Erma Bombeck, born Erma Louise Fiste on February 21, 1927, in Dayton, Ohio, was a beloved American humorist, author, and syndicated columnist. With her witty observations on the joys and challenges of everyday life, Bombeck endeared herself to readers across the nation, becoming a household name and an iconic figure in the realm of domestic humor.
Bombeck’s writing career began in the 1960s when she started contributing articles to local newspapers. Her humorous take on the trials and tribulations of being a wife and mother struck a chord with readers, capturing the essence of the American suburban experience. Bombeck’s ability to find humor in the ordinary and to shed light on the universal experiences of family life quickly gained her a loyal following.
Bombeck’s popularity soared when her columns were syndicated in hundreds of newspapers nationwide. Her witty and relatable insights resonated with readers, creating a sense of connection and shared laughter. She addressed topics such as marriage, parenting, household chores, and the humorous mishaps of daily life, all with her trademark blend of warmth and wit.
In addition to her newspaper columns, Bombeck authored numerous bestselling books, including “If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?” and “The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank.” These books further cemented her reputation as a comedic genius and a voice for the everyday struggles and triumphs of ordinary people.
Erma Bombeck’s writing transcended generational and gender boundaries, appealing to a wide range of readers. Her humor was rooted in the universal experiences of family, relationships, and the foibles of everyday life. Bombeck’s ability to find humor in even the most mundane situations provided readers with a sense of camaraderie and the reassurance that they were not alone in their daily challenges.
Bombeck’s unique voice and relatable anecdotes made her a trailblazer in the genre of domestic humor. She paved the way for future humorists and columnists, inspiring generations of writers to explore the comedic aspects of everyday life.
Erma Bombeck’s legacy as a humorist and writer continues to live on. Her ability to find humor in the ordinary and to capture the human experience with warmth and authenticity has left an indelible mark on the literary world. Bombeck’s work reminds us of the power of laughter to bring joy, connection, and perspective to our lives, even in the midst of the most mundane or challenging circumstances.
In a world that can sometimes feel overwhelming, Erma Bombeck’s humorous insights serve as a reminder to find laughter in the small moments, to appreciate the absurdities of everyday life, and to embrace the joy and imperfections of being human. Her wit, charm, and enduring legacy ensure that Erma Bombeck’s humor will continue to bring smiles and laughter to readers for generations to come.
In two decades I’ve lost a total of 789 pounds. I should be hanging from a charm bracelet.
Erma Bombeck
What’s with you men? Would hair stop growing on your chest if you asked directions somewhere?
Erma Bombeck
When a child is locked in the bathroom with water running and he says he’s doing nothing but the dog is barking, call 911.
Erma Bombeck
When humor goes, there goes civilization.
Erma Bombeck
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’.
Erma Bombeck
When your mother asks, “Do you want a piece of advice?” it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.
Erma Bombeck
Who in their infinite wisdom decreed that Little League uniforms be white? Certainly not a mother.
Erma Bombeck
Why would anyone steal a shopping cart? It’s like stealing a two-year-old.
Erma Bombeck
It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.
Erma Bombeck
There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
Erma Bombeck
It goes without saying that you should never have more children than you have car windows.
Erma Bombeck
There is one thing I have never taught my body how to do and that is to figure out at 6 A.M. what it wants to eat at 6 P.M.
Erma Bombeck
In general my children refuse to eat anything that hasn’t danced in television.
Erma Bombeck
If you can’t make it better, you can laugh at it.
Erma Bombeck
If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead.
Erma Bombeck
I’ve exercised with women so thin that buzzards followed them to their cars.
Erma Bombeck
Youngsters of the age of two and three are endowed with extraordinary strength. They can lift a dog twice their own weight and dump him into the bathtub.
Erma Bombeck
I was too old for a paper route, too young for Social Security and too tired for an affair.
Erma Bombeck
I take a very practical view of raising children. I put a sign in each of their rooms: “Checkout Time is 18 years.”
Erma Bombeck
I never leaf through a copy of National Geographic without realizing how lucky we are to live in a society where it is traditional to wear clothes.
Erma Bombeck
I haven’t trusted polls since I read that 62% of women had affairs during their lunch hour. I’ve never met a woman in my life who would give up lunch for sex.
Erma Bombeck
I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up.
Erma Bombeck
I have a hat. It is graceful and feminine and give me a certain dignity, as if I were attending a state funeral or something. Someday I may get up enough courage to wear it, instead of carrying it.
Erma Bombeck
I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage.
Erma Bombeck
Humorists can never start to take themselves seriously. It’s literary suicide.
Erma Bombeck
It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding.
Erma Bombeck
On vacations: We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.
Erma Bombeck
Marriage has no guarantees. If that’s what you’re looking for, go live with a car battery.
Erma Bombeck
Most women put off entertaining until the kids are grown.
Erma Bombeck
My kids always perceived the bathroom as a place where you wait it out until all the groceries are unloaded from the car.
Erma Bombeck
My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.
Erma Bombeck
My theory on housework is, if the item doesn’t multiply, smell, catch fire, or block the refrigerator door, let it be. No one else cares. Why should you?
Erma Bombeck
Never accept a drink from a urologist.
Erma Bombeck
I was terrible at straight items. When I wrote obituaries, my mother said the only thing I ever got them to do was die in alphabetical order.
Erma Bombeck
Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
Erma Bombeck
How come anything you buy will go on sale next week?
Erma Bombeck
Never go to your high school reunion pregnant or they will think that is all you have done since you graduated.
Erma Bombeck
Never have more children than you have car windows.
Erma Bombeck
Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.
Erma Bombeck
There’s something wrong with a mother who washes out a measuring cup with soap and water after she’s only measured water in it.
Erma Bombeck
No one ever died from sleeping in an unmade bed. I have known mothers who remake the bed after their children do it because there is wrinkle in the spread or the blanket is on crooked. This is sick.
Erma Bombeck
Like religion, politics, and family planning, cereal is not a topic to be brought up in public. It’s too controversial.
Erma Bombeck
Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I’m taking with me when I go.
Erma Bombeck
One thing they never tell you about child raising is that for the rest of your life, at the drop of a hat, you are expected to know your child’s name and how old he or she is.
Erma Bombeck
Onion rings in the car cushions do not improve with time.
Erma Bombeck
People shop for a bathing suit with more care than they do a husband or wife. The rules are the same. Look for something you’ll feel comfortable wearing. Allow for room to grow.
Erma Bombeck
Some say our national pastime is baseball. Not me. It’s gossip.
Erma Bombeck
Someone once threw me a small, brown, hairy kiwi fruit, and I threw a wastebasket over it until it was dead.
Erma Bombeck
Sometimes I can’t figure designers out. It’s as if they flunked human anatomy.
Erma Bombeck
Somewhere it is written that parents who are critical of other people’s children and publicly admit they can do better are asking for it.
Erma Bombeck
Thanks to my mother, not a single cardboard box has found its way back into society. We receive gifts in boxes from stores that went out of business twenty years ago.
Erma Bombeck
Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.
Erma Bombeck
The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.
Erma Bombeck
There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.
Erma Bombeck
There is nothing more miserable in the world than to arrive in paradise and look like your passport photo.
Erma Bombeck
Never order food in excess of your body weight.
Erma Bombeck
Did you ever notice that the first piece of luggage on the carousel never belongs to anyone?
Erma Bombeck
Housework, if you do it right, will kill you.
Erma Bombeck
A friend doesn’t go on a diet because you are fat.
Erma Bombeck
A friend never defends a husband who gets his wife an electric skillet for her birthday.
Erma Bombeck
A friend will tell you she saw your old boyfriend – and he’s a priest.
Erma Bombeck
All of us have moments in out lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them.
Erma Bombeck
Before you try to keep up with the Joneses, be sure they’re not trying to keep up with you.
Erma Bombeck
Being a child at home alone in the summer is a high-risk occupation. If you call your mother at work thirteen times an hour, she can hurt you.
Erma Bombeck
Children make your life important.
Erma Bombeck
Do you know what you call those who use towels and never wash them, eat meals and never do the dishes, sit in rooms they never clean, and are entertained till they drop? If you have just answered, “A house guest,” you’re wrong because I have just described my kids.
Erma Bombeck
I will buy any creme, cosmetic, or elixir from a woman with a European accent.
Erma Bombeck
Don’t confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other.
Erma Bombeck
Dreams have only one owner at a time. That’s why dreamers are lonely.
Erma Bombeck
For some of us, watching a miniseries that lasts longer than most marriages is not easy.
Erma Bombeck
For years my wedding ring has done its job. It has led me not into temptation. It has reminded my husband numerous times at parties that it’s time to go home. It has been a source of relief to a dinner companion. It has been a status symbol in the maternity ward.
Erma Bombeck
Getting out of the hospital is a lot like resigning from a book club. You’re not out of it until the computer says you’re out of it.
Erma Bombeck
God created man, but I could do better.
Erma Bombeck
Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving.
Erma Bombeck
House guests should be regarded as perishables: Leave them out too long and they go bad.
Erma Bombeck
Car designers are just going to have to come up with an automobile that outlasts the payments.
Erma Bombeck