Clambake?
There's a reason why I find the word clambake to be funny, but I can't for the life of me remember why. I feel like I must be thinking of some quote or allusion in which it was used as a colorful synonym for "having a good time."
Can anyone help me out? What am I thinking of?
Can anyone help me out? What am I thinking of?
posted by Rex at 7:24 PM
3 Comments:
Smoking up in a confined space, like a car, is called a "clambake".
A party or gathering with a predominance of women is sometimes referred to as a "clambake". Which could be a good time, depending on your outlook.
I think that it's a funny word in general, though. H. L. Mencken said that words with "k" in them are inherently funny. Neil Simon picked up on this in his play "The Sunshine Boys", which eventually became the movie, in which George Burns delivered the line about words with "k". The movie was where I first heard of the funny "k" words concept, and I have to agree that film's example of "pickle" is indeed a quite funny word.
Monty Python also felt that "clambake" was pretty funny because they used it in their "Cycling Tour" episode, in which the protagonist, the cycling Mr. Pither, is captured by Russian agents who take him something called the "Russian 42nd International Clambake".
Thanks for the insight! Unfortunately, I don't think I would have known any of your references - though the Monty Python one comes close. I keep thinking that my source would have been something like the Marx Brothers...
Hmm, let's see... There's Operation Clambake, a website dedicated to exposing Scientology. There's "Clambake" the movie with Elvis. Rogers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" has a song called "A Real Nice Clambake". That's all I can think of.
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