zzz? (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Ben Zimmer]

On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 12:09 PM, Dan Goncharoff  wrote:
>
> I would look at the Katzenjammer Kids, which originated or popularized many
> of the attributes of the modern comic strip, and the artists involved.
>
> This link shows a 1907 Fineheimer Twins cartoon drawn by Harold Knerr, who
> later took over the Katzenjammer Kids:
>
> http://www.yodaslair.com/dumboozle/knerr/knerrdex.html
> http://www.yodaslair.com/dumboozle/knerr/images/ft-1907.jpg
>
> Zs are used to represent the sound of snoring, along with with other letters
> for other sleeping sounds.

There are some Zs in the Aug. 2, 1903 installment of Katzenjammer Kids:

http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/KatzenjammerKids/kk030802.jpg

via http://www.barnaclepress.com/list.php?directory=KatzenjammerKids

Plenty more to look through on the Barnacle Press site. I used their
comics archives when I was piecing together the early history of
cursing characters, aka obscenicons:

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2483

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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