I was such an ugly kid. When I played in the sandbox the cat kept trying to cover me up.

Rodney Dangerfield used this line as part of his long-running self-deprecating “no respect” persona, built around exaggerated tales of childhood misery and social rejection. The joke belongs to the cluster of one-liners he delivered in nightclub acts, television appearances, and later in stand-up specials—material that often portrayed him as so unwanted that even animals treated him like refuse. While the gag is widely attributed to Dangerfield and circulated in quote collections, it is typically presented as a standalone one-liner rather than tied to a single, clearly documented first performance or publication.

Dangerfield’s line is a compact example of his signature self-deprecating persona: the comedian presents childhood as a time not of innocence but of relentless rejection. The sandbox image evokes early play and social belonging, then undercuts it with a grotesque misunderstanding—mistaking the child for something to be buried like a cat’s waste. The humor relies on exaggeration and surprise, but it also reinforces Dangerfield’s recurring theme that disrespect and humiliation began early and were inescapable. As with many of his jokes, the punchline converts pain into a laugh by pushing the insult beyond plausibility, turning personal insecurity into a stylized comic identity.

I was such an ugly kid—when I played in the sandbox, the cat kept trying to bury me.
I was so ugly as a kid, when I played in the sandbox the cat kept trying to cover me up.
I was such an ugly kid; when I played in the sandbox, the cat kept trying to cover me.