Bleep

Summary
D.W. wants to know the meaning of a word that made a boy's mom drop something when he said it.

Plot
The episode begins as Arthur talks to the viewer about the bleep. He presents an example in a show called The Altos. Whenever an Alto curses, it is censored with a bleep. Arthur then says that it's not used in real life, but he claims it could be fun if it was. Then D.W. gets a hold of the bleep button, driving Arthur crazy.

After the title card is shown, D.W. goes to the crystal shop with Grandma Thora. She overhears a teenage boy arguing with his mother as he is being careless in the store. She tells him to stop because he may break something, which he scoffs at and tells her whatever. She tires of his backtalk and says he can forget about going to a concert. He says she can't do that, she says she can, and will. The boy gets angry, and when he calls his mother a bad name (censored with a "bleep"), she drops the vase she is holding. D.W. wants to ask Grandma Thora (who didn't hear the argument because she was buying a crystal bowl) what the word means, She explains the situation and before she gets to the word, she imagines the word will cause Thora to drop the expensive bowl she just bought. So instead, she asks Arthur the meaning of the word; he reacts by gasping and dropping the model plane he was working on, resulting in it being in pieces (for the second time), confirming D.W.'s belief that the word has the power to make people drop items. Arthur tells D.W. not to say the bad word around their parents. She then asks Nadine, who is also clueless and suggests asking the parents, but then D.W. has a bad daydream where it caused everyone to drop objects, and says it's a bad idea. D.W., still not clear on the meaning of the word, asks the Tibbles about it the next day at school. They laugh, knowing its a bad word. They tell her that it is a very powerful word. To get her in trouble, they tell D.W. that the word turns adults into zombie servants and that is the reason kids aren't supposed to say it near adults.

Back in class, everyone was singing "If You're Happy and You Know It," but D.W. has a fantasy in which the other children are singing, she accidentally says the curse word, the others gasp, and Ms. Morgan drops her accordion and becomes a zombie servant to D.W. She chooses not to say the word then the Tibbles mock her after school.

Still skeptical, D.W. repeats the Tibbles' story to Vicita, but tells her she shouldn't say it to anyone. However, D.W. knows that Vicita will say it anyway because she does not know any better, and so she watched Vicita from Arthur's room with a pair of binoculars to see what happens when she says it. She sees Vicita blurt out the word to her family, and when they get angry, she says that D.W. told her the word. While this is happening, she is interrupted by her mother calling her down to dinner; when her mother persists, D.W. gets angry and accidentally yells the word to Jane. Mrs. Read is shocked and outraged at this accidental remark, and exclaims, "Dora Winifred Read... what did you just say to me?" D.W. tries to cover it up by saying, "Um, can I have a soda?" After Jane fails to fall for the ruse, D.W. says to herself, "Tibbles!" before turning back to the window. D.W. rushes downstairs to find the Molinas and her dad angry at her. She says, "Arthur did it?" in a very unconvincing way.

Later, while D.W. is in bed, Mrs. Read spares D.W. by telling her she is "off the hook" because she didn't know what she was saying, "but I hope you know by now that swear words are not appropriate things to say, especially for 3- and 4-year-old children." When D.W. asks why, the answer is because most people are offended by them and that "it's as simple as that.", As her mother is leaving, D.W. asks what swear words mean, and she responds, "I guess you could say they mean 'I want to hurt your feelings,'" and bids her good night. The next day, D.W. finds her friends all saying the word (without knowing what they are saying). Realizing what she must do, D.W. sits down to explain to her friends how hurtful swear words are.

Major

 * D.W. Read
 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * Nadine Flumberghast
 * Arthur Read

Minor

 * Teenager
 * Ms. Morgan
 * Amanda Hulser
 * Francine Frensky
 * Edwin
 * Thora Read
 * David Read
 * Jane Read
 * Vicita Molina
 * Unknown Female Adult Cat

Cameo

 * Mrs. Hulser
 * James MacDonald
 * Ramón Molina
 * Mrs. Molina
 * Alberto Molina
 * Maryann
 * Liam
 * Lisa
 * Maryann's father
 * Emily
 * Sarah
 * Lucy
 * Kyle

Songs
"If You're Happy and You Know It"

Trivia

 * There is a lot of speculation over what the bleeped word could be, but due to the context the bleep is used in each time, it seems there is no one word that it could be.
 * This episode and "Big Horns George" never aired in the UK, probably due to the fact of the controversy of the episode.

Cultural references

 * The Altos are a parody of .
 * Mary Moo Cow jumping over the moon is a reference to the nursery rhyme "."
 * The preschoolers sang If You're Happy and You Know It.

Episode connections

 * When Arthur drops the plane, it breaks, just like it did in "Arthur's Big Hit."
 * Arthur was most likely making another model plane to fill in for that broken plane during the events of "Arthur's Big Hit."
 * The event where Arthur's mom's glass bird broke was shown again. The first time took place during the flashback in the special Arthur's Perfect Christmas.

Errors

 * When Arthur was working on the model plane, he was first seen wearing only his socks; after Jane opens the door, he is seen in his shoes. He would not have had time to put on his shoes for the time being.
 * When the teenager's mother scolds him, the silver goblet that she was holding turns light green.
 * D.W.'s car seat has different colors.