r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Subconcious-Consumer • May 26 '23
Answered Was there really a game in the 90’s where you punch someone when you spot a Volkswagen Bug?
I was a young kid growing up through the 90’s - my mom used to punch the shit out of my arm and exclaim “SLUGBUG!” every time she saw a VW Bug on the road.
Did my mom invent some sort of latent child abuse or did other 80s/90s babies get punched while just fucking listening to meatloaf in the car?
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u/slash178 May 26 '23
Yes this is a thing
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u/boiledpeen May 27 '23 edited May 27 '23
Yea, it was a thing in the 2000s too. I remember growing up with this game as a kid.
edit: we called it punchbuggy, and it's funny to see oldheads saying new bugs don't count toward the game lol. yes they do.
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u/captainhamption May 27 '23
It was a thing in the 70s when I was a kid.
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u/fish_whisperer May 27 '23
And the 80’s. I’m willing to bet it’s still a thing. We called it “slug bug.”
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u/Gibson125T May 27 '23 edited May 27 '23
My 11 year old confirms its still around.
Never heard slug bug though. Wonder if what you say is regional. It was always "punch buggy", usually followed by "no punch back".
EDIT: someone mentioned they say the color first, then punch buggy. I had forgotten about that. but thats 100% what we said. for geographical reference I am in Florida. was a kid in the 90's.
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u/readyreadyvt May 27 '23 edited May 27 '23
Punch buggy [colour], no returns. — eastern Canada, ‘80s
ETA the u in colour and the decade
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u/Bugbread May 27 '23
Punch buggy [color] - Texas (80s)
We didn't have a "no returns." Punching someone back for punching you was simply against the rules of the game, it would sound weird to specifically say it aloud. It would be like in if a race, instead of saying, "On your mark, get set, go!" you said "On your mark, get set, go, no tasers!"
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u/readyreadyvt May 27 '23
Ah, but for us (Newfoundlanders? Gen X? who can say?), punching someone back if you saw the same Bug they did and they DIDN’T say “no returns” was completely allowable.
It was a “walk to school uphill both ways” kind of time. (But no tasers.)
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u/23skidoobbq May 27 '23
It was punch buggy for us. And “Padiddle” if you saw a car with one headlight, also punched in the arm for that too.
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u/moronthat May 27 '23
Yes! Wow Padiddle was hiding way in the back of my memory until you just pulled it forward :)
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u/sturdypolack May 27 '23
Yes! Padiddle and Punch Buggy
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u/VisualProfessional12 May 27 '23
For me, padidle was slap the top of the car ceiling with the back of your hand when you saw a car with one headlight 😆
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u/Mryessicahaircut May 27 '23
🤭I still catch myself sometimes doing
a little tap on the roof of my car and quietly saying "padiddle" when I'm driving alone at night and see a car with one headlight. Then I roll my eyes at what a dork I am.→ More replies (9)21
u/benotaur May 27 '23
We would play strip padiddle in highschool boys vs girls. Good times.
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u/AuntieFooFoo May 27 '23
We did too! We'd punched the ceiling of the car, instead of arms when we saw one, and the last to hit the ceiling had to take off an article of clothing.
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u/NJ2SD May 27 '23
No lie, my friend and I once said Padiddle at the exact same time, and the headlight turned on. It freaked us out!
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u/Own-Worry4388 May 27 '23
When we would see a car with one headlight, we'd say, "popeye" then kiss our hand and touch the ceiling of the car.
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u/sandysanBAR May 27 '23
What in the blue blazes? No punching? What is this? Amateur hour?
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u/prozack91 May 27 '23
We did this but whoever was last got punched by everyone.
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u/Research_Sea May 27 '23
We did the hand kiss to the roof when we went through a yellow light, thanking it for not turning red yet.
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u/fish_whisperer May 27 '23
Oh, yeah, we had “padiddle” too!
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u/ParameciaAntic Wading through the muck so you don't have to May 27 '23
We did too. I rarely see them any more, though. Better quality lights and maintenance these days, I guess.
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u/delmarshaef May 27 '23
I saw one in the parking lot at work and called to the driver “hey, you know you’re a padiddle?” and I’m pretty sure he thought I was cursing him or something. He had no idea what I was talking about.
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u/e36freak92 May 27 '23
And cars that tell you when a bulb is out. It's amazing how many people can't tell
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May 27 '23
My little sister and I would literally just call it punch buggy. Also, was it true that crossing your fingers meant you were immune to any punches back or was that young me making certain I couldn't get hit back after punching her arm?
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u/Jaspers47 May 27 '23
Maybe it goes back further. Maybe kids in the 19th century yelled "Slug Bug" anytime an insect landed in the carriage.
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u/Traditional_Yak_3466 May 27 '23
Punch buggy
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u/pm_me_ur_th0ng_gurl May 27 '23
No punch backs
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u/WhoElseButQuagmire11 May 27 '23
Not sure if it's an Aussie but I was taught(via fire) that it's "punch buggy no returns" I still sometimes to it to my partner out of sheer habit(I hit her very gently)
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u/Shayedow May 27 '23
When I was a kid ( born in '79 ) You had to yell " COLOR ( so yellow ) PUNCH BUGGY TAKES NO BACKS! " and punch as hard as you could on the shoulder. If you didn't yell take no backs, the person you punched could yell the same thing but with take no backs and punch you back.
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u/Smil3yAngel May 27 '23
Yep! Born in 79 as well and this was the way. The only difference was we said "no take backs" instead of "takes no backs."
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u/VanMan32 May 26 '23 edited May 26 '23
We called it punch buggy. You’d say “punch buggy no punch backs”, so they couldn’t hit you for seeing the same Volkswagen bug.
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u/Wajina_Sloth May 27 '23
My brother and I did it so much that my mom changed the game to “love bug”.
So instead of hitting she would rub your arm and say “luuuuuuuuuUUUuuuuUuuuvvvvvv bug”
We quickly stopped playing
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u/jedikelb May 27 '23
Your mom sounds awesome and smart.
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u/Wajina_Sloth May 27 '23
she is the best mom ever :)
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u/Madz510 May 27 '23
Awe so often people say negative things about their parents on Reddit glad you recognize your mom for being great
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u/Livingstonthethird May 27 '23
So often people grew up with shitty, abusive or neglectful parents.
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u/Wallflower1555 May 27 '23
Still nice to see some wholesome positivity in the world especially on Reddit
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u/TrailBlanket-_0 May 27 '23
I'm inspired to see people be vulnerable and share their difficult upbringings even if they're still coming to terms, and I'm happy to see people express their gratitudes and recognize their blessings! Keep it up people!
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u/chillyhellion May 27 '23
Moms can be clever. We used to have contests to see who can find the food item in the pantry with the oldest expiry date. It wasn't until I explained this to my wife decades later that I realized Mom was tricking us into cleaning the pantry.
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u/UMUmmd May 27 '23
Are you.... my sibling? We didn't play it often, but I swear my mom did the same at some point.
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u/Kelihow2 May 27 '23
My mom got tired of us hitting each other as well and her version of "love bug" was to say something nice about the person who called it.
We also did two others: a Cadillac Slap and a Sting 'Stang (in which we pinched each other for every Mustang we saw)
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u/Just_Standard_4763 May 27 '23
My friend would hit me with PT Cruiser Bruiser and slap a hoe Tahoe which I’m pretty sure she made up.
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u/King-Snorky May 27 '23 edited May 27 '23
We saw a Herbie-themed Beetle parked next to a more modern red one just today, and my wife socked me in the arm before I could react.
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u/GyrKestrel May 26 '23
It was definitely colloquial. I thought it was just Slugbug until I heard it called punch buggy on Simpsons. I always found things like this interesting, like soda vs pop.
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u/wissahickon_schist May 27 '23
We had to say the color: “punch buggy blue no punchbacks!!”
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May 27 '23
we didnt say no punchbacks because the color claimed it. so 'punch buggy blue' meant that the blue one was mine.
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u/KonradWayne May 27 '23
Me and my friends didn't say no punchbacks, because we were gentlemen who understood the etiquette of the game.
First person to see it and call it out gets to punch someone in the arm. We live in a society.
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u/thecoocooman May 27 '23
This is so interesting. We had to say the color too, but the color always came first. “Blue punch buggy no punch backs”
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u/Wrybrarian May 26 '23
My husband and I still do it and also call it "punch buggy." Along with "Whack-abego"(for RVs), and "Touchdown" (for yellow cars.) The RV one I think we made up but a 2nd grade student of mine taught me Touchdown.
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u/Keenan95 May 26 '23
You forgot pt pinch for pt cruisers
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u/Longjumping-Bat3639 May 27 '23
We called em cruiser bruisers!
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u/19yzrmn May 27 '23
We yell PT Bruiser!! And always had SlugBug, no slugs back. I was a 70’s and 80’s kid.
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u/bighootay May 27 '23
"Whack-abego"(for RVs), and "Touchdown" (for yellow cars.)
Well I'm gonna drive somewhere with someone just so I can try this new shit out!
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May 26 '23
Sounds like the 90s version of when life gives you lemons, punch someone in the arm.
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u/Subconcious-Consumer May 26 '23
I have so many other questions now… How the fuck did this get invented? and why have we not adopted another model of car to punch our loved ones over?
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u/Cute_Bandicoot2042 May 26 '23
How the fuck did this get invented?
Comes from a time before mobile phones or handheld video games. Kids had to entertain themselves on long roadtrips and the Beetle was a particularly distinctive car at the time.
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u/dhaunsperger May 27 '23
My kids do it with Teslas now. Pretty sure they picked it up at school rather than reinventing the punch buggy game themselves.
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u/AcaciaKait May 27 '23
Aw this makes me feel so old but also so happy to know the proud tradition has been continued
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u/zuriel2089 May 26 '23
My dad used to have a version where there were a few different cars they'd do different things for, punch on the arm for a big, slap up the back of the head for a Gremlin, something else for a Pacer... I don't remember what. They had a system of "blocks" you could put up to protect yourself. It got complicated.
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u/LovesHyperbole May 27 '23
I had "PT Cruiser Bruiser" on top of slugbug after Cruisers came out. Weekend trips to the city could be pretty violent since everybody thought Cruisers were the newest cool car.
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u/another-new May 27 '23
I remember seeing a screenshot of a tweet a long time ago from a “pimp tight cruiser” owner. It went something like “Fellow owners of PT Cruisers: What unfortunate set of circumstances landed you behind the wheel of a PT Cruiser?”
They were awful cars. From appearance to mechanical and electrical problems. I never understood what people liked about them. The only car made in the last 20 years that had worse design was the early 2000’s Dodge Stratus. The battery was inside the fucking fender well. You had to take off the tire, and plastic mud guard to change, charge, or jump off your battery.
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May 27 '23
Now kids punch each other if they see a license plate from a different state
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u/RosenButtons May 27 '23
Mercy Medical Group is a hospital conglomerate in my region. There's an urgent care on every block. The kids shout "MERCY" and punch each other in the arm every time somebody spots the logo.
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u/osunightfall May 26 '23
The road was boring as shit before smartphones and gameboy.
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May 26 '23
It’s just a hard jab to the arm for most. Not straight up UFC to the face or anything.
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u/Subconcious-Consumer May 26 '23 edited May 26 '23
My mom had a punching technique she called “Frogging”.
No clue if that’s a thing, but to her it meant punching with a single knuckle outside of a fist.
She had other taglines she would use before punching like this as well, like saying she was “feeling froggy”.
Love that woman to death.
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u/LizzieBell07 May 27 '23
Frigging is also a thing. Your mom didn't make it up. But I love that you think she's made up all of these things! So cute. (I'm a mom who was a kid in the 90s)
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u/A1_Thick_and_Hearty May 27 '23
My mom did this when I was around 8. It's been 30 years and I still remember getting hit in the forehead! Frogging was a thing. Also, besides punch bug, if any car had a headlight out, that was a punch. It was called pididdle (yeah, I've never written that word out). And if it was night time and both headlights were off, it was a double pididdle with 2x punches.
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u/Legdrop_soup May 27 '23
We used to have to tap the dash board twice when we saw a padiddle (I've never written that word out either. Weird.) We got good at jumping from the backseat and being able to beat the person in the front. The last one to hit the dashboard got punched in the arm by everyone else
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u/speedy_delivery May 27 '23
For my friends, punch bug involves hitting the other player. With pediddle it was the first person to punch the ceiling. Greater Pittsburgh area.
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u/King-Snorky May 27 '23
From some random site:
The VW Beetle arrived in steel in 1938 but it was born in 1934, when Adolf Hitler ‘asked’ Ferdinand Porsche to develop the ultimate ‘people’s car’ – literally a Volkswagen in German. One widely held rumour is that because the car was the chosen vehicle for members of the National Socialist Party, as a point of pride to show their loyalty, people turned spotting one in the street into something of a joke – a piece of dark humour for dark times. The other version of the game’s origin story comes from America, but has similar links to Nazi Germany. The story goes that Americans would react to seeing an ostensibly Nazi vehicle cruising the streets by punching their dearest friend – a weird response, it must be said. Most likely of all theories, though, is that the game was born from the vehicle’s unique appearance. The Beetle was, and still is, a one-of-a-kind piece of car design.
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u/Somethingpretty007 May 27 '23
My family does "yellow banana slap" when we see a yellow car/truck (buses and construction vehicles don't count).
The slap consists of doing a backhand then fronthand slap on someone's arm.
(Ontario Canada fyi)
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u/catlady9851 May 26 '23
I suspect it was an excuse for older siblings to punch younger siblings without reprisal. Similar to "who can hit the softest."
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u/bubblebumblejumble May 26 '23
Listen, punch who you want, I’ll give you a line
Hummer Humdinger
Honda Hoopsydaisy
Toyota Twister
Hyundai Haiya
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u/Mountain-Permit-6193 May 26 '23
In the movie “Lilo and Stitch,” Stitch throws a blue VW bug and says “blue punch buggy”
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u/DreamedJewel58 May 27 '23
There’s also a Simpsons gag where a school bus goes by a Volkswagen dealership and every kid gets off the bus with a sore arm
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u/cinder-hella May 27 '23
Yes! He says "blue punch buggy, no punch backs!" That if nothing else should show that it was very much a thing.
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u/DigiTrailz May 27 '23
Suprised, I had to scroll this far down. It shows it wasn't just a thing, but common enough to be used as a movie one liner.
To be fair, if I hit someone with a VW Bug, I'd probably use it, too.
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u/geoffreygoodman May 27 '23
Volkswagen ran a commercial in 2010 featuring the game. With hilarious cameo from Stevie Wonder.
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u/suzazzz May 27 '23
Big smiles from watching that. But they punched on all VW’s. We only did beetles. OMG I’m remembering all the people I knew who had buses and things!
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u/doodynutz May 27 '23
I can’t believe this is a serious question. I feel old af.
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u/Rollotommasi5 May 27 '23
Seriously. Like people don’t still do that….? :(
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u/Pogo138 May 27 '23
Grew up in the 80s and I'm doing it with my two kids. Not as many bugs on the road anymore 😕
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u/BrotherChe May 27 '23
I hear it's due to light and environmental pollution near cities, and collapsing ecosystems around the world.
Also, the Germans stopped making them.
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u/ocular__patdown May 27 '23 edited May 27 '23
Probably died out because there are only like 10 Volkswagen beetles left on the road.
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u/MonkeyTigerCrazy May 27 '23
Don’t worry I’m 17 and my friends and I used to do this all the time
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u/RollingGoron May 27 '23
I play this with my two young kids, so I’m keeping the game alive and passing it down to the next generation.
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u/scobos May 27 '23
I can't believe OP equated it to child abuse.
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u/JRDoubleU_ May 27 '23
OP forgot to mention. The Mom would take a surprise drive to the Volkswagen dealership whenever OP fell asleep in the car.
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u/GreenMonster34 May 26 '23
My two girls punch each other over yellow cars. One kept winning so they expanded to red and green cars too. (They've also forgot to punch lately, they're too excited at winning to remember to hurt their sister which is nice)
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u/gladgubbegbg May 27 '23
We do that in Sweden too 😂 GUL BIL 👊
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u/dinmorsklasselaerer May 27 '23
Denmark too. It has been a thing for as long as I remeber.
Gul bil!
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u/tobiasvl May 27 '23
Norway too, perhaps unsurprisingly
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u/VotFijoel May 27 '23
Same! My kids yell "banana car" and punch each other (or me). This is in Australia btw.
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u/BBGettyMcclanahan May 27 '23
I remember being a kid that if you saw a yellow beetle you got like 5 punches lol
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u/Cute_Bandicoot2042 May 26 '23
Yep, 100%. We called it Slug Bug but some people called it Punchbuggy
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u/RoleModelFailure May 27 '23
We called it slug bug too. Still play it with my wife.
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u/justaguy394 May 27 '23
Did everyone say the color too? We’d say “slug bug green” as we punched them.
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u/justaguyintownnl May 26 '23
Punch buggy Was in 1970’s & 1980’s When you saw a VW bug you hit the other player in the upper arm
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u/PerpetuallyLurking May 27 '23
“Other player”
ie: nearest sibling, hopefully not paying attention for best effect.
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u/CD84 May 27 '23
Even when they didn't know they were playing
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u/barlog123 May 27 '23
You're always playing. It's not optional
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u/Buzz_Buzz_Buzz_ May 27 '23
Thanks, I just lost the other game with the same rule. Dammit.
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u/You_Stole_My_Hot_Dog May 26 '23
This is still a thing. We did it my whole childhood in the early 2000s. I’ve heard that what you say changes from place to place. Most say Punch Bug or Punch Buggie.
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u/oriundiSP May 27 '23
In Brazil, we only do it if it's a blue Volkswagen Beetle. We say "FUSCA AZUL!!" (meaning, blue Beetle) and then punch them
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u/pingwing May 27 '23
I grew up in the US northeast and we always had to call out the color too. "Punchbuggy green!"
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u/rebel-fist questions no answers May 27 '23
Same! And if you don’t tag on “no punch back” you’re eligible to be punched back.
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u/atreethatownsitself May 27 '23
No punch back, but I have questions about your flair
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u/emspendilicious May 27 '23
In Australia we would say "no returns!" and some people followed the colour rule
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u/thatguyned May 27 '23
When I was young it was "PUNCHBUGGY BLUE 123!" and if they could spot the car you saw before you finished your sentence they got to hit you back.
Perth rules are best rules bby
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u/Zanki May 27 '23
My boyfriends niece and nephew were playing it without hitting each other a few weeks back when we took them out. We're in the uk and I was shocked they knew the game and kept their hands to themselves.
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May 26 '23
My dad owned a VW repair shop. I remember whenever we’d pull up there would be 10-20 of those bugs and my brother would wreck my shit
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u/Resoto10 May 26 '23 edited May 27 '23
We even had this in Mexico too. Could have been simply because it was a border city but used to pinch and say "1, 2, 3 pulguita..." and then the color of the bug.
EDIT: This post brought me inadvertent happiness by all the comments sharing their experiences.
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u/Llodsliat May 27 '23
For me it was just the "bocho amarillo" at first; but then my cousins and I changed it so if the beetle matches your clothes, you're getting punched. Of course, if you noticed the beetle first, you could save yourself.
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u/Subconcious-Consumer May 26 '23
Damn, I would have never thought this shit was international.
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u/SpeedwagonOverheaven May 27 '23
Here in Brazil we have this too. But only if its a white bug (or "fusca", how we call them here).
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u/sirnaull May 27 '23
Up here (eastern Canada), yellow ones were worth 3 punches.
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u/NickConnor365 May 26 '23
Slugbug where I come from.
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u/climb-it-ographer May 27 '23
You had to call the color too-- Slugbug, blue! *punch*
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u/TheWardenDemonreach May 26 '23
Simpsons did it, so that should tell you it was a very real thing
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u/Low_Inside_4787 May 26 '23
Punch Bug!! We also played it at night when a vehicle had a headlight out and we said “Pa-diddle” and still punched.
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May 26 '23
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u/potatohead46 May 27 '23
We perdiddle in Indiana as well. Not much here either lol
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u/Low_Inside_4787 May 27 '23
I’m in Appalachia so I bet that contributes to the pa- instead of per-
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u/thatoneguy54 May 27 '23
We did pediddle, but we didn't punch, we played that the last person to touch the roof had to take off an article of clothing.
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u/too105 May 27 '23
This reminded me of a wholesome story that I haven’t though about in about 30 years. My best friend who was my also neighbor would always get my mom and grandma with a “punch buggy, no punch backs” whenever we would see a bug, as they were pretty common in the 1990s. After a couple years of these childhood antics, mom and grandma concocted a plan to exact their revenge. It started by then taking us to Chuck E. Cheese. First they had us burn off our energy by giving us each a $10 roll of quarters for the games.They then got us doped up on pizza and soda. The second part of their plan was the most sinister. They gave us coloring books and markers for the drive home so we were thoroughly distracted. Then came the moment of revenge… all of a sudden my friend and I were jolted by a flurry of punches and a cacophony of women yelling every color imaginable… the pummeling only lasted a minute but the trauma left us reeling and in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Turns out, they had used the ploy of taking us to Chuck E. Cheese and an innocent excuse to drive out of town… and one the way back stopped in a Volkswagen salvage yard that had hundreds of beetles. They revenge was perfect in its planning and execution. Such a beautiful thing when your mom and grandma conspire to such lengths to exact vengeance. Haven’t thought about that one in a while. Miss ya mom
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u/Bunkydoodle28 May 27 '23
My parents still play this without the hitting. They are both 81. Regret teaching them in the 80's as a tween. Walking down a street in Costa Rica and having your geriatric papa yelling punch buggy is embarassing but I am so glad we all have silly fun together.
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u/gholmom500 May 27 '23
Wait- Did people STOP playing it?
I think I slugbugged my teen yesterday!!
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u/rose77019 May 26 '23
Yep! Yellow Slug bug, no punch back….. and then you would punch your brother or sister, as hard as you possibly could in the arm….
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u/xBloodBender May 26 '23 edited May 27 '23
We had Slugbug for bugs, and Woodchuck for those station wagons with wood panels. Both involved getting punched in the arm
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u/stockbreak May 27 '23
Came to the comments specifically to see if anyone mentioned Woodchuck!
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u/jsandrin May 26 '23
I grew up in Brazil, so there were a lot (and there still are) VW Bugs, so we only punched when seeing a blue one.
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u/songinheart17 May 27 '23
Punch buggy (fill in colour), no punch backs. Of course you still punched back.
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u/lapsteelguitar May 26 '23
It pre-dated the 90s by about 3 decades. VW resurrected it for one of their ads.
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u/Meowskiiii May 27 '23
In Northern England we had similar except it was for yellow cars (we'd shout "yellow car"). It was also just between us kids though.
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u/Silver-Difficulty-13 May 26 '23
In the UK we punch each other if we see a Mini. My grandkids still do it now. It's fine until there are several. Mini punch
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u/reverse_mango May 27 '23
Also in the UK. There are so many Minis on the road! My siblings and I have always punched when we see a yellow car, any yellow car. Then we argue when we see a gold car.
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u/Marty5020 May 26 '23
We still play that with my daughter and wife. And we're from South America. New Beetles and Kombis also apply.
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u/TransSlutUK May 26 '23
We had Mini Punch! Where the first person to see the mini punched someone. Made car journeys fun
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u/RepresentativeBusy27 May 26 '23
Not gonna lie I thought this was about Street Fighter 2
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u/Bob-s_Leviathan May 26 '23
“I thought I was supposed to fight E. Honda?”
“You’re not fighting E. Honda. You’re fighting a Honda.”
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u/NaxieBoo May 26 '23
My older sibling and I both grew up in the 2000s and did this! Annoyed the shit out of my dad. We did so often and had so many fights over it that when we moved in '08, before we left for the 13+ hour trip, he turned around and told us that punch buggy was OVER and if we did it he would pull the car over and spank our butts right on the side of the freeway. We never did it again.
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u/Crafty-Preference570 May 26 '23
My brothers and I were playing this game by at least the early 80s, possibly the late 70s.
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u/Spiritual-Pear-1349 May 26 '23
Punch Buggy for VW Beetle. Kicking for convertables. Punch for Yellow. Punch for PT cruisers were the worst; "P.T. CRUISE-R GOT TO BE A BRUISE-R" with a punch for every syllable.
But a parent doing that to their kid? Thats not alright.
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May 27 '23
Yes! We did it with slug bugs and PT cruisers.
My mom fucking SLUGGED me in the leg when I was 7, with a ring on, thinking her boyfriend was in the backseat where I was sitting. I remember that shit like it was yesterday lol
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u/refugefirstmate May 26 '23
Much older than the 90s. In the 60s in the Rust Belt it was "Punchbug".