Our dog died from licking our wedding picture.

In Phyllis Diller’s comic persona—self-deprecating, caustic about domestic life, and gleefully exaggerating marital misery—the line turns a wedding portrait (a symbol of romance and idealized union) into something literally toxic. The absurdity of a dog dying from “licking” the photo hinges on hyperbole: the marriage is implied to be so dreadful, or the couple so unattractive, that even an animal can’t survive contact with their image. The joke also parodies sentimental keepsakes by treating them as hazardous objects, undercutting the cultural script that weddings are purely joyful beginnings. It’s a compact example of Diller’s mid-century stand-up style: fast, shocking, and built on domestic inversion.