Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

A college webcomic by David Willis
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BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

May 28, 2026

Fudging

by David M Willis on June 10, 2024 at 12:01 am
  • 04 – For Me It Was Tuesday
└ Tags: becky, dina, joe, joyce

Discussion (206) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    June 10, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    is this going to be a fucking habit

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      June 10, 2024 at 12:07 am | #

      No, only pervy nuns have those.

      • Qube
        Qube
        June 10, 2024 at 12:14 am | #

        I’ve seen that anime

        • Rachel McCall
          Rachel McCall
          June 10, 2024 at 1:36 am | #

          I’ve seen that Verhoeven movie

          • Casi
            Casi
            June 10, 2024 at 1:51 am | #

            Which one is that? I am going to be doing a verhouven program for my friends and i need all the verhouven i can get

            • Kamino Neko
              Kamino Neko
              June 10, 2024 at 1:09 pm | #

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedetta_(film) I would assume.

      • Formedras
        Formedras
        June 10, 2024 at 12:14 am | #

        What does Whoopi Goldberg have to do with anything?

      • Makkabee
        Makkabee
        June 11, 2024 at 9:59 am | #

        The Devils of Loudon reference!

        I’m old. Sue me.

    • Kitschensyngk
      Kitschensyngk
      June 10, 2024 at 12:26 am | #

      The floodgates burst open and Joyce lets out a cascade of F-words that makes Sal’s Mario Kart tirade from 2014 sound like a Sesame Street song.

      • Michael Steamweed
        Michael Steamweed
        June 10, 2024 at 7:29 am | #

        Joe helped to cut the tension, so we probably won’t get more Joyce f-bombs tomorrow. But maybe if we’re lucky…

    • Dr. T
      Dr. T
      June 10, 2024 at 12:53 am | #

      I had totally forgotten about that offer.

      • Just_IDD
        Just_IDD
        June 10, 2024 at 7:08 am | #

        That offer, was for “DAMN” as someone pointed out in yesterday’s comments. That Joyce even had softer less defined lines. That Joe is honouring it now means he is happy that Joyce might use it as a noun and not an adverb.

        As an old audio file pointed out (I think George Carlin was involved) Fuck is a versatile word. It can be used as nearly every word in a sentence. “Fuck the fucking fuckers.” is grammatically correct.

        • Mark
          Mark
          June 10, 2024 at 7:16 am | #

          I’m thinking it must’ve been The Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television.

        • Taffy
          Taffy
          June 10, 2024 at 8:02 am | #

          Pretty sure Carlin had nothing to do with that one.

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          June 10, 2024 at 8:17 am | #

          “Shit” is also a noun, a verb, and an adjective.

          Cusses are versatile!

        • Kyrros
          Kyrros
          June 10, 2024 at 7:38 pm | #

          I always think of that scene from ‘Boondock Saints’…

          “certainly illustrates the versatility of the word…” XD

    • Kazuma Taichi
      Kazuma Taichi
      June 10, 2024 at 6:04 pm | #

      absofuckinlutely

  2. NGPZ
    NGPZ
    June 10, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    oooo Joyce finally be collectin da chedda $v$

    *plays “Miami” by Jason Byrne on hacked muzak*

  3. Animedingo
    Animedingo
    June 10, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    A man of his word

  4. quark
    quark
    June 10, 2024 at 12:05 am | #

    that twentys been on the table so long its worth significantly less than when it was first offered due to inflation

    • thakoru
      thakoru
      June 10, 2024 at 12:20 am | #

      Specifically, Joe would have to pay Joyce ~27 dollars to match the value of the $20 he offered in 2013.

      • DailyBrad
        DailyBrad
        June 10, 2024 at 12:27 am | #

        He makes up the difference in spooning.

      • Decidedly Orthogonal
        Decidedly Orthogonal
        June 10, 2024 at 1:20 am | #

        🔥This is fine.🔥

        • Comic.phile
          Comic.phile
          June 10, 2024 at 6:29 am | #

          Perfect avatar for that lol

      • Mano308gts
        Mano308gts
        June 10, 2024 at 1:49 am | #

        It’s a whole lot more than $27 in PPP, which is the only inflation that actually matters to, you know, ordinary people….

      • staszu13
        staszu13
        June 10, 2024 at 7:10 am | #

        That wouldn’t count on a sliding timeline

    • NGPZ
      NGPZ
      June 10, 2024 at 5:40 pm | #

      It’s only been like what, 6 months since that happened bruh?

      Inflation in comic time would be negligible.

  5. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    June 10, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    Does Joyce swearing just generate money?! I want that power!

    • Nono
      Nono
      June 10, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

      Not you, Sarah.

    • thakoru
      thakoru
      June 10, 2024 at 12:24 am | #

      Only saying a swear word she hasn’t said before. So if you wanted to keep exploiting that power after the obvious ones have been used up, you’d have to do some serious social engineering to introduce new ones into the vernacular.

    • Aviator
      Aviator
      June 10, 2024 at 1:10 am | #

      Maybe it’s only Joyce’s Fucks that generate mon…oops no that’s a different thing.

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      June 10, 2024 at 7:29 am | #

      Not you, Sal.

    • Kazuma Taichi
      Kazuma Taichi
      June 10, 2024 at 6:05 pm | #

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/damnation/

  6. Nono
    Nono
    June 10, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    Wow Joe already paying his girlfriend for dirty talk.

  7. Slartibeast Button, BIA
    Slartibeast Button, BIA
    June 10, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    Now she must get them … a shrubbery!

    • Chaucer59
      Chaucer59
      June 10, 2024 at 12:33 am | #

      Ni

    • shrub
      shrub
      June 10, 2024 at 1:24 am | #

      I’m OK with this

    • Kimi
      Kimi
      June 10, 2024 at 4:12 am | #

      Before or after she cuts down the tallest tree in the forest with a herring?

      • Roborat
        Roborat
        June 10, 2024 at 2:57 pm | #

        You are skipping a step, next she must get another shrubbery, and then plant it beside the first one, but higher, to get a two level effect, with a little path running down the middle. Only then can you demand lumberjacking using a fish.

        • BorkBorkBork
          BorkBorkBork
          June 10, 2024 at 4:23 pm | #

          A path! A path!!

  8. IntangibleMatter
    IntangibleMatter
    June 10, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    I cannot tell whether Dina looks proud or concerned in panel 3

    Possibly both

    • Jeremiah
      Jeremiah
      June 10, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

      Nah, that her scientific curiosity look. She is studying this new phenomenon with interest.

    • anon
      anon
      June 10, 2024 at 12:15 am | #

      yeah she does seem weirdly concerned but i imagine she isn’t focused on the alcohol anymore lol

  9. Opus the Poet
    Opus the Poet
    June 10, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    There it is. Took a while.

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      June 10, 2024 at 7:31 am | #

      Eleven years! 😀

  10. Rose by Any Other Name
    Rose by Any Other Name
    June 10, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    I like the brick joke joke.

  11. Taigan
    Taigan
    June 10, 2024 at 12:06 am | #

    I did not read any of the comments in yesterdays strip so I admit I did not notice Joyce said fucking until now. 😅

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      June 10, 2024 at 12:08 am | #

      Well that’ll teach you to fucking well pay attention, won’t it?

    • Laura
      Laura
      June 10, 2024 at 12:52 am | #

      Me neither! I thought the f-word she said that the alt-text referred to last strip was “for”! I thought everyone was so dumbfounded because she had said something so transactional and dismissive and callous to her new boyfriend.

      Glad it was just “fucking”. In comparison to telling her boyfriend he only exists as social lubricant to smooth over her mistakes, “fuck” is mild.

      • staszu13
        staszu13
        June 10, 2024 at 7:12 am | #

        Joe probably made a mental note of it

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        June 10, 2024 at 8:23 am | #

        I read that more as “hey back me up here, I keep phrasing things to sound worse than I mean”, but it came out poorly phrased so it sounded worse than she meant.

  12. Fuzzy
    Fuzzy
    June 10, 2024 at 12:07 am | #

    Can anyone help me refer me to the comic when the twenty was promised because I don’t remember at all.

    • Dean
      Dean
      June 10, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

      Here

    • Dean
      Dean
      June 10, 2024 at 12:17 am | #

      It’s here, I can’t get the link to work

      http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/damnation/

      • Carla's #2 Fan
        Carla's #2 Fan
        June 10, 2024 at 9:42 am | #

        Thank you! And aww, the fact that he remembered a semester later and their different relationship now, it adds to Joe’s cuteness and sweetness factors

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      June 10, 2024 at 12:17 am | #

      There’s this one, though not exactly right:

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/damnation/

      • LaGrosseLegume
        LaGrosseLegume
        June 10, 2024 at 1:18 am | #

        Thanks guys!

  13. Lia
    Lia
    June 10, 2024 at 12:08 am | #

    read that 4th panel as “but i still got your first “fuck””

    • Throwatron
      Throwatron
      June 10, 2024 at 12:26 am | #

      the subtext is definitely there XD

  14. Schpoonman
    Schpoonman
    June 10, 2024 at 12:08 am | #

    Is that Harriet Tubman on that 20? Nice that Willis could just zip that up the Watsonian pipeline. Fuck Andrew Jackson.

  15. Kitschensyngk
    Kitschensyngk
    June 10, 2024 at 12:08 am | #

    You didn’t say “fudge.”

    You said THE word.

    The big one.

    The queen mother of dirty words.

    The “F-dash-dash-dash” word.

    • Schpoonman
      Schpoonman
      June 10, 2024 at 12:15 am | #

      And then Ralphie’s mother tries the soap.

    • Thing2
      Thing2
      June 10, 2024 at 3:38 am | #

      Isn’t the word Sarah offers, that is partly concealed, the ‘rudest word in the English language’?

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        June 10, 2024 at 4:14 am | #

        That would be the “N” word.

    • Just_IDD
      Just_IDD
      June 10, 2024 at 7:21 am | #

      The quintessential four letter word. The one we Define specifically because of how many letters it has even though there are other swears that have four letters.

      I do wonder if Joyce can say “damn” now. In the context of her upbringing “damn” is a much greater swear. Without fucking you don’t have a Human Race.

  16. True Survivor
    True Survivor
    June 10, 2024 at 12:12 am | #

    Dina looks concerned, which is very nice given the friction between her and Joyce.

    Andrew Jackson looks to me sort of like he has an Afro, a hitler mustache, and a 1980’s style collored shirt; which, given his real life history, makes him seem much less crazy than he actually was.

    • anon
      anon
      June 10, 2024 at 12:15 am | #

      maybe she’ll offer the alcohol to joyce and observe how it is when she’s buzzed lol

    • Qube
      Qube
      June 10, 2024 at 12:18 am | #

      *fuction

      (this joke is only funny to me)

      • True Survivor
        True Survivor
        June 10, 2024 at 7:36 pm | #

        Can you explain it so it is also funny to me?

        • Qube
          Qube
          June 10, 2024 at 11:50 pm | #

          the simplest explanation requires SAT question format

          frick : friction :: fuck : ???

    • RassilonTDavros
      RassilonTDavros
      June 10, 2024 at 12:33 am | #

      I think it’s actually supposed to be Harriet Tubman, there have been a number of campaigns to replace Jackson with her over the years. Largely because Fuck Andrew Jackson.

  17. brumagem
    brumagem
    June 10, 2024 at 12:13 am | #

    The beginning of this, for reference:
    https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-4/01-the-only-dope-for-me-is-you/damnation/

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      June 10, 2024 at 4:52 am | #

      Well that explains why I couldn’t find it when I was looking up Billiefer strips, she wasn’t the one that made the bet.

  18. anon
    anon
    June 10, 2024 at 12:13 am | #

    lol spend in on a lunch together (tho2 0 bucks for four ppl might not be too much unless there’s a dirt cheap place to go to haha)

  19. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    June 10, 2024 at 12:13 am | #

    “Fuck” is an interesting swear because by definition it doesn’t feel that insulting. It just means to have sex which is a natural action. I wonder why it’s been censored the way it has. I feel like there are way more scandalous and insulting words much more taboo to say. Like any racial slur.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      June 10, 2024 at 12:22 am | #

      I suspect it has to do with historical sexism and active versus passive implications. And generally messed up attitudes about sex.

      And like shit, in the Bad Old Days there were aspects of reality you Just Didn’t Talk About. Especially sex which you were supposed to pretend didn’t exist at all.

      • Vigil247
        Vigil247
        June 10, 2024 at 12:25 am | #

        Yeah instead of acknowledging a natural experience that is key to continuing the species they would just say unhinged shit like “make the beast with two backs” or whatever.

    • sultryglebe
      sultryglebe
      June 10, 2024 at 12:31 am | #

      Historically there have been two categories of swears, the godly ones and the bodily function ones, with which ones are considered worse changing for various reasons. There is a book, Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing by Melissa Mohr that was pretty interesting on it.

      • Laura
        Laura
        June 10, 2024 at 1:25 am | #

        Fascinating!

        In Firstday School class (like Sunday School class) when I was a kid, there was a whole lesson on obscenity vs. profanity. And which ones were swears vs. curses, and why one shouldn’t say them.

        I liked my Firstday School teacher’s explanation: “Well, if I just say, ‘Oh, damn!’ am I really working on addressing my problem? Or am I just complaining about it?” Seemed like a sideways explanation to me, but I respect it more now.

        When I was a kid, peers told me “fuck” was an acronym, either for “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge,” or “Fornicating Under the Crown of the King”.

        According to Wiktionary, though, it’s neither:

        https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/fuck

        Reports of its recorded use in the Bayeux tapestry are, sadly, apocryphal:
        From the original social media meme generator:
        https://htck.github.io/bayeux/#!/
        See, e.g.
        https://www.reddit.com/r/CrossStitch/comments/b6s7yn/fo_behold_field_of_fucks_bayeux_tapestry/

        • Laura
          Laura
          June 10, 2024 at 1:38 am | #

          For further philological and phonemic folderol on fuckery afoot:

          https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/155664/how-many-different-parts-of-speech-can-the-f-word-be-used-as

          Forsooth!

          • Just_IDD
            Just_IDD
            June 10, 2024 at 7:29 am | #

            Nearly all of them.

            The prime example is “fuck the fucking fuckers,”

            George Carlin made a recording to this effect. At least it sounds like him.

            • Michael Steamweed
              Michael Steamweed
              June 10, 2024 at 7:32 am | #

              “Fuck” can’t be a preposition, yet. Which is sad. Since you can’t proposition people by prepositioning them.

              • Laura
                Laura
                June 10, 2024 at 1:55 pm | #

                How about, “Go the fuck home!” Or “Way the fuck out there”?

                “Fuck” there means “all the way to”. Is that a preposition?

                • Michael Steamweed
                  Michael Steamweed
                  June 11, 2024 at 9:28 pm | #

                  “Go the fuck home” uses “fuck” to modify the verb “go” (as an emphatic modifier). So it’s an adverb there. A preposition would replace “for” or “to” or “with” or the like.

        • John Campbell
          John Campbell
          June 10, 2024 at 1:52 am | #

          Basically any time anyone says that any word that was coined before the last century is an acronym, it’s folk etymology.

          “Shit”, similarly, is not an acronym for “Ship High In Transit”. It comes from Old English scitte, and has been in the language longer than the Latinate “transit”.

          • Uly
            Uly
            June 10, 2024 at 8:38 am | #

            Indeed, nearly every time somebody gives you a funny story to explain the origin of a word, phrase, or nursery rhyme it’s a folk etymology. Most etymologies are fairly straightforward. There are interesting ones, but those aren’t the ones people think they know.

      • Drakkin the Alien
        Drakkin the Alien
        June 10, 2024 at 1:36 am | #

        in spanish speaking countries there are this peculiar nasty swears that “allude to the mother’s body parts”, because mothers are holly figures of authority, you see. In Spain in particular there are this swears about the holly waffer (body of Christ!). Supposedly in the old Soviet Union, swears alluded to politic figures or ideas. So it looks like, what is holly in your culture is made unholy in the expletives. 😉

        • Laura
          Laura
          June 10, 2024 at 2:06 am | #

          Fascinating!

          That reminds me of the Somali custom of elder women stopping fights by tossing a leather belt sewn with cowry shells between the combatants. The implication is: “These shells symbolize your mother’s vagina, from whence you all came. If you would dare to step over the line this belt has drawn in the dirt between you, your blasphemy will be as bad as stepping on your own mother’s vagina. The only way to respect yourself and your own family is to walk away from this fight.”

          Used only as a last resort, to stop fighters who are in a killing rage.

          I remember reading that cockleshells had similar sacred symbolism in Europe and North America, but I’m not finding the reference now.

          • Laura
            Laura
            June 10, 2024 at 1:56 pm | #

            (A Somali grandma I knew showed me the belt and told me the story.)

    • Nick Piers
      Nick Piers
      June 10, 2024 at 6:13 am | #

      “Fuck” is probably one of the most versatile words in the English. Here’s a good, short video explaining why (it’s misrepresented as being by George Carlin, who was not involved in this, as far as I know).

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZkb4TPI-Lo

      • Just_IDD
        Just_IDD
        June 10, 2024 at 7:33 am | #

        The audio file this is based on is older than YouTube by a decade.

        • Nick Piers
          Nick Piers
          June 10, 2024 at 10:00 am | #

          Oh yeah, I remember hearing it long before YouTube. No idea how or where I originally heard it, but it wasn’t YouTube. Might’ve been a Napster or Kazaaa download.

    • tim Rowledge
      tim Rowledge
      June 10, 2024 at 11:10 am | #

      There’s a single non-swear use of fuck that I’ve come across (fnah!), dating (according to OED) to around 1600. “Windfucker” is a name for a common kestrel.

      • Laura
        Laura
        June 10, 2024 at 1:57 pm | #

        From the original word “fuck” meaning “to beat or strike,” right? Like a reference to the flapping of wings?

        • tim Rowledge
          tim Rowledge
          June 11, 2024 at 11:42 am | #

          No idea on that Laura. Best person to ask these questions is usually Susie Dent on Twitter- she’s a pro etymologyistyish person

    • Opus the Poet
      Opus the Poet
      June 10, 2024 at 8:52 pm | #

      The word is interesting in that it has so many uses: “WORD, the WORDing WORDer is WORDing WORDed up!” It’s a noun, an adjective, an adverb, and a verb.

  20. sdrainbow
    sdrainbow
    June 10, 2024 at 12:15 am | #

    The rare long-distance joyce freakout face

  21. Coatl
    Coatl
    June 10, 2024 at 12:15 am | #

    Joyce can’t believe what’s happening.

    Dina processes how an impossible event is now possible.

    Becky happy that her soul friend is growing up.

    And Joe keeping his word.

    Yup, a lot of things happened.

  22. Nash
    Nash
    June 10, 2024 at 12:16 am | #

    Due to inflation in the time since this joke was set up, Joe now owes her $26.92.

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      June 10, 2024 at 12:23 am | #

      Can I invest in Joyce Swearing Futures?

    • Clif
      Clif
      June 10, 2024 at 12:27 am | #

      But who’s counting?

      • Kyrik Michalowski
        Kyrik Michalowski
        June 10, 2024 at 12:29 am | #

        Blowjob Cat is.

  23. StClair
    StClair
    June 10, 2024 at 12:29 am | #

    “Mine, you hear? For ever and ever.”

  24. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    June 10, 2024 at 12:29 am | #

    I do love that Becky is so pleased by this that she is over her initial complaint, that Joe gave her the promised 20, and that Dina seems more curious at this development than dwelling on the unintentional insult from Joyce.

    I guess when Joyce said that she wanted the f-bomb to have power if she said it, it in fact did.

    • Freemage
      Freemage
      June 10, 2024 at 1:32 am | #

      I suspect Dina is actually realizing just how upset Joyce has to be with herself to break this particular taboo at the moment–in some ways, it’s more meaningful than even a simple apology would’ve been.

      • Miri
        Miri
        June 10, 2024 at 4:08 am | #

        And I would imagine that Dina is not unfamiliar with the “I have fucked up things in a way that I had not anticipated. People who I really did not wish to upset are upset and I don’t know how to make things right. An explanation of my hypotheses failed as my assumptions were false and now they may be more angry with me and I don’t know what to do to make things better..!” Possibly including “You! More socially adept individual! Tag in please!”

        Although I’m not sure if she has been paid for making this request before…

  25. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    June 10, 2024 at 12:30 am | #

    It didn’t dawn on me until just now that she said “fucking” in the last strip. I was just as confused as Joyce until this strip.

    I am an idiot.

  26. foducool
    foducool
    June 10, 2024 at 12:31 am | #

    a bet is a bet

  27. Dara
    Dara
    June 10, 2024 at 12:32 am | #

    Joe trying hard not to laugh in Panel 3 😀

  28. RassilonTDavros
    RassilonTDavros
    June 10, 2024 at 12:33 am | #

    Aww, he remembered!

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      June 10, 2024 at 7:33 am | #

      Last semester from his pov; eleven years ago from ours. 🙂

  29. BP
    BP
    June 10, 2024 at 12:36 am | #

    Now the question is, what should Dina do with Grampa’s old nasty cough medicine now that she no longer needs it

    • John Campbell
      John Campbell
      June 10, 2024 at 12:47 am | #

      Chug it!

      • Schpoonman
        Schpoonman
        June 10, 2024 at 12:53 am | #

        Like the scene from Parks and Rec.

    • Amós Batista
      Amós Batista
      June 10, 2024 at 4:05 am | #

      Left it to teacher Brock

    • Bruno
      Bruno
      June 10, 2024 at 4:20 am | #

      Political bribe.

  30. John Campbell
    John Campbell
    June 10, 2024 at 12:47 am | #

    Joyce moving up fast in the rankings.

  31. TlalocW
    TlalocW
    June 10, 2024 at 12:59 am | #

    Man, Nick Fury showing Steve Rogers the Helicarrier was only worth $10.

  32. DashWallkick
    DashWallkick
    June 10, 2024 at 1:23 am | #

    Joyce should keep inventing new swears that she won’t say so people offer her money for it, maybe afford some textbooks that way.

  33. shrub
    shrub
    June 10, 2024 at 1:30 am | #

    Great so nothing really has changed, as long as the balance of firsts is kept up to date Beckys ok

    Right up until the next time Joyce dares to do something without Becky

    • Bash
      Bash
      June 10, 2024 at 1:37 am | #

      Maybe Dina will say something to her in private. She sort of has that look on her.

      • shrub
        shrub
        June 10, 2024 at 4:12 am | #

        I hope so. I like Dina and she deserves better.

  34. pope suburban
    pope suburban
    June 10, 2024 at 1:38 am | #

    My dorm roommate had been raised strict Catholic and so, while she dressed trendy and went to parties, her vocabulary was still squeaky clean. So many people made a big deal of it, most notably our mostly-amiable dudebro neighbors. They did their level best to get her to drop an F-bomb. Little did they know that the secret was acceptance, so that she could speak freely around you. I heard her swear on the regular if infrequently, because it wasn’t like catching a Pokémon. Everyone here is handling this well and I hope they continue to do so. I think that’s likely.

  35. BBCC
    BBCC
    June 10, 2024 at 1:42 am | #

    Hooray for money!

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      June 10, 2024 at 8:32 am | #

      Twenty dollars? Oh, I wanted a peanut.

      • Reaver
        Reaver
        June 10, 2024 at 1:40 pm | #

        Twenty Dollars can buy MANY peanuts!

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          June 10, 2024 at 2:40 pm | #

          Explain how!

  36. Agentomega
    Agentomega
    June 10, 2024 at 1:48 am | #

    Oh see, I totally thought everyone was shocked because Joyce was reducing Joe to pure utilitarianism whilst talking about how much she was putting her foot in it, but this makes way more sense. (And it seems everyone else caught it yesterday 😅)

  37. Acher4
    Acher4
    June 10, 2024 at 2:32 am | #

    A brick joke 11 years in the making.

    That’s our Willis! 😀

  38. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    June 10, 2024 at 3:09 am | #

    … okay, Joyce wanted to see Dorothy fuck and now Becky wanted to hear Joyce’s first fuck. What is going on here?

    (Besides me deliberately misinterpretting things to bait the slashficcers, I mean.)

    • Michael Steamweed
      Michael Steamweed
      June 10, 2024 at 7:36 am | #

      Dina is watching this first fuck with scientific curiosity. Joe is paying money (as promised) after the first fuck occurred. 🙂

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      June 10, 2024 at 8:33 am | #

      They just want Joyce to give a fuck.

  39. Florence
    Florence
    June 10, 2024 at 3:30 am | #

    Dina seems to be the only one noticing Joyce being overwhelmed and viewing it as such, rather than moment to crowd around her

  40. morhek
    morhek
    June 10, 2024 at 3:51 am | #

    Oh yeah, I remember that reaction.

  41. GUIGUI
    GUIGUI
    June 10, 2024 at 5:00 am | #

    So, is she going to tell Becky that this isn’t actually her first? Would it make a difference if she knew about the context of that actual first time?

    • Daibhid C
      Daibhid C
      June 10, 2024 at 7:15 am | #

      I need my memory jogged, sorry.

      • GUIGUI
        GUIGUI
        June 10, 2024 at 5:19 pm | #

        I need mind, actually, I mistakenly remembered Joyce saying Fuck instead of Damn It, there:
        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/language/

    • Just_IDD
      Just_IDD
      June 10, 2024 at 7:45 am | #

      Joyce supposedly told Dorothy that she wanted to watch (while drinking) but I doubt she used ‘fuck’ to describe that. This was Dorothy retelling this to Wally so who knows the accuracy or if Dorothy was slightly fibbing to get another round or to see if Wally was game for FFM so Dorothy could get farther into Joyce’s pants.

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        June 10, 2024 at 7:51 am | #

        As of five seconds ago when I checked, she did not use the fuck-word in that strip, no.

      • Nymph
        Nymph
        June 10, 2024 at 10:29 am | #

        It’s not “supposedly” and we know she wasn’t “fibbing” because this is a thing that happened on screen last chapter:

        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2024/comic/book-14/03-trystin-in-the-wind/observe-2/

    • Nymph
      Nymph
      June 10, 2024 at 10:30 am | #

      So what was the first time she said it? I’m pretty sure it was yesterday.

      • GUIGUI
        GUIGUI
        June 10, 2024 at 5:22 pm | #

        I miss-remembered. My bad.

    • zee
      zee
      June 10, 2024 at 11:59 am | #

      The context of the actual first time is it just happened five seconds ago so you’re gonna have to fill us in on what you’re talking about

      • GUIGUI
        GUIGUI
        June 10, 2024 at 5:20 pm | #

        I apologise for sending you all on this wild goose chase.
        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/language/

    • David M Willis
      David M Willis
      June 10, 2024 at 4:47 pm | #

      what

      • GUIGUI
        GUIGUI
        June 10, 2024 at 5:18 pm | #

        My bad, I miss remembered it. I had in mind that she had said “fuck”, back then. but it was “damn it”:
        https://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-6/01-to-those-whod-ground-me/language/

        So, yeah, today’s strip was indeed the first time she said “Fuck”. Joe still own her an additional 20, though.

  42. Maddie B
    Maddie B
    June 10, 2024 at 5:16 am | #

    I didn’t even notice the “fucking” yesterday and thought everyone was reacting to the “that’s what you’re for” bit.

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      June 10, 2024 at 5:58 am | #

      Same here; so at least you’re not the only one.

    • staszu13
      staszu13
      June 10, 2024 at 8:42 pm | #

      Oh I’m sure when Becky and Dina exit with the booze jug, Joe will probably, with perfect timing, say “Boyfriendness”?

  43. Alan in DC
    Alan in DC
    June 10, 2024 at 6:14 am | #

    I never had any appreciable pocket money on me when I was in college. Does everyone really around with a preemptive twenty in their pockets just in case *they* were the one nearby when Joyce finally cursed?

    • anonymsly
      anonymsly
      June 10, 2024 at 6:51 am | #

      This is owed money, iirc – back in the day Joe offered Joyce $20 to say ‘fuck’.

      • Just_IDD
        Just_IDD
        June 10, 2024 at 7:46 am | #

        To say ‘damn’ actually.

        • Slartibeast Button, BIA
          Slartibeast Button, BIA
          June 10, 2024 at 10:12 am | #

          Has she said “damn” yet? I recall her saying “goddamned” but that’s not quite the same.

          • thejeff
            thejeff
            June 10, 2024 at 2:39 pm | #

            https://www.dumbingofage.com/language/A long time ago and in the dramatic meaningful way.

            • thejeff
              thejeff
              June 10, 2024 at 2:41 pm | #

              Messed that up, but it should still work.

              • Slartibeast Button, BIA
                Slartibeast Button, BIA
                June 10, 2024 at 4:17 pm | #

                Thanks.

    • Da Boy
      Da Boy
      June 10, 2024 at 8:17 am | #

      I mean Joe’s Dad is… what was he again? A doctor? A lawyer? Anyway one of the Rich professions so Joe is definitely not short on disposable cash.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        June 10, 2024 at 8:35 am | #

        He’s a medical doctor, and a specialist at that.

        I think he’s an orthopedic surgeon?

        • thejeff
          thejeff
          June 10, 2024 at 2:40 pm | #

          A “bone doctor”, of course.

          • Da Boy
            Da Boy
            June 10, 2024 at 7:52 pm | #

            I honestly thought that maybe he is a gynaecologist… that would be an entire mess of its own. But I think my brain just crossed wires and remembered that one scene from Mel Brook’s Dracula “You’ve got your hand in that too?”

      • StClair
        StClair
        June 10, 2024 at 11:12 am | #

        “What’s that?”
        “It’s called a ‘twenty’. My dad used to carry it around in his pocket; I now pass it on to you.”

    • George
      George
      June 11, 2024 at 8:06 pm | #

      Maybe I’m just living in an affluent bubble, but everybody I knew in college could probably come up with a 20.

  44. Chronos
    Chronos
    June 10, 2024 at 6:32 am | #

    No. No, you used it *way* too casually last time for me to believe that was the first time you said “fuck”. This reaction’s got to be performative for them.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      June 10, 2024 at 7:02 am | #

      Read the entire comic front-to-back and you’ll find exactly two instances of Joyce saying the fuck-word.

      • Michael Steamweed
        Michael Steamweed
        June 10, 2024 at 7:37 am | #

        When was the first usage?

        • Taffy
          Taffy
          June 10, 2024 at 7:47 am | #

          Yesterday.

        • Just_IDD
          Just_IDD
          June 10, 2024 at 7:49 am | #

          Yesterday’s page.

        • John Campbell
          John Campbell
          June 10, 2024 at 2:10 pm | #

          If you click on my name here, you’ll find documentation of (I believe) every time anyone in the comic has said “fuck” or its variants. If you hover over the bars in the top graph, it’ll pop up the sentence and date of the instance responsible for any given segment of the bar. Touching the bar should register as hovering on Android, but last I checked Apple didn’t support it.

      • Chronos
        Chronos
        June 10, 2024 at 3:48 pm | #

        No, I mean I think she’s spoken it offscreen beforehand, and since it was done so casually yesterday, I think she’s said it offscreen multiple times.

    • Daibhid C
      Daibhid C
      June 10, 2024 at 7:12 am | #

      I don’t remember ever making a concious decision that “bloody” was in my list of Acceptable Words For Me To Say, and then making a point of using it. I just suddenly realised I was doing so without even thinking about it.

      • Chronos
        Chronos
        June 10, 2024 at 3:53 pm | #

        For me to start using a word I hadn’t previously, I have to make a very conscious effort to do so. I kind of have to think about what I’m about to say before I say it, or else it is usually incomprehensible to others. It doesn’t naturally occur to me that someone can start using a word without thinking about it first.

        • Daibhid C
          Daibhid C
          June 11, 2024 at 6:28 am | #

          That makes sense.

          I probably should do that, but I don’t very often. I’m just incomprehensible to others.

  45. staszu13
    staszu13
    June 10, 2024 at 7:05 am | #

    Say Willis, is that the Harriet Tubman $20 bill? I didn’t think those were in circulation yet

    • Slartibeast Button, BIA
      Slartibeast Button, BIA
      June 10, 2024 at 10:13 am | #

      Maybe he anticipated that they would be out when he drew this seven months ago.

      • StClair
        StClair
        June 10, 2024 at 10:48 am | #

        wait’ll the sliding timescale really kicks in.

        “See, people used to carry around slips of paper called ‘cash’, which represented a fixed amount of money in physical form. There were also other, smaller tokens, like pennies, dimes, and… nickels.”
        “Oh, so that’s what that means!”

    • Yeet
      Yeet
      June 10, 2024 at 11:51 am | #

      joe does forgery in his spare time

      • staszu13
        staszu13
        June 10, 2024 at 8:39 pm | #

        Nah he has a wealthy dad, pretty sure that’s how he had a sawbuck in the first place.
        I am going to assume this is a parallel universe wherein the Tubman Twenty replaced the Racist Warmonger Twenty

  46. Mark
    Mark
    June 10, 2024 at 7:26 am | #

    Perhaps someday they will have been.

    • Mark
      Mark
      June 10, 2024 at 7:28 am | #

      Ugh, wrong button, see staszu13’s previous comment.

  47. Michael Steamweed
    Michael Steamweed
    June 10, 2024 at 7:26 am | #

    A Lanister (er, Rosenthaler?) always pays his debts.

  48. Juanoku
    Juanoku
    June 10, 2024 at 7:52 am | #

    Dina looks genuinely concerned lol

  49. Just_IDD
    Just_IDD
    June 10, 2024 at 7:54 am | #

    I love how we are all sitting around talking about fucking, but none of us are doing it…I want to change that.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      June 10, 2024 at 8:04 am | #

      That’s an incredibly bold and mildly offensive assumption.

    • Yeet
      Yeet
      June 10, 2024 at 12:33 pm | #

      why would any of us be reading a webcomic at the same time as doing that?

      • David M Willis
        David M Willis
        June 10, 2024 at 5:43 pm | #

        actually it’s how I write them

  50. Matt
    Matt
    June 10, 2024 at 9:28 am | #

    oh lol last slide I thought it was “boyfriend”

  51. poofdepoof
    poofdepoof
    June 10, 2024 at 10:52 am | #

    good pun, alt text!

  52. raultsi
    raultsi
    June 10, 2024 at 10:54 am | #

    i missed the connection about the payout. Was there a bet or wager about the virginal fuck bomb?

    • Freemage
      Freemage
      June 10, 2024 at 11:44 am | #

      Way back when, Joe offered her 20 bucks to swear.

  53. Aslan
    Aslan
    June 10, 2024 at 11:22 am | #

    Joe is a man of his word

  54. Suet
    Suet
    June 10, 2024 at 11:47 am | #

    We really got her first two cusses before her first canon nookie… and before GTA VI

    No, Becky, your FOMO is still isn’t a FOMO

  55. Furie
    Furie
    June 10, 2024 at 12:12 pm | #

    I thought it was “damn” he had to pay for?

    • Chronos
      Chronos
      June 10, 2024 at 4:05 pm | #

      Technically, yes, but I feel this is in the spirit of the original challenge. I gather Joe does, too.

  56. Roborat
    Roborat
    June 10, 2024 at 2:59 pm | #

    That second panel is perfect.

  57. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    June 10, 2024 at 3:16 pm | #

    Joyce better be ready to get this reaction from EVERY person in this college. Everybody will ask her each time she says “fuck”. People still won’t find her “normal”, even after a while.

    • John Campbell
      John Campbell
      June 10, 2024 at 3:38 pm | #

      IU has like 10,000 students. The vast majority of them have no fucking idea who Joyce is.

      • Yeet
        Yeet
        June 10, 2024 at 3:48 pm | #

        the near-shooting and kidnapping could tilt that ratio a little

        • John Campbell
          John Campbell
          June 10, 2024 at 4:47 pm | #

          She didn’t have glasses then!

          • Da Boy
            Da Boy
            June 10, 2024 at 6:37 pm | #

            Ah we are Clark Kenting, very wise

  58. Felian
    Felian
    June 10, 2024 at 4:55 pm | #

    Joyce has been, well, fucking around with being secular for such a long time (irl, maybe not that long in-comic) that i didn’t even realize her saying “fucking“ would be such a big deal, but apparently she hadn’t gotten around to saying it yet!

  59. anonymsly
    anonymsly
    June 10, 2024 at 5:39 pm | #

    So I’m glad to be wrong with my prediction yesterday but at the same time… does Becky ever actually give one single solitary shit about Joyce’s feelings? Like, Joyce is upset by this to the point where Dina has ‘omg oh no’ concerned face on, and Becky’s just out here ‘LOL LOL LOOK WHO DECIDED TO STOP BEING A STUPID BABY LOL’.

    Thank god for Joe providing an immediate distraction without calling Joyce a dumb baby.

    • Jeremiah
      Jeremiah
      June 10, 2024 at 8:24 pm | #

      Are we literally just reading different comics? Is that what is happening? I hope I never find this strange alternative reality comic where literally every single thing Becky does, says or fells is some selfish misdeed.

      • staszu13
        staszu13
        June 10, 2024 at 8:36 pm | #

        Well much as I like Becky she is pretty out there sometimes and she is, like her late unlamented dad, a bit self directed. I prefer to think of her as innocently insensitive rather than deliberately so

  60. JepMZ
    JepMZ
    June 10, 2024 at 5:47 pm | #

    I can’t help but read the slur word for trans on the bill

  61. Michael Steamweed
    Michael Steamweed
    June 11, 2024 at 9:34 pm | #

    So far, she’s said a “Damn it” and a “god-damned” and several “fuck” variations. Wonder what’s next? 🙂

    • John Campbell
      John Campbell
      June 11, 2024 at 10:35 pm | #

      She said “shit” to her mom a while back. I think she’s pretty much covered the bases.

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