If you're old enough, you may remember Gilda Radner's Saturday Night Live character Emily Litella.
Emily would regularly appear on the news segment to rebut something she had heard during the broadcast. It always quickly became evident it was something she had misheard.
For instance, instead of railing against a Supreme Court decision on the death penalty, Emily thought they were picking on the hearing impaired with a "deaf penalty." In another instance, Emily took a story about bussing children to be about "busting children," and thought it was horrible that police would be arresting little kids. We won't even discuss "protecting endangered feces."
At the end, the Weekend Update host would inevitable point out her mistake and Emily would say, "Oh, that's very different. Never mind."
Maybe you've had your own Emily Litella moment with song lyrics. As one comedian said after going to a Tina Turner Concert, "I paid four hundred bucks to hear the fat guy next to me scream 'What's A Glove Got To Do With It'?!"
I may have just had my ultimate Emily Litella moment.
For years I've been watching the overly serious Allstate Insurance spokesman do his little spiel and end each commercial by saying, "That's Allstate, Stan!"
Great, I'd think, "That's Allstate." Good for them. But who the @%$# is "Stan"?! Why are you talking to him? Why should he care? Why should I care? What a stupid affectation!
Then last night a moment of clarity burst through. While watching the latest Allstate commercial I suddenly realized something.
He's not saying, "That's Allstate, Stan," he's saying, "That's Allstate's Stand."
Oh... Never mind....