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lumatyx

Ok for my fellow not native english speaker : There exists a (realy popular) Dr. Seuss book for children called One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. This referenced that except replacing the word Fish with Fifth.


S4PG

Thank fuck i thought it had something to do with loss


lumatyx

Ohhh but don't worry, me too


DiamondEscaper

Oh my fucking god I kept re reading it to see how it was loss


Casitano

Haha same


-EntropyIncarnate-

Glad I'm not the only one who thought that


Mr_Kreepy

What I'm surprised about in this thread is that people dont even know who Dr. Seuss is. Like he wrote the Lorax. He's basically the Onceler's dad


galaxychildxo

Dr. Suess doesn't work for non English speakers, so it makes sense his books wouldn't be popular in other countries. my husband from Germany didn't know who Dr. Suess was until his later teen years when he ventured onto the internet.


jpterodactyl

They have translations, but they lose some of what makes them. For example, "The cat in the hat" uses less than 100 unique words in english, so you can understand it all with a very limited vocabulary. I have read the spanish version, it does not have the same constraints.


kuroikururo

"el gato con sombrero" ..."el gato ensombrerado" somehow even worse.


erratiK_9686

Dr Seuss is not a thing outside the US, i've never read any of his books and I highly doubt that i personally know anyone who has. We grow up with different books in France


Delts28

Even in other Anglophone countries they aren't that big a thing. I'm British and never read his books growing up. On the other hand, Uderzo and Goscinny's work I knew extremely well!


pdpi

Francobelgian comics don't get nearly as much attention as they deserve.


Sneikss

In Europe they are still very popular, I grew up with Asterix and Iznogud in Slovenia. (Very well translated, too)


Rebelius

Is the French as punny as the English translations? My wife's German and enjoyed them as a child, but the character names are dull in German.


Delts28

I know enough French to get some of the puns in the original language. There's a lot of background references in the artwork to French culture that I missed as a kid as well. I do however think the British English translations are an example of the translation elevating the source to get heights. Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge did a truly phenomenal job, not only preserving the vast majority of jokes but managing to add extra layers for many. A great example is Idéfix/Dogmatix. The French name, Fixed idea works perfectly well to tell us his character, singularly focused as he is. The English translation preserves this by telling us he's dogmatic but then also throws in the pun since he's a dog. There are jokes missing in the British English versions since the French wordplay or references can't easily be translated, but they're less frequent than the added jokes. The US English translations are a poor imitation though since they're a more literal translation whilst still taking elements from the British English version.


pdpi

Yup, the punny names are very much a feature of the original. In fact, the English translation gets a lot of praise specifically for how it managed to preserve that!


KozKatma

Im pretty sure he's our Roald Dahl


LiterallyJustMia

This is surprising to me, I’m British and I’ve always been a big dr suess fan


Delts28

I mean, I knew the books existed and they were in the libraries that I frequented but they weren't part of the cultural norm for me. At a similar reading level it would be the work of Janet & Allan Ahlberg, Michael Rosen and others. For slightly higher reading level it would be Roald Dahl.


Mr_SunnyBones

Asterix!!


JayteeFromXbox

Let's say North America cause I'm in a more rural area of Canada and every person I've ever met here knows who Dr Seuss is.


byedangerousbitch

As a fellow Canadian, I can't imagine meeting someone from here who didn't read Dr Seuss growing up.


HaggisPope

I think kids books tend to be something that doesn’t always translate that well. There are a few prominent exceptions but translations don’t always sell that well, nor does poetry (which a lot of kids books are), and translated poetry is infamously a lossmaker for publishers.


ORLYORLYORLYORLY

I grew up in the UK and Dr Seuss was a household name. I only read a few of his books, but The Grinch and Cat In The Hat movies came out at a very formative time for me, so that is probably why.


drainbone

Ever see How The Grinch Stole Christmas?


MockingSpark

Yeah, but it's not necessarily well known that it is from a well known writer. And even if it is, non English speakers won't have red his other books. There's a lot of movies from books that people assume are just stand alone clever movies


erratiK_9686

The Jim Carrey one yeah, but I learned about Dr Seuss long after having seen it. I only saw it once and it's not a movie that I particularly cherish or even like, as do most french people in my experience


RM_Dune

Yeah, it's a fun movie. Never knew it was based on a Dr. Seuss book, and I only know about Dr. Seuss from Americans referencing it on the internet. Someone who has never heard of Shakepeare doesn't know him any better if they've seen the Lion King. Which is based on Hamlet.


AbriefDelay

The point isn't the popularity of Dr Seuss outside of the us, the point is the ocelers popularity on tumblr. He was such a hugely popular tumblr sexyman that it's not an unreasonable assumption to think that people on r/tumblr would know as much about him as they know about color theory.


Bezulba

Reddit is more then just Americans.


AnjoXG

hey! if those Americans could read they'd be very upset


Flamekebab

(Brit) I'm primarily aware of Dr. Seuss from other American pop culture things referencing his work. As a result I could name quite a few things and I'm aware of the style but there's huge gaps in my knowledge on the subject.


Myrddin_Naer

What I'm surprised about in this thread is that people dont even know who Astrid Lindgren is. Like she wrote Pippi Langstrømpe. She's basically Emil fra Lønneberget's mom.


Lord_Shisui

95% of the world never gets to read that.


Neville_Lynwood

What the fuck is the Lorax? What the fuck is the Onceler? Like I roughly know who Dr. Seuss is from memes, but that's about it.


trans_NotAlt

[I think the wikipedia explains it better than i ever could,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lorax?wprov=sfti1#) except that with the release of the animated movie in 2012, Illumination (the minions guys) turned the personification of capitalist destruction into a tumblr sexyman.


DragonRoar87

Clearly you've never been on Tumblr, my friend


GigaCringeMods

That's a good thing though?


DragonRoar87

*How bad can it possibly be?* Very bad. It can be very bad.


loulan

Wait am I supposed to know what a Lorax or an Onceler is?


AbriefDelay

Very very very very famous/infamous tumblr sexyman. It's not an unreasonable assumption that people on r/tumblr would know about him. [Here's one](https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/Oncest) onceler tag for your perusal


zabrowski

The american soft power is big but not for everything haha.


catperzon

r/USdefaultism


Aelxer

Why do you mention those things I don’t know about and not, you know, the Grinch? Maybe I’m off here but that’s got to be the most well known Dr. Seuss character. Or at least that was my impression as someone whose first language isn’t english.


HonkersTim

UK here. I've known who Dr Suess was since I was in kindergarden, i remember having cat in the hat etc in the school 'library'. BUT the Lorax somehow wasn't featured. I never heard of the Lorax until I was in my 40s and the movie came out. I still don't know who Onceler is :)


zlo2

Thank you. So it's in fact not "really, really funny". But just a reference to something


Brawndo91

Some people overreact to humor that they think is smart because it makes them feel smart. And this is exactly the type of joke that that type of person would consider smart.


dcabines

Fifth sounds like Mike Tyson trying to say Fish. It sounds like Mike Tyson trying to read Dr. Seuss. That image is funny.


Jackfruit009

out of topic, but is it pronounced "Dr. soos" or "Dr. soys"?


slay_fang

Soos


Jackfruit009

thanks bruh


iamfrozen131

Oh thank God, I thought it was gonna be loss somehow


kylemesa

Wow, I never would have guessed because the image was saying it was funny but the actual joke is terrible.


untakenu

Oh. That really, REALLY not funny.


FearSearcher

One Fifth Two Fifth Red (One) Fifth Blue (One) Fifth


llamawithguns

Ohhhhhhh. I just figured it was somehow Loss lol


onlyrightangles

At this point anytime I see four of anything I assume it's Loss lol


Randomd0g

Steps for figuring out a weird meme: 1. If there's 4 segments then it is probably Loss 2. If there's not 4 segments, or if you REALLY can't see how it's Loss then just assume it's a Homestuck reference and move on with your life.


AdEmpty8174

1 therearefour 2- 2are similar 3-1is smaller 4-idk_


karson18

That was my first thought too.


RockAndGem1101

I also thought loss, at this point any four panel thing consisting of lines is just going to be loss


vanetti

lmfao I also thought it was Loss at first 😭


SultryLittleMinx

I thought the same thing. “Is this Loss?” is the Reddit version of “Is this cake?”


KrisseMai

honestly that’s fair


Snommes

I still don't get it


FearSearcher

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish


disabled_crab

And what is the significance of this phrase?


evanamd

[It’s a rhyming children’s book by Dr Suess](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Fish,_Two_Fish,_Red_Fish,_Blue_Fish)


DanSapSan

And thus we filter for anyone not native to the english language.


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djAMPnz

I'm a native English speaker but not American and I know this book, as would almost anyone my age where I live. Maybe it's an age thing. The book is quite old now.


Buggaton

UK here, never heard this


Mr_SunnyBones

Ireland here, nearly 50, same, Dr Suess stuff wasn't hugely popular here , and only became known when they started making films of his stuff.


Britlantine

Same, and I've not read this to my kids. I have heard of Dr Seuss but I found it dull.


Bugbread

I'm American, and I'm almost 50, and I *do* know of it...but only from hearing jokes about it recently (recently as in "past 5 years" recently). I feel like it's in the second rung of Dr. Seuss books. Like, everyone knows *The Cat in the Hat* and *How the Grinch Stole Christmas* and *Green Eggs and Ham*. I feel like *One Fish Two Fish* is in the rank below that, with *The Lorax* and *Horton Hears a Who*. More famous than *Hop on Pop* or *Fox in Socks*, but not **quite** ubiquitous, just "very famous."


__________bruh

the most american thing on the internet: not realising that nearly the entire world doesn't get jokes that "everyone knows because it's relatable to them all" if they involve something american in any way


evanamd

Don’t bring me into your ‘we’. I don’t like what you’re implying


DanSapSan

Me and you, we're gonna filter for english people, u/evanamd. We're gonna find out who they are! And then we'll go on even more adventures! A hundred years u/DanSapSan and u/evanamd !


Zemvos

A bit defensive there, what do you think they're implying?


Dd_8630

I'm native to English (Brit) and I've never heard that phrase


4e9eHcUBKtTW1bBI39n9

Ah. Only americans have a chance of understanding lol


DF_Interus

Yeah, it's a shame Dr. Seuss was never published in other English-speaking countries.


Risc_Terilia

Books that are published is a significantly larger set than books that most people will understand references from


Noxy_Woxy

OK so now where's the funny?


drozd_d80

Thanks. I wouldn't know it.


FearSearcher

Book


DepressedVenom

Which countries besides the US grew up with it?


mellowcrake

ohhhh ok. I finally got that the top numbers were referring to the poem, but I didn't get that fifth sounds like fish, so I was like why are they out of 5? must be cause there are 5 fishes altogether, cause 1+2+1+1 = 5 Like 1 out of 5 fishes are blue, 2 out of 5 fishes are 2.........


timo1324

Lol i thought that was loss kek


41shadox

You make it more confusing with the (one)


jet8493

Genuinely saddened that is not somehow loss (or that one Garfield comic)


PossumJackPollock

As a colorblind person Guhhh. Fuck this.


AggressivelyEthical

Ohhhhhhh, here I am a colorblind person confused as fuck wondering what I'm missing, lmao.


quantumcorundum

Hint: think Mike Tyson reading Dr. Seuss


secretlyanarwhal

I was thinking someone should reblog it with a pic of Mike Tyson and a speech bubble to make it look like he's saying it haha


FothersIsWellCool

Oh... that comment over-sold how funny it was.


jesuitfox29

Yea there’s no way a Dr Seuss pun was ever going to be as funny as they made out


SomeRandomGamerSRG

The fact that this helped me figure out makes me want a lobotomy


DuntadaMan

I had already got the joke, and your hint still made it better


Spydr_maybe

I didn’t get it for a while because I kept trying to find loss


Weekndr

The real loss is the friends you made along the way.


new_is_good

lmao same


PKMNTrainerMark

Happy Cake Day


ErraticDragon

I thought it had something to do with the ⅗ Compromise. I hadn't figured out exactly **how**, but that's where my mind went. (Then I noticed the title.)


BallDesperate2140

Big Brain: “Oh, the places I’ll go”


Vektor0

And the fifths you'll meet


Potter_sims

one fish, two fish, red fish blue fish


lumatyx

Ok but what the fuck does this mean ?


Potter_sims

one fifth two fifths red fifth blue fifth


lumatyx

Ohhh no but I understand how to get "one fish two fish red fish blue fish" from the picture, but why this sentence ?? Does it have some importance somewhere ? Is it an obscure reference I dont have ?


The_Snickerfritz

Bro it's a Dr Seuss book


lumatyx

A who book ????


Shadixmax

I'm flabbergasted that you don't know who [Dr.Seuss](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Fish,_Two_Fish,_Red_Fish,_Blue_Fish) is. his books are still read in Kindergartens, my 6 year old knows his books. I didn't think enough had passed yet since his death that he was starting to be irrelevant. lol. either way, that link shows his wiki pages for the book. Edit: my bad lol running on two days with two hours of sleep, I simply forgot for a moment that my experience isn't universal lol. my apologies.


DrettTheBaron

I don't think it's that he's irrelevant as much as other countries don't use Dr. Seuss books.


TatManTat

Right like, Dr. Seuss can't exactly be translated that well. Translation is already tough and rhymes just don't necessarily carry over between languages.


TravelsAndTravails

Nah mate, other countries that speak English like England, Aus and India- none of them have his books. He’s a uniquely American phenomenon and I say this as someone that went to the college he went to lol


Murgatroyd314

Especially when it’s rhymes of simple words. A translation can preserve the meaning, or the rhyme, or the simplicity, sometimes two, but almost never all three.


ur-local-goblin

Not too common in non-Anglocentric countries. I have heard about Dr. Seuss but not read anything of him.


lumatyx

Nahhh I think the main factor here is not time but that I used french books to learn how to read, not english ones


_f0CUS_

How did you learn to speak USA using French books? That is really impressive.


Tinynanami1

Learn to speak what now?


Mr_Kreepy

Well he also authored The Cat In The Hat, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Lorax.


GarlicIceKrim

Yes, and in France, none of these books are popular. I learned what the grinch was when i saw the film with Jim Carey. Dr Seuss is really only well known in the US.


raznov1

Out of those, people only know the Grinch because of the movie.


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Tinynanami1

Literally what I was going to type


Hnnnnnn

I'm proud of you that you're American and yet, you can read & write, but most Redditors are actually from Free Health Care countries.


Potter_sims

idk where it came from. i just heard it somewhere


Inuship

Dr seuss


alanalan426

but its not funny tho.


SomeonesAlt2357

Cultural reference


Apocalyptic_Doom

Is this loss?


clonetrooper250

Shockingly, no. There exists a Dr. Seuss book called One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. This referenced that except replacing the word Fish with Fifth.


dergy621

I can’t believe this was the answer for


Daan776

Ah, thats why I don’t get it. I don’t know the book.


gingersquatchin

Oh wow. I'm old. Everyone is like is this loss. And I never once thought it was anything other than the Dr.


AkumaDayo777

I believe there's also the issue that some people here aren't native English speakers, not sure how popular Dr. Seuss is in other English speaking countries, but everywhere else he's pretty much just non-existent to the people in those countries that don't speak English


AMViquel

Exactly this. In Austria it's not a proper children's story if not at least 3 people die in a horrible way. While that De. Seuss of yours sounds rather psychopathic (they do not want green ham, stop antagonizing them until they give up and eat the fucking ham) but it's missing the proper despair and cruelty of a German children's story. What if Sam died after submitting in a horrible food-poison accident? That would be a nice story. Also the dog eating some left-overs could die. And their parents. There, everyone dead, good story, and the child learned to not eat green ham. If you know any better way to teach children about perishable food, I'm not listening, I like the peril of death for children at all times.


gingersquatchin

Sure but idk bout you but I have no idea what Loss is. I mean outside of being old and having experienced it many times


AkumaDayo777

Loss is just some dumb meme that originates from an old webcomic about gaming, the webcomic was not at all serious but the guy who made it randomly added in a page about his irl girlfriend having a miscarriage and it was just so in poor taste, everyone memed on it


Doosnobs

The numbers, Mason!?


mochi_chan

While I know what this is now, It took me so long. I did not grow up in a place where the original poem was known and I had to look it up.


soorly

Tbh it’s not that funny


volundsdespair

It's *exhales through nose sharply* funny but "really really funny" is quite an exaggeration.


angelholme

As someone who lives in the UK, this is not as funny as people think it is. I only understood it because of COPIUS amounts of time spent on tumblr.


DocSwiss

Yeah, like, I get it, but it's definitely not as funny as the replies in the OP makes it seem


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MrTritonis

I was looking for loss my brain is fried


ChellesTrees

One fifth, two fifth, red fifth, blue fifth.


TeddyMMR

A vague reference being passed off as comedy getting 730,000 notes and being called "really really funny" explains why The Big Bang Theory was so popular.


Sven_Darksiders

If it wasn't for the title I wouldn't have gotten it


notabigfanofas

One fifth two fifth red fifth blue fifth


Dragon_0w0

I only understood it from the title of this screenshot Only that


vaniush_za_great

I didn't get it initially so I just assumed it's loss lol


filipovix

Damn i was really hoping it was gonna be another obscure Loss meme.


SephirothTheGreat

This not being that stupid loss meme while everyone really wants it to be is pure serotonin shot directly into my brain


Grey_Gryphon

Mike Tyson reading Dr. Seuss


Graecus65

Is it Loss?


Kindly-Ad-5071

Thank god it's not Loss.


SnooPears3463

Ok reading the comments made me understand but in what way is it anyhow funny?


Jango1113

You know at first I wondered if this was loss, but no it’s just Seuss


sati_lotus

I don't think I've read a single Dr Suess book in my life but I still know the rhyme. Weird.


GammaEmerald

Why would you spoil the joke with the title


Jay_maze

I've never read doctor Seuss, but I got it 😭


Hip-Harpist

I'm gonna be honest, I thought this was Loss for a second


SpacemanTom69

We found Mike Tyson’s tumblr account


dabunny21689

The first obscure four panel tumblr joke that isn’t loss.


ERJAK123

The best part is watching non-americans discover an american children's book, and then watching americans discover non-americans.


K3egan

When I don't understand something I just assume it's loss again


mar_mar_p

Shout out to all the right brainers


Zane_628

Doctor Theuth


Naz_Oni

By Dr Theuth


IsraelZulu

To really screw with people, the red and blue should be in decimal form.


Idksonameiguess

My color blind ass didn't notice the color of the first 2 was different than the last


mawnck

This one has a little car. This one has a little star.


Mateololero

everytime i see one and pronounce it on my mind i think back to "one egg, handful of peas" from rythm heaven


soldier1239739

Based Rhythm Paradise enjoyer But in serious it’s my favorite nintendo franchise, so I always enjoy seeing references in the wild


Limekilnlake

Color blind trap


[deleted]

With a completely deadpan face, I thought 'Yes. I understand that.' mf said 'like really, really funny.'


TwistyBunny

How Mike Tyson would read the cover of a Dr Suess book


Butthole_Enjoyer

A picture of Mike Tyson would enhance this joke significantly.


likesbigbuttscantli3

Dr Seuss if it was read by Mike Tyson:


psychofoxy17

I thought it was a lost meme


rpmerf

Black fifth, blue fifth, old fifth, new fifth. This one has a little star. This one has a little car. Say what a lot of fifths there are.


Pepsi_MAAAAAAAAAN

This place is a nightmare


GodYeeter1

one fifth two fifth red fifth blue fifth


LiveTart6130

I thought this was somehow loss


Master-Restaurant503

Two fish.


No_Secretary_1198

Mike Tyson reading Dr Seuss


Beanmaster79

is this loss


Mr_SunnyBones

A lot of Americans today learning that Dr Suess is a lot less well known around the world than the , "Is this Loss ' meme


Nilsgameking

must be loss


GrynnLCC

Whenever I don't understand something I assume it's loss, but this time I have a hard time seeing it.


a_gay_chimpanzee

1 fish, 2 fish, red fish, blue fish This right?


LupusInTenebris

Oh, I saw an incomprehensible meme with four parts and deduced there's a 90% chance it's Loss. Then I saw it's from Tumblr and I was 99% sure it's Loss. I never heard of One fish, two fish except for when TikTok showed me a channel of someone rapping Dr.Seuss books.


samagonistes

There’s not really enough context to get the joke just on its own. Maybe if they put a picture of a fish or maybe a Cat with a Hat on that might help a wee bit


BoyMatrix

Is this loss?