Insults can be far more hurtful than
physical violence. You will quickly overcome a slap on the wrist,
but a mental slap may linger on for years. Insults come in many
variations and in different levels of seriousness, and this is
also true in Carl Barks' stories where they span from the subtle
to the coarse. The mere presence of Gladstone Gander and his
continuous verbal insults towards Donald Duck are often so subtle
that we hardly even take notice of them, whereas Donald and his
neighbour Jones insults each other in the most coarse ways are
very obvious indeed.
Barks mastered all of his language's finer points and he used
them to the fullest when dreaming up offending dialogue. This
page will only concentrate on a few of the funniest - and most
diverse - type of lines in the stories, where all is allowed.
They would probably bring you
a real slap on the wrist if you used them in real life...
The nephews have got an annoying yet amiable
parrot with a foul vocabulary. Here are some examples: |
Here are some examples of what may be
considered polite insults, although they are at least as
mordant as the more direct ones. Donald and neighbour
Jones have agreed to treat each other politely and in
this little scene they seem to do just that: NB.: This 'polite' conversation is a far cry
from Jones' more straightforward claptrap in WDCS034: |
Donald has landed a cozy little job as a
night watchman. It is easy work - but with a snag: he has
to stay awake during the night! The nephews try to help
him: |
Donald follows the nephews into the desert
where they try to track down a missing person. Donald
belittles the nephews' skills as sleuths when they are
trying to figure out how the man was riding his burro: |
Gladstone - in an evil mood - makes an
unjustified claim on Donald forcing Donald to buy
Thanksgiving dinner for him: |
Donald and the nephews are telegraph boys
but Donald tries to outmanoeuver his nephews so he can
get the best tips. He is unaware that his behaviour has
been spotted by the director of the telegraph company,
who sends the nephews to deliver this singing telegram to
their uncle: |
Donald is trying out water-skis for the
first time and he soon messes up completely. He has
several clashes with an elderly gentleman, who at last
reveals who he is: |
The nephews are trying to drag some money
out of Donald by faking echoes up in the hills. Donald
sees through the charade and tests the echo with some
personal insults: |
Scrooge is in old Bagdad trying to negotiate
some Persian rugs. Initially, he tries to get something
for nothing: |
In this story we witness a very rare
discipline - self-insulting. Donald wants to keep his new
swimming pool to himself, so he fills it up with a
truckload of ice. And so, after a good night's sleep: |
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| http://www.cbarks.dk/THEINSULTS.htm | Date 2005-11-14 |
