La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
“I saw you from the balcony. Short and fat, and tall and skinny. You look ridiculous. Like Mutt and Jeff. Why can’t you find any better friends?” That’s how my mother greeted me one day when I was 11 years old and had just returned from spending a day at the beach with a friend who lived in our building.
For those who don’t know, Mutt and Jeff were a cartoon pairing introduced in 1907 that ran in syndication until 1983. Mutt is described as a tall, gangly, thin, dim-witted racetrack character. He met short and stubby Jeff, who believed he was a heavyweight boxing champion, when they were inmates at an insane asylum. Jeff shared Mutt’s passion for horse racing.
San Geraldo and I watched two women crossing some streets together while we waited for a taxi to pick us up from the veterinary clinic. They, too, were an unmatched pair. It reminded me of all those years ago. My guess was the tall one was a realtor. I can imagine what my mother would have said.
I have two more days of ear drops and my ear feels fine. However, every time I “drop my ear” and have to remain prone for 10 minutes, I fall soundly asleep, despite setting a timer. This morning I fell back to sleep for nearly 4 hours. I had breakfast at 1. I just read that “fatigue, drowsiness, and irritability are listed as uncommon side effects (occurring in 1-10 out of 1,000 people).” That’d be me! (Although I was already irritable.)
“Te vi desde el balcón. Bajito y gordao, y alto y flaco. Te ves ridículo. Como Mutt y Jeff. ¿Por qué no puedes encontrar mejores amigos?” Así me saludó mi madre un día cuando tenía 11 años y acababa de regresar de pasar el día en la playa con un amigo qua vivía en nuestro edificio.
Para quienes no lo sepan, Mutt y Jeff eran una pareja de dibujos animados que se estrenó en 1907 y se emitió en sindicación hasta 1983. Mutt es descrito como un personaje de carreras de caballos alto, desgarbado, delgado, y algo torpe. Conoció al bajito y rechoncho Jeff, quien se creía campeón de boxeo de peso pesado, cuando ambos eran internos en un manicomio. Jeff compartía la pasión de Mutt por las carreras de caballos.
San Geraldo y yo vimos a dos mujeres cruzar la calle juntas mientras esperábamos un taxi que nos recogiera en la clínica veterinaria. Ellas también eran una pareja muy peculiar. Me recordó a aquellos años atrás. Supuse que la alta era agente inmobiliaria. Me imagino lo que habría dicho mi madre.
Me quedan tres días de gotas para los oídos y siento bien. Sin embargo, cada vez que uso las gotas y tengo que permanecer así durante 10 minutos, me duermo profundamente, a pesar de poner un temporizador. Esta mañana volví a dormirme casi cuatro horas. Desayuné a las 13:00. Acabo de leer que «la fatiga, la somnolencia y la irritabilidad se consideran efectos secundarios poco comunes (que se presentan en 1 a 10 de cada 1000 personas)». ¡Ese sería mi caso! (Aunque ya estaba irritable).
The realtor… I always wondered what happened to Morticia after The Adams Family went off the air…
wickedhamster:
My thought exactly.
They (whoever they are) say that opposites attract. You knew that way back when you were a kid. Obviously, your mother never did learn that.
Med-free in a couple of days……..take care till then, you big Mutt!!
Jim:
Makes me think of the old Paula Abdul song.
On Mutt & Jeff, my dad was like that, too! I never knew what he was talking about…
Rade:
Parents!
My family always said mismatched odd couples were like “Mutt and Jeff” but I just now learned where that came from. So thank you!
As for the medicine side effects: I say, if you fall asleep, just sleep! But then, I looooove a nap. I’d have one every day if I could. Gregg and I are like Mutt and Jeff when it comes to naps: he never, ever (unless he’s sick) naps. I’m definitely the sloth in our relationship LOL!
Jennifer
Jennifer:
For months, I was sleeping the days away and I learned to accept that that was simply the way it was. But this time around, it just doesn’t seem necessary. Glad it’s almost over. SG loves his siestas.
That really is an odd couple; I imagine the shorter one strains her neck looking up all the time!
I don’t need drops to make me irritable, it’s a natural occurrence. Still, glad you’re finishing the Drop Cycle.
Bob:
I have so rarely experienced having to look up to see someone’s face. When I do, it feels so bizarre, and I get at least some appreciation for what many people deal with all the time. Yeah, I didn’t need these drops to be irritable either.
When I was a kid I heard it as Mutton Jeff, and wondered how the name came about. Sorry your mom said that, hurtful to a young kid. Were you supposed to match your friends, I wonder? Boud
Boud:
I LOVE Mutton Jeff. A good drag king’s name! My mother felt attractive people should have attractive friends.
I met a couple, both excellent glass artists at an art show one year. He was very tall, she was short. My mouth tends to blurt out things I’m thinking without thinking. My reaction? Oh, you’ve got that whole Mutt and Jeff thing going. Out loud. Don’t know if they understood the reference or how they felt about it.
ellen abbott:
Oops!
I remember reading Mutt and Jeff cartoons when I was a kid in the Sunday “colour supplement” cartoons section of a Winnipeg newspaper that my Grandma subscribed to. But this is the first I’ve heard of their “back story!”
Debra:
I remember them but didn’t remember any backstory.
Holeeeee cow, that’s a mis-matched pair, alright!
Now… all these years, I have known of Mutt and Jeff, but NEVER KNEW the description of the characters or that they met in an insane asylum! Haaa!
I am shocked at your mother’s comment. Speechless. Bouche bée, as we say in French (meaning something like speechless, literally mouth hanging open… what’s the best translation en español, profe? sin habla? boquiabierto? sin palabras? )
Glad your ear is healing 🙂 It warms my heart. And, of course, I’m thinking of you and SG tomorrow, hearing from the vet (while I’m still sleeping, and unaware of what frightening news you may get). Hugs hugs hugs hugs to all four of you 🙂
Judy C:
I’ve heard people say Sin palabras. And, yes, my mother often left me that way. The story of Mutt and Jeff is all news to me. I only knew what they looked like. We’re trying not to stress about our vet appointment.
I was a fan of Mutt and Jeff comics, but didn’t remember how they met! My aunt and uncle were often referred to as Mutt and Jeff since he was well over 6 feet and she less than 5.
Kelly:
I knew nothing about Mutt and Jeff except what they looked like and that they were ridiculous. I wonder what your aunt and uncle thought of that.
I guess that is a good memory to have. I do recall seeing the strip and your right on about these two women. Looks like me and my good friend Carl, AKA Vera Charles. When we go down the street it’s me- a 5’5 white, twinish, guy, thin, blond haired and Vera, a 6,1″, black man, coifed hair and 330lbs man!
Mistress Borghese:
I never took my mother’s advice. My best friend through my college years and some years after was 5’4″ to my 6’2″. He, however, was handsome and a mega hunk. So maybe I did learn a little.
Mutt & Jeff — I haven’t thought of them in ages. I’m not sure I’ve ever read that cartoon. Our local newspaper didn’t carry it, at least not when I was a kid, but I do know the names. (Kind of like “Amos & Andy,” which I’ve also never seen.)
That Realtor is quite…imposing! I’d be scared NOT to buy a house from her!
Steve:
I knew who Mutt and Jeff were but I don’t think our newspaper carried the cartoons either. Morticia Realty.
Never mind her height, she needs to take a brush to that wig! Jx
PS “Mutt and Jeff” was just an American thing, so never a phrase we would come across in the UK…
Jon:
Did you have something comparable to Mutt and Jeff, I wonder. I had a feeling you wouldn’t have heard of them.
In the 1970s there was a comedy duo called “Little and Large”, which obviously led to that being used as a description for mis-matched couples. In general, however, the most frequent one I recall is “like chalk and cheese”. Jx
Jon:
I grew up hearing people say “like chalk and cheese,” they were usually British. I’ve also heard Little and Large but never looked them up to see who they were. Will do now.
I have never heard of Mutt and Jeff. Hey! I learned something!
Urspo:
I never read the cartoons, but I did know about them growing up. Also, it was a comparison my mother often made.
OK, comic strip history is kind of an amateur pastime of mine. Mutt and Jeff is considered the first multiple panel Monday-thru-Saturday strip. Prior to that (and not much prior to that, maybe a decade) only Sunday strips had multiple panels whereas daily strips were single panel, so Mutt and Jeff was very successful and influential indeed, and made Bud Fisher (who eventually got bored with it and left it to assistants) a very wealthy man. That it lasted all the way to 1983 was mostly to due to its historicity. 30 years earlier Mad magazine was already satirizing the strip as passé, noting that Mutt and Jeff were still wearing turn-of-the-century (i.e., 19th-to-20th century) fashions in the 1950s.
I bet that was more than you wanted to know, but I couldn’t help myself.
Kirk:
I had just read all about the strip. Really knew nothing about them, except what they looked like, until I wrote this post.
Sometimes people remark at the vast difference in height between me and Glen. My response is to say, “We’re the same height when we we’re laying down.” Some people laugh, some are shocked. But it is kinda true.
An insane-asylum? Really?
Your mother- why would anyone say that to their child?