For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for April 11, 2020

what insults rhyme with “Mike/Mikey”? anyway?

It’s good to see that Michael has begun his plans for insulting and degrading his infant sister. If you are going to be the worst brother ever, preparation is the key.

As for Elizabeth, I would say, “Why the need to rhyme with Michael?” There are plenty of things you could do with “Mike.” Mike take a hike. Psycho Mike-o. Mik(e)robe. Lots of choices.

Where’s your imagination Lizzy? You can come up with something, and it doesn’t have to rhyme. Or it could almost rhyme. Michael-psycho.

How about assonant rhyming? Something like “Michael Pickle”…

These weeks April isn’t central to the story as all she does at this point is sleep, eat and poop.

Hey Lizzie, Mike needs a nickname. Time to make one up. >:-)

My daughter April was accidentally called “Ape” one day by my Dad who was only shortening the syllables affectionately. We all then realized this could end up badly for her once she started school. Luckily, that didn’t happen. In fact, she went by the nickname “Maple” for awhile.

I can think of a couple for ‘Mick’ …

Evil……

My younger brother was named Michael. We always called him Mikey.

You just have to get creative! Or you can go with the appropriate “brat”.

Michael, Michael motorcycle, turn the key and watch him …

Lynn’s Comments:

People were not happy about Michael calling the baby “Ape.” I thought it would be harmless. Few people were upset by “Lizardbreath,” but the opposition to “Ape” was so strong that I dropped the nickname very quickly.

Flip Wilson had a routine about a couple of people on a train. One was a mother with baby and the other a guy sitting next to her. The guy remarks that she has an UGLY BABY. She gets really upset and calls the conductor. He comes to see her very upset and he says that to calm her down he would be glad to get her a complimentary drink from the club car and he would see if he could find a banana for her MONKEY!

Shorten it down to Mike and you will have plenty of targets.

I was thinking more like, “April Fool”.

“Michael, Michael, bo-bikle, banana fanna fo fiekle, fee fie mo ickle, Michael”.,

On a totally different note, anyone notice what Elly is doing in the last frame? I wonder if that was in the original publication or if Lynn added it for the second go-around.

Since Elly is a dropout, Michael is a copout, and Elizabeth a flopout, what will April be known as?

Trust me, it’s possible to be named Michael and be teased.

Mikeo the psycho?

This reminds me of the Ma & Pa Kettle movie where they went to Hawaii and met their Polynesian equivalent. They named their twelve kids by month names. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December.

Try pronouncing Michael with a short i rather than a long one. Then you have many possibilities.

Mike-O the Psycho?

Why is Elly encouraging Elizabeth to call her brother names? She should be telling Michael to knock it off and give him valid reasons.

Dorkle. Moronichael. Smelly-chael. Dripicle. Dorkichael. Hormonichael.

Got one for you, Elizabeth. I used to call my brother a Martian Assembly Line Reject, which he hated. Or how about “Magilla Gorilla”, from the old cartoon show in the 60s?

Have a nice swim today MACKEREL

I had a buddy named Michael but all his family and friends always called him Mickey when he was a kid. He hated that name and the not-so-nice nicknames that got attached to it.

Given that he’d rather large ears, was small for his age and the Mickey Mouse Club was popular at the time, you can imagine the amount of teasing he got.

“Little Mickey” grew up to be 6’ 4", 280 lbs. and served in a Marine Recon unit in Vietnam. People didn’t tease him, anymore.

Lizard breath doesn’t rhyme with Elizabeth and Ape doesn’t rhyme with April so Liz doesn’t have to find something to rhyme with Michael. It would be nice if the parents would discourage the name-calling.

Just think of all the words that rhyme with Elly!

How about “Mustard Brain”?

with my last name is Shape- you can bet I got a lot of teasing.

My parents never allowed us to call each other names and I don’t understand why it’s not corrected in other families. No wonder there’s so much bullying in the world.