Talk:Howard Wolowitz

New TBBT character articles

I'm in the midst of creating the new articles for the main TBBT characters, as was discussed briefly on the "List of TBBT characters" talk page previously. I have a limited time to work with at the moment, and after my edits there are still a lot of cite errors on the new articles due to cites not being complete (as they were simply copied from the original article). I will continue to fix these issues later today into tomorrow, but in the meantime welcome all other users to assist in the transition.

The original article, List of characters in The Big Bang Theory, can either be merged into The Big Bang Theory, or better yet, changed to incorporate the new articles (i.e., the full descriptions are removed in favor of shorter descriptions, and the list of secondary/tertiary characters remains. I recommend the latter, which I will do upon return to editing tomorrow. Thanks. — ^{`</sup>CRAZY`(lN)`SANE<sup>`} 17:36, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Restructuring the article: new sections

The articles of the main characters, Leonard Hofstadter, Sheldon Cooper, Penny (The Big Bang Theory), Howard Wolowitz, and Rajesh Koothrappali, are growing in size but without a proper structure. I propose creating standard sections in which to put information: Personality, Family, Work, and Relationships. I believe the show centers mostly around these topics, so the information would fit nicely. I'm not saying these are the only sections that will ever be used, but they are a good start; perhaps they will need to be modified in the future. Also, let's keep the content complete but encyclopedic; there is no need for an indiscriminate collection of information. 189.175.178.189 (talk) 15:42, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Referencing episodes

I suggest using this format to reference the episodes

<ref name="S01E01">{{Cite episode
|title=Pilot
|episodelink=List of The Big Bang Theory episodes#ep1
|series=The Big Bang Theory
|serieslink=The Big Bang Theory
|airdate=September 24, 2007
|season=1
|number=1}}</ref>

as suggested in Template:Cite episode.

The "episodelink" field includes the link to the appropriate episode in this way List of The Big Bang Theory episodes#ep1. The number in "#ep1" refers to the continuous episode number in the series, not within a season. For example, The Griffin Equivalence is episode 4 of season 2, but it is referenced as List of The Big Bang Theory episodes#ep21.

The citation in the actual article may very well be in "horizontal" format.

<ref name="S01E01">{{Cite episode|title=Pilot|episodelink=... etc.

This has already been implemented in List of characters in The Big Bang Theory. 189.235.132.118 (talk) 17:08, 1 January 2010 (UTC)

Howard's proficiency in languages

Although in the show Howard has mentioned to speak fluently 5 languages (in the Pilot he mentions French, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic, and Persian), the show writers haven't explored much his proficiency.

In The Dumpling Paradox (Season 01, Episode 07, see List of The Big Bang Theory episodes#ep7), when Leonard, Sheldon, and Raj went to their usual Chinese restaurant, the waiter referred to Howard as "their annoying friend who thinks he can speak Mandarin".

In another episode (I'm not sure which), Howard addressed Penny in Russian but, according to some people, he had a really bad pronunciation.

In The Jiminy Conjecture (Season 03, Episode 02, see List of The Big Bang Theory episodes#ep42) Howard also mentions having studied Latin.

These events may suggest that Howard's status on languages is not clear, and that he may not be fluent in the languages he mentions, however this is not a definite proof.

Right now the accepted principle is that the fictional character Howard is fluent in 5 languages, and 6 if the fictional Klingon language is included, as mentioned in The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary (Season 03, Episode 05, see List of The Big Bang Theory episodes#ep45).

I only want to point this out so that editors of the Howard Wolowitz article don't arbitrarily change the text to say that Howard speaks or doesn't speak correctly a certain language based on small errors in the show. Remember that Howard is a fictional character, so within the fiction he may be fluent, no matter what we think about him as spectators.

If somebody wants to write "Howard is not fluent in Russian" a reference to the episode where this was stated within the fiction, or a reference to an interview with the show creators or writers acknowledging this is necessary. Otherwise, it's just unverifiable content. 189.235.132.118 (talk) 22:56, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

Tattoos

His refusal to get tattooed wasn't due to a belief that he shouldn't, but due to the social implications of not being able to be buried in a Jewish cemetary.--MartinUK (talk) 14:24, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Are you contesting what the article says, or how it's written? I think the article mentions this, and even provides a note, a direct reference to the Torah.---189.250.141.78 (talk) 04:19, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

I'm aware that the Torah forbids tattoos, my point is that Howard's refusal to get one isn't neccessarily strictly due to this. Rather, it may be due to the social implications for his family of him not being buried among them (and the risk of his mother finding out while they are both still alive). When somebody does not keep Kosher, it seems strange that they would follow a single relatively-random rule for purely religious reasons--MartinUK (talk) 11:53, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Eh? Still, it doesn't matter specifically whether it's his "beliefs" or the "social implications" that made him change his mind. The fact is that he didn't want to get tattoos, that's it. I don't get why people nitpick on stuff like this, trying hard to get into the character's head.---189.235.132.234 (talk) 18:29, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Actually, if you see the relevant episode where Howard was about to get a tattoo, he backed out only because he could not take the pain... ---194.157.127.66 (talk) 15:00, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Regarding nicknames, we should keep only those that are actually used

In the character's infobox, we should not include as nicknames those that were used in only one episode, or as a derogatory term. For instance:

• Sheldon Cooper. He only used "Sheldor" when playing Age of Conan in one episode. No one calls him "Dr. Dumbass", but Leslie Winkle, and that is not a nickname, but an insult. No one calls him "Whackadoodle", but Penny did once, also as an insult. Those are not nicknames.
• Penny. Her online nickname was "Queen Penelope", but she only used it once. It was mentioned anecdotally that her father used to call her "Slugger", but no one calls her like that. Those are not nicknames.
• Howard Wolowitz. "Wolowizard (YouTube)", "Howie", "Sir Howard of Wolowitz (online)", "Wealthy Big Penis (online)", also one-time uses. Those are not nicknames.

---189.250.141.78 (talk) 04:16, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

Of course "Howie" is a nickname, what else would it be? Quite right about the other ones of course.--2001:A61:2085:A201:70FD:9CB:C7EF:7FB2 (talk) 20:04, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

• A new nickname given to Howard Wolowitz is "Fruit Loops", (by NASA's Michael Massimino, Dr.Eng.). It has also, so far, been used only once.

---194.157.127.66 (talk) 14:59, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

As of the last episode of season five, "Fruit Loops" appears to be the official nickname of Howard Wolowitz for both NASA and FKA.

---88.193.111.215 (talk) 15:53, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Since the nickname "Fruit Loops" appears to be the official astronaut (hence, professional) nickname of the character, it should be included to the character's name. A good example of this is Men "The Master" Nguyễn ---88.193.111.215 (talk) 18:05, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Violent oppose That's not part of his name, hence he isn't having "Froot Loops" in his name. RAP (talk) 18:11 12 May 2012 (UTC)

I trully am sorry for you if you cannot understand the function of a nickname, as illustrated in the example above. ---88.193.111.215 (talk) 18:20, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

We don't include nicknames as part of the character's name. Including it in the lede as you did is giving the nickname undue weight. At best there may be an argument to include it in the infobox, but not in the lede. --AussieLegend (talk) 18:27, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

At the present moment, this might actually be the most reasonable alternative. ---88.193.111.215 (talk) 18:29, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

I was protesting it's inclusion in the heading. No problems with the infobox. RAP (talk) 18:38 12 May 2012 (UTC)

Expedition 31

I've reverted the addition of a link to Expedition 31 because there's nothing in that article that is relevant. It's a fictitious use of an upcoming mission to the International Space Station, so fictitious in fact that even the astronaut names are different. Wikilinks are supposed to "provide instant pathways to locations within and outside the project that are likely to increase readers' understanding of the topic at hand", however the link doesn't do that. --AussieLegend (talk) 16:21, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

I am not aware of any Wikiprecedent that precludes wikilinks to articles on real entities mentioned in fictional works, as visits to pretty much every Wikipedia fiction articles show. By your logic, we shouldn't link to any real entity that is clearly not the same as the fictionalized version.

The show has mentioned Caltech departments that don't exist, the president of the university is different, the real MIT has never awarded an M. Eng. to anyone named Howard Wolowitz, and no Mars rover has yet discovered evidence of life at the bottom of a ditch. We link to them, however, because the show has stated its characters' connections to these things as fact. How is linking to Expedition 31--again, something definitively stated on the show--any different?

Further, people are much less likely to know what "Expedition 31" is than to know what Caltech and MIT are; isn't a wikilink thus all the more valuable? Lastly, how is your proferred alternative of linking to a list of International Space Station expeditions any better? Are readers to think that a "real" Wolowitz traveled to space as part of another mission? Ylee (talk) 18:54, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

As I indicated above, wikilinks are supposed to provide instant pathways to articles that are likely to increase readers' understanding of the topic at hand, and the link to Expedition 31 doesn't do that. To gain any useful understanding of what Expedition 31 is, the reader needs to know the meaning of "expedition" and all Expedition 31 says is that Expedition 31 is an expedition. List of International Space Station expeditions is a far better target because it actually explains what is meant by expedition. As regards The Big Bang Theory, Expedition 31 contains no useful information, while links like this actually explain what a Caltech is. --AussieLegend (talk) 20:32, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Category:Fictional American people of Polish descent

There was an episode (of season 5 I think) were Amy and Bernadete were in Penny's apartment and they were all talking about how it turns out that Bernadete's and Howard's grandparents (or great-grandparents, I don't remember) were neighbours in Poland before WW2, at which point Penny commented "That's cool!" and Amy answered back silently to Penny "No, it's not, I'll tell you later.". Based on that, I guess it is safe to say that Howard belongs in the category Category:Fictional American people of Polish descent. Thoughts?193.166.53.253 (talk) 12:28, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

You are deducting he is from Polish descent, but this is original research as it is not stated elsewhere. We live in a world of stereotypes, so if we assume that a person named Wolowitz is from Polish origin, we would probably be right, however we cannot confirm this 100% until the person has said it himself or, in the case of a show, it is clearly stated by the producers or written into the plot.---137.132.22.254 (talk) 08:02, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

As a matter of fact, Wolowitz does sound Polish, but it would pass through as an utterly normal German (East of the Elbe) name, and with a slight change (to Wolowitsch), it would pass through as an utterly normal Austrian name.--2001:A61:2085:A201:70FD:9CB:C7EF:7FB2 (talk) 20:08, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

Peanut allergy

Is Howard's peanut allergy anything to do with the JPL's "good luck peanuts" tradition? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ykliu (talk • contribs) 10:57, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

The character is Jewish

It is stated throughout several episodes that Howard is Jewish mainly by Howard himself. Even Leonard's mother makes statement about it in the episode where she points out Raj and Howard are in an "erstaz homosexual relationship" about Jewish boys living with their mothers. 184.58.0.27 (talk) 03:45, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

What is this? - TBBT S05E24 4:40  ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Drsruli (talk • contribs) 05:38, 18 September 2016 (UTC)

Best friends

I'm pretty sure he is best friends with the 2 other main characters as well (Leonard and Sheldon), not just Rajesh. Whoever wrote that it was solely Rajesh as best friend needs to re-watch the entire series again. Majinsnake (talk) 17:13, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

I've watched most episodes. He's closer to Raj than he is to Leonard and Sheldon. Raj is his best friend. Sheldon merely suffers Howard, has a low opinion of him and states his ambivalence in regard to whether or not he is friends with Howard. In one episode, he says something like "I have eight friends; nine if you count Wolowitz." Jim Michael (talk) 16:21, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

Sheldon also states that Leonard is his best friend. In addition, Sheldon typically refers to Leonard by his first name, but the other two by their surnames. Jim Michael (talk) 15:32, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Origin of the character's name

One of the show's producers (Bill Prady) previously worked with the real world Howard Wolowitz at the Small Computer Company. No, this does not play into the TBBT storyline but it's an interesting bit of trivia about the name origin. 71.173.159.121 (talk) 19:44, 17 July 2024 (UTC)