"Adolescence is just one big walking pimple"
About this Quote
The intent is deflation. Burnett takes a life stage often romanticized by movies and nostalgia and yanks it back to the bathroom mirror, the fluorescent lighting, the sudden awareness of pores and peers. The joke works because it externalizes insecurity. A pimple isn’t just a blemish; it’s a spotlight you didn’t ask for. By turning the whole adolescent self into that blemish, she captures the teenage terror of being perceived: the feeling that your face arrives in the room before you do.
There’s also a classic Burnett kindness in the cruelty. She’s not mocking teenagers so much as translating their private dread into a clean, shareable image. Coming from an actress whose comedy often treated embarrassment as a communal event, the line doubles as reassurance: if adolescence is a walking pimple, then the mortifying parts are temporary, common, and, with enough distance, material. Humor becomes a pressure valve, the grown-up perspective that says: yes, it was awful - and no, it didn’t win.
Quote Details
| Topic | Youth |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Burnett, Carol. (2026, January 16). Adolescence is just one big walking pimple. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/adolescence-is-just-one-big-walking-pimple-127874/
Chicago Style
Burnett, Carol. "Adolescence is just one big walking pimple." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/adolescence-is-just-one-big-walking-pimple-127874/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Adolescence is just one big walking pimple." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/adolescence-is-just-one-big-walking-pimple-127874/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.










