Word Origins

 *SATIRE

Not too long ago, an inept actor or group of actors might have been driven off the stage by being pelted with an assortment of fruits and vegetables thrown by the disgruntled audience. If the play were a satirical one, the object of the satire would, figuratively, also have been the recipient of the barrage, for satire is indirectly derived from the Latin lanx satura, "a full dish"—that is, a dish composed of several sorts of food, a potpourri. Dropping the dish (lanx), satura came to have the meaning of a medley, or more specifically, a short play with a great variety of subject material. Along the way, the spelling became satira, and the play developed into a critical commentary. Finally, with the same meaning, the word was adopted into English with its present spelling.

*Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)

The Western Gone Wrong

Tumbleweeds is a satirical perspective on the American frontier. The comic strip ultimately ran in over 300 newspapers from September 6, 1965, to December 30, 2007. Writer-artist Tom K. Ryan (1926-2019) offered deadpan humor to poke fun at all the clichés and stereotypes of western movies. Set in and around the town of Grimy Gulch with a population that hovered up or down of 50, it was one of the longest-running western comics made continuously by the same author. Ryan had a large following among Native Americans because of his respectful use of those characters. 

The comic strip was remarkable for its large cast of 50 wacky-named characters. The title character (above) got his namesake from the dried-out pieces of plants that tumble away in the wind. It symbolized the laconic cowpoke who has no real ambition to do anything. Much of the comic's humor came from its silly dialogue and the artist's over-the-top stylized characters for both humans and animals. Tumbleweeds is sometimes compared to Johnny Hart's popular B.C. or Wizard of Id strips. The comic strip's dry humor had a target audience, but aside from a nostalgic return, the strip has lost much of its relevance today. Good examples can be found at Tumbleweeds.

Note: From 1969 until 1978, Ryan's assistant was Jim Davis, of "Garfield" fame. Both men worked in Muncie, Indiana.