# Did Homer Simpson really say "wankers" ? Does no one in the USA know what it means? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007 "2003-04-21T11:20:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/81 "2003-04-24T12:24:27Z")
I think Comedy Central’s uneven censorship is easily explained by teh fact that they didn’t do much of it. Bleeded out stuff in movies is done by the prduction house, not the network. Thus, CC may buy a movie that has a very conservative cut, bleeping out teh mildest innuendo or profanity, and air just before the “Cartman Says Shit 162 times epsiode of South Park”. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/82 "2003-04-24T12:35:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > **. . . would you take the kids to "The Spy Who Fucked Me?"** No, I’d wait until they were asleep and then go by myself. 😛 I think “quaint” adequately describes how most Americans view all British slang words, even truly vulgar ones like bloody, shag, or wanker. British and/or European culture just doesn’t register sometimes. I remember seeing on some show about 80s music on VH1 a discussion of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s dance hit “Relax.” The lyrics? _Relax, don’t do it When you want to suck to it Relax, don’t do it when you want to come_ In Britain this was understood literally, with “come” = orgasm, and caused a scandal. But in the U.S., the song was played on Top-40 radio nationwide. Nobody batted an eye. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/83 "2003-04-24T12:42:54Z")
I heard that _Relax_ was banned from airplay in Oklahoma. Did that actually happen? (IIRC, Oklahoma banned the Academy Award® winning _The Tin Drum_.) ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/84 "2003-04-24T13:37:11Z")
We’ll just have to see what happens if “Rock Star” makes it to network TV. There is some great British cussing when the bands’ singer comes out of the closet and accuses his band mates of being homophobic. The reply… “As if we give a toss who you’re buggering, Bobby” And they gay singer also calls the road manager a wanker, all within about a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Theom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@Theom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theom)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/85 "2003-04-24T16:34:43Z")
\*\* Walloon \*\* the artical you refered me to is under the impression the gesture is that of the middle finger (in the us called flipping the bird?). The gesture I am refering to involves the first two fingers of the hand. I have my doubts about the artical, obviously the Pluck Yew is wrong and I have never heard that before. I am going to go and consult my history books to see if I can find a reliable cite. I have trouble believing that French Men at arms would be chivalrous to the men capable of shooting a shaft of wood through plate metal at long distances and I have also read references to men having their two smallest fingers crushed and then set free because the oposing army could not look after prisoners. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/86 "2003-04-24T17:11:11Z")
Why did Comedy Central bleep out a “shit” in last night’s South Park? ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/87 "2003-04-24T19:13:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*Censorship on Comedy Central is DEEPLY weird. They bleep everything, including ‘god’ (when used as a profanity), at certain hours. \*\* When “The Kids in the Hall” airs, sometimes words that pass in one episode will be bleeped in another. On the same token, “blowjob” has been bleeped out on “KitH”, yet Comedy Central lets it be said nearly a dozen times when they show “Rushmore.” Speaking of weird American editing, has anyone noticed that A&E has started to let “shit” fly? (That sounds really strange.) I’ve mainly seen it as part of documentary-type original programming–“Investigative Reports” and that one-off they did where they had three men and two women dress as the opposite gender and try to pass. When did this start? I get cable, but other than this station (and PBS, which doesn’t count), I never hear the s-bomb on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/88 "2003-04-24T19:33:40Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Theom \* > \*\*\*\* Walloon \*\* the artical you refered me to is under the impression the gesture is that of the middle finger (in the us called flipping the bird?). The gesture I am refering to involves the first two fingers of the hand._\* While the gestures are different, the meaning behind them is essentially the same. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/89 "2003-04-26T08:29:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lizard \* > \*\*To hell with Shaggy – what do they think of _Scooby?_ A half-talking dog with the last name of “Doo”? Good lord. \*\* Scooby-doo has achieved the highest possible accolade. He is a rhyming slang term for confused. “do you know when the next train to london is?” “sorry mate, I haven’t got a scooby” Scooby-doo = clue (or lack thereof) So now you know. We also think shaggy is funny. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/90 "2003-04-26T09:27:04Z")
Also, I think that because the British are percieved as being “terribly polite” by us Yanks, there’s the belief that if it’s a British term for something, it _can’t_ be all that obscene, since in polite society, one doesn’t say really obscene or offensive things. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/91 "2003-04-26T11:55:54Z")
Surprised nobody has mentioned Weebl and Bob yet (or have they and I missed it). The (classic) first episode [‘PIE’](http://www.weebl.jolt.co.uk/pie.htm) ends with Weebl calling Bob a wanker. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/92 "2003-04-26T14:18:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlstretchingtime \* > \*\*Scooby-doo has achieved the highest possible accolade. He is a rhyming slang term for confused. > > “do you know when the next train to london is?” > > “sorry mate, I haven’t got a scooby” > > Scooby-doo = clue (or lack thereof) > > So now you know. > \*\* This makes complete sense to me. :Ds ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/93 "2003-04-26T20:33:35Z")
It is worth mentioning that although the term ‘wanker’ _technically_ means ‘one who masturbates’, when used as an insult, it does not really imply this, it is just a generally derogatory terms (in much the same way that _asshole_ does not really mean the addressee is _literally_ a rectal sphincter, it means they are a contemptible idiot) ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007/94 "2003-04-27T00:28:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*It is worth mentioning that although the term ‘wanker’ _technically_ means ‘one who masturbates’, when used as an insult, it does not really imply this, it is just a generally derogatory terms (in much the same way that _asshole_ does not really mean the addressee is _literally_ a rectal sphincter, it means they are a contemptible idiot) \*\* And also, as with most British swear words, it can be used as a term for being drunk: _wankered_ . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-homer-simpson-really-say-wankers-does-no-one-in-the-usa-know-what-it-means/170007.md?page=4)