--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How Horrid\" has a slightly facetious tone…" description: "\"“How Horrid\" has a slightly facetious tone that strikes me as Wildean. It appears to embrace the actual horror--puberty, public disgrace--then at the l..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/alison-bechdel-7240_growing-up_how-horrid-has-a-slightly-facetious-tone_2816550.jpg" --- # How Horrid" has a slightly facetious tone that strikes me… ![“How Horrid" has a slightly facetious tone that strikes me as Wildean. It appears to embrace the actual horror--puberty, public disgrace--then at the last second nimbly sidesteps it, laughing.” quote by Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/alison-bechdel-7240_growing-up_how-horrid-has-a-slightly-facetious-tone_2816550.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/alison-bechdel-7240_growing-up_how-horrid-has-a-slightly-facetious-tone_2816550.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/alison-bechdel-7240_growing-up_how-horrid-has-a-slightly-facetious-tone_2816550.jpg) > ““How Horrid" has a slightly facetious tone that strikes me as Wildean. It appears to embrace the actual horror--puberty, public disgrace--then at the last second nimbly sidesteps it, laughing.”” [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage uses humor to confront puberty’s horrors, blending Wildean wit with a candid look at embarrassment and growth. **In simple terms:** Humor masks puberty’s painful moments. Key Takeaway Use humor to face awkward growth. Themes humor puberty vulnerability literature Mood wry reflective Type literary analytical When to use this quote - adolescence - self‑acceptance Key Concepts graphic memoir coming‑of‑age Questions to Reflect On - How does comedy help process discomfort? - When does humor become avoidance? A Different Perspective Humor may downplay serious issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facetious Tone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facetious-tone-3557304/) [Growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) [Horrid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrid/) [Horrid Slightly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrid-slightly-3557303/) [Horror Puberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror-puberty-3557306/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Rhetoric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhetoric/) [Slightly Facetious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slightly-facetious-3557305/) ## Related quotes > [I want to do horror and action, and I'm only being slightly facetious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-posey/i-want-to-do-horror-and-action-and-i-m-only-being-slightly-facetious/) [Parker Posey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-posey/) > [“The character of Moses, as stated in the Bible, is the most horrid that can be imagined. If those accounts be true, he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-character-of-moses-as-stated-in-the-bible-is-the-most-horrid-that/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Hence, loathèd Melancholy, Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight born, In Stygian cave forlorn, 'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/hence-loath-d-melancholy-of-cerberus-and-blackest-midnight-born-in/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Thoughts cannot form themselves in words so horrid As can express my guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/thoughts-cannot-form-themselves-in-words-so-horrid-as-can-express-my/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [“They sounded like intestines, only on the outside, and the men in the Bible were always having them cut off and not being able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/they-sounded-like-intestines-only-on-the-outside-and-the-men-in-the/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries, that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-most-detestable-wickedness-the-most-horrid-cruelties-and-the/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“Of all horrid things, leave-taking is the worst.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/of-all-horrid-things-leave-taking-is-the-worst/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [And when she was good she was very very good. But when she was bad she was horrid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/and-when-she-was-good-she-was-very-very-good-but-when-she-was-bad-she/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“How silly of you to think I, of all people, would do such a horrid thing!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-nguyen/how-silly-of-you-to-think-i-of-all-people-would-do-such-a-horrid-thing/) [Diana Nguyen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-nguyen/) > [It is horrid to smirk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fielding/it-is-horrid-to-smirk/) [Helen Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fielding/) > [“Each year the legend grew darker, and children spoke in hushed tones of how unimaginably horrid and rotten was Decimus Croome.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-purdy/each-year-the-legend-grew-darker-and-children-spoke-in-hushed-tones/) [Kevin Purdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-purdy/) > [So many horrid Ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/so-many-horrid-ghosts/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Facts are such horrid things!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/facts-are-such-horrid-things/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [The horrid mystery hanging over us in this house gets into my head like liquor, and makes me wild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilkie-collins/the-horrid-mystery-hanging-over-us-in-this-house-gets-into-my-head/) [Wilkie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilkie-collins/) > [“Why didn't God apportion fine looks in equal accordance with deserving personalities? A horrid man ought to be horrid looking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dare/why-didn-t-god-apportion-fine-looks-in-equal-accordance-with/) [Tessa Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dare/) ## More by Alison Bechdel > [Watching everyone root through their psyche, it just delights me. Especially R. Crumb's stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/watching-everyone-root-through-their-psyche-it-just-delights-me/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [It's imprecise and insufficient, defining the homosexual as a person whose gender expression is at odds with his or her sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/it-s-imprecise-and-insufficient-defining-the-homosexual-as-a-person/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [The writing is hard, and the drawing is fun. It's very satisfying to see a drawing start to come together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/the-writing-is-hard-and-the-drawing-is-fun-it-s-very-satisfying-to/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [Sometimes I wish the writing and drawing were more integrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/sometimes-i-wish-the-writing-and-drawing-were-more-integrated/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [“My homosexuality remained at that point purely theoretical, an untested hypothesis. But it was a hypothesise so thorough and so convincing I saw no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/my-homosexuality-remained-at-that-point-purely-theoretical-an/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [Autobiographical comics, I love them. I love them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/autobiographical-comics-i-love-them-i-love-them/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [Partly I resented being perceived as weak because I was a girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/partly-i-resented-being-perceived-as-weak-because-i-was-a-girl/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [“I put the odds on a psychic deathmatch between Attila the Hun and Virginia Woolf at fifty-fifty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/i-put-the-odds-on-a-psychic-deathmatch-between-attila-the-hun-and/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [Basically, my work is play. It never actually feels that way - I'm always aiming to attain that state. But I get to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/basically-my-work-is-play-it-never-actually-feels-that-way-i-m-always/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [What would happen if we spoke the truth?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/what-would-happen-if-we-spoke-the-truth/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [It was a vicious cycle, though. The more gratification we found in our own geniuses, the more isolated we grew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/it-was-a-vicious-cycle-though-the-more-gratification-we-found-in-our/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [“Then there were those famous wings. Was Daedalus really stricken with grief when Icarus fell into the sea? Or just disappointed by the design…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/then-there-were-those-famous-wings-was-daedalus-really-stricken-with/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [“In this pause, I suddenly saw something very clearly. Whatever it was I wanted from my mother was simply not there to be had.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/in-this-pause-i-suddenly-saw-something-very-clearly-whatever-it-was-i/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [People really want to think that these things really happened. I don't know why that is important, but I know that when I finish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/people-really-want-to-think-that-these-things-really-happened-i-don-t/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [“It's said, after all, that people reach middle age the day they realize they're never going to read Remembrance of Things Past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/it-s-said-after-all-that-people-reach-middle-age-the-day-they-realize/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) [Explore all 93 Alison Bechdel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) ## More Growing up quotes > [Well, I've been politically involved for a really long time. Growing up in the segregated South, it was a very painful experience for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/well-i-ve-been-politically-involved-for-a-really-long-time-growing-up/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [ I failed, I think, seven \[or\] eight times before I finally got my first \[championship\]. It was just, you know, just about me growing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/i-failed-i-think-seven-or-eight-times-before-i-finally-got-my-first/) [Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/) > [I think kids growing up, if they were picked on and feeling inferior at 12, they're going to feel that way at 72. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/i-think-kids-growing-up-if-they-were-picked-on-and-feeling-inferior/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) > [We all got driven out of Manhattan. It was a very conducive place for artists when I was growing up, and now it's definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaby-hoffmann/we-all-got-driven-out-of-manhattan-it-was-a-very-conducive-place-for/) [Gaby Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaby-hoffmann/) > [I felt pretty good growing up. I didnt feel a lot of prejudice or racism. But I do remember, if there was going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-henry-hwang/i-felt-pretty-good-growing-up-i-didnt-feel-a-lot-of-prejudice-or/) [David Henry Hwang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-henry-hwang/) > [Love changes people, for better or for worse. You could look at it as a chance for you to change. The best kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-changes-people-for-better-or-for-worse-you-could-look-at-it-as-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wasn't a kid growing up thinking, 'One day I'll get an Oscar and make a speech.' That wasn't on my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-sandler/i-wasn-t-a-kid-growing-up-thinking-one-day-i-ll-get-an-oscar-and-make/) [Adam Sandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-sandler/) > [I was young, but to me that was underground music. I had never heard anything like Venom or any of that stuff growing up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-pajo/i-was-young-but-to-me-that-was-underground-music-i-had-never-heard/) [David Pajo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-pajo/) > [I didn't grow up thinking of movies as film, or art, but as movies, something to do on a Saturday afternoon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-pollack/i-didn-t-grow-up-thinking-of-movies-as-film-or-art-but-as-movies/) [Sydney Pollack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-pollack/) > [Growing up I did commercials and things like that, but nothing serious. As I got older, my family is really hardcore into academics. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/portia-doubleday/growing-up-i-did-commercials-and-things-like-that-but-nothing-serious/) [Portia Doubleday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/portia-doubleday/) > [How am I supposed to make life choices when I still use my fingers to count and sing the whole alphabet to see what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-am-i-supposed-to-make-life-choices-when-i-still-use-my-fingers-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Grow up? Get herself straightened out? Her mind reeled from the verbal battering. No matter what she did, her father would tell her she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/grow-up-get-herself-straightened-out-her-mind-reeled-from-the-verbal/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [“The whole idea of it makes me feel Like I’m coming down with something, Something worse than any stomach ache Or the headaches I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/the-whole-idea-of-it-makes-me-feel-like-i-m-coming-down-with/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) [Browse all 7,738 Growing up quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“How Horrid\" has a slightly facetious tone that strikes me as Wildean. 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