Best. For Better Or For Worse. Ever.
For Better Or For Worse, 1/26/05
You mean she’s “screwing,” right?
Just to show you the impact this blog has had on my home life: my fiancée came running into my home office around 8:45 a.m. today as I was enjoying my morning Coca-Cola, practically besides herself with glee at today’s FBOFW. Now, as noted, she’s a sex ed pro, and in fact works with teens for her job, and has never heard any of these euphemisms used by actual adolescents. Maybe it’s because they’re Canadian-specific terms. Can one of our north-of-the-border readers confirm or deny? Anyone? Jim Morrison? Anyone? Whatever the case, I urge all of you to start using these terms in your daily conversation, if only because calling a 14-year-old girl a “gig” or “roadside” is more polite than calling her “a big slut” or “jailbait.”
Non-Canadian-sex-slang observation: In the FBOFW patois, children almost always say “an’” for “and.” This makes a certain sort of sense, though poor Elizabeth is still doing it at age 23 or so.
As a final note, as I was putting the finishing touches on this post, faithful reader Ken emailed me the following note: “Could you please comment on today’s For Better Or For Worse? I am in awe of it.” I think that about sums up my feelings.
January 26th, 2005 at 10:36 am
I feel dirty whenever I point this out, but she isn’t “jail bait” in Canada. The age of consent is 14 here.
January 26th, 2005 at 10:42 am
As for the slang words, they’re all foreign to me. They sound like pseudo-70s jive talk.
But idano, kids today…
January 26th, 2005 at 10:45 am
I sent an inquiry regarding this lingo to Lynn Johnston’s production company at businessinfo@fborfw.com
Let’s hope they reply and let us know if this is how kids are talking up
north.
January 26th, 2005 at 10:47 am
I think Lynn is just making up terms. She’s “backyard.”
January 26th, 2005 at 10:53 am
Is this an example of Canadian ebonics? In any case, this is the best sexual slang from a Canuck since Snow said “I licky boom boom down”.
January 26th, 2005 at 10:58 am
I want to see the next panel. I bet they throwdown right there on the bus so they can be popular too.
January 26th, 2005 at 11:22 am
JohnnyB -
How often DO you point that out?
January 26th, 2005 at 11:34 am
Might I suggest the following addition to your earlier FBOFW predictions:
April becomes a
whoregigJanuary 26th, 2005 at 11:53 am
Actually, it makes some kind of sense to me that the words would be made up — it keeps the strip from dating too quickly.
“Hands on” isn’t so bad.
January 26th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
Been there.
Done that.
Ready for my next gig.
Meet me at the roadside.
January 26th, 2005 at 12:33 pm
What’s really funny about Canadian law is that the age of consent is 14 for real people but 18 for fictional characters.
January 26th, 2005 at 12:38 pm
So much for masturbating to the comics page. Canada takes the fun out of everything.
January 26th, 2005 at 12:39 pm
“Throwdown”? Is that Canadian slang for screwing too?
In my town that just means chugalug some alcoholic beverage or other.
January 26th, 2005 at 12:57 pm
“Throwdown” where Im at is a slang generally meaning to fight (assumedly refering to throwing down the gloves, the first and most important preparation for a hockey fight – or perhaps a boxing match where youre really pissed off).
e.g. “That gig is refusing to pay her pimp, I think they are about to throwdown.”
January 26th, 2005 at 1:13 pm
I wish this strip could’ve gone one for 25 more panels at least just so we could read more made up sex euphamisms-
“She eats her dinner standing up.”
“She always puts hot fudge on her sundae.”
“She whistles while she works.”
“She always Tivos the 11 o’ clock news.”
“She enjoys it when fellows stick their dicks in her vagina.”
It may be the greatest FBOFW ever, but with a little more work it could’ve been the greatest comic strip ever period.
January 26th, 2005 at 1:22 pm
Hey Gigs, here is the hands on *official* word from Team FBOFW:
>Hi there,
>
>Thanks for writing!
>
>Yes – Lynn did make up the ‘jive talk’ >that the kids in the strip are using.
>
>Have a great day,
>
>Allison
>Allison Zadorozny
>FBorFW Team
>http://www.fborfw.com
January 26th, 2005 at 1:24 pm
I can’t believe no one has commented on the very first slang/euphemism. “She’s hangin’ high”. I’ve never heard this before, and would have guessed it to be an unsubtle 420 reference. Apparently it’s Canadian for being temporarily stuck-up or something.
Of course, if this is a common phrase, I apologize. It’s possible my street lingo skillz ain’t what they once were.
January 26th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
I know the world is wack and all, but — Lynn has “people”?
January 26th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
This entire story line goes really well with the Barenaked Ladies song “Grade 9.” Just imagine today’s dialogue set to that song’s bridge. All the sex slang and then “They called me Eddie.”
January 26th, 2005 at 2:14 pm
Maybe that was the slang when Lynn grew up in the 40s?
January 26th, 2005 at 4:32 pm
Web Links
I thought that it was time to share a few of the things I’ve recently found on the web. First off, Scottish Widows. It doesn’t seem to be a joke. Tired of reading and analyzing the comics? Josh reads/The Comics…
January 26th, 2005 at 5:03 pm
I almost e-mailed the exact same thing. It’s so…not on the pulse of the average teenager any where. Classic comic page buffoonery
January 26th, 2005 at 5:17 pm
“Jive talk!” Oh my gawd, Lynn’s “people” actually said “Jive talk!” After reading today’s strip, I can die a happy hep cat.
Slip me five, Jackson! Beat me daddy, eight to the bar! Jive talk. Whoo Hooo! Lynn must be two days older than God. Jive talk indeed.In my grandmother’s day, maybe.
January 26th, 2005 at 5:26 pm
When I read FBOFW this morning I was like “the hell…?” So glad it showed up here!
January 26th, 2005 at 6:57 pm
I’ve started reading the comics again because of this site, so when I saw that strip, I was crossing my fingers that I’d see it here–well done!
Of course, you’ve commented on this before, but putting quotes around slang is “idiotic.”
January 26th, 2005 at 8:16 pm
OK. You specifically asked for my take on the
slang terms for being sexually active. I have
not heard any of the terms used in this episode.
Then again I was 14 in the mid 70s so a lot will
have changed.
January 26th, 2005 at 8:18 pm
Meanwhile, lost in the scandal over what’s being said, everyone’s overlooked Duncan’s great expression of sheer trepidation in panel 3. He sure is a master of giving that look, and I’m sure he’ll have plenty more occasion to use it in the future, if this holds up.
January 26th, 2005 at 9:35 pm
Yo, Josh, I think your blog is great and that you should go back to the old title. That title was really good.
January 26th, 2005 at 10:03 pm
When I read todays FBoFW over lunch, I thought, “Man, am I ever out of touch with today’s youths.” Realizing that I’m not as out of touch as I feared is just the balm my weary, old soul needs.
I’m just imagining old Lyn running fake “jive talk” by her team. Someone voted for these.
Stunning.
January 26th, 2005 at 10:27 pm
Josh, it has been way too long since I’ve checked your fabulous blog, and lo and behold I read it today and am elated to know despite all the chaos in this crazy, crazy world, you still drink coke for breakfast. miss you!
January 26th, 2005 at 10:42 pm
Sorry. I am a not-reading idiot.
January 26th, 2005 at 11:11 pm
I wanted to see you comment on the funny lines radiating from the head of Apartment 3-G’s “FBI Pete!” You know, after Margot got mad at him for implying she was roadside.
January 26th, 2005 at 11:47 pm
Wierd…
Katie Couric hosted a special on TV tonight called “The 411″ where she “raps” with some “tweens” about “premarital intercourse.” Also, tonight’s episode of Smallville had a preachy public service announcement about the dangers of Kryptonite-induced teen sex.
Is there some crazy abstinence holiday going on today?
January 27th, 2005 at 3:37 am
Y’know, reading FBOFW sometimes makes my head hurt; this was one of those days. Fake jive talk is cringe inducing.
January 27th, 2005 at 7:26 am
It’s a 16-ton anvil of LynnSpeak for “She’s a Slut/Tramp/Whore who shouldn’t share the same comics page as my beloved characters.”
January 27th, 2005 at 8:36 am
I imagine the fake slang was because Lynn was dancing around the fact that they’re talking about their friend losing her virginity to a 17-year-old guy–any recognizable slang and the strip probably would’ve gotten cut from newspapers all over the place.
January 27th, 2005 at 8:36 am
I imagine the fake slang was because Lynn was dancing around the fact that they’re talking about their friend losing her virginity to a 17-year-old guy–any recognizable slang and the strip probably would’ve gotten cut from newspapers all over the place.
January 27th, 2005 at 10:02 am
Anna is spot on. When I read this strip my only guess was that FBoFW felt compelled to use euphemisms for euphemisms as a sort of pre-emptive self-censorship.
January 27th, 2005 at 10:51 am
You know, I was hoping maybe “a gig” was some techno-nerd variant of the bases. Like, she goes to first base, she’s only a meg, but Becky’s a Gig–she goes all the way, baby!
January 27th, 2005 at 11:08 am
Check out today’s follow up strip. She isn’t roadside, she’s now roadkill!
January 27th, 2005 at 12:37 pm
I have lived my entire life in many different parts of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia etc… I have never heard any phrases remotely like these. Of course I have’nt lived/been any farther west than Thunder Bay, so I could not say how the rest of the country speaks. What exactly is “hangin high” supposed to mean?
As for the age of consent JohnnyB, I may be mistaken but that consent applies only to people within a specific age group. If I understand the link you provided correctly, the boyfriend could be charged unless he was under 16. The strip says he was 17 which means in this circumstance that ‘Becky’ is in fact ‘jailbait’.
January 27th, 2005 at 1:23 pm
This isn’t the first time FBOFW has used fake kid slang, although I’m too lazy to look it up. April’s friends do this all the time. They are very cool froods.
January 27th, 2005 at 2:17 pm
Hey, cut Lynn Johnston some slack — John Hughes made up all the teen slang in his 1980s teen comedies, too, and you see how popular they were!
The best euphemism anybody every came up with for sex was drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs (a.k.a. John Bloom): “..making the sign of the double-backed aardvark…”
January 27th, 2005 at 2:47 pm
Heh-heey, yeah-man. Kids can be so cruel. I didn’t realize that Becky was sitting right in front of April and Duncan. Maybe they think that by speaking in code Becky won’t realize what they really mean.
WoodrowFan, spot on with your comment.
Becky is swinging low, she’s had her hands cut off, the gig’s been canceled, she’s been left there, and she is certainly road kill.
Poor Becky.
January 27th, 2005 at 2:51 pm
“Hey, cut Lynn Johnston some slack – John Hughes made up all the teen slang in his 1980s teen comedies, too, and you see how popular they were!”
Joss Wheedon and the Buffy writers too.
January 27th, 2005 at 4:20 pm
I’m Canadian, and I can confirm that no, we do not speak like such blithering idiots. There’s about thirty times more swearing, for sure.
January 27th, 2005 at 4:33 pm
OH, Mac with your techno nerd thing. A byte is,what first base? A Kib (kb) would be second base, a Meg (mb) would be third, but a Gig, baby, she goes all the way. Heehee.
January 27th, 2005 at 4:50 pm
Yeah yeah, props to Lynn and all that, but check this out, folks:
http://gig.urbanup.com/974123
That’s from Jan. 2!
January 27th, 2005 at 5:34 pm
The most egregious example of April’s slang was at Elizabeth’s post-graduation party, where they ran into the helicopter pilot. When he hugged Elizabeth, the thought bubble over April’s head was “Girl, that is one fine hunk of man meat”.
January 27th, 2005 at 6:09 pm
Anyone who knows what “gig” really means – apparently – probably isn’t reading FBOFW.
They’re all “calling the dogs” and “popping their tops.”
January 27th, 2005 at 7:48 pm
Everyone is missing the real point. The crux of this joke was the “ain’t coming back” pun off of the euphamism “been there.” If the FBoFW people admit they made up this term, then they admit that the whole joke was manufactured. Making puns is lazy, but making up words to make puns out of is just wrong.
January 27th, 2005 at 8:30 pm
Do people in Canada ever say “Bonus” as an equivalent for “Cool”? I remember April using this expression several times a few years ago.
January 27th, 2005 at 8:30 pm
Anonymous wrote:
“The most egregious example of April’s slang was at Elizabeth’s post-graduation party, where they ran into the helicopter pilot. When he hugged Elizabeth, the thought bubble over April’s head was “Girl, that is one fine hunk of man meat”"
Actually, her comment in reference to Warren was “rich dessert on the table, girl”.
Truly, as bad made-up-on-the-spot expressions go, that one takes the cake.
January 27th, 2005 at 9:00 pm
We used to say “bonus” interchangeably with “cool” (though only as an exclamation, not an adjective) in high school back in Australia. And Australians are kind of like Canadians only warmer.
January 28th, 2005 at 12:30 am
The unaddressed question: WHY???
January 28th, 2005 at 12:31 am
Also, I was rather boggled to see 54 comments on this. Josh (the other one) ain’t lying about the bandwith drain.
January 28th, 2005 at 1:41 am
Josh, allow me to help your readers understand this streetwise Canadian strip. I speak some Canadian, and as anyone with foreign friends knows, you learn all the slang first. Allow me to translate. “Hands on” Well, that one’s fairly obvious. Becky doesn’t put up a fight. Why would she? 14’s the age of Canadian consent. “She’s a GIG” Though used somewhat improperly here, GIG is an acronym for Getting It Good. “She’s roadside” as in roadside attraction. Pull over your daddy’s car and Becky’s ready to go. Invite your friends to watch. “She’s been there” April’s slang here is a little naive. It refers to Canada’s sexual education curriculum, which defines an orgasm as “a place that a man and a woman visit together when they love each other very much.” “Being There: a Sex Ed Workbook for Young Canadians” describes there as “heaven on earth only much stickier and smellier.” Unfortunately, this heavenly analogy has confused many a young Canadian mind. Observe the last panel in which April’s friend makes it clear that Canada’s virgins have no knowledge whatsoever of multiple orgasms.
January 28th, 2005 at 9:18 am
I kind of took “gig” to mean that she’s nailed so many rock stars that they actually consider her to be a separate “gig” from the one they are in town to legitimately perform, i.e.
Vancouver, January 26
Calgary, January 27
Becky, January 28
Maybe LJ should have just stuck to real slang, as her phony-baloney grandma-slang is just making Becky look like ten times the whore she actually is.
January 28th, 2005 at 12:03 pm
Well, today’s FRoFW finally let’s us know the truth. Becky is somebody that got “RAN INTO.”
January 28th, 2005 at 12:32 pm
Yes. “Ran into” is another way to put it. “Jeffo” must be quite the stud if he left Becky feeling like she’s been hit by a truck. Ow.
January 28th, 2005 at 4:57 pm
“Austin Mayor”, did you use the term “jive talk” in your email, or did Lynn’s people use it without being prompted?
January 28th, 2005 at 6:32 pm
I didn’t know Fred Phelps had a Canadian brother (see P. A. Phelps, #57) who’s loopy in the other direction.
January 28th, 2005 at 9:06 pm
I must meet P. A. Phelps. This person is clearly a genius.
Then again, Lynn Johnston may be the genius. This is probably the most attention one of her strips has gotten in years. And all because she came up with a few euphamisms for “sexually active teen”.
January 29th, 2005 at 7:45 am
Watch out, Jeffo! Becky’s out for revenge!
Will she slash his tires? Stalk him? We won’t find out for months because LJ will quickly start a new storyline on Monday. Damn, and I wanted to see Becky an’ April dressed like ninjas, lurking in Jeffo’s backyard!
January 30th, 2005 at 1:40 pm
“Rich dessert on the table” is a favorite, but another classic is the time April was explaining chat abbreviations to (I think) Elly, and one of the examples was “GMBO,” translated as “Giggling My Butt Off.”
January 30th, 2005 at 2:30 pm
Remember when April would wear socks around her head to transform into some sort of martial arts heroine? I picture Becky and April doing this either to Jeff, or MAYBE to each other in a fight to the death eminating from Becky’s jerky behavior these last few months.
January 31st, 2005 at 8:07 am
Maybe Lynn should fix up Becky’s jerky “boyfriend” with Anthoney’s wife Therese. They deserve each other!
January 31st, 2005 at 10:23 am
After seeing 1/31’s strip with April and Beckers in the bathroom, all I could think of was Grandpa Jim huffing “Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?” The morality of this strip is really starting to annoy me.
Time for some serious revenge, Beckers! Put on those ninja outfits and start wrecking havoc!
February 1st, 2005 at 8:05 pm
so wait… can we keep going with the computer-base analogy? after gig would be ‘tera’. would that mean she takes it up the butt? and what the hell would ‘exa’ mean?!?!?
February 2nd, 2005 at 11:43 am
So, I wrote in to try and get this settled. Here’s the exchange:
Hi Shawn,
Thanks for writing!
That is just Lynn’s way of “talking teen”. They are talking about how Becky
has been hanging around with and older guy and what might have happened
between them.
Have a great day,
Allison
So I wrote back (note there’s no Pete):
Dear Alison,
Thanks for writing back so quickly. I was wondering why none of the
words were making any sense. I realized that it’s just the kids using
slang.
After I got your response, I showed the comic to my son, Pete, who’s
home sick today (he’s 14, too).
He said he’s never heard those expressions before.
Reading subsequent strips, though… I still can’t figure out what the
expressions were supposed to mean as to what happened.
So, “roadside” means “dating”? Does “gig” mean maybe a snob, since she
was acting snooty? And “been there” means someone who’s dated before?
If it’s not too much trouble, I would really appreciate this getting
straightened out– none of the follow-up strips have cleared anything
up.
Thank you for your time, even if you cannot help me.
Thanks,
Shawn
PS: Pete says hello, too!
PPS: Are there any plans for more RObert Tanner dolls based on the
comic? I got my wife Farley for a birthday gift last year, and she
loved it!
And then I got the reply:
Hi Shawn (and Pete!),
Lynn made up the words…nothing based on what real teens say, as her editor
probable wouldn’t have let any of those words into the papers! What Lynn is
implying though is that Becky is now “experienced”…and the rest is up for
interpretation!
As for the Tonner Dolls, no, the last April Doll, “Warm and Fuzzy” was the
last one.
Have a great day,
Allison
February 2nd, 2005 at 2:02 pm
Umm I have never heard anything like that before. My schools most favourite words are “slut” “whore” and “pedophile” so I have no clue what the artist was thinking. But then again she’s really old so maybe that was what they said back in 1883? I dunno.
February 2nd, 2005 at 4:06 pm
Jeez, even her crew uses “quotes”! “Talking teen”…could she be any more condescending?
I sent an email last night myself, asking point-blank if Becky is supposed to be a virgin or not. Wonder what reponse I’ll get. Probably get the same coy, waffling answer you did: “The rest is up for interpretation!” Teehee! In other words, I have to put on my thinking cap and use my imagination?
February 2nd, 2005 at 4:14 pm
It’s really amazing how plausible P.A. Phelps’ explanations are, above. If people hadn’t been going directly to the source I totally would have believed him. Actually it makes me wonder if she is using real slang and “officially” denying it.
March 22nd, 2005 at 7:28 pm
In Vancouver there are three tracks, the Low Track, the Mid Track and The High Track. There was for a short time a Kiddy Track. So if Becky is roadside, I wonder which one she is on.
March 23rd, 2005 at 10:40 am
What does FOOB mean, in today’s For Better or For Worse strip? Is the dude described as a foob desireable or not?
March 24th, 2005 at 3:00 pm
I hope someone comes back with an answer as to what a Foob is. I’ve been wondering that myself, but can’t find the FBOFW strip where “foob” was defined by April to her mother.
March 25th, 2005 at 12:57 pm
FOOB is a portmanteau of the words “FOOL” and “BOOB”
Check it out at
http://joshreads.com/index.php?cat=36
August 28th, 2005 at 7:58 pm
My first impression of the 4th panel was more like the saying “once you go black you never go back” or whatever.
September 3rd, 2005 at 7:40 am
Those terms are totally unknown in Canada. She’s made them up, and really it’s embarrassing because it just shows how out of touch she is. She has no idea anymore how kids this age would actually talk. It’s time for this strip to die. Stop torturing us.
November 19th, 2005 at 7:25 pm
OK, people… let’s get our heads out of the gutters and understand that the slang was done to allow it in the newspapers as if Lynn put in the real words the comic would not be allowed in most newspapers (as this was said above). This does not show Lynn being out of touch with the world or that she’s crazy or that April is going to become promiscuous or anything. It is normal for teens to act the way April is without them actually REALLY wanting to do it.
I’m sorry if I sound like a dweeb or something, but you guys are ruining one of my favorite comics! Can’t I just be all innocent and not think April wants to be a whore!
January 14th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
Hey, L
two things:
1. shut up
2. develop a sense of humor
January 22nd, 2006 at 9:06 am
What rubbish, I would bet my entire years income that no teenager would ever use these terms.
April 7th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
When I was a kid (late ’70’s, small town, western Washington state) a ‘gig’ was merely a regular girlfriend, maybe yes maybe no on the sex thing. A ‘ride’ was was a regular girlfriend, definitley yes on the sex thing. The distinction was important at the time. If your girlfriend heard you referring to her as a gig, she wouldn’t necessarilly kill you, but if you called her a ‘ride’…
June 19th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
it seems For Better or Worse is getting full of unfunny unlikeable characters, Jeremy Jones, Becky (who should be called Blecky or B*****y, )Anthony, Do all the female characters in this comic have no brains, sense, or any self-esteem at all? They seem to only like someone who treats them like dirt, friends, or guys they like. April has Becky as a friend, who is no freind at all. Liz always goes for anyone who treats her like dirt. Remember when she lived with a guy who cheated on her? Then falling for Anthony, who is selfish and stupid. This strip is turning into a soap opera and a bad one .
November 24th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Hey,
First off, you people have way too much time on your hands if you have a whole blog page about one comic strips silly made up word.
Second, if any of you had kids, and actually paid attention to what they are doing, instead of leaving them to themselves and then wonder why they do drugs and have sex etc… you would know that there are common slang words throught the world, than there are things that a group of kids will say only within their group of freinds.
Anyone who knows that Becky is a singer/performer and it would make sense to use those kind of words. If you followed the strip you would know things like this. Most people that work or go to school together will develop a lingo.
Have yourselves a great time in your un-expanding immagination!