I'll See Myself Out

Whenever you hear a joke from a certain era, there’s a really good chance the follow up line I’ll see myself out will occur.

On the surface, this line explains a few things. First, they know the joke is bad. You’re designed to groan when you hear it, and maybe even roll your eyes or boo.

The joke is so bad…

The joke is so bad that nobody wants to accompany the poor comedian offstage and out of the building. The comedian is now a pariah, but the silver lining is that they’ll forego the displeasure of forcing someone to escort them out.

Zoom out a little bit, though, and this phrase is just… weird.

If you want to escort someone, you don’t really just see them, do you? You’re saying that you’ll not only show them where the exit is, but you’ll actually see them exit. In other words, you’ll make damn sure they leave.

Here, the joke is that you’re going to make sure you leave. There’s no need to escort you from the building since you know how to read the room.

I’ll leave my writing here today, just to point out how interesting a common phrase can be. There are linguistic surprises hiding in plain sight.

I’ll see myself out.