Dewey, Cheatem & Howe
Encyclopedia
Dewey, Cheatem & Howe is the gag name
of a fiction
al law
or accounting firm, used in several parody
settings. For example, a popular Three Stooges
poster features the Stooges as bumbling members of such a firm (although the name was never used in an actual episode, "Dewey, Burnham, and Howe" was used). Similarly, mention of a firm by this name is employed by comic figures such as Johnny Carson
, Groucho Marx
, and Daffy Duck
.
The name pokes fun at the perceived propensity of some lawyers and accountants to take advantage of their clients, as the firm name is a pun
on the phrase
"Do we cheat them? And how!" ("and how!" is an American idiom meaning "yes, very much so!") Many law professors perversely work "Dewey, Cheatem & Howe" into the hypotheticals presented on final exams
, especially in professional responsibility
and legal ethics
courses. The name is also used more broadly as a placeholder
for any hypothetical law firm.
The spelling of the second name varies somewhat, including Cheetem, Cheater, Cheethem and Cheatham.
Tom and Ray Magliozzi, of NPR's Car Talk
radio program, named their business corporation "Dewey, Cheetham & Howe". Their corporate offices are located on a third-floor office in Harvard Square
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. The office is clearly visible from the square, with lettering on the window readable from ground level. The Magliozzi brothers have asserted that they established the firm in 1989, although this assertion is immediately followed by the sentence "In all seriousness, we've had lot of fun along the way."
In the 1989 video game Leisure Suit Larry III, "Dewey, Cheatem & Howe" is a law firm set on Nontoonyt island. Larry Laffer
sees lawyer Suzi Cheatem to discuss his divorce (with whom he has an erotic encounter later).
The UK magazine Private Eye
uses the similarly-inspired "Sue, Grabbitt and Runne" (sue
, grab it and run) when satirising the legal profession, reflecting the magazine's experience defending from libel lawsuits.
In a set of legal forms published for lawyers and other legal professionals, one fictitious law-firm name is "Skrewer, Widow & Children."
The champion Standardbred race horse Deweycheatumnhowe
takes his name from this pun. On August 3, 2008, that undefeated horse won harness racing
's most prestigious event, the Hambletonian Stakes, run at the Meadowlands Racetrack
in East Rutherford, New Jersey
.
The ABC
channel show America's Funniest Home Videos
showed a clip of a live building of "Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe".
In a slight variation, the narrating presidential aide in Christopher Buckley's novel The White House Mess came from the law firm of "Dewey, Scruem and Howe".
There is a firm of solicitors in Leamington Spa
called Wright Hassall Solicitors, and not to be confused with the phrase "right hassle".
The joke is subverted in the Simpsons
episode Bart the Fink
. The episode opens with the family visiting the law firm of Dewey, Cheatham, Howe, and Weissman. Though the characters don't mention it, the implication is that Weissman ruined the classic joke by making partner at the firm.
A prankster President Abraham Lincoln
portrayed in Young Mr. Lincoln
by Henry Fonda
used a variation of this genre, explaining why he tried to be so honest, was due to his being wary of joining the ranks of a law firm "Ketchem, Cheatham & Howe".
A variation of this joke was used on 30 Rock
when Alec Baldwin
's character Jack Donaghy
tells Tina Fey
's Liz Lemon
that Tracy Jordan
's lawyer Steven (played by Wayne Brady
) works for the firm "Dewey, Cheatem, and Livingston."
In the fourth season of Gilmore Girls
("The Lorelai's First Day at Yale"), in order to placate a lawyer, Luke Danes claims his legal representation as "Don Dewey of 'Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe'"
Gag name
A gag name is a false name used to elicit humor through its simultaneous resemblance to a real name on the one hand, and to a term or phrase that is funny, strange, or vulgar on the other hand. The source of the humor is the pun and double entendre; frequently, the humor arises when an unknowing...
of a fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
or accounting firm, used in several parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
settings. For example, a popular Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
poster features the Stooges as bumbling members of such a firm (although the name was never used in an actual episode, "Dewey, Burnham, and Howe" was used). Similarly, mention of a firm by this name is employed by comic figures such as Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
, Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
, and Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
.
The name pokes fun at the perceived propensity of some lawyers and accountants to take advantage of their clients, as the firm name is a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on the phrase
"Do we cheat them? And how!" ("and how!" is an American idiom meaning "yes, very much so!") Many law professors perversely work "Dewey, Cheatem & Howe" into the hypotheticals presented on final exams
Final examination
A final examination is a test given to students at the end of a course of study or training. Although the term can be used in the context of physical training, it most often occurs in the academic world...
, especially in professional responsibility
Professional responsibility
Professional responsibility is the area of legal practice that encompasses the duties of attorneys to act in a professional manner, obey the law, avoid conflicts of interest, and put the interests of clients ahead of their own interests....
and legal ethics
Legal ethics
Legal ethics encompasses an ethical code governing the conduct of persons engaged in the practice of law and persons more generally in the legal sector.-In the United States:...
courses. The name is also used more broadly as a placeholder
Placeholder name
Placeholder names are words that can refer to objects or people whose names are either temporarily forgotten, irrelevant, or unknown in the context in which they are being discussed...
for any hypothetical law firm.
The spelling of the second name varies somewhat, including Cheetem, Cheater, Cheethem and Cheatham.
Examples
Car Talk
Car Talk is a radio talk show broadcast weekly on National Public Radio stations throughout the United States and elsewhere. Its subjects are automobiles and repair, and it often takes humorous turns...
radio program, named their business corporation "Dewey, Cheetham & Howe". Their corporate offices are located on a third-floor office in Harvard Square
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. It is the historic center of Cambridge...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. The office is clearly visible from the square, with lettering on the window readable from ground level. The Magliozzi brothers have asserted that they established the firm in 1989, although this assertion is immediately followed by the sentence "In all seriousness, we've had lot of fun along the way."
In the 1989 video game Leisure Suit Larry III, "Dewey, Cheatem & Howe" is a law firm set on Nontoonyt island. Larry Laffer
Larry Laffer
Larry Laffer is a fictional character and the main character of the Leisure Suit Larry series of games. He was created by game programmer Al Lowe.-Biography:...
sees lawyer Suzi Cheatem to discuss his divorce (with whom he has an erotic encounter later).
The UK magazine Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
uses the similarly-inspired "Sue, Grabbitt and Runne" (sue
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
, grab it and run) when satirising the legal profession, reflecting the magazine's experience defending from libel lawsuits.
In a set of legal forms published for lawyers and other legal professionals, one fictitious law-firm name is "Skrewer, Widow & Children."
The champion Standardbred race horse Deweycheatumnhowe
Deweycheatumnhowe
Deweycheatumnhowe is a champion standardbred racing horse named for the fictional law firm of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe. He was sired by Muscles Yankee, out of Trolley Square, a Speedy Somolli mare. The colt is currently owned by Raymond W. Schnittker, Theodore Gewertz, Charles V. Iannazzo, and...
takes his name from this pun. On August 3, 2008, that undefeated horse won harness racing
Harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...
's most prestigious event, the Hambletonian Stakes, run at the Meadowlands Racetrack
Meadowlands Racetrack
The Meadowlands Racetrack is a horse racing track at the MetLife Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States.The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harness racing...
in East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
.
The ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
channel show America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
showed a clip of a live building of "Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe".
In a slight variation, the narrating presidential aide in Christopher Buckley's novel The White House Mess came from the law firm of "Dewey, Scruem and Howe".
There is a firm of solicitors in Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
called Wright Hassall Solicitors, and not to be confused with the phrase "right hassle".
The joke is subverted in the Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode Bart the Fink
Bart the Fink
"Bart the Fink" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 1996. In this episode, Bart ruins Krusty the Clown's career by accidentally exposing Krusty as one of the biggest tax cheats in American history...
. The episode opens with the family visiting the law firm of Dewey, Cheatham, Howe, and Weissman. Though the characters don't mention it, the implication is that Weissman ruined the classic joke by making partner at the firm.
A prankster President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
portrayed in Young Mr. Lincoln
Young Mr. Lincoln
Young Mr. Lincoln is a 1939 partly fictionalized biography about the early life of President Abraham Lincoln, directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda. Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought for control of the film, to the point where Ford destroyed unwanted takes for fear the studio...
by Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
used a variation of this genre, explaining why he tried to be so honest, was due to his being wary of joining the ranks of a law firm "Ketchem, Cheatham & Howe".
A variation of this joke was used on 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
when Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
's character Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
tells Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
's Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
that Tracy Jordan
Tracy Jordan
Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:...
's lawyer Steven (played by Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady
Wayne Alphonso Brady is an actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show...
) works for the firm "Dewey, Cheatem, and Livingston."
In the fourth season of Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
("The Lorelai's First Day at Yale"), in order to placate a lawyer, Luke Danes claims his legal representation as "Don Dewey of 'Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe'"
Examples of placeholder use
- "The annual profit was to be certified by Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe, a huge public accounting firm".
- "So, the phone rings and the voice on the other side introduces itself as Joe Lawyer from Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe".
- "Dewey, Cheatham & Howe contracts with Bill's Cleaning Service to clean its offices every week".
- "The seminar is being hosted by John/Jane Smith, a wealth manager/vice president/certified retirement specialist, etc., with Dewey, Cheatem & Howe brokerage firm".
See also
- AptronymAptronymAn aptronym is a name aptly suited to its owner. Fictional examples of aptronyms include Mr. Talkative and Mr. Worldly Wiseman in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress , Truman Burbank , the lead character in the 1998 film The Truman Show, the principal cast of the Mr...
, a personal name descriptive of the person so named. - BlackacreBlackacreBlackacre, Whiteacre, Greenacre, Brownacre, and variations are the placeholder names used for fictitious estates in land.The names are used by professors of law in common law jurisdictions, particularly in the area of real property and occasionally in contracts, to discuss the rights of various...
, another legal placeholder name