Who was the one that shot their mouth off first?
Sailor Mouth
Original air date: 9/21/2001
SpongeBob and Patrick learn some "sentence enhancers" from the dumpster behind the Krusty Krab and begin using them in public. When Mr. Krabs tells them that they are bad words, they swear to never use those words again, but how long will that last?
"Sailor Mouth" contains examples of:
- 13 Is Unlucky: There are thirteen bad words. SpongeBob and Patrick mostly used bad word #11.
- Agony of the Feet: Mr. Krabs stubs his foot on a rock, and is so angry and upset from the pain that he suddenly starts screaming cursewords at the sky. Later, Mama Krabs stubs her foot on a rock and it seems that she's swearing too, but it turns out to be Old Man Jenkins' car horn.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Mama Krabs seems to shout a bad word covered by a car horn, she tells SpongeBob, Patrick and Mr. Krabs that it was only Old Man Jenkins' automobile.note
- Bowdlerise: From the Bahasa Indonesia dub:
- This exchange:Mr. Krabs: Hold on there, SpongeBob! (pulls SpongeBob back) Take that pile of filth out with you. (Squidward holds up a trash bag)
SpongeBob: (gasps) Mr. Krabs, you shouldn't talk about Squidward like that!
Squidward: He means this filth, you loon!- Becomes (essentially) this:Mr. Krabs: Hold on there, SpongeBob! (pulls SpongeBob back) Take that pile of filth out with you. (Squidward holds up a trash bag)
SpongeBob: (gasps) Mr. Krabs, isn't that Squidward's duty?
Squidward: This garbage is yours, idiot!
- Becomes (essentially) this:
- Also, this exchange between SpongeBob and a Garbage Man:Garbage Man: (clearly disgusted at SpongeBob's censored swear word) Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?
SpongeBob: Well, sometimes, but not... recently.- Into essentially this:Garbage Man: (clearly disgusted at SpongeBob's censored swear word) You're such a trash-talker!
SpongeBob: Well, sometimes yes, sometimes no. I'm just a bit clueless.
- Into essentially this:
- This exchange:
- Call-Back: Patrick calling Mr. Krabs "the red sweaty guy you work for" recalls the season one episode "Arrgh!", where Patrick repeatedly points out how sweaty Mr. Krabs is.
- Censored for Comedy: The bad word that SpongeBob and Patrick say is covered with a dolphin chirp. The other bad words that Mr. Krabs spews are censored by other nautical sounds. It's played with in the end when Mr. Krabs' mother says something that's "censored" by a noisy jalopy, and everyone thinks she's cursing at first — implying that either the censor-sounds are the curse words or everyone hears the censor-sounds in-universe.
- Cluster Bleep-Bomb:
- SpongeBob and Patrick do this inadvertently in the Krusty Krab after learning Bad Word #11.
- Mr. Krabs performs one when accidentally stepping on a pebble.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- At the beginning, Mr. Krabs orders SpongeBob to take out the pile of trash that Squidward is holding. SpongeBob exclaims he shouldn't talk about Squidward like that.
- Also this conversation:Garbage Man: Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?
SpongeBob: (confused) Well, sometimes, but not... recently.
- Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: Upon hearing SpongeBob swear over the intercom at the Krusty Krab, a mother octopus covers the ears of four of her children to stop them from laughing. Unfortunately, she only has so many tentacles, so when the last kid won't stop laughing, she puts a soda cup over his head.
- Disproportionate Retribution: A lot of punishment happens all because SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs swear.
- After losing at Eels and Escalators, SpongeBob blurts out a bad word and Patrick decides to run all the way to the Krusty Krab to tattle on him.
- After SpongeBob and Patrick tattle on each other for swearing back at SpongeBob's house, Mr. Krabs makes them paint the Krusty Krab.
- After Mr. Krabs blurts all thirteen swear words upon injuring his own foot, SpongeBob and Patrick decide to run to Mr. Krabs' mother's house to tattle on Mr. Krabs.
- After SpongeBob and Patrick tattle on Mr. Krabs for swearing, Mama Krabs makes the three of them paint her house.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: One of the customers complains about SpongeBob's cussing by saying that someone with his talent shouldn't have to "work blue," a remark usually expressed towards standup comedians who take Refuge in Audacity.
- Don't Tell Mama: Mr. Krabs begs SpongeBob and Patrick not to tell his mother when he swears.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: SpongeBob, Patrick, and Krabs laugh at Old Man Jenkins' honking boat.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- A sailor gasps and is shocked while his friend, a pirate, is shown disgusted at SpongeBob's swear word.
- Mr. Krabs has no time for swear words despite knowing all 13 of them, and makes SpongeBob and Patrick promise not to say it again.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- One of the dumpster graffiti messages reads "Patchy (the Pirate) was here."
- Watch SpongeBob closely after he loses: he is animated to say "Ah, fishsticks!"note
- Furry Confusion: A female octopus and her children look more like real-life octopi than Squidward and his kin.
- Hypocritical Humor: SpongeBob and Patrick trying to rat out each other to Krabs for swearing, then trying to rat Krabs out to his mother for swearing, all while swearing themselves.
- Innocent Swearing: SpongeBob and Patrick think that swear words are merely "sentence enhancers" and did not know they were bad words.
- Kilroy Was Here: One of the engravings on the dumpster reads "Patchy was here".
- Literal-Minded: When SpongeBob fears that Mr. Krabs will give him and Patrick "forty lashes" for swearing, Patrick has an Imagine Spot of himself with forty eyelashes.
- Mid-Battle Tea Break: While racing SpongeBob to get to Mr. Krabs faster, Patrick took his sweet time to grab an ice cream cone, devour it and then come inside the Krusty Krab.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: Mr. Krabs goes into a curse-filled rant after stubbing his foot on a rock. Later on, Mama Krabs also seems to do this, until it's revealed that the horn noise in that scenario came from somebody's car.
- Profanity Police: Mr. Krabs. He warns SpongeBob and Patrick not to use any of the thirteen bad words.
- Serious Business: Swearing seems to lead to a punishment involving painting either a house or some other building.
- Seven Dirty Words: The original routine is referenced when Mr. Krabs explains that there are 13 bad words.Squidward: Don't you mean there are only seven?
Mr. Krabs: Not if you're a sailor. (laughs) - Shout-Out:
- When Krabs gives his speech about the 13 bad words, Squidward asks if he means seven.
- Eels and Escalators is a parody of Chutes and Ladders (which itself is an adaptation of Snakes and Ladders).
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Mr. Krabs turns out to be one. SpongeBob and Patrick become this unintentionally.
- Sound-Effect Bleep: Rather than a standard bleep, most of the swears are censored using dolphin chirps and other nautical noises. Though it's implied that the noises themselves are actually what the swears sound like In-Universe.
- Sudden Anatomy:
- SpongeBob gains thirteen fingers when counting the bad words in Mr. Krabs' profanity-laced rant.
- Squidward also sprouts an ear when he hears SpongeBob using "bad word #11" over the intercom. He pushes it back into his head afterwards.
- Swear Word Plot: The episode is about SpongeBob and Patrick learning a curse word and getting in trouble with Mr. Krabs for saying it in the restaurant.
- Tempting Fate: Right when SpongeBob has one last turn to ride the escalator and win or lose to an eel, SpongeBob rolls the dice hard enough to finally get the escalators. When he shouts his victory, the dice quickly roll to two eels.Patrick: (sing-songy) Eels...
- Toilet Paper Trail: Mr. Krabs rushes out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to his leg upon realizing that all the customers are leaving.
- The Unpronounceable: The ending hints that all the swear words are in fact the noises themselves.
- Very Special Episode: About the usage of swearing and profanity.
"I call it Bold and Brash."note
Artist Unknown
Original air date: 9/21/2001
Squidward gets a job teaching art at Bikini Bottom's rec center, however, SpongeBob is his only student. But when a famous art collector comes looking for art for his museum, he takes interest in a statue SpongeBob made, which Squidward criticized for not being by-the-book, only for SpongeBob to run off. After taking the credit for the statue, it breaks during transport, forcing Squidward to try to find SpongeBob in an attempt to make a new one.
"Artist Unknown" contains examples of:
- Accidental Art: Squidward has a breakdown and thrashes his studio. When Monty returns and asks who is responsible, presumably for the enormous mess, Squidward points to the janitor and says "As of now, it's his responsibility!" and leaves. What Squidward doesn't realize is that during his destruction spree he had accidentally created another David statue more glorious than the previous one, which Monty congratulates the janitor on, calling him "The greatest artist who ever lived!"
- An Aesop: Artistic expression and creativity should be celebrated, rather than conforming to standards.
- Give credit where credit's due.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "My fame! My fortune! My hair!"
- Asshole Victim: Monty P. Moneybags brutally mocks Squidward's art pieces, but considering how much of a jerk Squidward was to SpongeBob during class, it was very much deserved.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- When Squidward demonstrates his first art piece to the critic, the latter, seemingly attempting to let him down gently, claims it wouldn't fit with the rest of his collection... adding because it's an art collection and begins laughing obnoxiously at the rest of Squidward's work.
- Earlier Squidward is anticipating the first day of his art class, when he opens the doors he's greeted with a crowd of excited people in line to get in. When Squidward welcomes them one fish says they thought this was a cooking class and everyone (except for SpongeBob) leaves.
- Bittersweet Ending: Squidward inadvertently succeeds in creating another David statue (though he doesn't realize it), but SpongeBob lost his artistic creativity (at least for the episode) in the process.
- Break the Cutie: Squidward's criticisms on SpongeBob's art out of jealousy is enough to reduce him to tears, causing him to hole himself away in a landfill.
- Brick Joke: One of the first art pieces Squidward shows off to the art critic is a Picasso-like self portrait called "Bold and Brash", to which the art critic says "more like, 'Belongs in the Trash'", which prompts the janitor to throw it away, later on when he visits SpongeBob at the dump, SpongeBob finds it in a junk pile.
- Brutal Honesty: Monty P. Moneybags seems to have some of this, given his reactions to Squidward's bad art.Squidward: I call this one Squidward in Repose.
Monty: (frowns and then gestures back uncomfortably) I, uh... don't think that will fit in with the other pieces in my collection.
Squidward: Why not?
Monty: Because, it's an art collection! Bahahaha!
Squidward: How about this one? I call it Bold and Brash.
Monty: More like Belongs in the Trash! Bahahahahaha!
Janitor: Sorry, I must've missed that one. (grabs the painting and throws it into the trash can he is wheeling) - Cheaters Never Prosper: More specifically, plagiarists never prosper. See Hoist by His Own Petard below.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Squidward, focusing on his attempts to run an art school despite lacking artistic talent beyond the most basic fundamentals.
- Dissonant Serenity: Squidward keeps grinning when SpongeBob shatters a marble slab to pieces when he should have been making a new sculpture, right before his Unstoppable Rage.
- Down in the Dumps: After Squidward insults him and his artwork, SpongeBob lets himself get thrown in the trash. When Squidward needs SpongeBob back, he goes to the dump and finds him wallowing in shame amid the trash.
- Failed a Spot Check: Squidward never noticed the piece of art he created as a result of his rampage.
- Gave Up Too Soon: See Accidental Art above.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Squidward gets instantly jealous of SpongeBob's artistic talent and tries to take credit for it. Notably, even after Squidward has seen about as objective a proof as possible that he's the inferior artist, he never apologizes to SpongeBob or admits his prior criticisms were invalid—even his attempt to win SpongeBob over amounts to him promising to give SpongeBob "a second chance."
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: The statue of Michelangelo's David has a shell over his crotch. Lampshaded by Monty P. Moneybags, who calls it "perfect censorship".
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Squidward chastising SpongeBob's off-the-book art work because he doesn't want to admit that it's better than his own comes back to bite him. When a famous art collector sees one of SpongeBob's creations (the statue of David), he promises the artist fame and fortune, so Squidward immediately takes credit. But when the head accidentally breaks off the statue, he needs SpongeBob to make another one for him. Unfortunately, Squidward's chastising of SpongeBob's creative artwork has conditioned him to only do artwork by the book, resulting in his new sculpture being a literal pile of rubble with a prosthetic nose attached.
- Hourglass Plot: At the start of the episode, Squidward's art skills are subpar, while SpongeBob is innocently creating masterpieces left and right. By the end, SpongeBob has become a terrible artist thanks to Squidward's teachings, while Squidward ends up becoming a master artist without even realizing it.
- Impact Silhouette: SpongeBob makes one in the wall as he runs back to the dump.
- Instant Expert: SpongeBob seemingly hasn't taken any art lessons, but he still blows Squidward completely out of the water. It's not clear how much is innate talent and how much is self-taught, but it's still unbelievably good, especially for an apparent amateur.
- Internal Deconstruction: The entire episode deconstructs both SpongeBob and Squidward's characters for much of its humor. It sets up a scenario where SpongeBob succeeds at something that Squidward takes pride in, in this case his art. Squidward cannot handle SpongeBob succeeding at everything he tries to teach him, and tries to enforce his own standards onto him. On the other hand, SpongeBob takes everything that Squidward tells him to heart after Squidward tries to take him back after scolding him.
- Ironic Echo: "There, now it's art." The first time the line appears is when Squidward applies a prosthetic replica of his own nose to SpongeBob's version of David after chastising it to defend his bruised ego. The second time is when SpongeBob applies a similar fake nose to the marble rubble that he thinks is a sculpture after following Squidward's methods to the letter.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: SpongeBob runs back to the dump when Squidward starts smashing up the whole classroom, as he feels his "creative vision" is too much for Squidward.
- Large Ham: Monty P. Moneybags chews the scenery with every line he has.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Squidward continuously scolds SpongeBob for not following the rules and then tries to take credit for the sculpture SpongeBob created. When it's accidentally broken, SpongeBob is unable to rebuild it due to his creativity being destroyed by Squidward's teachings. The cherry on top? After Squidward throws a destructive tantrum, he unknowingly creates an even greater sculpture and gives someone else full credit for it!
- Literal Metaphor: Squidward says he'll whip up a sculpture that'll knock Monty P. Moneybags' socks off, only to be told this.Monty: Between you and me, I'm not wearing socks! Bahahahahaha!
- Narcissist: Squidward tells SpongeBob to say that the latter has no talent and the former knows everything. It doesn’t help that literally all of his art is a self-portrait or sculpture.
- Never My Fault: When Monty comes back and asks who is responsible for what Squidward has done, the latter (who thinks he destroyed the studio and is unaware of the piece of art he created) blames the janitor.
- Organ Autonomy: When SpongeBob says that he can't look at his own hands anymore, the hands detach themselves, run off and hide in a tin can.
- Pet the Dog: When SpongeBob sulks after Squidward insults his art, Squidward's expression as he watches him leave implies that he at least has the decency to feel a tiny bit sorry for him and guilty for hurting his feelings. This doesn't stop him from plagiarizing said artwork for his own personal gain, though.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Squidward turns into this at the end, as he goes on a rampage in the studio after SpongeBob couldn’t chisel the sculpture perfectly like before.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- Squidward at the end when he decides to quit his art-teaching career.
- Before that, SpongeBob is visibly disturbed by Squidward's rampage and decides to flee right back to the dump.SpongeBob: It looks like the excitement of my artistic triumph is too much for Squidward! Oh, well. Back to the dump!
- Shout-Out: Squidward claims, "Bring me your huddled masses of bored housewives and I will shape them in my image". This is likely a take on the Statue of Liberty's slogan, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free".
- Small Name, Big Ego: Squidward already had this, but him believing that his work (all of which are based on him) is true art when perceived ridiculous by an art critic makes this episode an extraordinary example.Squidward: Ah, how I have dreamed of this day. Mr. Tentacles, Professor of Art. What a marvelous opportunity for the people of Bikini Bottom. Bring me your huddled masses of bored house wives and I will shape them into my image. I'll go down in history. Someday, there will be a wing with my name on it in all the museums of the world!
Janitor: (passing by with a broom) Dude, you're teaching art at the rec center. Calm down!
Squidward: (under his breath) Uncultured trash urchin. - Tears of Awe: Squidward, upon looking at SpongeBob's impressive sculpture that was done in a single carve, got teary-eyed and remarked that it was beautiful, before he snaps out of it to criticize it out of jealousy.
- Tears of Remorse: SpongeBob sheds them after Squidward criticizes his marble sculpture, which was the last straw for him and leads to him breaking down and leaving.
- Technician vs. Performer: SpongeBob is completely self-taught and uses inefficient and unusual techniques (drawing an entire head then erasing most of the features to draw a circle) that still demonstrate amazing results. Squidward, meanwhile, relies on established methods and attempts to copy modern art trends, but he lacks creativity or talent, resulting in ugly, generic artwork that follows the rules but fails to impress.
- Too Upset to Create: SpongeBob attends Squidward's art class, annoying his teacher with his unusual creative process. Squidward scolds him for doing art "wrong", and he gets so upset he quits the class and goes to live in the dump. When an art collector comes in and declares one of SpongeBob's artworks a masterpiece, Squidward tries to get SpongeBob to make some more. Unfortunately, SpongeBob has taken Squidward's criticisms to heart, and is unable to recreate his previous work.
- Truth in Television: Art teachers robbing students of their creativity by forcing them to follow the rules and even shaming them into throwing off creativity and only draw what they are instructed to, as portrayed in the episode, is unfortunately something that does happen in real life.
- Uncle Pennybags: Monty P. Moneybags comes off as one, though he's not afraid to get a little brutally honest with Squidward.
- Unstoppable Rage: Squidward launches into this and begins smashing every block of marble and destroying the whole classroom toward the end when SpongeBob ends up taking Squidward's rules of art to heart and reduces a block of marble into a pile of rubble instead of the statue he created earlier.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Monty P. Moneybags' accent is hard to place, sounding Australian one moment then Cockney English the next.
- Wingding Eyes: Squidward has stars in his eyes when Monty P. Moneybags says, "I am gonna make you... IMMORTAL!"
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Squidward says it almost word-for-word upon discovering that SpongeBob signed up for his art class (and is his only student).
