WandaVision: What is mastication?

WandaVision succeeded in making viewers laugh but many of them have been left wondering what mastication actually means.

The first installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fourth phase, WandaVision came wrapped in a black and white bow. Not only did the Disney Plus show look like it stepped right out of the era of classic sitcoms, it was incredibly funny as well – offering up a lot of laughs for the viewers over the course of its first two episodes.

One particular moment that had fans crying tears of laughter came when Vision used the word “mastication”. When speaking about using gum, the android revealed what he believed the purpose of chewing gum to be and received quite an embarrassed reaction from one of his new friends, Herbert, at the Neighborhood Watch meeting.

What does mastication mean?

Mastication refers to the act of chewing, resulting in food being crushed up and mixing with saliva to form a small ball-like formation (known as a bolus). What Vision meant was that he thought gum was simply reserved for chewing and not digesting. That, of course, played into the plot pretty well as he inadvertently ended up swallowing it.

Of course, what made the scene so funny was Herb’s reaction because he clearly thought Vision was referring to, uh, well, a different word that sounds a lot like mastication.

This was one of the finest examples of how WandaVision used comedy. Furthermore, as television in the 1960s was slowly beginning to make more subtle wink-wink references to sex, this was a clear nod to the sitcoms of the time (as Episode 2 was indeed a love letter to Bewitched). And it was accomplished incredibly well. Nice job indeed.

Did you enjoy the mastication joke on WandaVision? Are you liking the show so far? Let us know in the comments below!