Old Wives' Tales
Radio & TV
Toxin du jour
Claim: A compendium of hilarious letters to advice columnist Dear Abby.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, March 2008]
Origins: The above-quoted
With only one exception ("What can I do about all the Sex, Nudity, Fowl Language and Violence On My VCR?"), each of the compilation's clueless queries can be found in The Best of Dear Abby, a 1981 offering of memorable letters from her readers.
(We note the fact that the appearance of these letters in Abby's compilation only validates that she actually received them; it doesn't rule out the possibility that some of them may have been written by correspondents who were deliberately trying to appear clueless.)
Other versions of the e-mail include these additional entries, all also drawn from that same book:
DEAR ABBY: I've been going steady with this man for six years. We see each other every night. He says he loves me, and I know I love him, but he never mentions marriage. Do you think he's going out with me just for what he can get?Barbara "shift(y) work" Mikkelson
DEAR GERTIE: I don't know. What's he getting?
DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend is going to be twenty years old next month. I'd like to give him something nice for his birthday. What do you think he'd like?
DEAR CAROL: Never mind what he'd like. Give him a tie.
DEAR ABBY: Are birth control pills deductible?
DEAR KAY: Only if they don't work.
DEAR ABBY: Our son was married in January. Five months later his wife had a ten-pound baby girl. They said the baby was premature. Tell me, can a baby this big be that early?
DEAR WONDERING: The baby was on time, the wedding was late.
DEAR ABBY: Do you think about dying much?
DEAR CURIOUS: No, it's the last thing I want to do.
DEAR ABBY: Is it possible for a man to be in love with two women at the same time?
DEAR JAKE: Yes, and also hazardous.
DEAR ABBY: I know boys will be boys, but my 'boy' is seventy-three and he's still chasing women. Any suggestions?
DEAR ANNIE: Don't worry. My dog has been chasing cars for years, but if he ever caught one, he wouldn't know what to do with it.
DEAR ABBY: I have always wanted to have my family history traced, but I can't afford to spend a lot of money to do it. Any suggestions?
SAM IN CAL.
DEAR SAM: Yes. Run for public office.
DEAR ABBY: What inspires you most to write?
DEAR TED: The Bureau of Internal Revenue.
DEAR ABBY: When you are being introduced, is it all right to say, "I've heard a lot about you"?
DEAR RITA: It depends on what you've heard.
DEAR ABBY: I am forty-four years old and I would like to meet a man my age with no bad habits.
DEAR ROSE: So would I.
DEAR ABBY: What's the difference between a wife and a mistress?
DEAR BESS: Night and Day.
Last updated: 9 April 2008
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