214

Dumb
Posted on June 28, 2011 by David M Willis

214 thoughts on “Dumb”

  1. Kurai_Seraphim

    Honestly, it doesn’t get much more socialist than free sex videos for the masses of have-nots… namely the ten or so women who have not had a Joe-ing.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      So Joe is a commie who spreads legs and propaganda as he joes girls with his ‘pinko’?

      I KNEW IT!

      1. David Herbert

        He’ll bring back the cold war. With his penis.

        1. Jamal K.

          If it’s a cold war, he won’t be able to do much for long :\

          I’d pay a quarter to see him panic >XD

        2. Kernanator

          I’d pay a nickel. Like the one I paid to fuck your mom.

        3. yeap.

          seems like PROGRESS.

      2. LaPlace's Demon

        Does this mean the song “Joe Hill” is really just a big penis joke?

  2. Jen Aside

    Starving… for attention?

    This “roommate agreement” thing sounds painfully complicated =|

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      That or she is a Pro-Ana.

      1. ALostProphet

        She’s a thinspiration to us all.

    2. Gnoka

      I was thinking more along the lines of starving artist. Since she was an artist in Roomies.

      1. Gnoka

        Oh I just mentioned the old canon didn’t I? Damnit.

  3. Kurai_Seraphim

    And now I’m apparently Walky. I miss my Leslie already, as all advice is funnier coming from her.

    1. Joe

      Upbeat comments coming from Mike’s scowling face are funnier.
      I wonder who I got this time…

      1. Cha

        You’re Billie. With the name Joe.
        Should I be as amused as I am?

        1. Semysane

          And yet I am still Pinkie Pie! LET’S PARTY!

        2. Lady Ray

          PARTY YEAH!

        3. Kernanator

          That is DISTURBING coming from a scowling Jason.

        4. Undrhil

          And *that* is disturbing (and funny) coming from Roz with a pop-up condom on her head….

      2. Rowen Morland

        But if you are me then who am I?

        1. Aizat

          Pop tarts?

        2. Tempo

          It’s not Pop tarts!

      3. Melizza

        YES SIR THEY ARE. GOOD DAY NOW!

      4. Kaj

        I…can’t…look… who am I?

  4. Plasma Mongoose

    Roz is a tree-hugging, free-loving commie cam-whore?

    Fox News has just found their new straw-leftie target.

    1. Stephen

      That’s the best kind of camwhore!

      1. Reiku189

        This reply is ten times more hilarious with Joe’s girl getter face

  5. Ridureyu

    Isn’t it… kind of bad to try to make your roommate sign an agreement that says, “you must refer to your god only in ways I want?”

    Just saying.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      That agreement could become much more disturbing if it turns out that Mary is a muslim.

      1. Mkvenner

        That is an idea that is going to fester.

      2. Ridureyu

        It doesn’t matter if you’re Muslim, Christian, or Way-Of-Devotion Hindu who worships one of the male deities, it’s just… urgh.

        But then, it looks like it’s on purpose, if Mary and Roz turn out to both be insanely extremist stereotypes, just in different ways.

        1. Ancestral Hamster

          Hey, it’s the Odd Couple, updated for the 21st Century!

        2. Ridureyu

          I remember one set of roommates from my college days, where one roomie was clean and the other was messy. You could divide the room in half with a straight edge, it was that exact – one half spotless, dusted, and vacuumed, and the other half ankle-deep in dirty laundry (He never washed his clothes, he just sprayed them with febreze and went onward). And then one day I noticed that somebody had taped a line down the middle of the room…

        3. Ancestral Hamster

          That was the situation with my roommate my senior year of college. I was the neat one (though I didn’t dust or vacuum), but I did tape a line down the middle of the room.

        4. Horerczy

          Technically Christianity has an asexual diety. The use of he is simply because we don’t want to refer to God as it.

        5. CW

          Asexual doesn’t mean no specific gender or sex it means no sexual orientation. Though to be fair, there’s nothing in the bible to that says He isn’t asexual either.

        6. gangler

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexual_reproduction

          It works. Single sexless being capable of giving birth to new life independently.

        7. bramblepatch

          When referring to intelligent entities, though, “genderless” is more commonly used.

        8. Swissaboo

          No it really doesn’t. Asexual means, “doesn’t have sex” not “doesn’t have a sex.” Asexual reproduction means “reproduction without sex”

          Bramblepatch is right, though I have more often heard “sexless”

        9. Pandademic

          Actually, it works in both contexts:

          a·sex·u·al
          –adjective
          1.
          Biology .
          a.
          having no sex or sexual organs.
          b.
          independent of sexual processes, especially not involving the union of male and female germ cells.
          2.
          free from or unaffected by sexuality: an asexual friendship.

        10. gangler

          Reproduction without sex, which as I stated God is a solid case of. Unless I’m mistaken, in the standard christian mythos we are all children of God, made in his image, without a second being. Reproduction without sex.

          Though Pandademic provided a much better and more applicable set of definitions than my own. At the end of the day though it looks like just about every definition fits.

          Gonna throw the wiktionary up while I’m in here.

          http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/asexual

        11. CP

          Unless you’re considering God to be creating new gods through this creation, it isn’t reproduction at all. It’s just production, and doesn’t have anything to do with sexuality.

          Of course, if you DO think the creations of God have the capacity to develop into gods themselves, then there isn’t anything wrong with believing that God’s got a gender. There are a few Christian faiths that take that tack.

        12. gangler

          Right, right. That makes sense. Fair enough.

        13. Andy

          I would also point out that Jesus refers to God as his Father, and was incarnated as a man, thus ascribing a male identity to the deity.

        14. lord of dance

          yeah, but that was more because he was plopped out of a woman so dad was the only thing left. as far as i understand it, most of the original hebrew text from which christianity evolved mostly referred to god using non-destinct pronouns

        15. gangler

          Personally I was raised mormon. Taught that God has a wife that doesn’t get talked about a lot, who he has had enough sex with to create every one of our immortal souls. We interpret the whole “Children of God” thing very literally.

          An eternity of marital sex looking after an ever growing family is kind of the driving motivation to get into heaven.

          So yeah, we tend to view God as an entirely gendered and sexual being. As you state though, not the case in vanilla christianity. Iirc it was actually considered profane back then to refer to God directly, and so they’d often talk around actually naming him/her. Verses like “I am that I am” refer to that practice. Been a long time since I was extensively read on that though so feel free to correct me if I got that wrong.

        16. Jade Margery

          So… how do Mormons view the whole impregnating Mary thing? Was God cheating on his wife? Or did that not count as sex? Or is God a polygamist and Mary is/was/would be a wife too?

          I never knew this about Mormons before.

        17. gangler

          I’m also chuckling now at the difficulties that would have arisen from talking about Mary and the Heavenly Mother in that day and age.

        18. TARDIS with a hat

          same with Judaism

  6. Digidestined of Trust (Tim)

    Wow, my brain just did a complete 360 with each of the different conversation bubbles. They went through 5 different topics in the span of 30 seconds!

    1. JayStrang

      Um, no. No they didn’t.

      1. Melizza

        World peace, unicorns, capitalism, zombie attacks, and aliens.

        1. das-g

          Now it all fits together!

  7. Mkvenner

    So much for no child left behind.

  8. Merco

    I seriously keep thinking the new comic is going to be about them leaving school, then I remember that it’s still the beginning of the year.

  9. MM

    Wow, there really wasn’t a whole lot of conversation involved in Joe and Roz’s hookup, was there?

    1. Kernanator

      And this surprises you?

      1. MM

        That Joe didn’t unwittingly let an ableist term slip during the few sentences that were exchanged? Yeah, a little.

        1. gangler

          Somehow I doubt she demands strict adherence to her sociopolitical and ethical views from everyone she fucks.

        2. Zaratustra

          That would have required Joe to refer to something negatively. Since the only subjects at hands were Joe, Roz and Joe’s penis, the combinations are limited.

        3. Tristan J

          But sexy.

  10. Rognik

    Stupidity IS one of the few acceptable discriminations that are still popular. I do realize that dumb may refer to mutes, but I felt compelled to point that out.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      So Dumbing Of Age actually refers to idea that everyone in college will lose their voices then?

      Holy Crap!

      1. Kisai

        If they’re in a band they might.

    2. Rognik

      In other news, Gravatar shuffle! Sadly, I have no idea who my face is now.

      1. Mkvenner

        Human Ultracar?

      2. Plasma Mongoose

        It’s Mandy. She has only shown up once in DoA so far thou.

        1. Ancestral Hamster

          o/`
          Well you came and you gave without taking
          but I sent you away, oh Mandy
          well you kissed me and stopped me from shaking
          I need you today, oh Mandy
          o/`

          Wait, not that Mandy?

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          Personally, I liked Barry Manilow’s ‘I Write the Songs’ better.

        3. Ian

          Of course, Manilow didn’t write that song. It was Bruce Johnston.

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          Details details! 😛

        5. Ancestral Hamster

          If we’re stating preferences for Manilow songs, I prefer “Copacabana.”

          Speaking of songs that have women’s names as titles, I’m pretty sure there’s no Cherie in DoA or IW!, but not sure about Michelle.

        6. Aizat

          That can’t be Mandy. She’s tall and has a nose. Wait, sorry, wrong Mandy.

        7. TARDIS with a hat

          I wonder if she’ll be important later, of she’s only here for Cameos

  11. alicemacher

    Dorothy: “Don’t say ‘dumb’ in a derogatory manner! Are you blind? Oops.”

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      That was a retarded thing to say… OH SHI-

      1. Kernanator

        God that was so gay…wait a minute.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          We need to stop insulting the disabled like a bunch of mental patients… ah crap!

        2. Aizat

          Who are you calling a mental patient, moron? Oh damn.

          P.S: I’m just joking. I am not calling you a moron. Don’t kill me.

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          An insult like that can cost you an arm and a leg… oh no, I’m insukting amputees now.

          ((Don’t worry, we understand that you are just continuing the running joke here))

        4. TemplarKnight

          Well that was just babies- DAMN!

        5. Aizat

          Are you insane- DAMN IT!

        6. Plasma Mongoose

          Crack babies… damn, I did it again.

        7. Aizat

          It’s a crack baby, fool……….Darn it.

          P.S:Guess where that quote come from.

        8. calendarman27

          You guys are acting like a bunch of crippled anemic retards…godammit!

        9. Richard

          This gag is so babies it’s Babies McIntyre.

          Damn, infants AND the Scottish. I’m going to hell for that one.

          Crap! The damned! And also excrement!

        10. Lokitsu

          Today’s comic brought to you courtesy of GIMP

        11. Joebo

          are you saying that people who are gay are disabled?

        12. Kernanator

          No, I was just continuing the joke, stupid. Goddammit, I did it again!

        13. Kernanator

          The joke is that gays aren’t crippled, retard…oh shit, not again.

    2. zuche

      Truly, you have a sinister minnnnnn…nuts.

      1. Joebo

        Subtle, very nice.

  12. Jimmy

    Well that’s just crazy talk… D’oh! -smacks head-

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      The way I keep putting my foot in my mouth, you would think that I got brain damage or something… oh bugger!

      1. MeHael

        Just calm down and take a chill pill…get back on your meds, you’re much nicer…awww, frak!

        1. MeHael

          And I go from Danny to Sal. Frak worked much better before.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          I bet you feel like a dope… let me guess, I said the wrong thing again.

  13. Kendra

    …Okay, I’m really getting to like DoA!Roz.

  14. Janette

    Hahaha, spot on.

  15. Mkvenner

    i miss Dina. 🙁

    1. ALostProphet

      Maybe is she left her room more than once a day, we’d see more of her. Honestly, her shyness is so bad it’s hard to read.

      1. JBO

        Sooooooo disturbing gravatar for this statement.

        1. Lady Ray

          DOUBLE MIKE ALL THE WAY ACCROSS THE SKY

          gravatar! 😀

    2. zuche

      I hear expolosives can help compensate for inaccuracy.

      1. Joebo

        Woah, dude, too soon. Too soon.

  16. Daeva

    In the future, we will all communicate through twitches of the eyebrow, because all speech will be deemed inappropriate for the human ear.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      But what about the people who suffer from Tourettes syndrome, or don’t they count anymore.

      1. Daeva

        They’d just blink uncontrollably.

        1. Mkvenner

          Fhatgn?

    2. lord of dance

      what about blind people. they wont be able to see the twitches. and it would get kinda awkward for them to have to put their hands on everyones faaaaaaaaaaaaaces (dammit!) to understand them

      1. lord of dance

        so i’m sarah now… while i admit that her extreme cynicism gells with me, i’ll definitely miss monkey master

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          I checked quickly what I would have been if I came in here without my custom gravs, I would have been WALKY THIS TIME.

        2. Kernanator

          How do you do that, again?

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          Easy, I just went to my Gravatar account, removed my Grav, waited about 5-10 mins then went back to DoA comments and looked.

          After I found out, I just loaded a new Grav to my account.

      2. PedanticJerkass

        Damn. I thought I was actually going to make it through a whole comments thread without seeing that stupid FAAAACE meme. *sigh*

  17. Zanosuke_Kurosaki

    I am amused and annoyed at how casually the word “socialist” gets tossed around these days. Amuses me how ignorant people are of its actual meaning.

    1. Daeva

      It’s a common thing in the English language, and likely any language you come across. People will cling to a word that, through overuse and bastardization, becomes synonymous with ‘bad’, and begin to use it in place of ‘bad’ at every possible opportunity.

      But seriously, people who do that shit are total fags.

      …goddammit. >_<

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        According to South Park, fags are people who ride around in too too loud motorcycles.

        1. Cha

          According to boys at my school, fags are boys with too tight pants, too loose pants, too long hair, buzzcuts, overweight, short, really tall, straight A students or failing out, and guys who don’t smack each others butts in the hallway. And that’s only half the meanings the term’s been applied to.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          In the old days, fags were something you smoked, hell in England, they still eat faggots over there.

        3. Daeva

          Just remember, fags can kill.

        4. Aizat

          You mean cigs or homicidal sissies?

        5. Joebo

          both

        6. Aizat

          In Malaysia, people who ride around in loud motorcycle are called many names,most of them ableist like deaf and moron and usually uttered by people who’s trying to sleep.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      While I do know its proper meaning, I use the word socialist mainly in the terms of tax-funded public services like Medicare, public housing, public transport and stuff like that.

      1. ALostProphet

        Please don’t.

      2. begbert2

        I know the proper meaning of ‘facist’, myself – but I suppose it’s just too fun a word to merely use correctly, right?

    3. Haituri

      Just been reading Henry Miller. He muses on how strange it was that the word “socialist” seemed to denote the Ultimate Evil to his parent’s generation in America. That would have been the early 1900s.

  18. arjay2813

    that roommate agreement sounds pretty lame..i mean..

    i think roz would be a better foil for joyce than sarah.

    1. Jimmy

      I’d like to get the over/under on how soon Joyce would have be put in a mental health facility if she were Roz’s roommate. I’ll put it at under 6 hours.

      1. Mkvenner

        Is that after she “accidently” kills Roz while trying to baptize her in Lake Monroe?

        1. Jimmy

          After the way Amber reacted to Dorothy being an atheist, I believe she’d be in a catatonic state before that could actually happen. However, she’d have plenty of time to go through various ideas of converting/killing Roz.

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          Amber? Don’t you mean Joyce?

        3. Jimmy

          Sorry you’re right, brain freeze 🙂

        4. ALostProphet

          What a spastic thing to say.

        5. Angelicfiend

          actually, Roz seems to have some idea of God, as she said God isn’t exclusively male,which Joyce seemed “tolerant” to the idea that people don’t only see God as a male

      2. MM

        I’ll see that and lower it to 1.

        1. Jimmy

          As I keep thinking about it 6 hours is a big number. I’m either giving Joyce too much credit or Roz not enough.

        2. arjay2813

          i’ll raise you half an hour

          btw, just noticed her shirt says “starving” does that mean anything like starving artist, starving children in affrica, or nothing at all

        3. Joebo

          If this were QC I’d say that it was some obscure indie band, but since this is one of Willis’ comics I would say that it is just a general statement on starving college students.

      3. TheBenenator

        Over/under? Roz, and . . . Joyce? Sexytimes!?

        *shot with femur-launcher*

        1. Stephen

          I, for one, approve of Roz/Joyce sexytimes!

      4. Joebo

        Given the amount of “Pre-Marital Hanky Panky” that Roz engages in, I think you’d be right.

  19. boee

    It is pretty difficult to both be hateful and non-discriminative, expressing anger against stupidity can only be done so many ways without using albeist language. Also, this webcomic has mentioned both the Bechedel Test and the idea of a non-gender specific god. When did the Walkyverse become so feminist? (not that that’s a bad thing)

    1. ALostProphet

      Shh! We can’t discuss the Walkyverse here, it’s forbidden.

      1. TARDIS with a hat

        every comment done with THIS avatar is about 250% creepier

  20. AlienCowThatMoos

    Sadly trying to get people to stop using the terms for various physical and mental disabilities as derogatory terms is futile as long as those states of being are still considered to be unfavorable. At its most base they’re saying that something bad (having a body that doesn’t work) is bad (an insult).

    But just you wait, eventually someone will make wheelchairs cool and then all the cool kids will be breaking their spines. “Cripple” will be the new cool!

    1. lord of dance

      it becomes especially hard when most people don’t use the words as their original meaning intended. out of the millions of people that use the words ‘dumb’ or ‘lame’ in any given day probably only like 10 of them actually mean ‘mute’ or ‘gimpy’ (poor choice of a word but i stand by it)

      1. CP

        That’s just evolution of language. The word ‘bad’ itself is used more often mean something positive than it is to mean something negative, even though that’s completely counter to the idea behind the word.
        In any case, I’d be sad to see the day that cool wheelchairs make people uninterested in having a healthy body. Insulting words are an unfortunate consequence of the very reasonable stance of seeing certain states of being as inherently bad. I hope we never stop trying to “cure” diseases just because we find ways for people people to live happily with them.

        1. AlienCowThatMoos

          Wanna open a scary line of thinking?

          The deaf community has been trying for years to convince the hearing community that being deaf is just like a skin color, not a disability. For example I recall an episode of ER where a deaf woman was trying to convince Eriq La Salle not to preform a procedure on his deaf son that would restore his hearing because it’s a part of him just like being black.

          Then you have shit like this:
          http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article3087367.ece

          Now how can we say a deaf parent can’t intentionally have deaf kids without saying to their face that they are of lesser value than hearing people? Even debating the topic leads to a very uncomfortable line of thinking.

        2. gangler

          Because you want to be able to do shit. This isn’t rocket science here.

        3. Kelly

          Just wait until the debates about heavy-duty genetic engineering and cyborgization get going…

  21. JK9000

    Way to handicap Mary’s ability to insult, Roz.

    1. ryan

      we prefer it if you said roz “handicapabled” mary’s ability to insult.

      1. gangler

        Has anyone ever said Handicapable or Diffabled without sounding condescending and sarcastic?

        1. ryan

          i doubt it

  22. RachelEvil

    Huh. Dumbiverse Roz sounds really cool.

    1. CP

      Dumbiverse Roz sounds like a control freak. She can pretend she has no prejudices all she wants, but being human, she will never purge them completely, and that makes her a hypocrite, too.

      1. RachelEvil

        Trying counts.

  23. Ryune

    That’s… a little weird, Roz.

  24. Robert

    This doesn’t sound at all like Roz. She sounds more like a stuck up professor from Cambridge rather than a sorority slut…..Not that either of those things are mutually exclusive.

    1. Daeva

      If Dumbiverse Roz is anything like Shortpacked! Roz, then she’s likely a huge advocate of nondiscrimination, her definition of it likely being along the lines of allowing everybody to do everything they could ever want so long as the only person being hurt by it, if anyone, is themselves, as they should have the right to do what they like with their body with nobody allowed to say a thing about it, lest they be labeled a bigot.

      That said, it does bring up some questions about her opinion of sex addiction in Shortpacked, but we don’t really know what differences might be present here.

      1. MM

        Yeah, I doubt this version sees herself as a slut of any kind, except maybe in the sense of reclaiming the term to mean sex-positive or at least non-judgmental about how people choose to exercise their sexuality with consenting partners.

        Kinda surprised we haven’t seen her in gender studies, to be honest (unless I missed a background appearance). It seems like it’d be right up her alley…um, I mean a good fi…um…you all know what I mean.

        1. Kamino Neko

          She and Joe met at the Gender Studies class. (Which is, actually, the only class we’ve seen either of them in.) She was in a few background shots in the class earlier, but that’s the important one.

        2. MM

          Thanks! I blame Walky for missing that. Those eyes of his are like black holes. They just suck up all the background focus.

        3. Kamino Neko

          OK, checking, only once before the one where her and Joe’s eyes meet. Still…

  25. 47

    Oh Roz.

    Given that I know people who would be like that (sexually liberated as part of a larger overarching progressive/liberal philosophy), she is so believable to me.

  26. Jetstream

    Are “Lame” and “Dumb” seriously considered ableist language now?

    If she’d said “retarded,” I’d get it.

    1. David

      According to some people in my recent experiences, yes. I’d explain more but then I’d get too close to explaining the joke.

      1. Zem

        It’s funny because “dumb” means mute!

        I didn’t know ableism was about political correctness.

    2. AlienCowThatMoos

      I’ve seen “lame” used correctly in old movies and books, but I’ve never in my entire life heard anyone use the word “dumb” to refer to someone who can’t speak. I think that word got hijacked so long ago that it’s no longer ableist.

      1. JK9000

        I’ve both heard and used ‘dumb’ to mean ‘mute’; it’s never struck me as anachronistic. Even if it were, I don’t think there’s a statute of limitations on this sort of thing.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          I haven’t heard anyone use the word lame in the old fashioned context for many many years now, hell people are still more likely to use the gay as happy meaning than the lame as unable to walk.

          Same with dumb, mute is the only term I use for that condition anyway.

        2. Ristar

          When I hurt my leg and people asked what was wrong, I told them I was lame.

        3. lord of dance

          you’ll hear it in sports from time to time. if a player starts limping on the field they’ll often say lhe came up lame’

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          There you go, that’s why I don’t hear it, I don’t watch sports.

        5. CP

          There is a technical difference between dumb and mute. A mute is incapable of using his voicebox. A dumb person is merely incapable of forming language, but can still cry out or moan or whathaveyou.

      2. ryan

        “that deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball.”

        i know i’ve heard it elsewhere, but it’s uncommon.

  27. Innocence

    Each person is intitled to their own beliefs but trying to force ones beliefes on someone would make them more reluctant to accept it. Human nature causes people to try and do what their not supposed to. ^_^

    1. ALostProphet

      Hence, teenagers.

  28. cruncher3019

    That IS dumb. Who puts that on a goddamn roommate agreement? Oh how dare I say something you don’t agree with in your presence, good sir.

    1. Nakama

      One of my flatmates turned out to be misogynistic last winter. He’d say stuff like «women need to be put in their place» or «a woman can’t be prime minister». I was very, very uncomfortable. I can only imagine how much worse it would have been had I been a woman.

      Eventually, we sat down, and we had a discussion. And I asked him to be careful to the kind of things he would say in front of me. He agreed, and that was that.

      Had he not agreed, we would have soon enough reached the point where one of us would have had to move out.

  29. Semysane

    Haha, DUMB. I see what you did there, Willis.

  30. Qaxis

    She probably wanted to put in some rule about wearing clothes before 3 PM too. The monster.

    1. Tristan J

      You’re talking about Roz, right?

  31. ALostProphet

    Well that’s just crazy. Is Roz blind to how retarded it is to handicap someone like that? How dumb is she not to notice how disabling such a restriction is? It’s just crippling, to say the least. Deafness.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      I (cannot) see what you did there. (I’m legally blind)

    2. Aizat

      That comment and that gravatar had never been so perfect.

  32. Tristan J

    Hmm. On the one hand, Mary has said something that angers and infuriates me. On the other hand, I’ve seen her at least half-naked, a state of being she is apparently often in.

    Conundrum!

    1. Aizat

      It’s like what my dad once said ” Be angry at the guy who gave you chipless cookies but be glad he gave you cookies” or something to that effect.

  33. Joebo

    Had a girlfriend in high school who was very sensitive towards the word “retard” when used derogatorily. When I asked her about this, she explained to me that she had a cousin who was developmentally retarded.

    This leads me to believe that Roz may have someone she is close to who is “differently-abled” and the only person who she is close to that we give a damn about is Robin…

    1. Chrisby

      See I’m lucky, no one I care about was ever sensitive regarding such insults. Consequently, they get traded around freely and I have to remember to be more careful around other people.

      1. Chrisby

        I went from Joe to Danny? That’s la…I mean retar….er, du….less than ideal.

  34. skies

    Yup, Roz is definitely my favorite.

  35. Redpossum

    Uhh, neither of the oddities which she cites have anything at all to do with Socialism.

    A true Socialist is an atheist, and wouldn’t be referring to God at all.

    The “Ableist language” issue is just raging political correctness, although it does involve issues of generally egalitarian world view, and as such would be a Socialist-friendly standpoint.

    I guess my major point here is that there’s nothing wrong with being a Socialist.

    1. Stephen

      1. The character doesn’t understand what a socialist is, Willis was not seriously suggesting that either of those things have to do with socialism.

      2. A true socialist is not necessarily an atheist, Christian socialism, Jewish socialism, and Buddhist socialism all exist.

      3. Nice icon.

    2. invisiblemoose

      Oh man, I do so love POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD arguments. Because they’re not actual arguments but just reiterating buzzwords rather than making any actual case.

      Heaven forbid people asking others not to use ableist language had something to do with respect for other human beings.

      1. CP

        “Who are you to say I should have respect for other people? Bigot.”

        1. invisiblemoose

          I’m sure tht quote makes sense to someone. But I am curious to hear if you actually believe a disabled person deserves no respect BECAUSE they are disabled or ifyou are just trolling/quoting random quotes for the hell of it.

  36. Kernanator

    Wooo! Free love, baby!

  37. Doom Shepherd

    I demand that people stop using the words “sugar, “sweetie” (and its variants) and “honey” as terms of endearment, as they have the potential to upset us diabetics, since we can’t haz them.

    Contrableists!

  38. wynne

    “Retarded” would have been a better example. I know the joke is that Mary doesn’t get what Dorothy’s saying, but lame and dumb are far enough removed that such a mistake is understandable. In my head, Mary knows exactly what Dorothy is saying, she just doesn’t care.

    1. invisiblemoose

      I think the fact that it’s an understandable mistake is what the joke is about. Because people who do not know what ableist language is don’t get why saying dumb or lame (and in a lot of cases, even retard) isn’t considered a good thing. If she knows what Dorothy is saying (in which case why would she say she doesn’t know what ableist language is?) and then follows up with what she says she’s being a jerk instead of just being naive.

      1. Undrhil

        Thank you for explaining your position, Roz. 😉

  39. Shifty

    …And ROZ wanted to do this? I know this is a completely different universe, but that sounds really… not like Roz. I mean, it sounds rather overly complicated and almost defensive. It sounds like something Amber might do or even a hippie version of Joyce.

  40. TARDIS with a hat

    Wow… DoA!Roz is sturting to sound like an interesting person

    1. TARDIS with a hat

      and I’m Ethan now, I guess it fits me better then Joe

      1. Undrhil

        So, Ethan fits you better, does he? Interesting…..

  41. Undrhil

    You know … I kind of feel weird knowing that Billie has been in Ruth’s room long enough now for this girl to get completely dressed (I’m assuming she’s wearing pants, anyway.) And she even had time to put on some blush, unless that’s just the natural color of her cheeks.

    So, what is Billie doing at this point in time (besides hiding in the closet…) … oh, wait. Is Billie in the closet? Like, *the closet* in this universe?

    1. TsunamiJane

      All Willis’s characters have that “blush.” Some more pronounced than others. Look at Leslie for a good example!

    2. agentksilver

      Billie is in Ruth’s room.

      1. wedamagewe

        Mike is in Ruth’s mom

  42. Maverynthia

    So is it safe to say that this comic’s title is abelist?

  43. BrokenEye, True False Prophet

    Seriously though, when was the last time anyone used the term “lame” in the “person with a limp” sense and weren’t quoting something written over 50 years ago, playing a character in a show that takes place over 50 years ago, or otherwise being deliberately antiquated.

    Then again, I’ve used the term “gimp leg” unironically at least twice in the past year, so maybe I shouldn’t be complaining.

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