# Punchdub or Slug Bug? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 6, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501 "2010-03-06T03:27:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/1 "2010-03-06T03:27:56Z")
The current advertisements by Volkswagen are using the phrase “Punchdub” along with a punch to the arm. Prior to this, I have never heard of Punchdub. Growing up, everytime a VW Beetle was spotted, we would call out Slug Bug and clobber the closest sibling. I have asked around and can find no one has ever heard of Punchdub. What was the phrase you use or used when hitting someone when a VW was spotted? ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/2 "2010-03-06T03:32:01Z")
[Slug bug](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=537062). ---
**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:** [March 6, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/3 "2010-03-06T03:36:46Z")
I have been assured by my two 8 year-old nieces that Slug Bug is the correct term. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/4 "2010-03-06T03:41:21Z")
neither – “Punchbuggy” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/5 "2010-03-06T03:43:08Z")
Punch_dub_? I’ve always heard it as “punch buggy”, generally with a color attached so everyone else will notice the vehicle in question. Like, if it’s a red car that prompts the punch, it’d be “punch buggy red”. To be safe, you also need to say “no punch-backs” immediately, or the other person can, well, punch you back. If you’re not inclined towards violence, or are out of arm’s reach of any targets, there’s also “consider yourself punched”, or CYP for short. So a full call might go something like “Punch buggy red, CYP, NPB”. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/6 "2010-03-06T04:07:34Z")
Punchbuggy. I think you heard the ad wrong. They probably said Punchbug. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/7 "2010-03-06T04:38:09Z")
“Padiddle.” 1962 ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/8 "2010-03-06T04:39:50Z")
Never heard it called anything but punch-buggy until I joined the SDMB. > [@](#): > > I think you heard the ad wrong. They probably said Punchbug. The VW ads really say punchdub, a name I’d never heard before: [VW Models: SUVs, Sedans, Electric cars | Volkswagen](http://www.vw.com/punchdub/) Dub is short for vee- **doub** le-u apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/9 "2010-03-06T04:50:39Z")
When I was a kid, the first one to see a VW Bug would say ‘Beep! Beep!’ and get a point. No punching involved. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/10 "2010-03-06T04:54:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Punch_dub_? I’ve always heard it as “punch buggy”, generally with a color attached so everyone else will notice the vehicle in question. Like, if it’s a red car that prompts the punch, it’d be “punch buggy red”. To be safe, you also need to say “no punch-backs” immediately, or the other person can, well, punch you back. If you’re not inclined towards violence, or are out of arm’s reach of any targets, there’s also “consider yourself punched”, or CYP for short. So a full call might go something like “Punch buggy red, CYP, NPB”. > [@samclem](#): > > “Padiddle.” 1962 We always send Punch Buggy [Color], No punch backs, and I know with some people if you said Padiddle and hit the top of the car you were safe to not get hit. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/11 "2010-03-06T04:59:35Z")
I grew up playing “slug bug”. As an adult, my own kids came up with “punch buggy” on their own…I have no idea where that came from and my encouragement to change back to slug bug never took. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/12 "2010-03-06T05:19:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > When I was a kid, the first one to see a VW Bug would say ‘Beep! Beep!’ and get a point. No punching involved. That is so weak and PC. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/13 "2010-03-06T06:06:53Z")
> [@](#): > > “Padiddle.” 1962 When I was a kid, “padiddle” was a car with one headlight out, and had no particular ritual associated with it aside from saying the word. A “dapiddle”, meanwhile, was a car with one taillight out, and since you see those so much less often, was worth more prestige or whatever the heck we were playing for. I either don’t know or don’t remember what the protocol was for a Beetle with a light out, whether one called “punch buggy” or “padiddle” on it first. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/14 "2010-03-06T08:26:46Z")
We always said “slug bug” when I was little. Where I am now the kids all say “punch buggy” except they have this big long saying now where it is “(color) punch buggy no punch back”. We have the same rule as Chronos and Joey P. If you forget to say the no punch back part then the other person is free to punch you in the arm too. Unlike the others in this thread, we say the color first. I never heard punchdub until this thread. ETA: I thought at least some of the ads are saying “new one” then they punch someone in the arm. ---
**Author:** ![Foldup\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/15 "2010-03-06T08:30:51Z")
Another one on the Punchbuggy bandwagon here. We’d yell the colour of the beetle first, and then punch someone else in the arm. As in, “red punchbuggy, no returns!!” If you neglected to include the last part, you were likely to be revenge-punched. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/16 "2010-03-06T09:21:49Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > That is so weak and PC. Heh 😃 In my highly pacificistic and liberal family (heh), we played “Beebop”, which I just now realize is probably in reference to the sound an old Beetle’s horn must make. Originally, the rule was, you would call Bebop if you saw a Volkswagen Beetle, and eventually the game evolved so we had to indicate which direction “Bebop, left side” or eventually the color “Bebop the Red One” or style “Bebop the Convertible”. After the New Beetles came out, for a few years they “didn’t count”, and now the new ones are worth one point, convertibles an extra point, classic beetles worth double, and any beetle made to look like a bug or a rodent automatically won the game (there is a pest control company in Arizona that stylizes New Beetles to look like bees, mice, etc. as a PR thing) Not sure why we never played Punchbuggy, to be honest. Probably my parents didn’t want to deal with my sister and I getting into brawls in the back seat of the car during long distance road trips growing up in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/17 "2010-03-06T17:56:37Z")
It’s Punch Buggy. VW changed it to Punchdub and made it apply to any VW model, which is just dumb and lame, the whole thing with VW Bugs is that they had a distinctive look and it was easy for anyone, especially kids, to recognize them at a distance. How many kids would recognize a Jetta, Schiroco or Taureg? (not even sure how to spell the last two). It’s Punch Buggy, not Punch Jetta. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/18 "2010-03-06T18:43:12Z")
Oh, and a new variation that my fiance and I have now (due to the boredom inherent in driving around Kansas): If you see two Jeeps in quick succession, you say “Jeep Jeep!” (like you’re honking a horn) OK, so only I do that. Don’t judge me, I’m BOORED. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/19 "2010-03-06T19:17:48Z")
Punchbuggy is the only term I’ve ever heard off these boards, and Padiddle was a car with only one headlight lit as Chronos said. FTR I hate the new commercials, because it was a term for VW Bugs only, not any VW you happened to see. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501/20 "2010-03-06T21:08:00Z")
Always heard “punch bug” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/punchdub-or-slug-bug/531501.md?page=2)