# A Simpsons question I can't get an answer for **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771 "2000-12-21T22:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/21 "2000-12-29T13:55:36Z")
Yes, embiggens is a perfectly cromulent word. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/22 "2000-12-29T14:15:23Z")
as is “crapulence” ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/23 "2000-12-30T00:42:04Z")
I beg to differ with those who say Apu is Hindi, specifically because of a recent article in _TV Guide_ about the supporting Simpsons characters, in which the show’s production people are quoted as saying, “We made Apu a Pakistani of great dignity and industry.” So far as I know religion is the only difference: The Pakistanis are Moslem and write their language, which they call Urdu, in Arabic script; the Hindus of India write in a modified Devanagari script (Sanskrit was written in Devanagari script). There is no other important difference between Urdu and Hindi, sometimes referred to together as Hindustani. So if Apu is Moslem he is most likely Pakistani. If he is a Hindi he most likely came from India. As for Moe, I assume his last name is pronounced SHISS-lahk. The only Simpsons characters whom I pity for their names are Bart’s friend Milhouse, and his aunt Selma–Marge’s sister–who has married (and presumably divorced) three times. (I know a woman who has gone through three divorces; Selma would be more pitied than censured (if there is any reason to censure her). ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/24 "2000-12-30T00:59:40Z")
Apu is clearly Hindi. That elephant idol on the counter at the Quick-E-Mart certainly ain’t Mohammed. As for India or Pakistan, let’s split the difference and call it Kashmir. Although I seem to remember that wherever he went to college (revealed in the deportation episode) was definitely in India. Calcutta Tech or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/25 "2000-12-30T01:11:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*as is “crapulence” \*\* Well… my dictionary doesn’t have anything resembling “embiggens” or “cromulent,” but it does have “crapulous,” “1: marked by intemperance esp. in eating or drinking. 2: sick from excessive induglence in liquor.” Considering that Mr. Burns was about to take candy from a baby (see definition 1), it’s not a stretch (at least in my mind) to that “crapulence” is the action or process of being crapulous. In other words, it may be obscure, and damn fun to slip into polite conversation, but I don’t think it’s a purely Simpsonian word. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/26 "2000-12-30T01:12:23Z")
Or I should say “Springfieldian” word. Now to wait out the flood control… damn, that’s a long 60 seconds! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/27 "2000-12-30T01:14:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Considering that Mr. Burns was about to take candy from a baby All RIGHT!! I hope the baby bit Burns…though who knows what diseases the baby might catch for doing so… ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/28 "2000-12-30T03:19:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dougie\_monty \* > \*\* > As for Moe, I assume his last name is pronounced SHISS-lahk. > \*\* It’s SIZZ-lak. Of course, I did get the spelling wrong in my post above. Damnit. ---
**Author:** ![HannibalV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@HannibalV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HannibalV)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/29 "2000-12-30T05:58:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by minty green \* > \*\*Apu is clearly Hindi. That elephant idol on the counter at the Quick-E-Mart certainly ain’t Mohammed. As for India or Pakistan, let’s split the difference and call it Kashmir. Although I seem to remember that wherever he went to college (revealed in the deportation episode) was definitely in India. Calcutta Tech or something like that? \*\* Apu graduated from CalTech–Calcutta Institute of Technology–before coming to the U.S. to study under Professor John Frink at Springfield Heights Institute Of Technology. \(I’d love a Springfield Heights Institute of Technology sweatshirt.:D)\ Additionally, in the episode where Apu got married, his mother makes a reference to their “Brahmin heritage”. All of this points to Apu being Indian. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/30 "2000-12-30T06:33:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dougie\_monty \* > \*\*I beg to differ with those who say Apu is Hindi, specifically because of a recent article in _TV Guide_ about the supporting Simpsons characters, in which the show’s production people are quoted as saying, “We made Apu a Pakistani of great dignity and industry.” \*\* Yeah, I agree with Hannibal. I think that quote just reflects the utter stupidity of the TV producer in question. It’s pretty obvious he’s Indian. How many times have they talked about he devotion to Ganish (sp?). He has a shrine in his store. Whereas he has never once rolled out a pray mat and prayed in the direction of Mecca (as I have in fact seen a Pakistani convience store owner do, right there in the soup aisle.) At best his family could have immigrated south after 1948. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/31 "2001-01-02T19:56:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by omni-not \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Na-HA-sa-PEE-ma-PET-i(short ‘i’)-lon. Very iambic. At least, that’s how I’ve heard Hank Azara say it. > > That’s **A-zay-rhee-ahh**.😃 > \*\* Gracious, a typo. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2001, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/32 "2001-01-02T22:01:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dougie\_monty \* > **…I hope the baby bit Burns…** BIT him? She…(hang on a second, do I need to put a spoiler alert here even though it’s years old and has been rebroadcast umpteen times? Just in case: **SPOILER ALERT** ) SHOT him! ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2001, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/33 "2001-01-02T23:03:27Z")
and not a jury in the world would convict her, except for Texas. Amazingly prescient, those Simpsons bunch. jb ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2001, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/34 "2001-01-02T23:42:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, I agree with Hannibal. I think that quote just reflects the utter stupidity of the TV producer in question. Yeah…what does _ **HE know?** _ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771/35 "2001-01-03T00:12:58Z")
I thank Aseymayo for the Simpsons website with the quotes, including Apu pronouncing his last name; but I have no idea how to log onto that site without the show’s theme playing when I want to hear just the quotes. Any help on this, please? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-simpsons-question-i-cant-get-an-answer-for/46771.md?page=1)