Opposite Day
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Opposite day is a game usually observed by children. It starts by declaration and rarely lasts an entire day. The game involves, that players assume, that statements mean the opposite of what they usually mean. Every action is modified, so that meaning is negated.
Sometimes, opposite day is declared retroactively to indicate, that what was just asserted had the opposite meaning of what was originally intended (similar to the practice of crossed fingers to automatically nullify promises). However, the declaration, that it is opposite day, is negated as well, implying that it is not opposite day.
The play has also been compared to a children's "philosophy course".[1]
In popular culture
- In the first season of the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants, an episode was titled "Opposite Day". In the episode the character Squidward attempts to use the notional holiday as a method of preventing his neighbors from intruding on the sale of his house.[2]
- An episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy was titled "Opposite Day".[3]
- Indie rock artist Andrew Bird has a song titled "Opposite Day" on his 2005 album Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs.[4]
- A Sesame Street book titled Opposite Day was created to teach children about opposites.[5]
- A film titled Opposite Day starring Ariel Winter is about children switching roles with adults.[6]
- In the "Full Court Dress" episode of Happy Endings, Max complains to Penny about having to babysit his niece and nephew, about the kids' "garbage hipster names", and about their parents' marriage being "doomed" anyway, which he is then revealed to be doing in front of his niece and nephew. In an attempt to cover, Penny tries to explain that Max didn't mean any of it, because it's "Opposite Day". Max then elaborates that their "dad doesn't have a secret Facebook profile under the name Jeffrey Scrotum."[citation needed]
- In the WordGirl episode "Opposite Day", Wordgirl (Becky Botsford) has an Opposite Day party.[citation needed]
- A Cyanide & Happiness animated short shows people behaving differently on opposite day.[7]
- In the Season 18 episode of The Simpsons, The Wife Aquatic, Homer is forced to work on a fishing boat to pay off damage he caused; when he accidentally beer-batters the bait and serves the bait to the crew, he says he did the opposite of what the captain ordered because it was Opposite Day, adding coquettishly "By the way, you're VERY ugly". When another crew member says they should NOT check the lines, the Captain angrily says "It's not Opposite Day!" and when Homer thinks that means that it IS Opposite Day, the Captain screams "IT'S NOT OPPOSITE DAY!"
- BA Baracus uses this line in A-Team (2010) when Hannibal carjacks him in the Mexican desert.
References
- ^ Shelton, Sandi Kahn (2001). Preschool Confidential. Macmillan. pp. 232–234. ISBN 9780312254582.
- ^ Lindsey, Brooklyn E. (2011). Opposite Day: Upside-Down Questions to Keep Students Talking and Listening. Zondervan. p. 69. ISBN 9780310574170.
- ^ "'Grim & Evil' Opposite Day/Emotional Skarr/Look Alive! (2001)". IMDb. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
- ^ "Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production Of Eggs". Discogs.com. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
- ^ Opposite Day. Publications International, Limited. 2011. ISBN 9781412745673.
- ^ "Opposite Day (2009)". IMDb. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
- ^ "Cyanide & Happiness 'Opposite Day'". Cyanide & Happiness. Retrieved August 21, 2014.