Chandra is a 12-year-old accidental time traveler with a reluctant new dad, who happens to be a member of a feared galactic crime syndicate.
Star Trip
Gisele Weaver
Jas is a human taken from her home planet on a trip across the galaxy she will never forget.
How to be a Werewolf
Shawn Lenore
Malaya Walters was bitten by a werewolf as a child. After being raised by her human family, she faces the chance to learn what being a werewolf is really like as an adult.
Demon Studies
Miyuli
Four students summon and study potentially dangerous demons within the walls of the mysterious Summerland University.
Drugs & Wires
Mary Safro, Io Black
Dan used to be a VR operator until his brain got fried by malware. Now he's stuck delivering packages in a post-Soviet hellhole all while trying to adjust to his new life and find some answers.
Folklore
Adam Ma, Colin Tan Wei
A superhuman horror story focused on a small band of survivors trying to navigate a war-torn world in the aftermath of the Federation’s collapse.
Between Failures
Jackie Wohlenhaus
The low stakes adventures of an assorted group of 20 somethings trapped in the declining years of American retail. They are naughty and say lots of swears.
Sam & Fuzzy
Sam Logan
Troubled by gangster rodents, lovesick vampire stalkers, or confused ninja assassins? Don't panic! Sam and Fuzzy are here to help. (For a reasonable fee.)
The Lonely Vincent Bellingham
Diana Huh
Vincent is an unkind man looking to disappear, and finds himself in the care of a vampire and her two wicked children.
[un]Divine
Ayme
A highschool senior thought giving up his soul for a demon was a good idea. It wasn't.
Patrik the Vampire
Bree Paulsen
Patrik loves to knit, bake, and help his friends while dealing with his own demons... like his thirst for blood because, oh yeah--he's a vampire.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Real Science Adventures
Brian Clevinger
Spin off stories and other adventures from the world of Atomic Robo!
Tove
Severin
The end of the world is coming, and Tove doesn't want to be a hero, but SOMEONE has to look after her little brother.
Spinnerette
Krazy Krow, Rocio Zucchi, Pablo Rey
When a lab accident gives Heather Brown spider powers and six arms, she does what any midwest comic geek would do: Become Ohio's #3 superhero!
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Monster Pulse
Magnolia Porter Siddell
Four kids run afoul of a creepy secret organization's experiments, which turn their body parts into fighting monsters. Part sentimental coming-of-age story, part monster-training shonen manga, with just a bit of sci-fi body horror.
El Goonish Shive
Dan Shive
WARNING: This comic often ignores the Laws of Physics
Atomic Robo
Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener
The robot punches monsters and bad robots and one time he was a cowboy.
Wychwood
Varethane
When Tiara's pyrokinesis is finally noticed, she is captured by a magical research organization for study. If she cooperates, she could be helping to save humanity from a dire threat - but can she trust them?
Lunar Blight
Studio CARTRIDGE, Laura Lee
Lunar Blight is a gothic horror story about an elite knight serving a moon cult who must choose between upholding his honoured duty or condemning everything he’s grown to know.
Demon's Mirror
Harry Bogosian
Based loosely off of "The Snow Queen", a story by Hans Christian Andersen, we see things take a different turn as the demons become central characters, and the side characters stick around. Yup, that's the only differences. Enjoy!
Far to the North
Allison Shaw
Kelu turns to the monsters of her remote mountain home when her family is held hostage by outsiders.
2 Slices
RJ Morel
After a case of mistaken identity, will awkward Daisuke find help from excitable Mamo, or will his love life be thrown completely off track?
Clockwork
Chikuto
Cog Kleinschmidt is a diligent, quiet worker at the Mercia Fortress, the world power's leading stronghold. His orderly life is thrown into chaos when an enemy kingdom sends a diplomat for peace talks. This diplomat needs something from Cog - whether he agrees to their terms or not!
Whomp!
Ronnie
A depressed, portly, hirsute anime fan stumbles through life in the ever-pursuit of chicken nuggets and other life-shortening indulgences.
Anacrine Complex
Sae Cotton
A superhuman heist involving probably too many pigeons than entirely necessary.
Lighter Than Heir
Melissa Albino
A young Volant woman joins the military in an effort to upstage her war-hero father.
Fairmeadow
Kendra P. / KP
A wayward soldier finds herself in a pacifist commune deep in the wilderness of a war-weary land. Living in isolation brings her closer to those she was sworn to kill than she could ever imagine - but also threatens to tear the place apart.
Hazy London
Scotty
A story about messy relationships. From friendly foes to crazy families. Nothing is black and white, just full of color. But, all colors can get a little hazy...
Solstoria
Angelica Maria
After her brother goes missing, Samantha vows to become a Knight and help those around her in the Kingdom of St. Helena.
Wilde Life
Pascalle Lepas
Oscar decided to rent an old haunted house, and that's when things got weird...
Knights Errant
J.R. Doyle
Wilfrid's humble quest for revenge becomes bigger and bloodier by the day.
Goblins
Ellipsis
A fantasy RPG as told through the eyes of the low-level monsters.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Girl Genius
Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success.
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Killjoys
Flatw00ds
When two disgraced ex-feds fall backwards into trouble with the clown mafia, getting out in one piece is gonna be no joke!
Heart of Gold
Eliot Baum, Viv Tanner
A pianist with failing eyesight seeks out a priest with a miraculous healing touch, drawing him deeper into a world of miracles and curses.
Come Hell or High Water
Jenny/Star, Mori
Prince Gladimir was never meant to fall for a pirate. Swearing off love for duty, the threat of war propels him back into the Captain’s world of high seas and high stakes. Their relationship could be the thing to save the kingdom of Yvoire - or destroy it.
The Witch Door
Anni K.
Katariina Lehto discovers her neighbor is a witch called Jousia Muotka. Jousia introduces Katariina to the strange people and places beyond the witch door...
BOOKMARK Click "Tag Page" to bookmark a page. When you return to the site, click "Goto Tag" to continue where you left off.
BUFFER WATCH
Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:
Somehow I *never* realized that this comic had hovertext despite the fact that after going back and reading hovertexts, I know that I definitely have read some of them previously.
Or, rather, “title text,” after the “title” attribute that properly produces it. The “alt” attribute is not actually supposed to do so, despite earlier versions of IE mistakenly implementing it as such. (That got fixed in IE 8.)
Yes, actually. It’s ASL all over America but in some states they sign certain words a little differently. I’ve got a story to go along with how I know this but eh. And I’m not intimately familiar with ASL and its differences across the nation, but I’m sure there are lots of other little things.
Also people in different states occasionally use different signs for things than proper ASL. The people I first started learning signing from in Texas (not that I have any ASL skills to mention) sign a double “T” (so TeeTee) for going to the bathroom, but when I was up in Colorado they had a different sign for it.
There are regional differences between signs for some words and region-specific signs for local areas. For example, the small town Binghampton in NY is signed locally by making a the “b” handshape and gesturing away from the nose. It’s a modified sign for “boring.” If someone were signing about Binghampton in California, they would probably fingerspell the letters instead.
Regardless of whether or not that was a serious question, I had to say something ‘cuz this stuff is freakin’ awesome.
Binghamton? Yeah, pretty boring place. Especially the one in California. It’s got about five houses and a few prickly pears planted in front of them. The one in NY at least has university.
The interesting thing about muteness is that it when it is not tied together with deafness, it is almost always due to psychological trauma, not physical problems. And when it is due to physical problems, there are always other ways for a “mute” person to complement their sign language with producing sounds, like clicks, pops, smacks, whistles, and raspberries.
You know, the best time to give a person advice that might influence both their love-life and another person’s educational and professional future is when the person who you are giving advice to is very drunk.
Jason would be forced to grade Sal on their lovemaking as an extra-curricular.
B-. Your foreplay has improved, but your technique is a bit flawed. I have some recommended reading for you tonight, and show up after school for the retest. *hands her the kamasutra*
It depends on who finds out and their own feelings about the subject. Generally speaking, depending on how high up the ladder it goes, it might be as minor as nothing at all, to Jason being switched to grade a different class or as major as Jason being asked to leave his graduate program.
Sal’s not dumb, considering the way Ruth has been acting lately, and the fact that Billie was just whining about how only loser girls make out with her, guessing the truth wouldn’t be much of a stretch.
Even if she could read it before, she can’t now. It’s pretty hard to read sign language when you’re facing away from the other person. Also, when you’re drunk.
When Billie’s drunk, she actually communicates via brain waves. That’s why she’s having so many drinks right now. In a second or two, she will casually walk down the hall to Ruth’s room.
Only to be interrupted by the thoughts of everyone masturbating to Walky on the way. Cause dang. That man is FINE. Did you see that shirt he was wearing?
“Hey, you can’t read sign language, can ya? Cuz I mostly get by on guessing and on her face, but if you know what she’s actually saying, that’d actually be real helpful.”
“A common misconception is the sign for “bullshit.” Signed with both arms held out, elbows bent, and folded in front of the signer with the dominant forearm on top, the dominant hand mimics a pair of horns with the index and pinkie finger. The non-dominant hand mimics the “business end” with flapping fingers. This sign is not considered part of ASL, but rather invented by hearing people. The correct sign is performed with both the pointer and pinkie finger being extended and thrusting the hand forward to signify “bullshit”. Another alternative is to make a “C” around your nose, rotate the “C”, and then close your hand in a fist and face your palm to your nose. These signs are, however, not used as jokes. To sign the equivalent of a joking “that’s BS,” you simply sign the letters B-S.”
I have an honest question about this. The only place on the Internet that mentions this misconception is the site this is copy-pasted from, a questionably uncited Wikipedia page. Is there another site that corroborates? Because I’m finding a heck of a lot of sign language dictionaries and ASL-dedicated internet forums that mention this sign. There are also multiple other ways to sign “bullshit” mentioned as well, but I think that’d be expected in any language.
Wait, that brings up a really interesting question as to whether ASL undergoes changes on the same way spoken and written language does. If you were to say that X was a word that meant something equivalent to “bullshit,” then I would say that it is now a word because you are a native English speaker. However, I don’t know if that happens is sign languages. I assume that people create new signs when they need them and they spread, just as new words. The same goes for changes in grammar.
I can assure you, while it IS a sign more used when interacting with hearing people, MANY Deaf and deaf users of ASL use this way to sign bullshit. There’s also the ‘t across the nose’ sign.
This must be a regional thing, because I actually don’t see that sign very often (I’m deaf.) The one I mostly see here is just a pinkie/forefinger outstretch (like giving the horns at a metal concert) with the hand facing inwards, bobbing it once in front of the chest.
Hmm, very interesting. Around my work place, it seems pretty common place with the deaf employees we have. Though I have also seen them sign “horse” and then “shit” too, for the same effect.
I’d like to see more of Marcie. I find her character design to be the most interesting one in the series, and having a mute character appear more prominently would add more variety to the cast.
I’m going to be rather upset if Billie doesn’t go through with her plan, only to find Ruth has offed herself, driving the university to enforce a massive crackdown on staff and assistants, so as to make this a real clusterfuck for Sal.
Considers
Hard on Ruth as well, I guess, but those are the breaks. No eggs, no omelet.
Ooh, Sal’s being manipulative for her own e~ends!
Ethan being with Joyce is a lie to cover up his being gay, the very act of Amber wearing a mask and becoming Amazi-Girl is a lie, Billie’s lying to herself by telling herself her problems don’t have to be dealt with by drowning them with alcohol…
DoA is a veritable breeding ground of deceit now, isn’t it?
Right now on the DOA website there is an advertising asking for money to fund protests against same-sex marriage in France (at least it is visible by french readers).
Mr Willis, I believe you may be interested in knowing that your website is currently used for a political agenda. One I do not think you agree with.
Maybe you can remove it from your website ? (the add is from adclick, it is blue and pink and the text is: “Je participe à / la manif pour tous / je fais un don )
For those who don’t know:
French representatives are currently debating about legalizing same-sex marriage and the law should pass before the end of this year.
However, there are a lot of opponents (mostly churchgoers) who try to prevent it. They are gathered under the name “La Manif pour Tous” and they organize protests to advocate the law’s refusal. Fortunately, they are very likely to fail. ^^
Actually, I think Willis has talked about this before and basically said “If the idiots want to waste their money by advertising on MY site, I’ll be glad to take it off their hands.”
Think of it this way: if they advertise on Willis’s site, that’s advertising money they can’t spend more effectively elsewhere! Double win, and Willis will just add more gay people making out to his comic to reinforce the intended message.
Still, it’s weird seeing this kind of ads right next to the DOA strips. Especially the BilliexRuth one !
I’ve taken a screenshot of it, of course, but can’t decide if I find it hilarious or just annoying …
Oh, and I’m taking your word about that “add more gay people making out” thing Li talked about !
There are two systems: 1.) Pay Per Click (PPC), and 2.) Per Per Impression (CPM*). If they have a PPC system, they pay Willis for every click on the ad; if they have a CPM system, they pay him for every time the ad loads.
In NEITHER case does the advertiser pay only for conversions (when someone makes a purchase). It’d be best for the advertiser, but it wouldn’t really be fair to anyone else.
(Once a potential customer has gone to their site, it’s really THEIR job to get that customer to buy t-shirts or w/e, and not Willis’s fault if they don’t, you know?)
* The M stands for Cost Per Mille, which means 1000, though the actual number varies a little.
Oh right! I completely retract any suggestions implied that you might be sexist, especially when you could totally school me in feminist theory any day.
I’m gonna take this comic strip as a sign that the thing with Jason was more than just a one-time thing. I’m thinking (or hoping, anyway), that this becomes a regular thing between Sal and Jason.
part of me is exstatic to see ASL
(bullshit, by the way)
and part of me is going “but how does she know to say bullshit? is she merely mute? should I be slightly offended that we are to assume she can read Sal’s lips from the side despite many ASL users not knowing how to read lips? Am I reading FAR too much into a great webcomic?”
rock on Willis!!!!
I know that it’s always been Marcie’s thing that she never talked, but I guess I just never really thought that she might be mute. She isn’t deaf though, is she? I mean, Sal was kinda looking away from her, so she had to hear it. Right?
My 2nd boyfriend back in high school was the eldest son of 2 deaf parents, and for some reason that is the first sign they saw fit to teach me… Thanks for a good laugh! lol. Totally disrupted my programming lecture.
It’s been a while since I saw that form of ‘bullshit’ (it’s archaic and not used as much anymore), but it’s quite nostalgic. I don’t know if it’s different in other areas, but normally it’s the index finger extended, not the thumb.
Of course, the more modern form of ‘bullshit’ could be mistaken easily for the ‘rock it’ hand sign so many love to associate to music now.
holy crap! Friends who speak sign language said I was making that sign up but I’ve known that one since I was a teen but never found anyone who knew it before!
I need more Muslim characters! Or at least more prominent ones who aren't Raidah. It is a huge giant hole in my strip that makes it suck. The current storyline would've been way better if they existed. But they don't, and no amount of throwing Asma in for three strips solves it.
TRANS WOMEN OF BLUESKY:
What was your egg cracking moment?
When did you know you were trans? What made you realize?
And did you know you were a woman right away, or did you pass through other identities first
Happy Nonbinary People's Day, you gemstones. A year or two back we introduced FLASH GORDON's first enby, the outlaw lawman Bones Malock. Having known and loved a lot of nonbinary people, I knew the truest way to represent you was as a unsettling desert pirate with a lightning sword
Happy International Non-Binary People's Day to all those who work, create, parent, protest, love and live without ever fitting into someone else's category.
Okay, everyone's jumping to conclusions, but Joyce was hit with a mysterious pink gas in Thursday's strip.
Now, in recent years, the police are known to increasingly use military grade weapons.
Which reminded me of this bit of proposed technology from the 1990s:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_bomb
hey, kid, what do you want to play with from the cool superhero movie? is it a nude, melting senator who feels like a stretch armstrong doll that has been left out in the son and maybe mildly chewed by a neighborhood dog? WELL, SON, YOU'RE IN LUCK!
Translation please?
“Bullshit.”
The things you can learn by reading this comic…
This is actually one of the few bits of sign language I recognize. Once you’ve seen it done, it kind of sticks in the mind.
I know exactly why you know that one..I think we learned it in 7th grade. Hi!
(This is Dan Abraham)
Think of it as though the right hand is showing the bull’s horns and the left hand is showing what that bull is doing.
Bullshit.
If you want to know what Marcie said, read the hovertext.
I keep forgetting this has hovertext now! [goes back and reads the last week’s worth of hovertext]
Somehow I *never* realized that this comic had hovertext despite the fact that after going back and reading hovertexts, I know that I definitely have read some of them previously.
What the heck is hover text?
The additional text that appears only when your mouse is hovering over the picture
It is put there by sadistic webcomic artists that enjoy trolling their readers by adding “hidden” jokes.
So of course, Willis is doing it.
aka Alt-text, after the “alt” image tag property that produces it.
That’s what’s it’s called everywhere else.
Whoop’s. (What’s it’s got’s in’s it’s pocket’s?)
Ha ha ha I see what you did thar.
Or, rather, “title text,” after the “title” attribute that properly produces it. The “alt” attribute is not actually supposed to do so, despite earlier versions of IE mistakenly implementing it as such. (That got fixed in IE 8.)
Oh snap! You are correct.
Damn, and I thought that was only XKCD.
WHAT? This comic has a hovertext??? Crap… Now I’ve gotta re read everything -.-
It’s only been around since the start of this chapter. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/02-guess-whos-coming-to-galassos/scoot/
Damn it, I just read the entire archive up to this point and this is the first I’ve known of the hovertext!
Sometimes they have sexy accents and admittedly snappy bow-ties and that’s nobody’s fault if you shack up with them.
This statement is true.
Wow, that was the perfect setup for you, wasn’t it?
Dangit, Willis!
Can you have an accent with sign language?
Some people sign harder or sharper than others.
#asspulls
Yes, actually. It’s ASL all over America but in some states they sign certain words a little differently. I’ve got a story to go along with how I know this but eh. And I’m not intimately familiar with ASL and its differences across the nation, but I’m sure there are lots of other little things.
Also people in different states occasionally use different signs for things than proper ASL. The people I first started learning signing from in Texas (not that I have any ASL skills to mention) sign a double “T” (so TeeTee) for going to the bathroom, but when I was up in Colorado they had a different sign for it.
There are regional differences between signs for some words and region-specific signs for local areas. For example, the small town Binghampton in NY is signed locally by making a the “b” handshape and gesturing away from the nose. It’s a modified sign for “boring.” If someone were signing about Binghampton in California, they would probably fingerspell the letters instead.
Regardless of whether or not that was a serious question, I had to say something ‘cuz this stuff is freakin’ awesome.
Binghamton? Yeah, pretty boring place. Especially the one in California. It’s got about five houses and a few prickly pears planted in front of them. The one in NY at least has university.
bullshit for those curious.
Sooooo. I don’t know if you read all these Willis, but is the DoA IRC still a thing? Any plans to repopularize that?
I will totally go there if you go there. Everybody IRC tonight! I wanna talk to you face to screen.
Where is it? I can’t find it.
I was never able to find it to begin with, but I’m opening up #DumbingOfAge in Sorcery if anyone wants.
Wasn’t the original if EF or something? I cant even remember what it was called.
It was in Nightstar, #dumbingofage.
Thank you for letting us know what she said.
That’s what she said, sort of.
To be fair, sign language isn’t exactly a commonly spoken language…
yea, i can’t remember the last time i heard it being used while walking down the street.
Awww…. Almost too far…
But still hilarious.
It’s 2nd only to Braile.
It has been a long time since I last heard anyone speak in Braille, I remember it being a very rough language.
Plas, if I could upvote or like comments on here, I’d definitely give you one for that comment.
Yo fellow redditor.
Danke! ^_^
But it conveys a lot of feeling.
“Bump, bump, no bump, bump, three vertical bumps, four bumps, and a square.”
Braille has its good points.
And 3rd to Latin.
Latin is a deadish lannguage, only spoken by Oxbridge grads, sciencists and certain ultra-conservative Catholicdenominations.
the kind that are on hand for an exorcism or three.
You get Oxbridge grads to perform exorcisms?
Well, yeah. Who else reads enough to know how?
Also Latin teachers, TV/movie action-archeologists, et cetera.
I always thought Marcie didn’t talk because she was a background character. Making her actually MUTE is a neat choice.
Go check her earlier tags. She’s been signin’ for forevers.
He meant in the originaly “It’s Walky” series.
That was the deal in the old universe, but yeah, here she’s always been signing.
It’s much cheaper for Willis to cast Marcie as a mute, if she spoke, he would have to pay her extra.
The interesting thing about muteness is that it when it is not tied together with deafness, it is almost always due to psychological trauma, not physical problems. And when it is due to physical problems, there are always other ways for a “mute” person to complement their sign language with producing sounds, like clicks, pops, smacks, whistles, and raspberries.
You know, the best time to give a person advice that might influence both their love-life and another person’s educational and professional future is when the person who you are giving advice to is very drunk.
Truly; that way, you have an even chance they won’t remember and blame you for it later.
Who is Marcie saying bullshit to, Billie’s or Sal’s comments?
Sal. That’s why she’s covering it up.
Thanks for clearing that up for me.
I’m going to guess Sal. She’s saying it partway through Sal’s spiel, so…
So what would be the consequences if the school found out that Sal and Jason knocked boots?
Jason would be forced to grade Sal on their lovemaking as an extra-curricular.
B-. Your foreplay has improved, but your technique is a bit flawed. I have some recommended reading for you tonight, and show up after school for the retest. *hands her the kamasutra*
“Go redden your lips with bull testicles, and maybe I’ll bump you up to a ‘B’. Maybe.”
Jason getting the boot?…
Sal is very dominating in the bedroom, you see.
Yes, it’s a literal boot.
It depends on who finds out and their own feelings about the subject. Generally speaking, depending on how high up the ladder it goes, it might be as minor as nothing at all, to Jason being switched to grade a different class or as major as Jason being asked to leave his graduate program.
I can’t tell if Sal is trying to help Billie or if she thinks Billie is referring to her. I’m not good at understanding things.
I’m pretty sure that Sal is trying to keep Billie from getting the bow-tie guy fired.
Especially the way Billie phrased it “A Supervisor has feelings for you … I could get them fired.”
It’s gender neutral and the way Billie mixed up her pronouns by using both you and I, it’s ambiguous enough that Sal could get confused.
Probably more toward if one person is being put on the spot for such an instance, then EVERYONE is going to be put on watch.
Sal’s not dumb, considering the way Ruth has been acting lately, and the fact that Billie was just whining about how only loser girls make out with her, guessing the truth wouldn’t be much of a stretch.
Methinks the lady doth protest too much, eh wot.
Oh, and I thought she was asking Sal for Billie’s number.
Guess that is it for Billie’s girl-action streak.
Even if she could read it before, she can’t now. It’s pretty hard to read sign language when you’re facing away from the other person. Also, when you’re drunk.
When Billie’s drunk, she actually communicates via brain waves. That’s why she’s having so many drinks right now. In a second or two, she will casually walk down the hall to Ruth’s room.
Only to be interrupted by the thoughts of everyone masturbating to Walky on the way. Cause dang. That man is FINE. Did you see that shirt he was wearing?
My alcoholism gives me psychic powers!
Mike’s scowl gives him super physical powers. To plow your mom. For a nickle.
Clearly Wixvhen wins the comment section.
“Hey, you can’t read sign language, can ya? Cuz I mostly get by on guessing and on her face, but if you know what she’s actually saying, that’d actually be real helpful.”
I am really enjoying the ASL.
“A common misconception is the sign for “bullshit.” Signed with both arms held out, elbows bent, and folded in front of the signer with the dominant forearm on top, the dominant hand mimics a pair of horns with the index and pinkie finger. The non-dominant hand mimics the “business end” with flapping fingers. This sign is not considered part of ASL, but rather invented by hearing people. The correct sign is performed with both the pointer and pinkie finger being extended and thrusting the hand forward to signify “bullshit”. Another alternative is to make a “C” around your nose, rotate the “C”, and then close your hand in a fist and face your palm to your nose. These signs are, however, not used as jokes. To sign the equivalent of a joking “that’s BS,” you simply sign the letters B-S.”
The more you know!
Well, Marcie is a hearing person after all.
She might intentionally be using that form hoping Billie would be more likely to understand it.
I like this explanation.
I have an honest question about this. The only place on the Internet that mentions this misconception is the site this is copy-pasted from, a questionably uncited Wikipedia page. Is there another site that corroborates? Because I’m finding a heck of a lot of sign language dictionaries and ASL-dedicated internet forums that mention this sign. There are also multiple other ways to sign “bullshit” mentioned as well, but I think that’d be expected in any language.
Wait, that brings up a really interesting question as to whether ASL undergoes changes on the same way spoken and written language does. If you were to say that X was a word that meant something equivalent to “bullshit,” then I would say that it is now a word because you are a native English speaker. However, I don’t know if that happens is sign languages. I assume that people create new signs when they need them and they spread, just as new words. The same goes for changes in grammar.
…I’d actually thought that symbol was BSL. I’m pretty sure I remember Alan Davies doing it once…
I think it falls into the realm of slang. Maybe *not* proper ASL, but most know it through popular use.
I can assure you, while it IS a sign more used when interacting with hearing people, MANY Deaf and deaf users of ASL use this way to sign bullshit. There’s also the ‘t across the nose’ sign.
For some reason i’m more attracted to her the moment she said bullshit
I’m quite proud of the fact that I didn’t have to read the title to know that sign.
This must be a regional thing, because I actually don’t see that sign very often (I’m deaf.) The one I mostly see here is just a pinkie/forefinger outstretch (like giving the horns at a metal concert) with the hand facing inwards, bobbing it once in front of the chest.
Hmm, very interesting. Around my work place, it seems pretty common place with the deaf employees we have. Though I have also seen them sign “horse” and then “shit” too, for the same effect.
I’d like to see more of Marcie. I find her character design to be the most interesting one in the series, and having a mute character appear more prominently would add more variety to the cast.
Me too.
Marcie and that girl with the short red hair and glasses are my favorite among the “mute” background cast, and I wish they were expended a bit.
Mandy.
I hope you mean “expanded”. “Expended” is what Willis did to them at the end of It’s Walky!.
I’m going to be rather upset if Billie doesn’t go through with her plan, only to find Ruth has offed herself, driving the university to enforce a massive crackdown on staff and assistants, so as to make this a real clusterfuck for Sal.
Considers
Hard on Ruth as well, I guess, but those are the breaks. No eggs, no omelet.
I learned one new thing today ^^
Ooh, Sal’s being manipulative for her own e~ends!
Ethan being with Joyce is a lie to cover up his being gay, the very act of Amber wearing a mask and becoming Amazi-Girl is a lie, Billie’s lying to herself by telling herself her problems don’t have to be dealt with by drowning them with alcohol…
DoA is a veritable breeding ground of deceit now, isn’t it?
Well, it IS college.
Well, it *is* a Willis comic.
About college.
Which is a breeding ground of deceit squared, which is actually a positive thing.
Billie really should tell herself the truth: Her problems do have to be dealt with by drowning them in alcohol! No other approach will resolve them.
It is a big deal as long as one party is supposed to have authority over the other.
I’m pretty sure that isn’t legit sign language.
Surprisingly, according to my deaf co-worker, it is legit. There’s also another sign for BS, but they use this one a lot too.
Not related to the current comic :
Right now on the DOA website there is an advertising asking for money to fund protests against same-sex marriage in France (at least it is visible by french readers).
Mr Willis, I believe you may be interested in knowing that your website is currently used for a political agenda. One I do not think you agree with.
Maybe you can remove it from your website ? (the add is from adclick, it is blue and pink and the text is: “Je participe à / la manif pour tous / je fais un don )
For those who don’t know:
French representatives are currently debating about legalizing same-sex marriage and the law should pass before the end of this year.
However, there are a lot of opponents (mostly churchgoers) who try to prevent it. They are gathered under the name “La Manif pour Tous” and they organize protests to advocate the law’s refusal. Fortunately, they are very likely to fail. ^^
I think it’s easier for him to remove it if you click it and check what the URL that comes up is. Not sure about this though.
Oh, l’ironie!
Actually, I think Willis has talked about this before and basically said “If the idiots want to waste their money by advertising on MY site, I’ll be glad to take it off their hands.”
Think of it this way: if they advertise on Willis’s site, that’s advertising money they can’t spend more effectively elsewhere! Double win, and Willis will just add more gay people making out to his comic to reinforce the intended message.
Yeah, that’s basically it. Anti-gay groups are gonna spend their money somewhere, so I’d rather it go to places where it’s basically a waste.
And then that money gets sent to the Human Rights Campaign, whoops.
Okay, no problem with this reasoning.
Still, it’s weird seeing this kind of ads right next to the DOA strips. Especially the BilliexRuth one !
I’ve taken a screenshot of it, of course, but can’t decide if I find it hilarious or just annoying …
Oh, and I’m taking your word about that “add more gay people making out” thing Li talked about !
Yeah, I’m pretty sure Mike and Ethan are gonna have to make out now to balance this out.
Do the advertisers get charged by how many times you click the ad? Should I just click it a whole bunch?
I think that’s the polar opposite of how it works.
No, that’s exactly how it works.
There are two systems: 1.) Pay Per Click (PPC), and 2.) Per Per Impression (CPM*). If they have a PPC system, they pay Willis for every click on the ad; if they have a CPM system, they pay him for every time the ad loads.
In NEITHER case does the advertiser pay only for conversions (when someone makes a purchase). It’d be best for the advertiser, but it wouldn’t really be fair to anyone else.
(Once a potential customer has gone to their site, it’s really THEIR job to get that customer to buy t-shirts or w/e, and not Willis’s fault if they don’t, you know?)
* The M stands for Cost Per Mille, which means 1000, though the actual number varies a little.
You made my week.
Nice Sal. REAAAAL classy.
The ending made it all worth it, though.
“Hey, another strip where the title isn’t somewhere in the dia-oh, wait, no, there it is.”
Marcie’s the hottest one in this comic.
Sal, shut up. Nobody cares if you’re having consensual sex with your TA. Even if you did forcibly disrobe him.
Props for drawing sign language. I is learning things.
Um, why does Sal give such horrid advice?
Same reason she makes such horrid decisions?
Touché.
Why is Amazi-Girl not on the poll?
She’s not on the poll because, even under his very convincing disguise, Joe is not a lady.
I think.
She is, in her civilian identity. She’s even winning.
I want to know why Leslie’s not on the poll.
I’m pretty sure she is.
I DEMAND A HOTTEST GUY POLL
SO I CAN VOTE FOR JASONUHH I mean.. because it would be sexist otherwise? Yeah, that’s a legit reason…..look, the guys are just really hot, okay?
It’s next. You can look through the poll archives to see what the results were the last time.
Oh right! I completely retract any suggestions implied that you might be sexist, especially when you could totally school me in feminist theory any day.
The poll need to come with a link of pinu-er, full body shots, so we can make side-by-side comparisons.
*clears throat*
http://cache1.bigcartel.com/product_images/66387405/postcardsordered.png
I’m gonna take this comic strip as a sign that the thing with Jason was more than just a one-time thing. I’m thinking (or hoping, anyway), that this becomes a regular thing between Sal and Jason.
part of me is exstatic to see ASL
(bullshit, by the way)
and part of me is going “but how does she know to say bullshit? is she merely mute? should I be slightly offended that we are to assume she can read Sal’s lips from the side despite many ASL users not knowing how to read lips? Am I reading FAR too much into a great webcomic?”
rock on Willis!!!!
I know that it’s always been Marcie’s thing that she never talked, but I guess I just never really thought that she might be mute. She isn’t deaf though, is she? I mean, Sal was kinda looking away from her, so she had to hear it. Right?
And my Gravatar is Jason. YES PLEASE!
i like sal’s pose in panel 5, it’s nice
Topical. #steubenville.
Watch out, you don’t want to be confused for CNN, Sal.
My 2nd boyfriend back in high school was the eldest son of 2 deaf parents, and for some reason that is the first sign they saw fit to teach me… Thanks for a good laugh! lol. Totally disrupted my programming lecture.
does that mean Jason went for it?
It’s been a while since I saw that form of ‘bullshit’ (it’s archaic and not used as much anymore), but it’s quite nostalgic. I don’t know if it’s different in other areas, but normally it’s the index finger extended, not the thumb.
Of course, the more modern form of ‘bullshit’ could be mistaken easily for the ‘rock it’ hand sign so many love to associate to music now.
What we have here is a failure to communicate… clearly.
holy crap! Friends who speak sign language said I was making that sign up but I’ve known that one since I was a teen but never found anyone who knew it before!