oh dear. She’s even quoting people. She’s mad.
But she didn’t call him Tyler. I’d half-expected that.
Quoting people?
Apart from nearly getting her son arrested, living next to a drug house, with a bad-tempered mom who can’t hold a job, most of the money for the house coming from a dancer at Howler’s, and not showing any signs of ambition or manners other than snark and revenge … why would Daphne not appeal to Mrs. Double Academic Family Momma Bear?
@rewinn
LOL !
But don’t forget the GAMBLING
She really is a catch, when you put it like that.
And to clarify, Howler’s is a fine establishment where no dancing occurs. She’s just a server. In a very skimpy uniform.
My apologies to Phoebe. Her tips are all the more impressive!
@rewinn
Yesssss
We all adore Phoebe’s TIPS !
(sic)
Prof. Goldberg ought to say something, even if it’s “Good night everyone, I’m going to bed.”
He will. Eventually.
In a thick Thunder Bay accent?
I used to have a friend from there. He was Jewish too.
No one Jewish is ever from Thunder Bay. Except that guy.
This may have been mentioned in previous comments (What?? Read them all?? Are you insane?? I don’t have all day!!), but I doubt any of your american readers (or readers below a certain age…ahem) will know who Snow is. Just trying to be a good informer…
They should. It was a #1 hit in the United States. He was huge. Jim Carrey did a parody of him on In Living Color. Now that said, the statement “many of your readers might not know who Snow is,” may still be true, but that’s only because many of my readers are younger than your average sharp cheddar.
I am an aged kind of cheese but I had never heard of Snow til now. “Puck” is so educational! 🙂
Daphne’s even worn a shirt that refers to Snow’s big hit: https://puckcomics.com/?comic=puck-218
Since neither Colin or Puck is a humanimal, what is Daphne’s lineage?
She is Puck’s adopted daughter, dropped off on her doorstep in comic #3. Her lineage is totally mysterious. No one has ever really figured out where she came from. No one has ever really investigated, though.
Somehow I’m hearing a “yet…” in there.
@EG
Daffy = Science Experiment FAIL
Just wanted to mention before the next strip comes up that Ty’s eye worked really well in Panel 1 (he’s facing mom but looking at – caring about? – Daphne) and Panel 3 (he’s obeying but wisely keeping an eye on mom) but Panel 4’s interaction with Daphne says much with little. The dialogue is nice (The Conferral Of The Nickname) but the mutual gesture of affection and his first positive act of touching her (as opposed to the passive act of being knocked down) says they’re connected as young adults now.
—
Momma Grizzley saw that and did not react with favor. How will she cut her losses?
Thank you for thoroughly breaking down all the stuff I try to get across in these comics. It’s not easy, and I’m never sure it all works. But if you can see it there, then it means at least one person registered the details.
And Momma Grizzlies never cut their losses. They always go for the whole hog. Or whole moose. Whatever grizzlies eat.
Just like that time we got Norwalk.
Just!
I wonder if Hannah is as nice as Tyler’s mom thinks. I hope Hannah will be back at some point.
Hannah is nice, but not in the sense that Tyler’s mom is thinking.