Sheep: An Explanation

I have had a number of comments about what I billed as the funniest cartoon in the world (which appears below, unless you're reading this a week or two from now, in which case you'll have to click on "Older Posts").

A few, but by all means not all, of you said they disagreed with my assertion vis a vis the fact they didn't get the joke.

So today's blog entry will explain the joke in such a way that everybody will be able to enjoy the cartoon.

Right, the first thing you have to take into account is that, to human eyes, all sheep look the same. White sheep, that is. Obviously even humans can tell the difference between a white sheep and a black sheep.

So the joke rests on the fact that, to us, the idea that a sheep could tell the difference between two identical other sheep to the extent of fancying one for mating purposes and not fancying the other is ludicrous.

In a way, though, the joke's on us. Of course, real sheep can tell each other apart, just as we can tell each other apart. Yet if an alien landed on earth, they would find it just as difficult to distinguish between, say, George Clooney and my colleague Fat Brian as we find it to distinguish between two white sheep.

There are other funny elements as well, chiefly the suggestion that sheep can talk, let alone speak colloquial English, and the name Roderick, which is inherently amusing, but these are very much the joke icing on the cartoon cake.

Now, have another look at the cartoon. I think you'll now agree it IS the funniest cartoon ever.

On an entirely different subject, there's an amusing amount of comment about the Indians taking over Jaguar, most of it based on A) their funny names, and B) fear of cars smelling a bit of curry. I don't remember similar jokes when the Americans took it over, but I'm 100% confident that there's no racism involved as it is now 2008.

That said, Ratan Tata is quite a funny name, though possibly not as funny as Roderick. Perhaps I'll republish the cartoon, substituting the name Ratan Tata for Roderick, and see if it is any funnier.