Did you know?

What's the best thing about Sunday? The funnies are bigger and in color, of course. So in the midst of this weekend where most of America is focusing on itself, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some interesting little facts about how our familiar comic strips are perceived around the world:

In North Korea, Garfield is called Decadent American Pig-Cat, while in South Korea he is referred to by the more simple title, Special No. 4.

The Belgians call the Peanuts comic strip either Snoopy or Charlie Brown, just like most Americans do.

In England, the funnies are printed on the wrong side of the newspaper.

In Japan, Dilbert is printed in business and engineering journals and isn't really considered a comic strip. The Japanese think it's actually a combination of documentary on American business and a guide of what not to do. We all had a good laugh about that, until we realized they were pretty much right.

In Canada everyone just reads online webcomics instead.

The comic strip Blondie isn't printed in German newspapers. It's only available printed into thin dime-comic style collections that are available in German sex shops.

In Iraq, Beetle Bailey is frequently car-bombed and shot at.

The French think that Mark Trail and Prince Valiant are gay. And that's coming from the French!

The funny pages in Amsterdam are printed on 100% hemp paper. It makes them kind of blurry and hard to read, but people sure do get the giggles when they're done.

The Native American word for corn is "maize," and they get really sick of hearing about it. Learn a second Native American word, everyone.

Opus is the most popular comic strip in Antarctica.

The Family Circus is reprinted in over 40 languages around the world, and yet is still not funny in any of them.