Tongue-Out Insult

There are lots of ways to insult someone. There's the Stealth Insult. There's sarcasm. There's name-calling.

But if you really want to make sure that your insult is the most basic and childish possible, there's nothing quite like having someone stick out their tongue at someone else.

Many a parent has scolded their child with "Don't stick out your tongue." In fact, many times this is done behind someone's back, especially if it is an authority figure who can punish them, like a parent or teacher.

In anime, this is typically combined with the Eyelid Pull Taunt. It may also accompany the "Silly Me" Gesture. Closely related to Blowing a Raspberry.

---

Examples

Anime & Manga

• Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro: In Episode 11, there is a misunderstanding that hurts Nagatoro's feelings. Naoto chases after her in an attempt to make amends. When a group of girls see them together, she brushes him off as a "creepy stalker", adding insult to injury by sticking her tongue out at him.
• Before the Martial Arts Tou rnament at the end of Dragon Ball Z is set to take place, Pan's opponent dismisses his upcoming bout with Pan as "babysitting" due to Pan's young age, to which Pan responds by sticking her tongue out at him as a retort.
• Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Kaname and Sousuke are assigned to assist Jindai High's rugby team. During a team meeting at a local fast food restaurant, they are accosted by a rival team, and most of Jindai's rugby team is beaten senseless, save for Sousuke, who is very capable at hand-to-hand fighting, and Kaname, who sees the rival team off by sticking her tongue out at them as they depart.
• My-HiME: At one point Mai, sitting at her desk during a montage sequence, sticks her tongue out at Yuuichi, an early sign of the Belligerent Sexual Tension between the two of them.
• The Quintessential Quintuplets: While completely ignoring his attempt at trying to understand her feelings about him, Nino Nakano declares directly to Fuutarou's face that she refuses to accept him as anything more than an interloper, fearing that he would disrupt the bond between her and her sisters, regardless of what her sisters think, and makes good on that by forcefully dragging Miku back into their home who came out to tell Fuutarou something important and spitefully sticks her tongue out at him while leaving.
• Ranma ½:
  • In one episode, after Nabiki has made some rude comments, her sister Kasumi scolds her with, "Nabiki, that's not very nice." Nabiki responds by sticking out her tongue and saying a very sarcastic "Sorry."
  • During the episode when Tsubasa is introduced, Ranma, Akane, and Ukyo initially believe that they have driven off Tsubasa by revealing that Ukyo was in love with girl-type Ranma. Ranma sticks out "her" tongue as Tsubasa storms out of Ucchan's. It would be short-lived, as Tsubasa quickly returned with a vengeance.
• Sailor Moon: Usagi/Sailor Moon’s and Rei/Sailor Mars’ bickering often devolves into just shoving their tongues in each other’s faces, much to the exasperation of their teammates.
• Suite Pretty Cure ♪: After fake-crying to get Kanade to stop yelling at him, Souta runs inside and sticks his tongue out at her, enraging her further.

Comic Books

• In The Smurfs comic book story "The Smurf Not Like The Others", Traveler Smurf (Dreamy in the 1980s Animated Adaptation) insults Azrael with this when he hides himself inside a bottle on Gargamel's shelf while trying to evade the cat during his captivity. This insult provokes Azrael to knock the bottle off the shelf and break it, releasing the Smurf that was hiding inside it.
• Tintin: Subverted in "Tintin in Tibet", when a boy sticks his tongue out at Captain Haddock and he gets offended, but it turns out that where the boy comes from, it's a way of saying goodbye.
• Uncanny X-Men: In one issue, Jubilee has been captured by the Mandarin, who has had her dressed in traditional Chinese attire and make-up, and makes loud complaints about her being "sullied by the mongrel ways of the West." Jubilee's most eloquent response to him was to stick her tongue out at him, to his exasperation. Then Wolverine shows up to rescue her, and she ends up blowing up the Mandarin's house.

Comic Strips

• Calvin and Hobbes:
  • The 6-year-old Calvin sometimes sticks his tongue out to insult people. His ambiguously-real friend/stuffed tiger Hobbes also likes it. Both tend to combine it with Blowing a Raspberry.
  • In one Sunday strip, Calvin dreams that Santa Claus one day decides to reward naughty kids instead of nice kids. This version of Santa tells Calvin to "stick your tongue out at your Dad if he scolds."
  • In this strip, Calvin sees a cloud that looks like him sticking his tongue out to insult someone. It makes him remark, "Boy, there's nothing worse than an inscrutable omen."
• Garfield:
  Jon: Cindy called. (sticks his tongue out at the phone) She said I'm immature.
  Garfield: What does she know?

Fan Works

• The Bolt Chronicles:
  • In "The Supermarket," Bolt reacts to teasing from Mittens and Rhino about getting a new publicity photo by sticking his tongue out at them.
    Bolt: [musing] Hmmm. Wonder if Penny will have new pictures taken of herself and me. Whaddya think, guys? Should they shoot me full on, with a disarming smile? Or maybe take a distinguished right profile photo instead?
    Mittens: [wrinkling her face in amusement] I'd recommend the profile, Wags. It's only half as frightening.
    Rhino: [giggling] Just don’t do a left profile — unless you’re trying to capture your more sinister side.
    Bolt: [sticking his tongue our at his friends] Har-dee-har-har! Anybody ever tell you guys you're almost as funny as a cement parachute?
  • During the TV courtroom trial in "The Service Dog," Bolt derisively sticks his tongue out at Carmen, the grousing chihuahua who continually insults him. She had earlier bitten him on the nose and injured him, which subsequently set the legal proceedings in motion. Bolt is wearing a neck cone when he does, so the judge can't see him — and his action sets the chihuahua off yapping at an especially crucial time, helping disprove her owner's contention that Carmen couldn't have instigated the earlier issue.

Films — Animated

• Anastasia: Anya sticks her tongue out at Dimitri behind his back at one point during their bickering on the train.
• Peter Pan: When the pirates are introduced, Mr. Smee sticks his tongue out at the pirates for bullying him while delivering his platter to Captain Hook.
• The Aristocats: When the three kittens squabble, Berlioz sticks his tongue out at Marie at one point.
• The Land Before Time: Cera sticks out her tongue at the knocked out Sharptooth before waking him up.
• The Little Mermaid (1989): As illustrated above, Flounder sticks his tongue out at the shark after it's been trapped on an anchor chain. The shark snapping at him scares him off.
• In Lilo & Stitch Nani was about to take Stitch back to the pound when Lilo told her that O'hana means family which means nobody gets left behind. Nani tells Lilo she hates when she uses O'hana on her. Lilo responds by sticking her tongue out at Nani who returns the favor.
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: When Snow White sends the dwarfs outside to wash up, Grumpy stubbornly refuses to join and doesn't answer when she reiterates. She then asks him "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?", and Grumpy sticks it out to show her that, no, it didn't.
• In Turning Red, Mei has a variation of a "Have a Nice Day" Smile pin button on her bag with a stuck-out tongue.

Films — Live-Action

• Forbidden Zone: Susan B. "Frenchy" Hercules sticks out her tongue when her father forbids her from going down the basement and into the Sixth Dimension. She sticks her tongue at the Princess after locking her up in Cell 63.
• Early on in Gone with the Wind, Scarlett and her sister, Suellen stick their tongues at each other after arguing.
• Jaws: Hooper does this to Quint after the latter dismisses the Ph. D. candidate as a "wealthy college boy". He is smart enough to wait until Quint turns his back on him.
• Spaceballs: President Skroob tells Dark Helmet to never have the faceplate of his helmet down in front of him. "How do I know you're not making faces at me under there?" Helmet lifts the faceplate behind Skroob's back and sticks his tongue out at him, only for Skroob to turn and catch him at it.
• Stay Tuned: During the animation segment, Roy sticks his tongue out at his wife, Helen. She grabs his tongue and pulls his whole body through his mouth in an impressive display of Cartoon Physics.
• Romy and Michele's High School Reunion: While driving on the interstate, Romy and Michele pass a station wagon with a little boy in it who sticks his tongue out at Michele, she responds by immaturely sticking her tongue out back at the young boy.
• Film"Freaky Friday 2003": After Tess and Anna switch bodies, Tess and Ryan are dropping off Anna at school, Tess tells Ryan they can drop off her son Harry at the high school instead of driving him to his school. Harry then complains that it is 20 blocks and Tess tells him the fresh air is good for him, he then asks "what about bullies" to which she replies "run fast", following this she turns around and sticks her tongue out at him.

Literature

• Angela Nicely: Angela is often sticking out her tongue at her rival classmate Tiffany. Justified in that Angela’s only six.
• The Berenstain Bears book "The Bears' Nature Guide", which shows a frog and a toad both trying to catch the same fly and getting their tongues stuck together, with its Spoof Aesop being "Never stick out your tongue at your cousin".
• The cover for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy books usually show a planet making a "nyaah nyaah" face with its tongue out.
• In a Morris The Moose book, Morris tries to defy this. He has a cold, and Boris wants to examine him and asks him to stick out his tongue. Morris refuses to because it is "not nice", but Boris replies, "Stick! Out! Your! Tongue!".
• Toms Midnight Garden: At one point, Hattie sticks out her tongue at someone and tries to lie that it "wanted fresh air".
• In the novel The Witch Family, Amy tells Clarissa that the two of them are invisible to witches. Clarissa tests this by sticking her tongue out at Old Witch, but Amy tells her not to since it's rude regardless of whether you're seen.

Live-Action TV

• The Andy Griffith Show: In the episode "Opie and the Bully" Opie sticks out his tongue at a bully behind his back when he forces him to give him his lunch money and threatens him with a knuckle sandwich if he doesn't.
• Christmas Eve on Sesame Street: Discussed in Oscar's Anti-Christmas Song "I Hate Christmas", in which he sings, "Christmas carols to be sung, decorations to be hung. Oh yeah? Well I stick out my tongue! I hate Christmas!".
• Fawlty Towers: In "The Germans", Polly sticks her tongue out after Basil's Hypocritical Humor, when he snaps "What's the panic? There always has to be an argument about everything!".
• Home Improvement: In the Season 2 episode "Let's Did Lunch" Tim playfully chases Jill around with a can of soda threatening to shake it up and spray it on her if she doesn't sincerely apologize to him, he chases her outside and she runs back into the house and locks the door on him. She then looks through the glass window and sticks her tongue out at Tim to playfully taunt him
• Jessie:
  • In the episode "We are so Grounded" Emma insults Luke by telling him that he can get rejected on a whole new continent while they go on a vacation to Bali. He responds by sticking his tongue out at her, which she then does back to him.
  • In the episode "The Trouble with Tessie" Luke and Ravi compete against Bertram and Emma for who should get to use the screening room. When Ravi and Luke interrupt Bertram and Emma's cooking show to watch a MMA match, Luke freaks out and tries to come after Emma but is grabbed by Bertram and tossed over his shoulder. As Bertram carries Luke out of the room, Emma sticks out her tongue at Luke as a way of taunting him.
• Little House on the Prairie
  • Laura and Nellie stick their tongues out at each other in "Christmas at Plum Creek,
  • Laura sticks her tongue out at Nellie after beating her in the three-legged race in the episode "Founder's Day"
  • Laura and Willie stick out their tongues at each other behind Miss Beadle's back after getting into a fight outside and being brought into the schoolhouse in the Season 3 episode "Little Women".
• M*A*S*H: In one episode, during an argument in O.R., Hawkeye asks a nurse to pull down his mask, at which point he then sticks his tongue out at Frank Burns by way of rebuttal, then has the nurse raise his mask again.
• Mr. Bean: In the exam sketch, Mr Bean takes the paper from the student next to him; then meekly hands it back. The student snatches it and puts it down aggressively, out of Mr Bean's reach. Mr Bean then sticks his tongue out.
• Worzel Gummidge: In "Worzel the Clever", when Worzel the walking, talking scarecrow has his "thinking head" on that makes him very clever, he responds to trivia questions by answering, sticking out his tongue, and saying, "Ask me another!".

Sports

• The protruding tongue is a part of the haka, the ritual Maori war dance performed by the New Zealand rugby team before kick off, in order to intimidate the opposition.

Theatre

• In Pygmalion, Eliza sticks her tongue out at her father when he comes to Higgins' house to charge him a fee for Eliza to stay there.

Video Games

• A Hat in Time: Hat Kid can stick her tongue out to taunt. She even does so toward a mafia mook in one cutscene.
• Marvel vs. Capcom: This is Mega Man's taunt of choice.
• Metal Gear Solid: Mei Ling does this after the player called Mei Ling repeatedly and declined the save several times.
• Papa Louie Arcade: In the gamerias, this is one of the reactions a costumer may have should their serving performance be the second-worst level that you can get.
• Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc: To a lethal degree. In the last portion of the Desert of the Knarren, Rayman is given the almighty magical power to stick his tongue out. It's actually shockingly helpful, as this is used to scare Black Lums, turning it back into a Red Lum, the healing item from Rayman 2. This makes the later levels a lot easier with a constant stream of health pick-ups during a fight. It also doubles as a reference to the first Rayman game, where sticking your tongue out was an action that got replaced by running later on, it also scaring enemies in that game.
• In Scratchin' Melodii's first level, "Cream Cheese Icing," Cinnabay does this at the beginning of the song. Likewise, Melodii can stick their tongue back at her as she was repeating the latter's lyrics.

Webcomics

• Unsounded: When Duane relates to Sette that in Alderode women are forbidden from learning pymary and considered unsuited for it, she sticks out her tongue in an echo of his memory of Mikaila doing the same thing.

Western Animation

• Looney Tunes: On one occasion, The Dog sticks his tongue out at Foghorn Leghorn. It turns out to be a bad idea, as the rooster seizes the tongue, saying, "If you're, I say, if you're going to hang that thing out for all the world to say, you might as well give it some color!", and proceeds to paint the tongue green.
• Kaeloo: In Episode 241, Stumpy and his little sisters hold hands to cross the street, and out of all his sisters, Stumpy chooses to hold hands with Violasse. Violasse, who is quite possessive of Stumpy, sticks her tongue out at the other sisters, who stick their tongues back out at her.
• My Little Pony (G3): In Twinkle Wish Adventure, shortly before most of the cast embark on their journey to rescue a wishing star, Scootaloo does this to Cheerilee, due to their fight earlier in the film, and Cheerilee responds in kind.
• In The Owl House episode "I Was a Teenage Abomination", Luz expresses her distate for Amity bullying Willow by sticking out her tongue.
• The Powerpuff Girls episode "Nuthin' Special" had Buttercup defiantly sticking her tongue out at her sisters for being the only one of the three that doesn't have a self-contained power for herself. She curls her tongue doing so and she treats it as something to celebrate as nobody else can do it.
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: Shaggy and Scooby, serving as live bait, would often stick their tongues out at the ghosts in order to get them to give chase. A particularly memorable occasion was "Hassle in the Castle", when Scoob stuck his tongue out at the Phantom, with a robust "Nyah-Nyah Nyah-Nyah Nyah-Nyah!"
• In the first episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), when Donatello is eliminated from the training exercise and moves off to the side, Michelangelo briefly sticks his tongue out at him to annoy him.
• Tiny Toon Adventures: Alluded to in one episode when Hampton is trying to boil a lobster. Hampton threatens him with a pair of tongs and the crustacean, in a thick Irish accent, demands, "Don't stick your tong out at me!"

---