#268 – Sharking
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009Not much time for a newspost I’m afraid! 
by Rene Engström
Guys! ALM is finished but I have a new comic calledSo Far Apart.
Not much time for a newspost I’m afraid!
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August 27th, 2009 at 1:22 am
I have to admit I have no idea what sharking is.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:25 am
what Kat said.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Maybe it is a regionalism. Sharking that is.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:29 am
yeah, me either
August 27th, 2009 at 1:34 am
i always though sharking was the act of pressing ones’ erect penis against the side of a sleeping partner.
:]]
August 27th, 2009 at 1:36 am
If she means the British English slang term, it may mean “hunting the opposite sex.” I had to look that up myself!
August 27th, 2009 at 1:37 am
I think in this context it means something along the lines of someone not being as clueless or innocent as they present themselves. Like loan sharks or card sharks.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:38 am
In plain (ok, slang) English by “sharking” Anders means Maria is playin’ ‘im. He also is giving away his attitude that he didn’t think she was as smart as she is. I get a lot of shit for talking in Philly dialect, too. People underestimate you when you have a working class accent/dialect, as Anders underestimated Maria. Her calling him out on being pretentious in his manner of speech doesn’t mean she isn’t capable of understanding those “difficult” words.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:38 am
“4. Sharking – when someone (usually a male), is pursuing someone of the opposite sex tirelessly”
This is probably the right one.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:39 am
He’s using the phrase “sharking” as if it means something – poking fun at the whole issue of using words in a context that Maria doesn’t understand.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:40 am
I agree with lettuce on that definition. Of course, I learned that from QC
August 27th, 2009 at 1:41 am
I was once married to a philosophy phd canidate…. We had this conversation often.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:45 am
I always have a better day when I get a new anders loves maria page.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:47 am
shark: n. A person who feigns ineptitude to win money from others.
So Anders is probably saying Maria is acting stupider than she is. Maybe not for money, though.
August 27th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Hm, the swedish slang phrase for ‘getting’ (as in understanding) someone is, literally translated, ‘sharking’…
Despite knowing this, I am still 4% confused
August 27th, 2009 at 2:15 am
Rene Engström really seems to know her English accents and dialects, I wouldn’t be surprised if she meant “Sharking” in the sense Celebrian mentioned.
August 27th, 2009 at 2:27 am
I think it means the same as what people on the internet mean by “trolling
the idea that she is only showing him the “fin”, but then gets a face ful of SHARK!
also: anders hand expressions are priceless.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:32 am
It’s not just the dialect Sarah, its the fact that even those of us who’re from right over the bridge can’t always understand what you’re saying when you speak Philly.
Also, I totally agree with you that the Philadelphia dialect is more than an accent, having enough of its own rules and vocabulary to constitute its own subset of the language, rather than a grouping of inflections and differences in pronunciation.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:45 am
Yeah like hustling.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:54 am
Maria is a Word Shark!
August 27th, 2009 at 4:07 am
The art is absolutely beautiful, Rene! I love the first panel.
August 27th, 2009 at 4:25 am
I read it as sort of “dogging” me, like she was picking on him.
Also I loved this strip because it reminded me that Anders and Maria actually liked each other at some point and it has been a long time since the last time that was true.
August 27th, 2009 at 5:21 am
damn, i find maria a bit hard to underestand now =(
August 27th, 2009 at 6:09 am
I love the second-to-last panel, where you can just see the top of maria’s head
August 27th, 2009 at 6:10 am
Anders has some great hand gestures in this one.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:00 am
Maria is a female version of a hustla’!
….
Never again. D;
I love being able to see how they met and how their relationship started. I also think it’s perfect to let us in on how it all started at this pivotal point in the comic.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:01 am
I love the expression on Maria’s face in the last panel. She’s such a sneaky little girl.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Ahhh when I saw the title of the comic I was like ‘OH god what did anders do now?” and I fully expected to see him in bed with Maria already or something like that. I guess QC ruined that word for me.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Oh, I know all about sharking. It’s something they do in Japan where you run up behind a woman and pull her tube top down! It’s hilarious!
August 27th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Yeah to what lettuce and Autumn Tea said. If you don’t know what they’re talking about: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1397
But I don’t think you need a hard-on to do it, like Jeph said in the newspost for that comic:
“Sharking is a real term we coined at Emerald City a while back. It is basically an excuse to poke people at critically inappropriate times. Use at your own risk.”
OR MAYBE NOT, FUCK EVERYTHING.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Haha Anders’ hands are being pretentious FOR him.
August 27th, 2009 at 11:49 am
It’s just like Cess said:
“Sharking” is a translation of the swedish word “hajar” (understand).
It’s swedish slang, nothing more
August 27th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Sharking. Only place I’ve really had this used was relating to Billiards. It’s playing down yourself in order to screw the other guy over for more dough later in the night.
In this context, I read it as Maria playing dumb to see what kind of guy Anders was. I thought her reaction was cute ^^
August 27th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Is it my lack of caffeine or are Anders’ hands twisted in the second panel?
August 27th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Hajar means sharks, but in Swedish slang it also means to understand something, ergo – Maria is sharking Anders.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/8/Asian-sharking-562444.html
August 27th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Where I come from, sharking is one of the prohibited activities between college Student Orientation Advisors and incoming students. It has been described as:
1) Selecting a particularly good-looking person of the preferred gender…
2) Taking a running start and sliding up behind that person on your knees…
3) Chomping selected person on their ass, shark style.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
“sharking” ambiguity aside, I think this is possibly the cutest interaction i’ve seen between Anders and Maria!
August 27th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I-Coop- Now, see, to me ‘dogging’ means something entirely different
August 28th, 2009 at 12:50 am
When I hear sharking I just think “Hajar”, heh.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Was lost when I saw sharking, but I like the comic
August 28th, 2009 at 6:15 am
I’ve never heard of Rob’s definition before, but I’ve seen it! A friend of mine was sharked at a bar in Ireland. Rob, I’m wondering where you’re from!
August 28th, 2009 at 6:47 am
oh well, and there’s always ol’ Jeph Jaques definition http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1397
August 28th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
While the Swedish definition fits, for understanding, the way Maria points out the double meaning on vain makes me agree with Icoop. She’s dogging him. She’s snarking the snobs back. That’s our Maria!
August 28th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
I think it’s hilarious Rene has made us analyze word usage and the subtle differences in meaning, much like Anders and Maria are in the comic itself
August 28th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Not to shark Rene or be a shark or nothin’, but I have to say that I’m still not diggin’ Maria’s accent. I can understand what she’s saying but sometimes it takes a little too long for me to decipher it and I think it takes away from the overall effect of the dialogue – which is always so witty and good.
I think it’s worth bringing up again because it’s the only criticism I have with a comic I stumbled across and had to read from start to finish in one sitting. :]
(Also, go Maria – knock Art School Idol Anders off of his high horse!)
August 28th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
I keep forgetting she is pregnant in these scenes. But I bet it’s on Maria’s mind.
August 29th, 2009 at 3:25 am
just from the context it seems like he means she’s playing him/pretending to know less than she does etc. i don’t think he’s saying anything about her hitting on him or anything.
August 29th, 2009 at 5:16 am
I didn’t know Sharking was a translation of Swedish slang, but I got the gist of it right away (“You’re fuckin’ with me”)
August 29th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Incidentally, the answer to Maria’s question is: because languages aren’t centrally designed, they’ve evolved over time. When multiple words have a similar meaning, they’ve generally evolved independently in different contexts to meet similar needs. A cook adds ‘salt’ to a dish, but a chemist (who uses many different salts) has to refer to “sodium chloride”.
Of course When slang (like ‘sharking’
or cultural references (“It ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings”) get introduced things become even more complicated.
August 29th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Did not notice Sofi or….that dude…in the first panel the first couple times I read through it. Huh.
August 29th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I also thought sharking meant dick-poking as well…which was why I was lost. My first thought: “What? Why is Maria poking him and why can’t I se-OH GOD NO PLEASE DON’T LET MARIA HAVE A DICK!”