Posted in: Movies | Tagged: 3d, avengers, avengers assemble, Comics, credits, infinity gauntlet, joss whedon, loki, marvel, mewling quim, thanos, tom hiddlestone

"Mewling Quim" And That Mid-Credit Smile In The Avengers Movie

Published Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:30:05 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Sat, 06 May 2023 07:13:29 -0500

Comments

As more and more people get to see The Avengers movie (it's out in the UK today), there are more and more questions being asked. But these are the two bigger ones.

The first is a slight spoiler for a line from Loki. Nothing major. The second spoiler is for the mid-credit scene. This will be a massive spoiler for anyone who knows and loves the Marvel Universe. But for those who don't, this won't be a spoiler, merely an explanation of something you just won't get otherwise.

So, first, is the phrase "Mewling Quim." Said, or rather, spat by Loki to Black Widow, this is possibly the most offensive line in the film, beyond even Wolverine's in X-Men: First Class. It is just that some people aren't too familiar with the derivation. In more modern English, this would be "whining cunt". In American English, "cunt" is generally used as a misogynistic insult, mostly used against women, insulting their very nature of being female. British English doesn't use the female-specific aspect of this in an insult, which loses much of the misogynistic tone. Indeed, it's more likely to be used against a man, an exaggerated form of "wanker". But "quim", though rarely used, is always done so in a misogynist fashion. It's only used about women, and is very much about reducing them to their gender, as if that by definition, diminishes their importance. And that's how Loki uses it in Avengers.

Black Widow gets her own back though, never fear. In the comics, the Avengers fly in Quinjets around the world. No news yet if this will be changed to Quimjets, in the manner that The Bride drove The Pussy Wagon in Kill Bill…

And here's the credit spoiler. Your call. Keep the spoiler out of the thread below as well, please.

The big purple guy smiling is Thanos. Galactic genocidal dictator, he often wields the Infinity Gauntlet, seen in the Hall Of Asgard in the Thor movie, which gives him ultimate power through the embedded Infinity Gems. He has spent much of his life trying to woo Death. In a quite literal fashion, portrayed as a skeletal hooded woman. So when his minion tells him that to fight the citizens of Earth is to court death, he smiles.

After all that's what he really wants to do…

Spoiler over. Return after you've seen the credits…

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!