# What's Up, Doc? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-doc/305191 "2005-05-23T23:58:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-doc/305191/1 "2005-05-23T23:58:12Z")
Why? Who is Bugs referring to when he speaks of “Doc”? Why? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-doc/305191/2 "2005-05-24T01:15:35Z")
It was a vocal quirk of one of the animators (Tex Avery, IIRC). He tended to call people he didn’t know “doc.” That was transferred to Bugs. It was the equivalent of “Pal,” but was different enough to be distinctive. Avery picked up the habit while he was in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-doc/305191/3 "2005-05-24T01:19:04Z")
I liked the occasional variation: “What’s up?..Duck?” ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-doc/305191/4 "2005-05-24T05:13:00Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It was a vocal quirk of one of the animators (Tex Avery, IIRC). He tended to call people he didn’t know “doc.” That was transferred to Bugs. It was the equivalent of “Pal,” but was different enough to be distinctive. Avery picked up the habit while he was in high school. Yeah, that was the official explanation. The truth is, that at some point in the future I invent a chronospatial displacement device. Among other adventures, I travel to Cockroach Terrace. That line is a direct reference to me. You see, I was Mel Blanc’s lover. Apparently, Marvin the Martian’s voice was his tribute to certain sounds I made during sex. And now you know the rest of the story. ---
**Author:** ![Hombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@Hombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hombre)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-doc/305191/5 "2005-05-24T14:33:54Z")
“Hold the phone, Chuck.” ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-doc/305191/6 "2005-05-24T14:36:35Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Yeah, that was the official explanation. The truth is, that at some point in the future I invent a chronospatial displacement device. Among other adventures, I travel to Cockroach Terrace. That line is a direct reference to me. You see, I was Mel Blanc’s lover. Apparently, Marvin the Martian’s voice was his tribute to certain sounds I made during sex. > > And now you know the rest of the story. Termite Terrace. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-doc/305191/7 "2005-05-24T14:44:14Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Termite Terrace. Not in the alternate timestream where DocCathode made hot, steaming monkeylove with Mel Blanc. Funnily enough, in that itteration of reality Blanc subsequently went on to be POTUS when Dick Nixon died in a bizarre autoerotic asphyxiation accident. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.