# Ever moon anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887 "2011-02-02T13:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/21 "2011-02-03T09:02:57Z")
No. My first encounter with the concept was watching An Officer And A Gentleman, which would make that age 14. Mooning is one of those concepts which are common in the US, sometimes in other cultures, but which leave your average Spaniard completely confused, either the concept itself or the ease of its application. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/22 "2011-02-03T22:33:49Z")
God didn’t give me this ass to keep it hidden in my pants! ---
**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:** [February 4, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/23 "2011-02-04T00:38:06Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I think I have mooned/flashed my husband before. I’ve definitely mooned A.C. at home. Usually after she pulls down my pants. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/24 "2011-02-04T01:20:32Z")
Ha, that’s hilarious. No, I’ve never mooned anybody - never occurred to me to do so - although I was once in a car with somebody who I never liked very much who was so drunk she tried to moon another car… but _forgot to turn around._ I’m laughing just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/25 "2011-02-04T02:12:26Z")
I actually find it to be quite an unpleasant sight. Arguably their point, but it also means I would never consider doing it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/26 "2011-02-04T02:52:52Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > No. My first encounter with the concept was watching An Officer And A Gentleman, which would make that age 14. > > Mooning is one of those concepts which are common in the US, sometimes in other cultures, but which leave your average Spaniard completely confused, either the concept itself or the ease of its application. If it helps, we don’t really understand your custom of making figurines of celebrities taking a shit, either. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/27 "2011-02-04T03:18:51Z")
Wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/28 "2011-02-04T08:38:38Z")
No idea unless **LHoD** is talking about some of the figures used in Fallas and similar stuff elsewhere. It’s common for graphic satire to represent someone shitting on something: the minister of finance shitting on the economy, a democratically elected dictator (100% participation! even the dead vote!) sitting on a voting urn with his pants around his ankles… Since the most common form of graphic satire is newspaper cartoons, that’s where you will most often encounter this, but there are also a few instances where the graphics in question are temporary sculptures made of balsa wood and papier maché: the most famous ones are those exposed and burned down during Valencia’s Fallas (the name refers both to the festival and to the sculptures). Every year, a single figure from one of the compositions is “absolved” and saved from the flames: you can see pictures of absolved figures [here](http://www.fallas.com/index.asp?pagina=museo-fallero&c=42) under “ninots indultats”. (I don’t think there’s a single scatological figure among the saved) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/29 "2011-02-04T12:13:28Z")
[Caganer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/30 "2011-02-04T14:26:04Z")
But the caganet is not “a figurine of celebrities” and it’s restricted to a very specific occasion and in a very specific area. It’s a Nativity figure used in Catalonia. It’s about as region-specific as the Kentucky Derby: known by the whole country, but the majority hasn’t seen it outside of an occasional TV blurb. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/31 "2011-02-04T14:41:56Z")
That whole article is bizarre. “An Iberian votive deposit was found near Tornabous in the Urgell depicting a holy Iberian warrior defecating on his falcata. This started a short-lived series of polemics between the Institut d’Estudis Catalans and the Departament d’Arqueologia in the Conselleria de Cultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya as to whether that can be regarded as a proto-caganer (which would place the origin of this tradition far earlier than previously thought) or just a pre-combat ritual.” ETA - and, er, what’s up with the Catalans and poo? I doubt other regions have this sort of sentence attached: “The Caganer is not the only defecating character in the Catalan Christmas tradition.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/32 "2011-02-04T15:03:19Z")
No idea, but apparently they’ve been shitting around for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/33 "2011-02-04T15:31:09Z")
Never. And I’d never do it. I mean, I find it funny on occasion, but it literally never occurs to me as a means of communication! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/34 "2011-02-05T01:30:18Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > But the caganet is not “a figurine of celebrities” and it’s restricted to a very specific occasion and in a very specific area. It’s a Nativity figure used in Catalonia. > > It’s about as region-specific as the Kentucky Derby: known by the whole country, but the majority hasn’t seen it outside of an occasional TV blurb. [Read the article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer#Traditional_vs._modern_portrayals): > [@](#): > > The Catalans have modified this tradition a good deal since the 1940s. In addition to the traditional caganer design, you can easily find other characters assuming the Caganer position, such as nuns, devils, Santa Claus, celebrities, athletes, historical figures, politicians, Spanish royalty, British royalty,[10] and other famous people past and present. Just days after his election as US president in 2008, a “pooper” of Barack Obama was made available. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/35 "2011-02-07T09:35:24Z")
Yes, but those are novelty items. The caganer or caganet has been around a lot longer; the “celebrity” part is not only non-esential but a rarity. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/36 "2011-02-07T11:46:15Z")
Mooning people is pretty much a novelty item here, too. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/37 "2011-02-07T15:12:35Z")
_gives **LHoD** a 10-cent coin_ Happy now? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887/38 "2011-02-08T13:24:49Z")
Well, it’s about dime! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-moon-anyone/569887.md?page=1)