Stan Freberg (1926-2015) Tribute List

Groundbreaking satirist and rule-breaking ad man Stan Freberg died on April 6, 2015, at the age of 88. Freberg was a comedian who often lampooned politics and modern culture, but he also had a healthy sense of the absurd. His influence can be felt today in everything from "The Daily Show" to the recordings of "Weird Al" Yankovic. Although recorded decades ago, much of his output, like Green Chri$tma$$, seems relevant today- like the best satire that foretells the future, it simply came true. Here are ten Freberg quotes from both his record albums and his bitterly funny commercials.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. obsolete
    no longer in use
    All women are troublemakers who take the money their husbands need desperately for a new and better speaker, and selfishly squander it on things like shoes for the children, homogenized milk, or perhaps A SECOND DRESS!! They can sit there and watch their husbands suffer with old equipment which has been obsolete for at least a week, and deny him the new theatre playback system he needs soooo badly. Shameful, shameful, Mrs. America!
  2. sublimate
    direct energy or urges into useful activities
    Well, we're all a little hostile every now and then, some of us are able to sublimate, others of us can't adjust. You know how it is...
  3. mercenary
    profit oriented
    CHORUS: Rub your hands, December's here,

    What a wonderful time to be Glad and merry!

    SCROOGE: Just so you're mercenary too!

    CHORUS: Buy an ad and show all the toys,
    Show all the toys up on the shelf

    SCROOGE: Just make sure that you get a plug,
    You get a plug, In for yourself!
    — Green Chri$tma$$
  4. appreciable
    enough to be estimated or measured
    CLARK: (SIGH) It was another in a series of not-too-successful days.
    WIFE: You mean they still haven't agreed to stock Kaiser foil?
    CLARK: No... not to any appreciable extent.
    WIFE: (SOB) Then this means I won't be able to have my operation!
    CLARK: Please, let's not discuss it in front of the child.
    — Ad for Kaiser Aluminum Foil
  5. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
    CHILD: (IN A SMALL WISTFUL VOICE) Did you bring me some new shoesies, Daddy?
    CLARK: Ummm... Daddy doesn't have any money for shoesies these days... because the mean old grocers won't stock Daddy's foil.
    — Ad for Kaiser Aluminum Foil
  6. surly
    unfriendly and inclined toward anger or irritation
    Jefferson: What are you so surly for today?

    Franklin: Surly to bed and surly to rise makes a man…

    Jefferson: Alright, alright. Let’s knock off the one-line jokes and sign the petition, huh, fellah?
    Franklin: Well, lemme look at it here…When in the course of human events-so and so and so and so...and so and so…that among these are life, liberty, and the purfuit of happineff?
    Jefferson: That’s pursuit of happiness.
    Franklin: Well, all your s’s look like f’s.
    — The History of The United States
  7. livid
    furiously angry
    Lord Cornwallis: No, no, no, no, Bradshaw! Well, you fellows win, I guess!

    George Washington: Yes, well, that’s the way it goes, you know…

    Lord Cornwallis: Of course, the King’ll be livid.

    George Washington: Uh huh. Well, you still have most of the rest of the world. Heh, heh. Mustn’t be piggy.
    — The History of The United States of America: Volume 1
  8. visage
    the human face
    How fierce they look! Why, they’re not moving a muscle-seem to be frozen in their tracks. Almost like a painting. Grim visage of war. Ha! My, look at the determination on that fellow, the skinny kid with the pipe.
    — The History of The United States of America: Volume 1
    Cornwallis is in fact looking at a painting, not real troops.
  9. froth
    a mass of small bubbles formed in or on a liquid
    I could see them staring at the white froth over my mouth. To ward off any suspicion, I whipped out a razor and shaved.
  10. flamboyant
    tending to attract attention; marked by ostentatious display
    Look at that show-off Hancock--pretty flamboyant signature for an insurance man!
Created on Tue Apr 07 19:57:45 EDT 2015 (updated Tue Apr 07 21:39:20 EDT 2015)

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