When referring to a person, it is gendered. It’s never had quite the same social connotation, and it’s been falling out of use the past couple decades, but it’s basically a male equivalent to “slut” or alternatively “pervert” but it also vaguely and insidiously implies the subject of the insult is predatory about their sexual endeavors, because they’re being compared to a hound dog hunting prey.
Dogs are often coded/motiffed/themed/characterized/etc as masculine by default. They’re ‘mans best friend’ and also ‘men’.
“bongo” is a notable exception because it refers specifically to dogs with vaginas which causes the term to be gendered femme, but it’s still an exception.
Agreed. I often have to resist the urge to make such comments. I resist because they no longer seem in-vogue and I don’t want to make my occasional rereading of the entire comic too obvious by using outdated memes.
Meanwhile, on an entirely unrelated note… this is one of those comics that makes me want to search the house for hidden cameras. While I did not use those EXACT words, my wife and I had almost the same interaction as panels 4 and 5 this morning. Of course, considering the buffer, I would need to look for hidden cameras that can also transmit data back in time.
Doctor_Who
I can guarantee I didn’t sell Willis any of those for $29.99 each.
King Daniel
You didn’t, but will you?
Doctor_Who
I can guarantee I wasn’t gonna until you suggested it.
But if King Daniel only suggested it because Willis based a comic on a conversation relayed by a hidden time camera which you sold to Wiilis because King Daniel suggested it, then that means … Um. Did I have a point?
Needfuldoer
Remember who it is we’re talking about here. The passage of time is irrelevant even if it interferes with the plot!
Beef
Then WHO WROTE BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH
Clif
I always heard it was Shakespeare.
MatthewTheLucky
*electric guitar theme*
Roborat
I keep making faaaace comments, but that is because I like beating dead horses long past the appropriate time, and am trying to determine how long it takes to make it funny again.
I figured she was upset because it’s too fast for walk y to be dating, but not too fast to initiate a new romance that could realize itself later after the mandatory mourning period she seems to believe in
And huh, neat take from Ruth. No wonder she’s never used that word. I was initially surprised, but in hindsight I shouldn’t have been – Ruth’s always been fairly sensitive to slurs and things of that nature.
To be fair though, in this context she’d be using bongo to describe Walky so wouldn’t it not be a genedered insult by using it in that context? In a similar way, if I were to call Billie a dick, would that be a gendered insult, since dick is usually an insult predicated on being male. In addition, would you say Dick is a worse word than shit? Because you indeed cannot insult a turd but you could insult a man. However, at the same time, If you were to call someone “a piece of shit” then contextually you are likening them to a turd, which would be pretty insulting, since they are in fact a human.
Of course then you have the instances where much like [N-Word], [B-word] has been used as a term of endearment. Of course it still has a negative context, but in contexts like this, a black person in the former situation would probably be more justified to use the [N-word]. Likewise Joyce would be more accepted using [B-word] since she wouldn’t be using it from a supposed position of power or privilege (as far as we know), which seems to be the main context through which people do not like it being used. Of Course in this observer’s opinion I’d still say it’s a pretty harsh insult for a guy you just tried to set up with the girl you’re now mad that he was already dating.
The truth is that words only really have as much meaning and power as we give them. I personally think the intent is always more important than the word behind them. The b-word for example is often used professionally despite being adopted as an insult. I’d say alone it’s no more offensive than any other word, but the history behind its derogatory use is.
All words only have the meaning we give them. Money also has no meaning outside of our own intepretation. It’s crazy to think about how much of our word is fictional. Borders don’t exist. We just made all that up.The Boss was right
Charles Kuhman
There are still some Borders left, even though the ones near me have all closed…Oh you mean…Darn capitalization caught me again.
It gets more awkward when you actually LIKE certain words that have a negative history to them. For example, I’m of Asian descent, and since young I have always, ALWAYS loved the word “oriental”. It sounds exotic and mysterious (not to mention that I loved the AD&D Handbook “Oriental Adventures”, read it cover to cover dozens of times), so imagine my surprise when I discovered that apparently it’s a slur against Asians in certain countries. I mean, it wouldn’t bother me one bit if somebody called me an oriental (I’d probably love them for it!), but I can understand how somebody else with a different upbringing might find that really upsetting.
So yeah, long story short, I think the intent behind the words is more important. It’s similar to how friends can jokingly call each other all manner of derogatory names yet know that there is no venom behind them.
Clif
That’s distressing. If oriental has become a slur, then I may owe some apologies. Not many, many, but still distressing.
Yes, the b-word literally means ‘female dog’. Calling a man that as an insult doesn’t make it not gendered insult. The gendered bit is in the meaning. It’s like the swear word equivalent of calling someone a girl as an insult.
As for dicks, well, for one not only men have them and for another there’s a long history of misogynistic oppression based on perceived connection to female genitalia, while phallic symbols are often used as symbols of power. There’s not quite an equivalent history there, so far as I know.
Thank you for the “not only men have them” bit. I was about to chime in with a “not all men have them,” but I’m glad to see someone else already made that point. (And I agree about the distinction between the two words.)
I mean, I feel like the technical term of a word is unimportant in this context. As language evolves, of course, the root of the term becomes unimportant to how the word is currently used. In a similar fassion literally can both mean “Literally” and “Not at all literally” depending on who is saying it and the context they use it. So shackling the term to its root in that way seems presumptuous. However within that, obviously all words have histories with their use and every word means something else to everyone. When it comes to language there’s two things one has to take in count. The interpretation of the word by who used it, and the interpretation of the word based on who is hearing it. In that Vein, I’d say [B-word] is one of the words that skirts that line between “gendered” depending on the context.
In the context Joyce is using it now (or avoiding using it rather), I must call into question if it’s being used in a gendered context. Is she calling him that because she’s calling him feminine? Or is she calling him a punk, as in he wussed out? Or is she using it as a generic rude thing to call him. Like a Dick, a jerk, a prick or an asshole. Because in the context she used it, I’m forced to assume the latter. And in that context the word is not “gendered”. In this specific instance, that is.
Kris
I think if you over analyze the context in this regard the insult might actually make less sense. Are “b*tches” as in female dogs known for their infidelity? Are they particularly disgusting? That’s mostly subjective and near impossible to come to mass consensus on when using the term in that sentence. Joyce would have been better off calling Walky a shit and doubling down because most people would agree fecal matter is unappealing at the very least.
vlademir1
“[A]s in he wussed out.”
That exact phrasing and it’s underlying meaning are explicitly negatively effeminizing.
Yotomoe
You could say that. wussing out could certainly be used to call someone’s masculinity in question. While in the context I was using was calling his bravery and character into question. Which is an interesting example of the argument I was making in the first place. I never really interpret the phrase “wussing out” as meaning “effeminate”. But you interpreted it as me using it to mean that. The difference in my intention and your interpretation ended with this end result of dissonance between us.
BBCC
You can’t just say context and change the meaning of a word when it’s still used the way I mentioned. Yes, swear words are used for emphasis or to express anger, but they still have their own meanings. Language hasn’t evolved so far that the meaning of this word has changed. Same for asshole, dick, prick, etc. We know what those words mean and why it’s still considered insulting. Just because a word is ‘generically rude’ does not strip it of meaning and just because the speaker doesn’t sit and think through the meaning of each individual word that is used.
165 thoughts on “Bongo”
Ana Chronistic
petition to make “hound” an offensive term also?
I mean, fair’s fair
Pablo360
I’m not sure the kind of social engineering necessary to make an innocuous term offensive is either ethical or practical.
Diner Kinetic
Ethical? Nah. Practical? We’d just need to convince Donald trump to say it a few times
Doctor_Who
There’s another Autobot who needs to change his name and attend sensitivity training.
Luckily, I hear Slug has started a support group.
Ana Chronistic
Also a character of mine but who cares about him
Clif
So Hound of the Baskervilles wouldn’t actually refer to the dog? I could see it.
Stacie
I can’t see that without thinking of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIYRFvQMh7A
3oranges
Hound isn’t gendered, though. It’s a certain class of breeds.
Thorn
When referring to a person, it is gendered. It’s never had quite the same social connotation, and it’s been falling out of use the past couple decades, but it’s basically a male equivalent to “slut” or alternatively “pervert” but it also vaguely and insidiously implies the subject of the insult is predatory about their sexual endeavors, because they’re being compared to a hound dog hunting prey.
Sebastian Temple
Dogs are often coded/motiffed/themed/characterized/etc as masculine by default. They’re ‘mans best friend’ and also ‘men’.
“bongo” is a notable exception because it refers specifically to dogs with vaginas which causes the term to be gendered femme, but it’s still an exception.
Stu
That would be “cur”, which is the gender-flipped version of bongo.
And honestly, it’s one that probably should be brought back.
thejeff
I don’t think “cur” is gendered. It’s more “mutt” or “mongrel”. Used as an insult, it has more classist implications, I think.
ValdVin
She wants that grumpy faaaaaaace.
ValdVin
And in response Ruth has what is allllmost a ? smile. It may be the cutest thing she’s done on-screen.
Doctor_Who
Man, been ages since I saw a “faaaaaaace” comment. I missed them.
LeslieBean4Shizzle
Agreed. I often have to resist the urge to make such comments. I resist because they no longer seem in-vogue and I don’t want to make my occasional rereading of the entire comic too obvious by using outdated memes.
Meanwhile, on an entirely unrelated note… this is one of those comics that makes me want to search the house for hidden cameras. While I did not use those EXACT words, my wife and I had almost the same interaction as panels 4 and 5 this morning. Of course, considering the buffer, I would need to look for hidden cameras that can also transmit data back in time.
Doctor_Who
I can guarantee I didn’t sell Willis any of those for $29.99 each.
King Daniel
You didn’t, but will you?
Doctor_Who
I can guarantee I wasn’t gonna until you suggested it.
Clif
But if King Daniel only suggested it because Willis based a comic on a conversation relayed by a hidden time camera which you sold to Wiilis because King Daniel suggested it, then that means … Um. Did I have a point?
Needfuldoer
Remember who it is we’re talking about here. The passage of time is irrelevant even if it interferes with the plot!
Beef
Then WHO WROTE BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH
Clif
I always heard it was Shakespeare.
MatthewTheLucky
*electric guitar theme*
Roborat
I keep making faaaace comments, but that is because I like beating dead horses long past the appropriate time, and am trying to determine how long it takes to make it funny again.
Needfuldoer
She’s not wrong…
AnvilPro
So the problem is that Joyce assumes Walky was already dating Amber before he broke up with Dotty, right? She’s not mad about him rebounding too fast?
Yumi
That’s my interpretation, but who knows? It’s Joyce.
Diner Kinetic
I figured she was upset because it’s too fast for walk y to be dating, but not too fast to initiate a new romance that could realize itself later after the mandatory mourning period she seems to believe in
chris73
You would have been fine with “The problem is Joyce”
Jamie
But then how would you have expressed your hate?
timemonkey
How dare he move on from the perfection that is Dorothy so fast on his own!
You gotta factor in how she feels about the individuals.
WonderRabbit
I’m pretty sure it’s that Walky ‘lead her on’ by not informing her, in advance of her matchmaking attempt, that he was already dating her.
Emily
Could be. Or it could be some absurd train of thought that is unique to Joyce’s bizarre brand of moral reasoning.
Foxhack
RUTH IS SMILING WITH HER EYES FULLY OPEN
IT’S BLINDING US HISSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Stephen Bierce
Wither the “whelp”?
Stephen Bierce
Today’s strip is sponsored by the Commode Warrior:
https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/680071/
Is he a Maxiloo or a Deceptijohn? I don’t know.
Dana
Somehow I’d be disinterested if it weren’t for the toilet paper.
Brotato
What is its purpose? I can’t figure it out, but I need to know…
dralou
…I didn’t know I needed this figure in my life. Now, I understand why everything felt hollow, lately.
butts
tsundere mo’ like tsunDAT ASS
JoeCovenant
Tsunderrier…?
butts
this guy gets it
Marsh Maryrose
Actually, a Sundeer is type of boat. The alt-text just called Billie a yacht!
chris73
I normally quite like Amber but that look on her face in the slipshine link is really, really creepy
Dellaran
It’s a little like the smile she had just before she carved Ryan up like a turkey.
newllend(henryvolt)
Billie can pretend to hate nerdy all she wants but but apparently is sometimes nerdy is enough to catch her fancy.
Needfuldoer
She’s a closet nerd, alright.
BBCC
Awwwww, Billie is a goober.
And huh, neat take from Ruth. No wonder she’s never used that word. I was initially surprised, but in hindsight I shouldn’t have been – Ruth’s always been fairly sensitive to slurs and things of that nature.
ShinyNeen
Walky’s stupid face, she smooshes. Ruth’s stupid face, she smooches. Sounds legit to me!
Badgermole
Ruth as an English major makes so much sense *sobs in nineteenth-century realism*
not someone else
I thought it was pronounced-
wait is that the joke
Clif
Oh… I get it. ?
DailyBrad
Talk nerdy to me.
God, Ruth’s face in the last panel is great.
Clif
Yes, it is.
Durandal_1707
Walky is a total drum,
and bongo is its name-o!
B-O-N-G-O
B-O-N-G-O
B-O-N-G-O
And bongo is its name-o!
Durandal_1707
(sorry if someone else already did this, I haven’t been following the comments section over the last few days :-P)
Yotomoe
To be fair though, in this context she’d be using bongo to describe Walky so wouldn’t it not be a genedered insult by using it in that context? In a similar way, if I were to call Billie a dick, would that be a gendered insult, since dick is usually an insult predicated on being male. In addition, would you say Dick is a worse word than shit? Because you indeed cannot insult a turd but you could insult a man. However, at the same time, If you were to call someone “a piece of shit” then contextually you are likening them to a turd, which would be pretty insulting, since they are in fact a human.
Of course then you have the instances where much like [N-Word], [B-word] has been used as a term of endearment. Of course it still has a negative context, but in contexts like this, a black person in the former situation would probably be more justified to use the [N-word]. Likewise Joyce would be more accepted using [B-word] since she wouldn’t be using it from a supposed position of power or privilege (as far as we know), which seems to be the main context through which people do not like it being used. Of Course in this observer’s opinion I’d still say it’s a pretty harsh insult for a guy you just tried to set up with the girl you’re now mad that he was already dating.
Kris
The truth is that words only really have as much meaning and power as we give them. I personally think the intent is always more important than the word behind them. The b-word for example is often used professionally despite being adopted as an insult. I’d say alone it’s no more offensive than any other word, but the history behind its derogatory use is.
Yotomoe
All words only have the meaning we give them. Money also has no meaning outside of our own intepretation. It’s crazy to think about how much of our word is fictional. Borders don’t exist. We just made all that up.
The Boss was rightCharles Kuhman
There are still some Borders left, even though the ones near me have all closed…Oh you mean…Darn capitalization caught me again.
Zaxares
It gets more awkward when you actually LIKE certain words that have a negative history to them. For example, I’m of Asian descent, and since young I have always, ALWAYS loved the word “oriental”. It sounds exotic and mysterious (not to mention that I loved the AD&D Handbook “Oriental Adventures”, read it cover to cover dozens of times), so imagine my surprise when I discovered that apparently it’s a slur against Asians in certain countries. I mean, it wouldn’t bother me one bit if somebody called me an oriental (I’d probably love them for it!), but I can understand how somebody else with a different upbringing might find that really upsetting.
So yeah, long story short, I think the intent behind the words is more important. It’s similar to how friends can jokingly call each other all manner of derogatory names yet know that there is no venom behind them.
Clif
That’s distressing. If oriental has become a slur, then I may owe some apologies. Not many, many, but still distressing.
BBCC
Yes, the b-word literally means ‘female dog’. Calling a man that as an insult doesn’t make it not gendered insult. The gendered bit is in the meaning. It’s like the swear word equivalent of calling someone a girl as an insult.
As for dicks, well, for one not only men have them and for another there’s a long history of misogynistic oppression based on perceived connection to female genitalia, while phallic symbols are often used as symbols of power. There’s not quite an equivalent history there, so far as I know.
lilyliv
Thank you for the “not only men have them” bit. I was about to chime in with a “not all men have them,” but I’m glad to see someone else already made that point. (And I agree about the distinction between the two words.)
Yotomoe
I mean, I feel like the technical term of a word is unimportant in this context. As language evolves, of course, the root of the term becomes unimportant to how the word is currently used. In a similar fassion literally can both mean “Literally” and “Not at all literally” depending on who is saying it and the context they use it. So shackling the term to its root in that way seems presumptuous. However within that, obviously all words have histories with their use and every word means something else to everyone. When it comes to language there’s two things one has to take in count. The interpretation of the word by who used it, and the interpretation of the word based on who is hearing it. In that Vein, I’d say [B-word] is one of the words that skirts that line between “gendered” depending on the context.
In the context Joyce is using it now (or avoiding using it rather), I must call into question if it’s being used in a gendered context. Is she calling him that because she’s calling him feminine? Or is she calling him a punk, as in he wussed out? Or is she using it as a generic rude thing to call him. Like a Dick, a jerk, a prick or an asshole. Because in the context she used it, I’m forced to assume the latter. And in that context the word is not “gendered”. In this specific instance, that is.
Kris
I think if you over analyze the context in this regard the insult might actually make less sense. Are “b*tches” as in female dogs known for their infidelity? Are they particularly disgusting? That’s mostly subjective and near impossible to come to mass consensus on when using the term in that sentence. Joyce would have been better off calling Walky a shit and doubling down because most people would agree fecal matter is unappealing at the very least.
vlademir1
“[A]s in he wussed out.”
That exact phrasing and it’s underlying meaning are explicitly negatively effeminizing.
Yotomoe
You could say that. wussing out could certainly be used to call someone’s masculinity in question. While in the context I was using was calling his bravery and character into question. Which is an interesting example of the argument I was making in the first place. I never really interpret the phrase “wussing out” as meaning “effeminate”. But you interpreted it as me using it to mean that. The difference in my intention and your interpretation ended with this end result of dissonance between us.
BBCC
You can’t just say context and change the meaning of a word when it’s still used the way I mentioned. Yes, swear words are used for emphasis or to express anger, but they still have their own meanings. Language hasn’t evolved so far that the meaning of this word has changed. Same for asshole, dick, prick, etc. We know what those words mean and why it’s still considered insulting. Just because a word is ‘generically rude’ does not strip it of meaning and just because the speaker doesn’t sit and think through the meaning of each individual word that is used.
vlademir1