"It's like a sauna in here!"

A-ha - caught 'em again!!!

Writers from "Mad About You" stealing lines from "Seinfeld" shows...

Donna

;>

And they had that same heat problem on Friends--they thought it was because they had tipped the super badly for Christmas.

-grace

It's kind of a Jewish thing as well. I have a tape called "Two Live Jews" where they sing a song "Oui it's so humid, Oui it's so Humid, it's like a sauna in here!"

[email] writes:

As a Finn, I can't let this go un-commented... In case you don't know, sauna is originally Finnish. It sounds kind of strange to call sauna (or the related expression) a Jewish thing, since there are very few Jews here in Finland. But I'm not saying it can't be. I'm justing saying, that sauna is absolutely, definitely a Finn-thing! :)

Tommi A. Ojanpera Jyvaskyla, Finland

In [email] (Tommi Ojanper{) writes:

here"

New York

Jews"

like a sau

It's not a New York thing, it's not a jewish thing, and it's not a Finnish thing (although they have the right to claim it). We have even used it here in the hinter lands (Ohio) since anyone knew about saunas - and to you New Yorkers, no that wasn't last year. We do have paved roads here.:)

On 25 Feb 1996, Rusty Wilson wrote:

that "West Virginia doesn't have any indoor plumbing."

ASU

[email] wrote:

I stay away for a few days, and look what happens!

I mentioned that the expression was common in New York because (a) I wasn't sure if it was more than a regional expression; (b) Much of the show's creative talent once lived in New York.

I don't think that it's exclusively a Jewish expression, contrary to another another poster's opinion, although that might be the origin.

At one time, saunas were more popular in the U.S. among those not of Scandanavian origin. Years ago, when affluent suburbanites competed to own the latest fad item, they built backyard pools, two-car garages, fallout shelters, and, at one point, saunas. The trend continues today: Jacuzzi's, media rooms, etc. (Ahhh, America, the land of conspicuous consumption!) My point is that saunas were popular in the U.S. quite a few years ago, and the expression had time to become part of the language. (Enough already with the history stuff!)

Tommi, I'm sure that you know far more about the origins of the sauna than I do. I won't take a position on whether the sauna is Finnish or Swedish for the following reason: There are more people of Swedish descent in the U.S. than there are in Sweden. And some of them are bigger than I am.

I'm sure that Ohio has paved roads, although I've never been there. It's New York that lacks the paved roads. Years ago, when British Leyland was building a torture test track in England, they came to New York to take plaster castings of our potholes.

Mary1, I can confirm that West Virginia has indoor plumbing, at least in the capital. My only difficulty in the land of the strip mine was that I couldn't understand the way they talked; I'm sure that they felt the same about me. You should be careful to criticize others, though; in the summertime, the southern part of your state, Arizona, is as hot as a sauna. (But it's dry!)

---Alvin H. Nichter

Mary1, I can confirm that West Virginia has indoor plumbing, at least in the capital. My only difficulty in the land of the strip mine was that I couldn't understand the way they talked; I'm sure that they felt the same about me. You should be careful to criticize others, though; in the summertime, the southern part of your state, Arizona, is as hot as a sauna. (But it's dry!)

---Alvin H. Nichter

Alvin, it wasn't my criticism, if you read my post a bit more carefully. It came from a local radio personality. He was the one who said that "West Virginia has no indoor plumbing". But I think he meant it in jest, and so do I. At least our "dry heat" _is_ a dry heat. Its not like NY, where I originated from. I know what THAT feels like. At least one can bike in a dry heat! Can't do that in NY without wringing yourself out every coupla seconds! I love the dry heat. We have air conditioners out here. In the part of NY where I came from, if you said "air conditioner" to some people, they'd look at you like you're weird or spoke in a foreign language-no concept of what an air conditioner is.

Mary1 ASU

In article ,

Those people are ignorant, Mary, and spreading lies about things of which they know little. People in West Virginia have had indoor plumbing as far back as 1993. This coincided with the Winchester State Fair, at which time the Satellite Dish was designated as the state flower. The advent of indoor plumbing, however, has resulted in economic devastation for some W.V. businesses, as the increasing use of toilet paper has slashed demand for that old country favorite, the corncob. Recently, I spoke with Festis and Bullah Cobbe, owner of Cobbe's Cobbs, a bath and body story in Backwater, WV. Festis stated "Business is bad, real bad. People just don't want cobs any more, even though there's nothing more stimulating than a good cob after a night of franks, beans, and fresh roadkill. Of course, you gotta make sure its fresh, so make sure the nose is still wet. But I digress...Yes, we have been financially ruined. We have lost our home, and my wife Bullah and I have been forced to move back in with our mom."

West Virginia. Mountain Momma. Take me home, country road.

Brad W.

In article , [email] wrote:

said

they

as

that

Bullah

have

have

Would I joke about a thing like that? The advent of indoor plumbing is the greatest thing to happen to West Virginia since the Shopping Channel, but like any new technological advancement, it will have some adverse effects on the general populace. For instance, it will eliminate some of the better jobs in the state. Last year, my buddy Tom (a Univ. of WV grad) told me that he had landed a great job. He said that, in his first year out of college, he was not only employed, but was the boss! So, I went to visit him in Wheeling, only to find him with a crew that cleans out the holes that they dig under the toilet in the outhouse. When their break was over, I was surprised to see Tom jump down into the hole, and start hoisting up buckets to another guy, who in turn emptied them into the tank on their truck! Aghast, I said "Tom, what are you doing? I thought you said you were the boss!" He said, "I sure am! You don't see any of these guys handing me any crap, do you?"

Since you seem to want to know more about WV, I guess I can give a quick overview of the basic culture:

1) If you live in WV and you and your spouse get a divorce, you are still brother and sister.

2) Never marry a virgin. If they're not good enough for their own family, then they're not good enough for you.

• Death by Buick or Buckshot, deer meat is still deer meat.

4) All that stuff about WV people eating possum is bull. Possum is way to gamey. You have to pen it up and feed it buttermilk for a week to make it edible, and that's just too much trouble. If you're that desperate, that's why they make SPAM.

• WV is Einstein's favorite state: Everybody's relative.

• Its also O.J. Simpson's favorite state: All the DNA is the same.

• WV people look forward to Christmas. They may be eight TINY reindeer, but one good spread of buckshot would keep the freezer full for a year!

• Literacy is overrated.

9) Its unfair to tease your sister because she doesn't have as many webbed toes as you do.

10) The perfect WV housewarming gift: A nice flowerbox to sit on the trailer hitch.

Brad W.

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The Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation is holding its annual charity auction on March 15, and we will be selling lots of great sports stuff, from a night San Jose Box Seats to the Super Bowl, and many other exciting deals from autographed Beatles memorabilia to great wines to the opportunity to be an extra on Murphy Brown. We have many expensive, big ticket items, but we also have a lot of affordable deals as well. We have so many items, many are likely to be SOLD WELL BELOW THEIR MARKET VALUE.

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WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED.

Paul Hudson Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation

Don't get me wrong, use the word! As I said, it's the only Finnish word in English! But I must tell you that the Finnish sauna is a couple of thousand years old thing, so I guess it's more Finn- than Ohio-thing. Agreed?

Tommi A. Ojanpera Jyvaskyla, Finland

And here I thought sauna's were a "Swedish thing". Haha :) I don't think anyone holds a monopoly if they're willin' to share it. Haha! ;)

Mary1 ASU

On Sun, 25 Feb 1996, Tommi Ojanper{ wrote:

[email] writes:

Ah, well... For your information, here's another way to insult and degrade the Finns: to say about something *really* Finnish "I thought it was Swedish!" Don't worry, I'm not insulted though. The most modern way is to say: "I thought Nokia [i.e. the company with the cellular phones, etc.] was Swedish!"

Tommi A. Ojanpera Jyvaskyla, Finland

Tommi,

it's not the sauna, but the particular expression, which associates extreme heat with saunas, that's associated here with New York Jews. Why? Beats me. Just one of those inflection-type things. So Finns invented the sauna? You live and learn. It's factoids like this that help justify the time I spend on the internet!

Gwen

[email] (Gwen A Orel) writes:

Yeah, in English, the word sauna is just that - a word among others. You use it more loosely than we do: the perfect way to insult a Finn is use sauna with all these Turkish and Roman kind of sweat-holes. (I'm not into saunas, which you might've guesses). We're just so thickheaded, we can't understand it's just another word for you. Maybe that's because sauna is probably the only Finnish word in English.

Tommi A. Ojanpera Jyvaskyla, Finland

(big snip)

into the state. They

Doug,

Lucky for you. Still, if they had pressed charges, it wouldn't have held up in court. After all, to make it legal they would have had to read you your rights.

BW

Anyone from West Virginia want to get in on this? If so, please dial 1-800-EAT-POSSUM. We'd love to hear from you.

I just went newspaper hunting while "wandering the web" and you know something? They have a newspaper siting for WVA, but _NO_ newspapers!!!! Can you believe that????? Can I prove it? Do blank page screens tell you anything?

Mary1 ASU

I don't think Jersey, nor K'tucky have anything to do with it! It's definitely a West Virginia thing! I used to live in NY, but now I live in Az, but you don't see me cryin' in my (root) beer because someone has a little fun at the states I'm from. NY has humidity in the summer. Az has dry heat, but I ain't crin in my (root) beer!!!!! :-) Lighten up!

Mary1 ASU

On Mon, 18 Mar 1996 [email] wrote:

[email] wrote:

ROOT beer? So that's what you mean when you say that Arizona is dry! :-)

Regarding West Virginia, I thought it funny that a West Virginian (Ms. Richards) would call New Joisey a toxic landfill of a state. She can't fool me; I've seen the Kanawha River! Is it really a natural river, or was it built by the coal companies to drain the acid runoff from the strip mines?

I can't speak for any other posters here, but I'm not from Jersey; I'm from NYC. If Ms. Richards would like more reasons to make fun of Noo Joisey, she can ask me or any other New Yorker. We'll gladly oblige.

---Alvin H. Nichter

Our friend Mary writes: I just went newspaper hunting while "wandering the web" and you know something? They have a newspaper siting for WVA, but _NO_ newspapers]]]] Can you believe that????? Can I prove it? Do blank page screens tell you anything?

(Wow, I'm sick of defending this great piece of America). We've had our oun state since 1863. Everyone always wants to talk about how ignorant West Virginians are, so why is it that West Virginia is apparently the only state in the union that requires all it's 3rd graders to memorize the states and state capitols? I had to call Packard Bell a while back and the moron on the phone honestly did not realize we were a state. I had to give the schmuck a Civil War history lesson over the phone before he could assist me because he needed to know where I was calling from before giving me help] What's wrong with you people]]??

Also, dearest Mary, we have *many* newspapers - as many as any other state our size I assure you. I'm sorry your Web browser is fucked up, but bad things happen to good people sometimes, you know.

Ms. B.J. Richards "Heaven's yours where I live." - R.E.M.'s 'Letter Never Sent'

Ha, Ha. Ok. Very nice. I could make an passionalte and possibly even brilliant defense for my beautiful state, but, instead, will just stick to the standard West Virginian responce to such crap: "Stupid bastards, you're thinking of *Kentucky*]"

How many of you guys are from Jersey, anyway? I've noticed the mutants from that toxic land fill of a state are generally among the first to insult us.

Proud owner of all her original teeth, *several* pairs of shoes, and a family tree with absolutely no loops in the branches, Ms. B.J. Richards "Heaven's yours where I live." - R.E.M.'s 'Letter Never Sent'

I'll take the "dearest" as a compliment, tyvm!, but if my web browser is screwed up as you say it is, how come WVA is the *only* state that I can't get a newspaper from? And you aren't the only state that makes 3rd graders memorize states and capitols. NY does that as well I'm sure of many others. And are you the only person living there taking offense? No one else is crying in their root beer about the fun being poked at WVA. Its all meant in fun. Lighten up! ;-)

Mary1 ASU

On Mon, 18 Mar 1996 [email] wrote:

Maybe I can excuse them. The expression "It's like a sauna in here" is a common expression that's been around for many years here in New York.

Having been born and raised in NYC, I never realized how funny our speech and mannerisms seem to the rest of the U.S. and overseas until I began to travel in my late teens. In many sitcoms set in NYC, New Yorkers will watch a supposedly funny scene and wonder, "What's so funny about that?" It's not that New Yorkers don't get it; it just all seems so normal to us.

---Alvin H. Nichter

Hi Alvin,

How rightcha are! Even jaywalking is a common place thing for NY'rs. Having been born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., I get it, but it all seems so common place, so its not really funny. Not in that sense of da word, anyways. I mean, like Paul, "show me da connection there?"

We have another saying in NY, but I think it stretches everywhere in the summer: "Its hotter 'an hell, out here", but then again, they were never in Phoenix, Az., when it was 122F. I was. Scortcher city.

Mary1 ASU

On 22 Feb 1996, Alvin Nichter wrote:

[email] (Donna Tschetter) wrote:

Big difference between the situations. On Seinfeld, they were in a sauna. That was humor. On MAY, a simple fact was being stated. They were not trying to be funny. People have been saying "it's like a sauna in here" about hot, humid rooms for at least 10-15 years. I love "Seinfeld", but the writers didn't invent every funny comment in the world. I have friends who said "I invented the it's not you-it's me " before the comment was made by George on the show. Nuff said.

Be seeing you. Steve Fine.

I don't think they are trying to appear as if they invented certain lines on Seinfeld, they use expressions that are commonly heard and show the humor in them.

Sb

In article , [email] wrote:

You want to talk about stealing lines? Did anyone else see that line on the Single Guy a couple weeks ago where that short curly haired guy hated the Conan O'Brien character with, and I quote, "The white hot intensity of a thousand suns." I THINK this is a Mad About You line, but I'm not sure. Can anyone else help me place it?

Later, Don

The line mentioned comes from a "Cheers" episode. I don't remember which one, but Diane says it to Sam.

Does anyone remember the episode?

And if "Seinfeld" uses the phrase "Not over until the fat lady sings," and a few weeks later "Mad About You" uses it, then that's stealing as well? Come on! "It's like a sauna in here" is a common turn of phrase, common enough to be considered public domain. No one can steal it from anyone.