Social Media Is Loving One Milchick Line From Season 2 Episode 9

Use smaller, monosyllabic words rather than needlessly complex words for simple ideas — and also, stop reading now if you haven’t watched “Severance” Season 2 Episode 9, “The After Hours.”

In “The After Hours,” Seth Milchick, the manager of the severed floor played by Trammell Tillman, finally cracks. While outside of Lumon Industries’ severed floor, Mr. Milchick meets with his ostensible superior, Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), and Mr. Drummond is, to put it lightly, not happy that the company’s best refiner Mark (Adam Scott) is missing in action. Mark’s big assignment, known only as Cold Harbor, is due today, and when Mr. Drummond tells Mr. Milchick that he’s in big trouble for not corralling Mark as needed, Mr. Milchick falls back on an old habit that’s already presented a problem with Mr. Drummond before: he “uses big words.”

Mr. Milchick thanks Mr. Drummond for his “remonstration,” and Mr. Drummond attempts to humiliate the severed floor manager by making him apologize in a more casual way with a simple “I’m sorry” — chiding him once again for using his considerable vocabulary. Mr. Milchick drops all pretense, a gleam in his eyes, and tells Mr. Drummond to “devour feculence” — which, as he summarily explains, means “eat s***.”

“I am manager of the severed floor, which means two things,” Mr. Milchick continues. “First, I am owed a measure of respect, even by my superiors. Second, and more obvious, said floor comprises the whole of my jurisdiction. To put that monosyllabically, it’s not my fault what Mark Scout does when he is not at work, it’s yours.” (The way Tillman says “monosyllabically” here, making a meal out of every syllable, is a work of art. Give him an Emmy now.)

Unsurprisingly, “devour feculence” is making waves on the Internet, especially on social media … and what I mean by that is that fans are loving it. On X (formerly known as Twitter), user @pilarsantiago simply posted a GIF of Mr. Milchick dancing in season 1’s music dance experience with the caption “devour feculence” and a crying face emoji. But wait! There’s more!