History: At the time Captain Haddock was first introduced, just before the second world war, his manners presented a moral problem to Hergé. As a sailor, Haddock ought to have a very colorful language. Yet as he was to appear in a Catholic children's magazine, he obviously was forbidden to use any swearwords. Sollution came one night when Hergé (Author of Tintin) overheard a political argument amongst two passer-by's in the street. In the heat of the discussion one of the persons became so enraged that he lost his contenance for a moment and started yelling at his companion "You... You... You peace-pamphlet yourselves". This was the solution Hergé sought: what if the captain would use strange or difficult words that were not offensive in themselves, but would hurl them out as if they were very strong cusswords... (This would also add a comical note by portraying the captain as a pseudo-intellectual who loves to use difficult words without really knowing what they mean.)
From the simple ("dogs!", "rats!") to the scientific ("pithecanthropuses!") to the sublime ("vegetarian!"), you will just love Captain Haddock of Tintin fame for his unique turn of phrase. I have made bold the ones that I love from the following list.- Pirates!
- Doryphores!
- Gobbledygooks!
- Filibusters!
- Slubberdegullions!
- Patagonians!
- Vampires!
- Sycophant!
- Kleptomaniacs!
- Egoists!
- Tramps!
- Monopolizers!
- Pockmarks!
- Belemnite!
- Crooks!
- Miserable earthworms!
- Coconuts!
- Harlequin!
- Parasites!
- Macrocephalic baboon!
- Brutes!
- Guano gatherer!
- Pachyrhizus!
- Toads!
- Gyroscope!
- Bougainvillea!
- Bloodsuckers!
- Shipwreckers!
- Cyclone!
- Gallows-fodder!
- Politician!
- Baboon!
- Torturers!
- Fuzzy-wuzzy!
- Blackbird!
- Mountebanks!
- Cannibal!
- Duck-billed platypus!
- Black-beetles!
- Ruffian!
- Vermicellis!
- Lily-livered bandicoots!
- Rats!
- Logarithm!
- Cro-Magnon!
- Freshwater swabs!
- Beasts!
- Bully!
- Anthropophagus!
- Pithecanthropuses!
- Savages!
- Gangsters!
- Wreckers!
- Vandal!
- Carpet-sellers!
- Numbskulls!
- Gang of thieves!
- Slave-trader!
- Picaroons!
- Visigoths!
- Toffee-noses!
- Anacoluthons!
- Hydrocarbon!
- Technocrat!
- Buccaneer!
- Traitors!
- Caterpillars!
- Odd-toed ungulate!
- Woodlice!
- Polynesian!
- Swine!
- Blackguards!
- Vegetarian!
- Dizzards!
- Fancy-dress freebooters!
- Centipede!
- Sea-lice!
- Ectoplasm!
- Fat faces!
- Artichokes!
- Troglodytes!
- Turncoats!
- Bashi-bazouks!
- Olympic Athlete!
- Ectoplasmic Byproduct!
- Balkan Beetle!
- Two-timing Tartar Twisters!
- Terrapins!
- Breathalyser!
- Profiteers!
- Abecedarians!
- Vulture!
- Phylloxera!
- Dogs!
- Hooligans!
- Steamrollers!
- Body-snatcher!
- Ostrogoth!
- Brigand!
- Heretic!
- Blackamoor!
- Anthracite!
- Black marketeers!
- Ophicleides!
- Dynamiter!
- Pickled herrings!
- Gibbering ghost!
- Corsair!
- Moujiks!
- Rhizopods!
- Bootlegger!
- Gogglers!
- Villain!
- Aborigine!
- Bagpipers!
- Pyrographers!
- Crab-apples!
- Goosecaps!
- Aztecs!
- Paranoiac!
- Twister!
- Vagabonds!
- Sea-gherkins!
- Road-hogs!
- Hi-jackers!
- Zapotecs!
- Cercopithecus!
- Toads!
- Psychopath!
- Nest of rattlesnakes!
- Jellied-eel!
- Liquorice!
- Coelacanth!
- Invertebrate!
- Nyctalops!
- Mameluke!
- Dipsomaniac!
- Diplodocus!
- Cowards!
- Megalomaniac!
- Highwayman!
- Autocrats!
- Bandit!
- Nitwits!
- Polygraphs!
- Iconoclast!
- Orangoutang!
- Squawking popinjay!
- Prattling porpoise!
- Scoffing braggart!
- Ten Thousand Thundering Typhoons
- Blue Blistering Bell-Bottomed Balderdash!
- Cushion footed quadrupeds!
- Fancy-dress Facist!
Haddock Trivia:
- In Tintin and the Picarros, Captain Haddock does not complete one of his curses - Miserable blundering barbecued blister... (One can only imagine what could be coming!)
- When Haddock attempts to cure Calculus of his amnesia by scaring him via dressing up as a ghost, he trips on the bedsheet, and as he's struggling to free himself, he screams "Ten Thousand Terrifying Turtles!" Trying to picture what 10,000 terrifying turtles would look like had could have anyone on the floor in fits of laughter.
- In Iran, Tintin was published in Farsi. The Farsi pronounciation of Haddock's name is 'Kapitaan Haadook'.
- Bashi bazouk - this term was originally applied in Turkey to non-uniformed soldiers. It literally means a savage and brutal ruffian, and was popularized by Captain Haddock.
- According to the book "Le Petit Haddock Illustré", Captain Haddock might have said more than 220 curses during all the adventures.
- In one particularly angry state, Hergé had the captain yell the 'cussword' Pneumotorax (An inflatable ring placed inside the windpipe of tuberculosis patients to help them keep their airflow, 1930's style medicine). One week after the scene appeared in Tintin Magazine, Hergé received a letter from a father whose boy was a great fan of Tintin, but also was a heavy tuberculosis sufferer and had precisely such a pneumothorax inserted. According to the letter the boy was devastated that his favorite comic made fun of his own condition. Afterwards it turned out that the letter was a fake written and planted by Hergé's own studio workers (One source mentions Bob de Moor) and when this came out soft-spoken Hergé was just as devastated by his 'betrayal' as the boy of the letter allegedly was.
Wise Words of the Day :
"Survey the circling stars, as though yourself were in mid-course with them. Often picture the changing and rechanging dance of the elements. Visions of this kind purge away the dross of our earth-bound life."
-- Marcus Aurelius (121-180).
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