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 claims it could be fun if it was. Then D.W. gets a hold of the bleep button — which drives Arthur crazy.

After the title card is shown, D.W. goes to the crystal shop with Grandma Thora, and wanders around for a bit, looking at all the crystal objects for sale and admiring them.

However, she soon overhears a teenage boy having an argument 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 says “That’s enough backtalk” and adds that he can forget about going to a concert. He says she can’t do that, and 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, but stops herself 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 initially laugh, but then turn to each other with puzzled looks when D.W. asks what it means and wonder if they should tell her. Finally, Timmy says, “OK, I’ll tell her” before turning back to D.W. and saying that it’s a swearword. When D.W. asks what that means, Tommy explains that it means moms and dads hate it. 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.” D.W. has a fantasy in which the other children are singing, and 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; she watches 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 irritated, 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 annoyed, 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. angrily says “Tibbles!” to herself before turning back to the window. When Jane asks her what she is doing, D.W. rushes downstairs to find the Molinas and her dad glaring at her. She says, “Arthur did it?” but sounds unconvincing.

Later, while D.W. is in bed, Mrs. Read tells D.W., “Well, you’re off the hook this time because you didn’t know what you were 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, Mrs. Read replies with, “Because most people are offended by them. 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’” before bidding 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 tell them she thinks they must need to have a little chat about 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

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 .

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.
 * When D.W. is spying on the Molinas in Arthur’s room and Jane walks in, the clock on Arthur’s bedside table is off and in the next frame it is on.