Word of the day: franistan

[“Torking the Sneem.” Zippy, November 18, 2019. Click for a larger view.]

Th’ word franistan rings a bell. Readers of a certain age will recognize it from I Love Lucy : in the episode “The Publicity Agent” (May 12, 1952), Lucy poses as the Maharincess of Franistan. But franistan, no cap, has a longer history, which goes back to the comedy of double-talk. Here’s a short piece that mentions both franistan and kravistate (also in today’s strip). And then there’s frammis. I love harmless nonsense.

Here are samples of double-talkers Al Kelly and Cliff Nazarro at work. I’m pretty sure that the fellow who asks “How’s th’ thingamajig, Zippy?” in the last panel of today’s strip is a cartooned Kelly.

Related reading
All OCA Zippy posts (Pinboard)

[Click for a larger Kelly.]