explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:229: Graffiti

2013-04-30T18:20:05Z

130.207.38.125: Redirected page to 229: Graffiti

#REDIRECT [[229: Graffiti]]

Graffiti

2013-04-30T18:19:38Z

130.207.38.125: Redirected page to 229: Graffiti

#REDIRECT [[229: Graffiti]]

229

2013-04-30T18:18:27Z

130.207.38.125: Redirected page to 229: Graffiti

#REDIRECT [[229: Graffiti]]

229: Graffiti

2013-04-30T18:17:30Z

130.207.38.125: Created page with "{{comic | number = 229 | date = February 28, 2007 | title = Graffiti | image = graffiti.png | titletext = FOR AN INTRIGUING TIME CALL }} ==Explanation== The h..."

{{comic
| number = 229
| date = February 28, 2007
| title = Graffiti
| image = graffiti.png
| titletext = FOR AN INTRIGUING TIME CALL
}}

==Explanation==
The humor in this comic comes from the irony of a deep philosophical musing on the nature of individuals sharing a private space in a public place, unknown to one another and separated by time. The graffiti text is juxtaposed with more typical bathroom stall scrawlings - insults, slurs, and "X was here." The subtitle further supports the irony as Cueball notes the discrepancy in the intellectual depth of the different comments.

==Transcript==
[A guy sits on a toilet in a bathroom. The stall sidewall next to him is covered in graffiti--"you suck," "Mike sucks cock," "Cunt," "dane was here" stuck through and "dane is a fag" written under it. One block of graffiti is salient:]
"This graffiti is
fleeting human contact
both of us lost,
but for a moment
we're lost together.
I wonder who you are."
Subtitle: I think I look for meaning in the wrong places sometimes.

{{comic discussion}}

197: Ninja Turtles

2013-04-23T17:57:28Z

130.207.38.125: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 197
| date = Dec 15, 2006
| title = Ninja Turtles
| image = ninja_turtles.png
| titletext = The henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady have hijacked the musical genres for us just like the Lone Ranger hijacked the William Tell Overture for our parents.
}}

==Explanation==
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Ninja Turtles, are a pop-cultural phenomenon especially prominent in the late 1980's and 1990's. The four turtles are each named for four artists of the European Renaissance: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarrati, Donatello di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, and Raphael Sanzio da Urbino. Due to the popularity of the Ninja Turtles in a variety of media, some of the names are now better known through their Ninja Turtle connection than their original artist forebears. The pie charts provide an approximation of this effect - Leonardo Da Vinci remains one of the most notable artists of the period, and thus "Leonardo" is depicted as more notable for the artist. Donatello is the most obscure of the four as an artist, and consequently the majority of the current notoriety of "Donatello" is as a Ninja Turtle.

The title text alludes to a similar phenomenon, as two other characters from the show "Bebop" and "Rocksteady" are now better known as the characters than for the musical genres they are named for. Similarly, the William Tell Overture became so closely tied to the character of the Lone Ranger in media for the previous generation that, to many, the William Tell Overture is in effect "The Lone Ranger Theme."

==Transcript==
[Four pie graphs, each colored green and brown] 
Leonardo 
[Almost one-half green] 
Michelangelo 
[More than one-half green] 
Donatello 
[Almost completely green] 
Raphael 
[Roughly half-and-half] 
[A legend] 
Notoriety as a 
[Brown] Renaissance artist 
[Green] Ninja turtle 

{{comic discussion}}

Ninja Turtles

2013-04-23T17:55:19Z

130.207.38.125: Redirected page to 197: Ninja Turtles

#REDIRECT [[197: Ninja Turtles]]

197

2013-04-23T17:54:55Z

130.207.38.125: Redirected page to 197: Ninja Turtles

#REDIRECT [[197: Ninja Turtles]]

197: Ninja Turtles

2013-04-23T17:50:43Z

130.207.38.125: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 197
| date = Dec 15, 2006
| title = Ninja Turtles
| image = ninja_turtles.png
| titletext = The henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady have hijacked the musical genres for us just like the Lone Ranger hijacked the William Tell Overture for our parents.
}}

==Explanation==
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Ninja Turtles, are a pop-cultural phenomenon especially prominent in the late 1980's and 1990's. The four turtles are each named for four artists of the European Renaissance: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarrati, Donatello di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, and Raphael Sanzio da Urbino. Due to the popularity of the Ninja Turtles in a variety of media, some of the names are now better known through their Ninja Turtle connection than their original artist forebears. The pie charts provide an approximation of this effect - Leonardo Da Vinci remains one of the most notable artists of the period, and thus "Leonardo" is depicted as more notable for the artist. Donatello is the most obscure of the four as an artist, and consequently the majority of the current notoriety of "Donatello" is as a Ninja Turtle.

The title text alludes to a similar phenomenon, as two other characters from the show "Bebop" and "Rocksteady" are now better known as the characters than for the musical genres they are named for. Similarly, the William Tell Overture became so closely tied to the character of the Lone Ranger in media for the previous generation that, to many, the William Tell Overture is in effect "The Lone Ranger Theme."

==Transcript==
[Four pie graphs, each colored green and brown]
Leonardo
[Almost one-half green]
Michelangelo
[More than one-half green]
Donatello
[Almost completely green]
Raphael
[Roughly half-and-half]
[A legend]
Notoriety as a
[Brown] Renaissance artist
[Green] Ninja turtle

{{comic discussion}}

197: Ninja Turtles

2013-04-23T17:47:48Z

130.207.38.125: Created page with "{{comic | number = 197 | date = Dec 15, 2006 | title = Ninja Turtles | image = ninja_turtles.png | titletext = The henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady have hijacked ..."

{{comic
| number = 197
| date = Dec 15, 2006
| title = Ninja Turtles
| image = ninja_turtles.png
| titletext = The henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady have hijacked the musical genres for us just like the Lone Ranger hijacked the William Tell Overture for our parents.
}}

==Explanation==
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Ninja Turtles, are a pop-cultural phenomenon especially prominent in the late 1980's and 1990's. The four turtles are each named for four artists of the European Renaissance: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarrati, Donatello di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, and Raphael Sanzio da Urbino. Due to the popularity of the Ninja Turtles in a variety of media, some of the names are now better known through their Ninja Turtle connection than their original artist forebears. The pie charts provide an approximation of this effect - Leonardo Da Vinci remains one of the most notable artists of the period, and thus "Leonardo" is depicted as more notable for the artist. Donatello is the most obscure of the four as an artist, and consequently the majority of the current notoriety of "Donatello" is as a Ninja Turtle.

==Transcript==
[Four pie graphs, each colored green and brown]
Leonardo
[Almost one-half green]
Michelangelo
[More than one-half green]
Donatello
[Almost completely green]
Raphael
[Roughly half-and-half]
[A legend]
Notoriety as a
[Brown] Renaissance artist
[Green] Ninja turtle

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:638: The Search

2013-04-18T16:26:13Z

130.207.38.125: Redirected page to 638: The Search

#REDIRECT [[638: The Search]]

The Search

2013-04-18T16:25:22Z

130.207.38.125: Redirected page to 638: The Search

#REDIRECT [[638: The Search]]

638

2013-04-18T16:23:39Z

130.207.38.125: Redirected page to 638: The Search

#REDIRECT [[638: The Search]]

638: The Search

2013-04-18T16:22:44Z

130.207.38.125: Created page with "{{comic | number = 638 | date = 2009-09-18 | title = The Search | image = the search.png | titletext = I am so excited about the Kepler mission. This is the se..."

{{comic
| number = 638
| date = 2009-09-18
| title = The Search
| image = the search.png
| titletext = I am so excited about the Kepler mission. This is the second most important thing our species has ever done, right behind developing the concept of delivery pizza.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a commentary on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The ant's dialogue describes the narrow scope of their search (a few tiles, and only looking for pheromone trails), and thus they conclude that there is no other life. The irony is that humanity does of course exist, but were simply not present in the kitchen at the time of search, nor do we communicate with ant pheromones. Similarly, our ability to search outer space for other life is limited to our ability to detect specific modes of communication (i.e. radio waves) and to the very limited area of space imposed by technological limitations on transportation, range, and sensitivity of our equipment.

==Transcript==
Ant: We've searched dozens of these floor tiles for several common types of pheromone trails.
Ant: If there were intelligent life up there, we would have seen its messages by now.

The world's first ant colony to achieve sentience calls off the search for us.

{{comic discussion}}

791: Leaving

2013-03-14T20:31:34Z

130.207.38.125:

{{comic
| number = 791
| date =
| title = Leaving
| image = leaving.png
| titletext = What'll I say -- "I was staring at some cat vomit when I got the news?"
}}

==Explanation==
The caption below the frame tells us that the Man is afraid that if someone were to die unexpectedly, then the Man is afraid that he will not be able to forget the last thing he said to that person. In the comic panel, the Man has observed a mess on the floor, presumably cat vomit. He asks the second, off panel, character who is leaving to "pick up some spray cleaner that works on cat vomit." The man suddenly realizes that should the off-panel character die on that errand that this would be the last thing he said to them. Panicking slightly, the Man interrupts their departure and says something more appropriate as last words - "You are in my heart always." The off-panel character is confused by this statement, not being aware of the Man's fear.

==Transcript==
:[A man looks down at a puddle on the floor and speaks to someone out-of-panel.]
:Man: Hey, while you're out, can you pick up some spray cleaner that works on cat vomit?
:Voice: Can do! -- Bye!

:[Man extends his arm and faces the leaving person.]
:Man: ...Wait!
:Voice: Yes?
:Man: Uh. ...You are in my heart always.
:Voice: ...?

:Sometimes, when people leave, I'm seized by a sudden fear that they'll die while they're out, and I'll never forget the last thing I said to them.

{{comic discussion}}

791: Leaving

2013-03-14T20:28:40Z

130.207.38.125: Created page with "{{comic | number = 791 | date = | title = Leaving | image = http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/leaving.png | titletext = What'll I say -- "I was staring at ..."

{{comic
| number = 791
| date =
| title = Leaving
| image = http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/leaving.png
| titletext = What'll I say -- "I was staring at some cat vomit when I got the news?"
}}

==Explanation==
The caption below the frame tells us that the Man is afraid that if someone were to die unexpectedly, then the Man is afraid that he will not be able to forget the last thing he said to that person. In the comic panel, the Man has observed a mess on the floor, presumably cat vomit. He asks the second, off panel, character who is leaving to "pick up some spray cleaner that works on cat vomit." The man suddenly realizes that should the off-panel character die on that errand that this would be the last thing he said to them. Panicking slightly, the Man interrupts their departure and says something more appropriate as last words - "You are in my heart always." The off-panel character is confused by this statement, not being aware of the Man's fear.

==Transcript==
:[A man looks down at a puddle on the floor and speaks to someone out-of-panel.]
:Man: Hey, while you're out, can you pick up some spray cleaner that works on cat vomit?
:Voice: Can do! -- Bye!

:[Man extends his arm and faces the leaving person.]
:Man: ...Wait!
:Voice: Yes?
:Man: Uh. ...You are in my heart always.
:Voice: ...?

:Sometimes, when people leave, I'm seized by a sudden fear that they'll die while they're out, and I'll never forget the last thing I said to them.

{{comic discussion}}