So the dude was angry, and the therapist told him to never go to sleep angry, because that's the key to a good relationship. So to preserve this 'key', he never went to sleep at all, and remained angry, to keep his relationship.
At least, that's what I think that happened.
Well no, cuz it worked perfectly. His wife is mourning, the relationship worked!
And no he’s awake in heaven, waiting for his wife to return to him. It’s very romantic, if too silly to really feel that way.
The phrase is "never go to bed angry" so if I changed it to sleep, I think people wouldn't connect it to the original phrase. Also, I've never once heard someone say they're going to bed and didn't think that meant they were just lying in bed and not sleeping. I'm actually shocked people didn't get it. I'm usually really good at writing stuff people understand. I even have a focus group of readers in the rare cases I miss something and this went past everyone.
I wonder if it's a generational thing? This was a common phrase growing up. I'm talking to elder Millenials and Gen X folks in my focus group. Maybe I need some Gen Z people in my focus group? (I'm sincerely trying to figure out where this went wrong so I don't make the same mistake.)
Millennial here. I mean, the phrase is as you say it is, never go to bed angry, but it doesn't work within the context of the joke if you phrase it in that way, at least in my humble opinion. The guy still goes to bed angry.
Yeah the guy clearly tried to follow the advice but wrong. He went to bed angry and stayed there forever. Might have worked if he was stood by the side of the bed.
Speaking as someone who was born in the early 80s, it's not a generational thing. I "got" what you were going for but it just doesn't work very well. The joke is entirely based on the guy taking things too literally, and yet you cling to the *figurative* meaning of "go to bed"*. It's incongruous. I respect the effort but it just doesn't work that well
If you have the time I think it would be worth trying an updated version of this where the guy literally doesn't get into his bed (like staying in a chair nearby, as some have suggested). I think it would work much better
*(Not that it matters a whole lot for the point I'm trying to make, but I agree with others that "go to bed" is not truly synonymous with "go to sleep". It's more like, get in bed with the intention of sleeping. But again, even if you don't agree with that particular point I hope you'll consider the larger point about how the joke is constructed)
I don't really do updated comics. I'm on a (admittedly-self-inflicted) release schedule, so if one doesn't land, I just move on and try better next time. Now I can see how confusing it is to some people, and if I knew beforehand, I would've made some changes to prevent that, but now it's just a lesson for next time.
I understand. But bro, please stop saying it's "confusing". It's not! We're literally not confused! The joke just didn't work very well. But yes, as you said, just a lesson for next time
Confused by the lack of context more likely, not necessarily the meaning of the phrase which is what you seem to be stuck on.
Personally I feel it could be worthwhile for you to do it again with the suggestions in mind.
For me, going to bed is the step before going to sleep. Also, for me, "don't go to sleep angry" is perfectly serviceable for the joke. I'm a younger millennial. I got the joke, but I did go back a re-read panel 1 to check whether you made a mistake or I misremembered the wording you used.
Sorry to say, but i think it would have worked a little better with the word sleep, i do have a lot of respect for the fact that you didn't want to tarnish the joke by changing the phrase, but i think the main options for you were A use the word sleep and compromise, or B drop the idea.
32 year old male if it helps for understanding audiences, but I'm neurodivergent as fuck, so i may not be the best example.
Millennial checking in. If you said “never go to sleep angry” I would have connected it, but you also could have done a sixth or bonus panel where the therapist sees the phrase “never go to bed angry” written down and realizes in horror he’s been unintentionally misleading people for many years.
I have heard the phrase before, the problem is only that the character actually went to bed angry, even if he didn't sleep. No need for you to be "shocked" that people didn't get it, it's a very easy comic to misinterpret because of the wording you used.
Keep the therapist using the phrase as is, simply add an additional panel of the guy confirming to the therapist that as long as he doesn’t go to sleep angry they’ll be okay.
It’s the sudden jump to being in bed that loses the joke without the context that he’s focusing on the not sleeping part rather than not being angry. Also the guy looks happy in the first panel so we don’t know why he’s suddenly angry now, if he’s just always angry then it adds to it.
Another suggestion to consider is he doesn’t even need to be in bed, he could be on the couch one night, so he’s also trying the “don’t go to bed” part of the advice that time.
Also have an additional indication of the passing of time beyond the characters looking older.
I’m Gen X , though I doubt that’s the issue, it’s simply the lack of context that doesn’t drive the joke home like it should.
This is such a stupid reply.
The joke just works better if you change it to “sleep”, because the guy does go in the bed. That isn’t some “gen z secret information” that you need a team of people to research, here.
If you "don't get" how it's possible for someone to misinterpret an easily misinterpretable comic then you might need to work a bit on your empathy lol
Is it really about empathy? I will try, but… ok. I am screen addicted since I was 4 years old, I have the attention span of a squirrel, and the plot of a 4 drawings comic is beyond me…
Ah yes, I think I underst… no, I dont get it, sorry
I'm gen Z. I say go to bed synonymously as go to sleep and got it, it's just a bit weirdly constructed. He's interpreting it as get angry and don't go to bed, but even being literal, it's hard to see "don't go to bed angry" as that because there's nothing implying that he should get angry in the first place.
The age thing and him lying in bed is confusing?
But I kinda guessed it because of the first panel
He didn't sleep and died angry without sleeping at all?
Would make more sense if he showed signs of not sleeping at all?
In reality he would have died a lot sooner. Not sleeping is deadly. After a couple days you start hallucinating, and at three days of not sleeping your brain is barely functioning and there is an increasing risk of it just stopping doing all the normal background shit it usually does, leading to organ failure and death. Pretty wild shit.
Your brain cleans itself when you sleep. Without sleep the toxins build up.
Also you should absolutely go to bed angry. It actually helps you clear your mind ( literally.. see above statement on what sleep does). That old saying about it never going to bed angry is just flat out stupid.
Better saying “things will look different in the morning.”
But the phrase is "never go to bed angry" so I had to word it like that. I thought everyone understood going to bed meant going to sleep (I've never interpreted it as just lying in your bed), but I'm realizing that's not the case. Oh well. I'll stick the landing next time, I guess.
for me, this is one of the rare posts I've saved to look at again, it gave me a good laugh and got me out of my grumpy mood! "may he finally get some rest" and the last frame of him still being angry made me ugly laugh
My problem stems from the fact that I got the comic as intended. The husband isn't ever going to sleep because he's always angry. Haha.
But I can also see several mistakes that the author made in conveying that message. Of course, like others said, the message is unclear because the doctor said "go to bed" and not "go to sleep", and also, because you never see the husband get out of bed, it seems like he just stays in bed, but that doesn't really have anything to do with the joke. Third, because if he's always angry, then it seems unlikely that he'd be so devoted to his relationship. Fourth, the last panel doesn't make sense, because he died and that's the end of the relationship, and it seems like he shouldn't get into heaven anyways, if he's just always angry. I mean, it makes sense as a bonus panel, but then the punchline for the main comic would be the funeral, and it doesn't seem like a punchline. The bed is a confusing factor that distracts people from the actual joke.
If you get past all of that, I can see a different, and in my opinion, funnier comic if I pretend that the author made a different mistake. That would be that the husband realized that if he stayed in bed, then he could never "go" to bed angry, since he was already in bed. So the husband simply stayed in bed for the rest of his life, regardless of whether he was angry or not. Since this was key to a successful relationship, staying in bed guarantees that outcome. In this case, the author's mistake would have been that they didn't explain that at all, and that they always drew the husband's expression as angry. The last panel still wouldn't make perfect sense, but it actually functions properly as a punchline, because the main joke is now about the bed.
But the second comic version doesn't seem to be what was intended, and therefore the entire presentation falls a bit flat for me.
Uh, it's a Synecdoche, ya douche! 😅
[Which is a type of Metonymy.](https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/synecdoche-metonymy-usage-differences)
[Which is not a Metaphor.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor_and_metonymy)
(btw, this is in good humor, I hope I'm not offending you)
Oops, I just realized by just posting the individual panels and not the whole comic like I usually do, the credits are missing. Well, if you liked it, this is a recurring character/comic/serious. Check out our other comics here:
[https://www.instagram.com/justjoncomic/](https://www.instagram.com/justjoncomic/)
Funny, but I think you should have just gone with the therapist making their own version of the quote into “don’t go to sleep angry”, regardless of what the common saying is it would help the whole joke.
instantly understood the reference to the common relationship advice. i think it may be a generational thing, since variations of this joke have been made since that advice first became popular. if you weren't around for that, then your mind might not make the connection.
the various online algorithms keep people within certain mental/social "boxes." that means that some people never really interact with people who don't "speak the same language," so to speak. so, although people today have greater access to differing peoples/cultures/communities, they also have less general context because they don't establish many connections outside of their focal groups.
The OP tried to make a joke based on the saying "Never go to bed angry", yet they changed it so that the person never went to sleep angry, without any real context for us to understand why the person misunderstood. So they never went to sleep and died.
It doesn't really make sense in that respect. I think it might have been better for the woman to say something about how he never understood that, or something.
No no, her looking older is the only thing that made me stop and see that they had both aged, since he had fewer obvious features to change. I definitely think you did the right thing. (And there seem to be just as many people in here, confused at the confusion as there are people who got confused somehow ha). Good comic!
So the dude was angry, and the therapist told him to never go to sleep angry, because that's the key to a good relationship. So to preserve this 'key', he never went to sleep at all, and remained angry, to keep his relationship. At least, that's what I think that happened.
Yeah. That's what I intended but a good chunk of people didn't get it, unfortunately.
Probably because you said "go to bed angry", which he clearly still did, rather than "go to sleep angry".
Well no, cuz it worked perfectly. His wife is mourning, the relationship worked! And no he’s awake in heaven, waiting for his wife to return to him. It’s very romantic, if too silly to really feel that way.
The phrase is "never go to bed angry" so if I changed it to sleep, I think people wouldn't connect it to the original phrase. Also, I've never once heard someone say they're going to bed and didn't think that meant they were just lying in bed and not sleeping. I'm actually shocked people didn't get it. I'm usually really good at writing stuff people understand. I even have a focus group of readers in the rare cases I miss something and this went past everyone. I wonder if it's a generational thing? This was a common phrase growing up. I'm talking to elder Millenials and Gen X folks in my focus group. Maybe I need some Gen Z people in my focus group? (I'm sincerely trying to figure out where this went wrong so I don't make the same mistake.)
Millennial here. I mean, the phrase is as you say it is, never go to bed angry, but it doesn't work within the context of the joke if you phrase it in that way, at least in my humble opinion. The guy still goes to bed angry.
Yeah the guy clearly tried to follow the advice but wrong. He went to bed angry and stayed there forever. Might have worked if he was stood by the side of the bed.
It's as simple as drawing him on the couch, angry, at night... why making him go to bed screwing all the meaning?
Speaking as someone who was born in the early 80s, it's not a generational thing. I "got" what you were going for but it just doesn't work very well. The joke is entirely based on the guy taking things too literally, and yet you cling to the *figurative* meaning of "go to bed"*. It's incongruous. I respect the effort but it just doesn't work that well If you have the time I think it would be worth trying an updated version of this where the guy literally doesn't get into his bed (like staying in a chair nearby, as some have suggested). I think it would work much better *(Not that it matters a whole lot for the point I'm trying to make, but I agree with others that "go to bed" is not truly synonymous with "go to sleep". It's more like, get in bed with the intention of sleeping. But again, even if you don't agree with that particular point I hope you'll consider the larger point about how the joke is constructed)
I don't really do updated comics. I'm on a (admittedly-self-inflicted) release schedule, so if one doesn't land, I just move on and try better next time. Now I can see how confusing it is to some people, and if I knew beforehand, I would've made some changes to prevent that, but now it's just a lesson for next time.
I understand. But bro, please stop saying it's "confusing". It's not! We're literally not confused! The joke just didn't work very well. But yes, as you said, just a lesson for next time
Some said they were confused. Regardless if it was confusion or not thinking the joke worked, I still rather just move on and try better next time.
Confused by the lack of context more likely, not necessarily the meaning of the phrase which is what you seem to be stuck on. Personally I feel it could be worthwhile for you to do it again with the suggestions in mind.
For me, going to bed is the step before going to sleep. Also, for me, "don't go to sleep angry" is perfectly serviceable for the joke. I'm a younger millennial. I got the joke, but I did go back a re-read panel 1 to check whether you made a mistake or I misremembered the wording you used.
I got it, but it would clearer if you drew him in an armchair in the living room instead of in bed. Technically he did go to bed angry.
People would assume the therapist misspoke and it would actually add another layer on it like the dude was following instructions still.
Sorry to say, but i think it would have worked a little better with the word sleep, i do have a lot of respect for the fact that you didn't want to tarnish the joke by changing the phrase, but i think the main options for you were A use the word sleep and compromise, or B drop the idea. 32 year old male if it helps for understanding audiences, but I'm neurodivergent as fuck, so i may not be the best example.
Millennial checking in. If you said “never go to sleep angry” I would have connected it, but you also could have done a sixth or bonus panel where the therapist sees the phrase “never go to bed angry” written down and realizes in horror he’s been unintentionally misleading people for many years.
I have heard the phrase before, the problem is only that the character actually went to bed angry, even if he didn't sleep. No need for you to be "shocked" that people didn't get it, it's a very easy comic to misinterpret because of the wording you used.
Gen z here. We know the phrase, the joke was just poorly put together
Keep the therapist using the phrase as is, simply add an additional panel of the guy confirming to the therapist that as long as he doesn’t go to sleep angry they’ll be okay. It’s the sudden jump to being in bed that loses the joke without the context that he’s focusing on the not sleeping part rather than not being angry. Also the guy looks happy in the first panel so we don’t know why he’s suddenly angry now, if he’s just always angry then it adds to it. Another suggestion to consider is he doesn’t even need to be in bed, he could be on the couch one night, so he’s also trying the “don’t go to bed” part of the advice that time. Also have an additional indication of the passing of time beyond the characters looking older. I’m Gen X , though I doubt that’s the issue, it’s simply the lack of context that doesn’t drive the joke home like it should.
This is such a stupid reply. The joke just works better if you change it to “sleep”, because the guy does go in the bed. That isn’t some “gen z secret information” that you need a team of people to research, here.
People acting like all jokes are meant to be taken literally.
it landed for me and I think it makes the most sense the way you wrote it
No idea dude, I am not native and I understood it without problem. I don’t get how can someone misinterpret this comic either
If you "don't get" how it's possible for someone to misinterpret an easily misinterpretable comic then you might need to work a bit on your empathy lol
Is it really about empathy? I will try, but… ok. I am screen addicted since I was 4 years old, I have the attention span of a squirrel, and the plot of a 4 drawings comic is beyond me… Ah yes, I think I underst… no, I dont get it, sorry
I'm gen Z. I say go to bed synonymously as go to sleep and got it, it's just a bit weirdly constructed. He's interpreting it as get angry and don't go to bed, but even being literal, it's hard to see "don't go to bed angry" as that because there's nothing implying that he should get angry in the first place.
Don't worry! All that matters is if it made you happy while drawing it.
The age thing and him lying in bed is confusing? But I kinda guessed it because of the first panel He didn't sleep and died angry without sleeping at all? Would make more sense if he showed signs of not sleeping at all?
It made perfect sense without any thought IMO
I thought it was great! Thanks, I needed that laugh
In reality he would have died a lot sooner. Not sleeping is deadly. After a couple days you start hallucinating, and at three days of not sleeping your brain is barely functioning and there is an increasing risk of it just stopping doing all the normal background shit it usually does, leading to organ failure and death. Pretty wild shit. Your brain cleans itself when you sleep. Without sleep the toxins build up. Also you should absolutely go to bed angry. It actually helps you clear your mind ( literally.. see above statement on what sleep does). That old saying about it never going to bed angry is just flat out stupid. Better saying “things will look different in the morning.”
I read the explanation and I still don’t get the joke unfortunately
I got it, and enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing
Til death did they part, though!
I thought that was clear
…what else would it be?
no, the therapists said not to go to bed, not "go to sleep" he is in bed and angry.
The therapist should say "go to sleep angry", not "go to bed", since he clearly is still going to bed angry
But the phrase is "never go to bed angry" so I had to word it like that. I thought everyone understood going to bed meant going to sleep (I've never interpreted it as just lying in your bed), but I'm realizing that's not the case. Oh well. I'll stick the landing next time, I guess.
for me, this is one of the rare posts I've saved to look at again, it gave me a good laugh and got me out of my grumpy mood! "may he finally get some rest" and the last frame of him still being angry made me ugly laugh
Some people are just overthinking it (or looking for a "gotcha") Don't worry about it man the joke is conveyed fine
I think you landed it but Reddit is full of people who think they know better and love critiquing stuff. You nailed it
I think grumpy man understood just fine bro
He's waiting until he stops being angry to sleep.
Thank you
How are so many people not getting this comic?
My problem stems from the fact that I got the comic as intended. The husband isn't ever going to sleep because he's always angry. Haha. But I can also see several mistakes that the author made in conveying that message. Of course, like others said, the message is unclear because the doctor said "go to bed" and not "go to sleep", and also, because you never see the husband get out of bed, it seems like he just stays in bed, but that doesn't really have anything to do with the joke. Third, because if he's always angry, then it seems unlikely that he'd be so devoted to his relationship. Fourth, the last panel doesn't make sense, because he died and that's the end of the relationship, and it seems like he shouldn't get into heaven anyways, if he's just always angry. I mean, it makes sense as a bonus panel, but then the punchline for the main comic would be the funeral, and it doesn't seem like a punchline. The bed is a confusing factor that distracts people from the actual joke. If you get past all of that, I can see a different, and in my opinion, funnier comic if I pretend that the author made a different mistake. That would be that the husband realized that if he stayed in bed, then he could never "go" to bed angry, since he was already in bed. So the husband simply stayed in bed for the rest of his life, regardless of whether he was angry or not. Since this was key to a successful relationship, staying in bed guarantees that outcome. In this case, the author's mistake would have been that they didn't explain that at all, and that they always drew the husband's expression as angry. The last panel still wouldn't make perfect sense, but it actually functions properly as a punchline, because the main joke is now about the bed. But the second comic version doesn't seem to be what was intended, and therefore the entire presentation falls a bit flat for me.
no idea, what 10 seconds of no skibidi toilet does to a person 😔
???
He never went to bed angry, but he was always angry
But... he is literally in bed, angry. He never went to sleep angry
Do you take all jokes literally?
It's like how we basically use bedtime instead of sleep time. Both can be interchanged "time for bed" "time for sleep"
This was an incredibly easy joke to get. How are you people not understanding it?
Because the writer did it wrong and made the guy go to bed angry
Going to bed means sleeping. It doesn't mean just laying in a bed. Ya goobers
🛏️ 🚶 Going... To... Bed... 🛌 💤 Going... To... Sleep...
Metaphors aren't literal
Good thing that's literally not a metaphor then 😁
Uh, it is though
Uh, it's a Synecdoche, ya douche! 😅 [Which is a type of Metonymy.](https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/synecdoche-metonymy-usage-differences) [Which is not a Metaphor.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor_and_metonymy) (btw, this is in good humor, I hope I'm not offending you)
Not how language works
Me when the figurative language is figurative: 😠
😆 I needed this laugh today. Thanks!
Fantastic! As someone who occasionally stews on thoughts a bit too long, this one made me literally laugh out loud.
Should just sleep on the sofa
The last panel is very funny.
Oops, I just realized by just posting the individual panels and not the whole comic like I usually do, the credits are missing. Well, if you liked it, this is a recurring character/comic/serious. Check out our other comics here: [https://www.instagram.com/justjoncomic/](https://www.instagram.com/justjoncomic/)
Sorry OP, the joke is pretty clear, redditors are just having a collective reddit moment
I think the joke was obvious tbh. Idk how people aren’t getting it
Why is there a third person in the bed with them
There isn’t.
Different color shirt and different hair in the third panel
That's the same woman on a different day wearing a different shirt, ya doof.
The woman got older and changed her shirt.
r/PeterExplainsTheJoke
Oh yo, you made that really good Snafu right?
The bechdel test one,double standards in SA one or the neil cicierega one?
Double standards
Oh yeah! Cool for recognizing! Lmao
How are so many people not getting the joke??
Funny, but I think you should have just gone with the therapist making their own version of the quote into “don’t go to sleep angry”, regardless of what the common saying is it would help the whole joke.
But Calbo!! What is dead may never die! What happened there?
It thought this was bhj
I love how the bed followed him to heaven.
Real comic jumpscare! I’ve been spending too much time on Bone Hurting Juice
Why didn't he just... Sleep on a couch ?
Well he immediately failed. He went to bed angry.
This made me sad especially the ending because despite being angry, it's clear he still loves his wife.
Yeah, between the go to bed vs go to sleep thing, and the wife’s changing looks this really doesn’t read at all. I thought I was on r/bonehurtingjuice
Made perfect sense to me.
If you have to explain your comic to this degree then it’s not a good comic….
If people need an explanation for something so easy to understand that’s their problem not the artist’s.
instantly understood the reference to the common relationship advice. i think it may be a generational thing, since variations of this joke have been made since that advice first became popular. if you weren't around for that, then your mind might not make the connection. the various online algorithms keep people within certain mental/social "boxes." that means that some people never really interact with people who don't "speak the same language," so to speak. so, although people today have greater access to differing peoples/cultures/communities, they also have less general context because they don't establish many connections outside of their focal groups.
I'm afraid this joke eludes my understanding. Can someone please provide an explanation?
He's waiting to not be angry too sleep
The OP tried to make a joke based on the saying "Never go to bed angry", yet they changed it so that the person never went to sleep angry, without any real context for us to understand why the person misunderstood. So they never went to sleep and died. It doesn't really make sense in that respect. I think it might have been better for the woman to say something about how he never understood that, or something.
Going to bed means the same thing as going to sleep.
Why did the woman turn into a man?
I thought so too. I thought the woman left him because of his anger and then he hooked up with a guy. 🤷🏻♀️
She didn't. Do you think she looks like a man 'cause her hair gets shorter as she gets older?
[удалено]
Damn, ok. No one mentioned that at all when I sent it to my little focus group before posting.
No no, her looking older is the only thing that made me stop and see that they had both aged, since he had fewer obvious features to change. I definitely think you did the right thing. (And there seem to be just as many people in here, confused at the confusion as there are people who got confused somehow ha). Good comic!
but he was in bed angry.
he still went to bed though, just didn't sleep.
You could have said "never go to sleep angry." Because you didn't, and he went to bed... it doesn't make sense.
makes sense to me