Difference between revisions of "28: Elefino"

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(Explanation: Added comparison to Buster Keaton's 1921 joke "Damfino" in the film "The Boat".)
 
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| date      = November 14, 2005
 
| date      = November 14, 2005
 
| title    = Elefino
 
| title    = Elefino
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| before    = <big><big><span class="plainlinks">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060529063505/http://xkcd-drawings.livejournal.com/?skip=20#:~:text=Monday%27s%20Drawing%20%2D%20Elefino Original title</span>]: '''Monday's Drawing - Elefino'''</big></big>
 
| image    = elefino.jpg
 
| image    = elefino.jpg
 
| titletext = Hell if I know
 
| titletext = Hell if I know
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
The basis for this fairly simple xkcd comic is the subject riddle, which is properly answered, as given in the title text: "Hell if I know". When spoken, this "correct" answer sounds like "elefino" – a {{w|portmanteau}} of "'''eleph'''ant" and "rh'''ino'''". This makes it again one of the early comics where Randall explains the comic via the title text.
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This was the thirty-second comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]]. The previous one was [[29: Hitler]], and the next one was [[31: Barrel - Part 5]].
  
Instead of giving the punchline of the joke, Randall answers with the unexpected "I haven't a goddamn clue", which, while having the same meaning, ruins the joke.
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The answer for the riddle in this comic is given by the title text, "Hell if I know", which, when spoken out loud, sounds like the title of this comic, "Elefino". "Elephino" is a {{w|portmanteau}} of the words "'''eleph'''ant" and "rh'''ino'''". In the comic itself, [[Randall Munroe|Randall]] unexpectedly says, "I haven't a goddamn clue", which still conveys the same meaning but ruins the joke instead of giving the punchline. As with many of the earlier comics, the title text explains the joke rather than adding to it.
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This word play is reminiscent of the final scene in Buster Keaton's 1921 short (23 minute) film '''The Boat''' in which the titulular boat is named the ''Damfino'', a word play on "Damned if I know."  Keaton answers his wife's question "Where are we?" by mouthing the name of the boat in the final scene.  The filmmakers relied on audiences to read Keaton's lips, as his answer was not intertitled.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:A: I haven't a goddamn clue.
 
:A: I haven't a goddamn clue.
  
==Trivia==
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{{comic discussion}}
*This was the 32nd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].
 
**The previous was [[29: Hitler]].
 
**The next was [[31: Barrel - Part 5]].
 
*Original title: "Monday's Drawing - Elefino"
 
*There were no original [[Randall]] quote for this comic.
 
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
 
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.
 
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.
 
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].
 
*In an episode of Muppets Tonight, with Sandra Bullock as the guest star, Seymour and Pepe were telling this joke to the Muppet audience, who totally did not understand it at all.  The two comedians had tried to explain the joke, but still nobody understood it.
 
 
 
 
 
{{Comic discussion}}
 
  
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 32]]
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[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 32]]
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
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[[Category:First day on xkcd.com]]
 
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
 
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
 
[[Category:Math]]
 
[[Category:Math]]
 
[[Category:Animals]]
 
[[Category:Animals]]
 
[[Category:Portmanteau‏‎]]
 
[[Category:Portmanteau‏‎]]
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[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]

Latest revision as of 01:43, 12 February 2024

Elefino
Original title: Monday's Drawing - Elefino
Hell if I know
Title text: Hell if I know

Explanation[edit]

This was the thirty-second comic originally posted to LiveJournal. The previous one was 29: Hitler, and the next one was 31: Barrel - Part 5.

The answer for the riddle in this comic is given by the title text, "Hell if I know", which, when spoken out loud, sounds like the title of this comic, "Elefino". "Elephino" is a portmanteau of the words "elephant" and "rhino". In the comic itself, Randall unexpectedly says, "I haven't a goddamn clue", which still conveys the same meaning but ruins the joke instead of giving the punchline. As with many of the earlier comics, the title text explains the joke rather than adding to it.

This word play is reminiscent of the final scene in Buster Keaton's 1921 short (23 minute) film The Boat in which the titulular boat is named the Damfino, a word play on "Damned if I know." Keaton answers his wife's question "Where are we?" by mouthing the name of the boat in the final scene. The filmmakers relied on audiences to read Keaton's lips, as his answer was not intertitled.

Transcript[edit]

Q: What do you get when you cross an Elephant with a Rhino?
[Picture of elephant, mathematical addition symbol, picture of rhino, equals sign, large question mark.]
A: I haven't a goddamn clue.


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Discussion

I would say that you get something Relephant --Akres141.101.92.41 12:11, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

That's probably relevant 141.101.104.102 05:34, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

I feel like the comparison to Back to the Future is rather pointless, so I'm going to delete it. OriginalName (talk) 04:58, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

Elefino is the name of a restaurant in the animated series Bojack Horseman. They make the same pun as this comic. I wonder if the writers of the show had read this comic a decade earlier?