# Explain this Doonesbury Strip **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048 "2015-07-24T13:28:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/1 "2015-07-24T13:28:32Z")
Ever since Garry Trudeau stopped doing daily strips, the online outlet for Doonesbury has been running old strips in its place. Here is today’s (July 24 --if you’re reading this on a day other than July 24, you can navigate to it using the calendar), which is from 1984: [Doonesbury](http://doonesbury.washingtonpost.com/) I’m trying to figure out what Boopsie is referring to in the last panel, but can’t come up with anything. However, I’m thinking I may be reading too much into it, and she’s not talking about anything real – the joke is that she isn’t supposed to be saying anything. Thoughts? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/2 "2015-07-24T13:39:21Z")
Maybe queefing. But I think it was supposed to be something unidentifiable. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/3 "2015-07-24T13:42:56Z")
I googled quaaluade and shallow end of the pool thinking that perhaps someone famous had drowned while intoxicated. But the joke may be that the criteria are unfulfillable, inscrutable. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/4 "2015-07-24T13:51:15Z")
Here’s a vote for MacGuffin. The joke is that B.D. is so adamant about selling the salacious details of their lifestyle to trash “journalists.” The line in the last panel is equivalent to Pinky saying “I think so, Brain. But where are we going to get three dozen owls and a swimming pool filled with mayonnaise?” ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/5 "2015-07-24T13:58:47Z")
I agree, it’s not supposed to refer to anything specific. It’s just supposed to make the reader imagine what it could be. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/6 "2015-07-24T14:07:18Z")
But, it being inscrutable doesn’t really explain his “BOOPSIE!” reaction. I’m going with queefing. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/7 "2015-07-24T14:30:43Z")
It’s not inscrutable to B.D., only to the reader. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/8 "2015-07-24T14:32:22Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > But, it being inscrutable doesn’t really explain his “BOOPSIE!” reaction. > > I’m going with queefing. I don’t know how well known the term was in 1984. I assume not well known or that particular strip would have generated some controversy. But Trudeau might have known it and slipped it in. Most of his critics concentrated on his political statements and wouldn’t have been looking for veiled references to explicit sexual acts. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/9 "2015-07-24T14:49:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > The line in the last panel is equivalent to Pinky saying “I think so, Brain. But where are we going to get three dozen owls and a swimming pool filled with mayonnaise?” Exactly. The whole joke is that she’s describing something so outré that we don’t recognize it from her description; it’s outside our experience. If we _could_ guess what she was talking about, the strip would be much less funny. ---
**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 24, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/10 "2015-07-24T14:52:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I don’t know how well known the term was in 1984. The term was well known to me in the 70’s and 80’s. Otherwise I agree that the joke is it really didn’t mean anything. That’s what I felt when I read the original strip in 1984, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/11 "2015-07-24T15:08:59Z")
Just an off-hand guess, but Boopsie’s comment could be an oblique reference to the [1984 Summer Olympics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Summer_Olympics) which took place in L.A. later that summer, and would have been big news at the time. (The U.S. had boycotted the 1980 Olympics and this was their ‘comeback’ year, so anything connected with competitive sports was a big deal.) ---
**Author:** ![Vaevictis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f04885/32.png) [@Vaevictis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaevictis)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/12 "2015-07-24T15:18:52Z")
I vote for ‘Quickie’. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/13 "2015-07-24T15:36:05Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > “I think so, Brain. But where are we going to get three dozen owls and a swimming pool filled with mayonnaise?” Walmart. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/14 "2015-07-24T16:06:10Z")
I was actually thinking of opening a thread like this. I thought the joke was that Boopsie was referring to something unidentifiable, but was wondering if I had missed something. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > The term was well known to me in the 70’s and 80’s. I may have heard the term before _South Park_ began using it in Terrance and Philip episodes, but certainly wasn’t aware of it in the 70s and 80s. We used the more descriptive “pussy fart” back then. In any case, queefing may be shocking but not really depraved, and it isn’t something you specifically do in the shallow end of a pool. Based on the suggestions so far, I’m still going to go with unidentifiable. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/15 "2015-07-24T16:23:56Z")
> [@Vaevictis](#): > > I vote for ‘Quickie’. That’s my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/16 "2015-07-24T16:28:40Z")
> [@Vaevictis](#): > > I vote for ‘Quickie’. That’s the most depraved thing she’s ever done? Had sex in a pool? I vote Joke McGuffin. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/17 "2015-07-24T16:30:12Z")
Hmm. Starts with ‘Q’…shallow end of a… Where were YOU in 1984, Qadgop? _J’accuse!_ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/18 "2015-07-24T16:31:09Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I and it isn’t something you specifically do in the shallow end of a pool. > > Based on the suggestions so far, I’m still going to go with unidentifiable. I think you’re right. ‘Shallow end of the pool’ points away from anything in particular. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/19 "2015-07-24T16:56:41Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That’s the most depraved thing she’s ever done? Had sex in a pool? > > I vote Joke McGuffin. This. Right up there with “Noodle Incident” in Calvin and Hobbes. Alluded to, oft discussed, never explained. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048/20 "2015-07-24T17:18:09Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > This. Right up there with “Noodle Incident” in Calvin and Hobbes. Alluded to, oft discussed, never explained. Absolutely. It’s noodles all the way down. Which is the most depraved thing I’ve seen in Hollywood. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-doonesbury-strip/726048.md?page=2)