# "I was kicked out of the Boy Scouts for eating a Brownie" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 11, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746 "2010-12-11T02:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/1 "2010-12-11T02:32:35Z")
So this joke is about as old as dirt, but I just recently had a debate with a friend of mine over what the joke actually _means_ So when you first heard the joke what meaning did you take from it? Sexual? Non-Sexual? What? Please help end the argument. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/2 "2010-12-11T02:37:59Z")
Yes, sexual. Cannibalism is never funny. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/3 "2010-12-11T02:38:01Z")
I take it as performing cunnilingus on a young girl scout. It wouldn’t be funny otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/4 "2010-12-11T02:42:53Z")
Sexual Heard it about forth grade. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/5 "2010-12-11T03:14:32Z")
the other one I heard (in 8th grade, I think) is: Q: What’s blue and comes in Brownies? A: Cub scouts. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/6 "2010-12-11T03:27:40Z")
I was kicked out of the Cub Scouts for hailing a water taxi. (Well, more than that, really, but it was the final straw.) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/7 "2010-12-11T03:29:06Z")
Cannibalism. > [@Eonwe](#): > > Yes, sexual. Cannibalism is never funny. “This clown tastes funny.” ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/8 "2010-12-11T03:42:04Z")
I assumed the punchline was sexual when I first heard it, but actually the non-sexual interpretation is funnier. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/9 "2010-12-11T03:45:39Z")
I heard it as When does a Cub Scout become a Boy Scout? When he eats his first Brownie. The cannibal interpretation never occurred to me until I read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/10 "2010-12-11T03:49:32Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I assumed the punchline was sexual when I first heard it, but actually the non-sexual interpretation is funnier. But the non-sexual interpretation doesn’t work without the sexual connotation. “Eating a brownie,” if referring to masticating a chocolate confection, isn’t funny unless you equate it with cunnilingus on a young female scout. Why would someone be penalized for munching on a cookie? And as far as cannibalism goes, I guess that works as humor for 4th graders, but elephant jokes are funnier. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/11 "2010-12-11T03:57:51Z")
Sexual, no question. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/12 "2010-12-11T03:58:49Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > And as far as cannibalism goes, I guess that works as humor for 4th graders, but elephant jokes are funnier. Each their own I guess. When I was in fourth grade oral sex seemed a lot funnier and more taboo so that interpretation seemed funnier. But now, oral sex is only mildly amusing while killing and eating young girls remains both funny and certainly taboo, and so that interpretation seems funnier. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/13 "2010-12-11T04:14:51Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I heard it as > When does a Cub Scout become a Boy Scout? > When he eats his first Brownie. Me, too. I like this version better, because the rite-of-passage thing really works with this joke. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/14 "2010-12-11T04:17:35Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I take it as performing cunnilingus on a young girl scout. It could just as well be analingus. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/15 "2010-12-11T05:19:47Z")
Needs a poll. (To settle the question in the OP.) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/16 "2010-12-11T15:15:43Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Needs a poll. > (To settle the question in the OP.) Can I still do that? Even this late in the thread? ETA: I purposely didn’t put which side of the argument I was so that no one thought to just agree with me to agree with me ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/17 "2010-12-11T15:31:23Z")
Sexual, of course. Otherwise not funny. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/18 "2010-12-12T06:42:42Z")
Sexual. The humor comes from the double meaning of two words: “eating,” and “brownie.” If you go for the cannibalism interpretation, you’ve only got a double meaning on one of the words. Therefore, that interpretation is exactly half as funny as the sexual interpretation. Can’t argue with the math, folks. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/19 "2010-12-12T06:58:12Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Yes, sexual. Cannibalism is never funny. “Mommy, mommy! I hate my sisters’ guts!” “Shaddup and eat what’s in front of ya.” I learned THAT one in the boy scouts! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746/20 "2010-12-12T10:57:52Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > But the non-sexual interpretation doesn’t work without the sexual connotation… > > [snip] > > And as far as cannibalism goes, I guess that works as humor for 4th graders, but elephant jokes are funnier. Definitely. My young boys would find the pun on “Brownie” and the idea of eating someone hilarious, with no idea about the sexual connotation. When I first read the joke in this thread (and I hadn’t heard it before) that’s what I thought: it was a cannabalism joke for very small children. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-kicked-out-of-the-boy-scouts-for-eating-a-brownie/563746.md?page=2)