Ever been laughing so hard that, even as you heard the boss coming, couldn't bring yourself to seriousness? Quick, reach in yer pocket (or purse), and get out the Serious Gas! It'll make you serious in seven seconds.

Shouldn't be too hard to make.
-- galukalock, Apr 24 2003

How to get Serious Gas. http://www.wafflehouse.com/
[Amos Kito, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Serious Putty by [Ander] http://www.halfbake...dea/Serious_20Putty
it had to be linked [krelnik, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

//Shouldn't be too hard to make.//

Out of what? A dull lecture? Kids in Iraq with their arms blown off?
-- snarfyguy, Apr 24 2003


Wouldn't that be tear gas, assuming crying is the opposite of laughing?
-- bristolz, Apr 24 2003


B-b-but, what about the little happy-sad mask drama symbol?

While the physical acts of laughing and crying are quite similar, the feelings associated with them are at opposite ends of the emotion spectrum, no?

Of course tear gas doesn't really make you sad. Well, it would if I had just spent a lot of time putting on makeup.

Once, when I was a kid I sprayed myself in the face with tear gas. My Mom had some in her dresser drawer and I thought it was perfume. I was so busted.

And sad.
-- bristolz, Apr 24 2003


:Þ
Boss is comin'!
i< *psssht*
:|
-- thumbwax, Apr 24 2003


Well, that's YOU. For the sake of this discussion, they are neatly arranged as opposites. There's little room for wackiness here.
-- bristolz, Apr 24 2003


I'm on bliss's side - sadness and joy are strong emotions and opposite to seriousness and lack of emotion. I've always found that pain quickly makes me serious. Sitting on a tack can quickly stop your laughter/tears (sure, tears may start again soon). Perhaps the pain involved in tear gas might do the trick. Now to find a way to keep from screaming "AAAAAIIIEEEEEE I'm blind! Oh god the pain!!!"
-- Worldgineer, Apr 24 2003


For me, it depends on the severity of the pain. When I was younger, I could sustain multiple hits (from siblings or parents) without quitting the laughter. The same is true of my sisters sometimes.

I'm not even gonna enter into the emotion bit 'cause I'm not sure. Only thing I know is that, as [bris] says, the two are similar from a physiological standpoint.
-- galukalock, Apr 24 2003


's why they're used as symbols of theatre...
-- thumbwax, Apr 24 2003


Perhaps ritalin in some sort of gasseous suspension?
-- johnmeacham, Apr 24 2003


Perhaps. Just something that would work, and work quickly.
-- galukalock, Apr 24 2003


:Þ
Boss is comin'!
i< *psssht*
:|
Boss is tellin' a joke!
Shit!
:(
-- FarmerJohn, Apr 25 2003


HaHaHa! That's a good one, Boss! HaHaHa! To get to the other side! HaHaHa!
-- thumbwax, Apr 25 2003


Well, that may be so but, as laughing gas is not very specific as to the precise emotion it produces, either is serious gas.
-- bristolz, Apr 25 2003


I'd think serious gas would be a valued product among those who halfbake on the job.
-- beauxeault, Apr 25 2003


Except for the thread of drool.
-- bristolz, Apr 25 2003


nah,that'll freeze the smile on your face
-- Worldgineer, Apr 25 2003


Wouldn't good old fashioned smelling salts work?
-- saker, Apr 25 2003


[saker], we want something to make us solemn, not feel like hurling on the boss's shoes!

[bris] & [bliss], not crying would be the opposite of crying. And I have always understood the Greek masks to represent Comedy and Tragedy, as forms of theatrical entertainment, not specific emotions. At the most simplistic level one might equate laughing with happiness and crying with sadness in order to associate them as opposites. But laughter and tears are merely forms of expression of emotion, and as [bliss] states, there can be many levels of each emotion which can induce what appears to be an "opposite" reaction or expression.

Why don't we just spray the boss with laughing gas so he (or she) will join in the laughter? I think that would make eveyone feel better. Except, of course, when the boss giggles out "Ha ha ha, Smithers, ho ho ho, you're fired! Hee hee hee! Clean out your desk right away, including your still-in-the-office accessories! Chortle chortle!".
-- Canuck, Apr 25 2003


//even as you heard the boss coming//
If I worked in a place where stifling laughter for fear of the boss was this much of a problem, I would be quite "seriously" looking for another job. Laughter in the workplace is a valuable thing.
-- krelnik, Apr 25 2003


Thankfully, I don't work in such a place. But when you *do* hear the boss, and he doesn't sound very jovial, and you're laughing yer head off (and can't quit fer the life o' you), it would be a very good thing to have summa this junk in yer pocket.
-- galukalock, Apr 25 2003


What about things that are seriously funny?
-- bristolz, Apr 25 2003


"Ho ho ho....Oh, hi boss! We were just guffawing in delight at the utter incompetence of this company's competitors in the marketplace."
-- krelnik, Apr 25 2003


hydrogen sulphide - ewww
-- po, Apr 25 2003



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