# Cartoons: Tongue hanging out = determined - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945 "2005-08-28T04:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/1 "2005-08-28T04:55:09Z")
In cartoons, whenever someone is doing something requiring persistence or determination, their tongue is always hanging out of the side of their mouth. I mean, like, when someone is doing a math test, or tightening a bolt with a wrench, or writing a letter, or something like that, they will have their mouth closed, and then their tongue will be kind of sticking out the side. Why the hell is this? First of all, nobody ever does this with their tongue in the first place. Second, there’s no connection in the “real world” between hard work and sticking your tongue out, so why has there become one in cartoons and cartoon drawings? Did someone decide a long time ago that since it was difficult to portray a “determined” facial expression on a cartoon character, they would symbolize it with the little tongue-hanging-out thing? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/2 "2005-08-28T04:56:21Z")
Michael Jordan did it. 😉 I imagine the cartoons did it first. Why? I don’t know. People do tend to make silly expressions when they’re concentrating so hard they loose awareness of things like that. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/3 "2005-08-28T04:57:37Z")
Wrong “lose.” Damn it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/4 "2005-08-28T05:04:05Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > Why the hell is this? First of all, nobody ever does this with their tongue in the first place. Second, there’s no connection in the “real world” between hard work and sticking your tongue out, so why has there become one in cartoons and cartoon drawings? Did someone decide a long time ago that since it was difficult to portray a “determined” facial expression on a cartoon character, they would symbolize it with the little tongue-hanging-out thing? Actually, I do this. The first time it was brought to my attention I was about 14 years old. I was playing a video game in the movie theatre arcade while my family waited for our movie to start. Mom had gone to the concession stand and when she came over to stand with me while I played, she started laughing hysterically. I asked her what was so funny, and she told me that my tongue was sticking out, flicking from side to side as I mashed buttons frantically. I had no idea I was doing it. It still happens occassionally. It’s cool tho. Chicks dig it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/5 "2005-08-28T05:06:24Z")
I do it occasionally, too. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/6 "2005-08-28T05:06:24Z")
Why do cartoon characters have huge eyes and/or three fingers? Why can cartoon dogs speak? Why can superman fly? Because they are cartoons. Cartoon art doesn’t have to have a one to one correspondence wwith the real world. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/7 "2005-08-28T05:08:10Z")
My father does it. My best friend does it. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/8 "2005-08-28T05:08:44Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > Why do cartoon characters have huge eyes and/or three fingers? Why can cartoon dogs speak? Why can superman fly? > > Because they are cartoons. > > Cartoon art doesn’t have to have a one to one correspondence wwith the real world. Oh, come on. You’re talking about deliberately whimsical and/or stylistic things. I’m talking about a specific facial expression. There is a difference, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/9 "2005-08-28T05:11:36Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > Cartoon art doesn’t have to have a one to one correspondence wwith the real world. But in this case it does. Lots of people do that when concentrating. I do it on occasion. I don’t think the OP has observed people carefully enough. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/10 "2005-08-28T05:43:56Z")
Moved to Cafe Society. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/11 "2005-08-28T05:48:04Z")
You people who stick your tongues out are lucky. When I get too focused on something, I tend to quit blinking. Sometimes I forget to breathe. It’s inconvenient. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/12 "2005-08-28T06:00:18Z")
The tongue stick-outers are lucky. They tend to look cute and adorable when they do that, like cats with the tip of the tongue showing. I concentrate – I just appear “worried”. I get concerned questions asked, which breaks my concentration – “Uh, no, not worried 'bout anything …” “But you _looked_ worried …” Lucky, _lucky_ tongue stick-outers. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/13 "2005-08-28T09:36:00Z")
You two should just be glad you don’t do a gookie when you concentrate! ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/14 "2005-08-28T15:03:24Z")
I’m another one of the tongue sticker outers, but I also talk to myself. The second one gets annoying after a while. ---
**Author:** ![Jeeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@Jeeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeeves)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/15 "2005-08-28T15:09:26Z")
I stick my tounge out too. Just the tip, and I usually don’t even notice. My family tends to give me a hard time about it 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/16 "2005-08-28T15:11:04Z")
I used to do the tongue thing when younger. Sorry, OP - back to the (cartoon) drawing board. 🙂 What is a “gookie”, please? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/17 "2005-08-28T16:11:58Z")
Go visit a classroom of fourth-graders while they are taking a test. In my observation, sticking out the tongue while concentrating is very common among children, and tends to decrease in general among older populations. Maybe people who did it as kids become more self-conscious about it as they get older. But as this thread demonstrates, there are plenty of people who do it, even as adults, and that’s how animators adopted the expression for their characters. ---
**Author:** ![PinkNailFile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@PinkNailFile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PinkNailFile)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/18 "2005-08-28T18:26:02Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I’m another one of the tongue sticker outers, but I also talk to myself. The second one gets annoying after a while. Me too! Everyone on my dad’s side does this. We kind of turn our tongues sideways, stick them out, and bite down. It’s always on the left side, too. Just one of those wierd idiosyncrasies (sp?), I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/19 "2005-08-28T19:07:57Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > What is a “gookie”, please? I didn’t know the name either till I looked it up. I wonder how many dopers know what it is? I was pretty shocked to not find it in wikipedia too. Somebody should research it and put it in Harpo Marx’s entry. Harpo tells a story where he used to walk by this guy’s shop (I think he was a cigar roller) and through the window Harpo would watch as he carefully rolled cigar and made this face. Harpo liked it so much he started doing an impression of it. It’s that funny face he does in the movies. He calls it a gookie after this guy. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945/20 "2005-08-28T19:21:03Z")
Thank you, **Fern Forest** - another bit of ignorance vanquished. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-tongue-hanging-out-determined-why/318945.md?page=2)