# Do you wallow in your own crepulence or crapulence?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wallow-in-your-own-crepulence-or-crapulence/256121>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 21, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wallow-in-your-own-crepulence-or-crapulence/256121 "2004-07-21T03:00:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wallow-in-your-own-crepulence-or-crapulence/256121/1 "2004-07-21T03:00:54Z")

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For years I’ve been thinking that Mr. Burns of the Simpsons stated that he enjoyed wallowing in his own crepulence. But recent searches for verification of that timeless word uncovered little; rather the vast majority of posts on the subject use the term “crapulence” instead. While I admit to enjoying the term “craptacular”, I must admit I was disappointed to find that my version of the term, “crepulence”, seems to be incorrect.

Anybody got the straight dope on what the writer really meant?

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**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wallow-in-your-own-crepulence-or-crapulence/256121/2 "2004-07-21T03:07:35Z")

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It’s definitely “crapulence”.

The full quote, from Who Shot Mr Burns (Part 1):  
“Smithers had thwarted my earlier attempt to take candy from a baby. But with him out of the picture, I was free to wallow in my own crapulence”.

With this context, and the meaning of crapulence being greedy overindulgence, Mr Burns is saying that he can now take as much candy from babies as he wants, literally and figuratively.

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**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:** [July 21, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wallow-in-your-own-crepulence-or-crapulence/256121/3 "2004-07-21T03:16:08Z")

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[Crapulence](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=crapulence).

Crepulance turns up nothing but a suggestion that I meant ‘crapulence’.

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**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wallow-in-your-own-crepulence-or-crapulence/256121/4 "2004-07-21T05:33:00Z")

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I used to wallow in my own crapulence. One day, however, I made the mistake of resting on my laurels. When I lost my job, I could no longer afford crapulence of my own, and had to wallow in the crapulence of others. Eventually I would move on, having overstayed my welcome, and I learned that charity imbues the best crapulence with a bitter aftertaste. I swore to wallow no more until I could again have crapulence of my own. Sliding downward, I began to fester in my own slovenliness, and even to atrophy in my own decrepitude. Then my fortunes reversed again, owing to the timely intervention of a mysterious Belgian noblewoman and the unlikely juxtaposition of some pickled herring and a baby grand piano. Oddly, though I could now easily afford cubic miles of crapulence, my desire to wallow had withered. After handsomely repaying those who had helped me, I donated the remaining crapulence to various charities, which allowed me to bask in my own benevolence.

Now, mostly, I just sit around in my shorts.