# Did Willie say "shite"? (Simpsons) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719 "2004-05-24T00:33:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/41 "2004-05-25T00:00:18Z")
There was a sketch show in the UK in the early 80s (Not The 9 O’Clock News, for those that care), which featured a song entitled ‘cunnilingus’. Funnily enough, they were told not to show it. So they showed it, introduced as “Kinda Lingers”, but otherwise unchanged. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/42 "2004-05-25T00:07:09Z")
Something nobody’s mentioned is that having Willie say “shite” in that context wasn’t all that funny. Usually they use has accent for a pun of some kind. Like when Bart asked if he had his dog, he said, “Yeah, I 'ate 'im!” (i.e. he **hates** him, not he ate him). Or in the Halloween ‘The Shining’ parody, "You got the shinnin’ ", “You mean Shi-”, “Shhh, ya want to get sued!”. Unless there’s some double meaning to “The new tractors are all shite” that I’m not getting… ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/43 "2004-05-25T00:11:22Z")
> [@El Elvis Rojo](#): > > That’s like having a censor be oblivious to a man pronouncing “Fuck” as “Fook”. Heh…I watched Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life” on Bravo some years back. While they edited out most of the coarse language, they missed the part where Mr. Creosote says, “Fuck off, I’m full.” Granted, the line sounds more like “Fugk ofthbt, Igh’m fthull.” ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/44 "2004-05-25T01:40:36Z")
OK, I’m officially thoroughly confused as to what point **Tengu** is trying to make about WtB. When Spike was introduced in season two “William the Bloody” was presnted as nothing more than an alternate name. In “Fool For Love” we learn that the nickname pre-dated his vampirism and is a reference to his poetry. FWIW and IIRC it’s a female character who has the line explaining it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/45 "2004-05-25T01:52:22Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > But the real question is, if Willie can say Shite, can he say Arsehole? Stay tuned… No. Arse, maybe (since they’ve said ‘ass’ before), but not arsehole. Too severe. Yes, you could say ‘why did they get away with shite, then?’ but I bet they wouldn’t do it. As IMDB notes, “In the U.S., “shag” is far less offensive than in other English-speaking countries. Singapore briefly forced a title change to “The Spy Who Shioked Me.” (“Shioked” means “treated nicely.”)” ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/46 "2004-05-25T02:13:12Z")
> [@El Elvis Rojo](#): > > I understand that censors would let certain swear words go because, well, in America, they just don’t mean anything (I remember my mother who was born in Liverpool being flaberghasted when she saw and ad for **Austin Powers; the Spy Who Shagged Me** ). When Katie Couric interviewed J.K. Rowling on American television just before the release of the most recent _Harry Potter_ book, they discussed how Harry was beginning to act like a teenager. Couric: “Any snogging with Hermione?” Rowling: “Harry and Hermione! Do you think so?” Couric: “No, I’m kidding. We should probably explain that snogging means kissing.” Rowling: “Yeah.” Couric: “Lest people think they were shagging!” (I almost fell over! Rowling managed to control her expression, but continued to say…) Rowling: “Lest people think you’re talking about something completely inappropriate.” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/47 "2004-05-25T02:29:15Z")
> [@El Elvis Rojo](#): > > I understand that censors would let certain swear words go because, well, in America, they just don’t mean anything (I remember my mother who was born in Liverpool being flaberghasted when she saw and ad for **Austin Powers; the Spy Who Shagged Me** ). Hell, in a television show directed at your standard English speaking audience, you can have Spanish speaking characters go off on rants of cuss words and noone bats an eye. Not necessarily. I can remember one of the writer’s for the original _Batman_ TV series saying that he used obscene words in foreign languages for characters names. It didn’t take too long for folks to write in and complain. He claimed that the producers made him then submit every name to them before the script could be approved. One time they decided that a character’s name was obscene, this ticked the writer off to no end as it _wasn’t_ an obscene name, so he subbed the most obscene word he knew in any language for it. The producers said, “Looks fine.” The episode aired, and they got all kinds of letters in response, telling them that the character’s name was obscene. At this point, the producers left the writer alone. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/48 "2004-05-25T02:44:14Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > OK, I’m officially thoroughly confused as to what point **Tengu** is trying to make about WtB. My point was that there’s nothing odd about Spike using ‘bloody’ or other foul language - he started using it, and the working class accent, when he became SPIKE, rather than William. Spike isn’t a ‘Victorian gentleman of William’s class’ - he’s a low-class tough - or, rather, someone who wants to project the image of a low-class tough. I will (again) grant that I may have misread Nonsuch’s point, which may have been about the people who gave him the nickname, in which case I’ll just hush. But talking about someone using the word casually tends to suggest Spike’s using it every other word rather than a one-off insult, and specifically mentioning William…well, it suggests William, rather than the people insulting him. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/49 "2004-05-25T03:33:16Z")
Homer came as close as one can on American network TV to saying “asshole” in the episode where he is elected garbage commissioner. Near the end, as Marge is watching garbage trucks from all over the nation dumping their trash in Springfield, she mentions that Springfield is becoming America’s trash-hole. Homer responds, in Pig Latin: “Ixnay on the ashhole-tray.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/50 "2004-05-25T03:59:02Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > Cool. Then the next Simpsons I want to hear Lenny call Carl a “wee cunt”. > (Well, I’m more of an Irvine Welsh fan then Patrick O’Brien :D) Nope, that’s still a bad word here too. Damn, it figures the one time they have a GOOD episode is when I skip _The Simpsons_, thinking it will be another sucky one! :smack: Don’t forget, Willie also “'ate the mess he left on the floor!” ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/51 "2004-05-25T06:27:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Couric: “Lest people think they were shagging!” > > (I almost fell over! Rowling managed to control her expression, but continued to say…) Umm, just how vulgar is the term **shagging** in the King’s English? Cause to us Yanks, even knowing what it means, it sounds childishly comical, like saying ‘doing it’ or ‘getting it on’. But is it more like us saying ‘banging’ (which is too vulgar for American TV). Of course, to you guys that means sausages or something, right? My head hurts… ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/52 "2004-05-25T07:00:13Z")
From what I understand, it’s more like saying “fucking.” I can’t believe this thread has gone to two pages now without anyone (myself included) pointing out that the censors didn’t know “Shite” from “Shinola.” ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/53 "2004-05-25T07:29:11Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > Umm, just how vulgar is the term **shagging** in the King’s English? Cause to us Yanks, even knowing what it means, it sounds childishly comical, like saying ‘doing it’ or ‘getting it on’. It’s pretty much like that. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/54 "2004-05-25T07:57:19Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > No, “cunt” is _worse_ over here than it is over there. _Worse_. Yeah but there’s no way we’d work “wee” into a curse…so I thought they could do “wecunt” and nobody’d notice 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/55 "2004-05-25T12:55:09Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > Homer came as close as one can on American network TV to saying “asshole” Except for Sipowicz who actually said “asshole” about, oh, a million times. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/56 "2004-05-25T13:38:37Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > But is it more like us saying ‘banging’ (which is too vulgar for American TV). > > Of course, to you guys that means sausages or something, right? Or at least, something that is done _with_ sausages. \ I was surprised to learn, a while back, that “pounding your pudding” was a euphemism for male masturbation. Over here in America, “pudding” means a specific kind of dessert, usually made by the Jell-O company, that’s either used as a soft sweet pie filling or eaten directly by kids. I’ve heard “pudding” used as an American euphemism for the female genitalia, due to its velvety texture, but never as a euphemism for anything associated with a man. Apparently, the “pudding” referred to in “pounding your pudding” is one of the many kinds of baked dishes that the British call “pudding” – in this case, one that looks like a large sausage. I’ll bet that what we Americans call pudding, the British call a biscuit or something. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/57 "2004-05-25T14:29:37Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > My point was that there’s nothing odd about Spike using ‘bloody’ or other foul language - he started using it, and the working class accent, when he became SPIKE, rather than William. Spike isn’t a ‘Victorian gentleman of William’s class’ - he’s a low-class tough - or, rather, someone who wants to project the image of a low-class tough. > > I will (again) grant that I may have misread Nonsuch’s point, which may have been about the people who gave him the nickname, in which case I’ll just hush. But talking about someone using the word casually tends to suggest Spike’s using it every other word rather than a one-off insult, and specifically mentioning William…well, it suggests William, rather than the people insulting him. This is still going on? Yes, I was referring to the people who gave mousy little William the nickname “William the Bloody,” not to William himself. I was simply making the point that, however awful William’s poetry was (and it sounded pretty damn awful), people of William’s class would regard “bloody” as gutter language and certainly wouldn’t have made it into a sort of nickname. I further agree that the creators of Buffy might’ve realized this and simply sacrificed verisimilitude for the sake of the joke. But it’s a pet peeve of mine anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/58 "2004-05-25T16:12:22Z")
Well hey! I’d like to welcome you all to the longest thread I have ever started. Having a thread reach a second page isn’t all that impressive, but you never forget your first time. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/59 "2004-05-25T16:24:31Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > I was surprised to learn, a while back, that “pounding your pudding” was a euphemism for male masturbation. I’ve always heard it as “pounding your pud.” (pronounced as pudd, not rhyming with wood) I can see how pud could derive from pudding, but growing up in Chicago, pudding was something Mom made for dessert. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719/60 "2004-05-25T17:08:39Z")
Topped with Dad’s fresh whipped cream! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-willie-say-shite-simpsons/246719.md?page=4)