A mewling quim is a Victorian-era slang term intended as a derogatory insult. Put simply, it means "whining vagina". In the 2012 superhero fantasy film The Avengers, the villain Loki has a conversation with Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow, while he is imprisoned aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. In an effort to unnerve her, Loki describes in detail the things he intends on doing to her former partner, Clint Barton. The passage is as follows.
You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!... I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear! And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!
Although Natasha appeared visibly shaken by Loki's barbs, she was actually just playing him as part of a strategy to trick him into revealing his true motivations.
Trivia[]
- Actor Tom Hiddleston made a surprise guest appearance at the Marvel Studios panel at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con dressed up in full Loki regalia. While pontificating before the audience, he turned to the side and shouted to one of the stage hands, "Silence, you mewling quim!".
- On the "The Nightcomers" episode of Penny Dreadful, Sir Geoffrey Hawkes refers to Vanessa Ives as a "quim".