My mind is a strange place and I should not go there alone…when I thought of “Why a (wal)nut?” the other day, it reminded me of this scene from the Marx Brothers’ movie, Cocoanuts. I copied it below for your reading pleasure – it still makes me smile every time I read this! (Of course I’m a simple soul….Kezza)
As some of you know, I have “a thing” for rubber ducks as well…
Why a duck?Hammer [Groucho Marx]: … Now here is a little peninsula, and here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland.
Chico [Chico Marx]: Why a duck?
Hammer: I’m all right. How are you? I say here is a little peninsula, and here’s a viaduct leading over to the mainland.
Chico: All right. Why a duck?
Hammer: I’m not playing Ask-Me-Another. I say, that’s a viaduct.
Chico: All right. Why a duck? Why a– why a duck? Why-a-no-chicken?
Hammer: Well, I don’t know why-a-no-chicken. I’m a stranger here myself. All I know is that it’s a viaduct. You try to cross over there on a chicken, and you’ll find out why a duck.
Chico: I no go someplace, I just–
Hammer: It’s deep water, that’s why a duck. It’s deep water.
Chico: That’s-why-a-duck.
Hammer: Look, rube. Suppose you were out horseback riding and you came to that stream and wanted to ford over there, you couldn’t make it. It’s too deep.
Chico: But what do you want with a Ford when you got a horse?
Hammer: Well, I’m sorry the matter ever came up. All I know is that it’s a viaduct.
Chico: Now look … all righta … I catcha on to why a horse, why a chicken, why a this, why a that. I no catch on to why a duck.
Hammer: Well, I was only fooling. I was only fooling. They’re going to build a tunnel in the morning. Now, is that clear to you?
Chico: Yes, everything excepta why a duck.
–The Cocoanuts
