Airdate: Monday, December 16, 2002
Sender: Cory, North Dakota
Strong Bad: (vocalizing) Duh duh dududududududududuh duhduhduhduhduhduh email.
"The entire town of Cory, North Dakota" writes to ask if Strong Bad can get The Cheat to talk normal. Strong Bad calls The Cheat in to see if he can say "Douglas", to no effect.
Strong Bad: Well, I guess you can't expect much from a furry little man who hangs out with my brother all day. Speaking of...
Strong Bad summons his biggest bro Strong Mad to see if he can say Douglas, again to no effect. He has a little more success asking Strong Sad to say it, though Strong Bad feels the need to gut-check his little brother with the keyboard first. He also gets a brief scare from an unseen voice saying "Douglas" that turns out to be the squeaking of a sycamore branch rubbing against the window.
Strong Bad: So, I guess you guys are just gonna have to learn how to speak The Cheat. I know a little myself... Y'know, like (The Cheat noises) and, um, (more The Cheat noises), you know... I don't know what any of that means, but, uh, it really seems to tick The Cheat off when I say it, so, I say it to him all the time. Anyways, give it up for me! (beat) ...Guys?
(The Paper comes down)
(The Paper comes down)
Tropes:
- Butt-Monkey: Strong Sad, as usual; Strong Bad doesn't even ask him to say "Douglas", and just hits him in the stomach with the Compy's keyboard.
- Cat Scare: Strong Bad gets startled by a mysterious voice saying "Douglas" that turns out to be "the branch of that old sycamore rubbing against the window".
- Continuity Nod: The "Learn to Speak The Cheat" record at the end references some of The Cheat's lines from previous cartoons, such as A Jumping Jack Contest, Pumpkin Carve-Nival, superhero name, and email 22.
- Curse Cut Short: The "Learn to Speak The Cheat" record ends with a Record Needle Scratch before it can move on to the next lesson, "All the Swears".
- Stealth Hi/Bye: The Cheat and Strong Mad both pull this off, appearing unexpectedly when Strong Bad calls for them.
- The Unintelligible: The Cheat's status as such is lampshaded, with Cory wondering why The Cheat is apparently unable to talk normally.
Announcer: ...And language is what makes people talk. Let's begin! (The phrase that The Cheat used to offer Homestar a glass of melonade from "A Jumping Jack Contest") means: "Hey, Homestar, would you like 147 glasses of melonade?" (The phrase The Cheat used when commenting on The King of Town's pumpkin from Pumpkin Carve-nival") means: "The King of Town is so lame." (The phrase The Cheat used before Strong Bad says his cape looks great in "superhero name") means: "What, don't you like this costume?" (The phrase The Cheat whispered to Strong Bad at the press conference in "sb_email 22") means: "Check it out, this is going to be great. Just say 'Screw all y'all!'." And now on to Lesson 2: All the swears...(cue Record Needle Scratch)
