explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2089: Christmas Eve Eve

2026-06-14T22:39:23Z

2605:59C8:22E3:3E14:F8EA:B61A:D6B0:1C6C:

The "eve" count might be off by one or two. I used 365. [[User:Blacksilver|Blacksilver]] ([[User talk:Blacksilver|talk]]) 05:40, 24 December 2018 (UTC)
:Correct would be 364. Except in leap years. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.90|162.158.90.90]] 09:23, 24 December 2018 (UTC)
::Anyone ACTUALLY count to make sure Randall got it right? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.29|108.162.246.29]] 02:22, 25 December 2018 (UTC)
:::I have no life so I did count, and Randall has 364. Why would we doubt him? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.178|162.158.75.178]] 14:15, 27 December 2018 (UTC)
In Germany, Christmas happens on Christmas Eve, so Cueball would be saying "eve" forever and just refer to the same date every time. "Heiligabend abends" is occasionally used to say the evening of 24th (the time of presents) and in northern Germany you sometimes say "Heiligtag", meaning "holy day" instead of "holy evening". [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.90|162.158.90.90]] 09:23, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

: The presents are given on Christmas Eve. This doesn't mean that Christmas is on Christmas Eve. --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.34|188.114.102.34]] 09:22, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

::As another german, in my experience the 24th, Heiligabend, is way more important than what we call the first Christmas Holiday and the second Christmas Holiday, which are the 25th and the 26th. It's the day when people do the elaborate, traditional dinners that are different for each family, when the "Christkind" comes at the evening after the family went to church (if very christian, if not, it's probably just santa and the church going isn't obligatory either) and presents are unboxed. The days after that are mainly just to play with or try out the presents, and depending on how christian the family is maybe one or two more church goings happen, also it is when you call relatives to either wish Merry Christmas<sup>TM</sup> or thank them for the nice presents. Also because you likely made too much food for the Christmas Dinner<sup>TM</sup> you finish the leftovers on those days. -- [[User:256.256.256.256|256.256.256.256]] ([[User talk:256.256.256.256|talk]]) 07:16, 20 December 2021 (UTC)

"The day after Christmas" - isn't that just 2nd Christmas day? --[[User:Zom-B|Zom-B]] ([[User talk:Zom-B|talk]]) 10:55, 24 December 2018 (UTC)
:Not in USA. They only have one day of Christmas. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.82|198.41.242.82]] 12:58, 27 December 2018 (UTC)
::In Denmark we are not so Christen so they never got us to call the party for Christmas, but we kept to the Yule time, and still calls Christmas for "Jul". In the Viking tradition we always celebrate when the day starts, and in their custom the new day begins when the sun sets and ends the current day. Thus we always celebrate the night before the day, that is actually celebrated. So we have the Jule dinner and presents on Christmas Eve (called Jule aften = Jule Eve). The 25th is then called Jule dag (Christmas day). And the "eve eve" we call "Lille Juleaften" = "Small Christmas Eve". We call the 26th "Anden Juledag" = "Second Christmas Day". Then someone use 3rd and 4th etc. up till New year. But that is not official. But The 25-26 is national holiday, and most people also have the 24th as a holiday. But not the 23rd (But this year it was a Sunday). Continuing to count the day before Lille Juleaften could be called 363 Christmas Day, then Small xmas evening, and xmas eve. Of course we could also call the 22nd Lille Lille Juleaften, and then add 363 for the 26th :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:00, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

Interestingly the rather amazing "Nancy" did a similar gag yesterday. https://www.gocomics.com/nancy/2018/12/23 --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.62|141.101.77.62]] 14:09, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

I don't see where anybody actually reported counting the number of times Randall wrote "eve", so I counted each of the 18 rows separately and then added them together. I got 11, 14, 14, 14, 15, 16, 17, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 30, 32, and 27 - a grand total of 364 times, as expected. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 14:13, 24 December 2018 (UTC)
:Hat tip. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.29|108.162.246.29]] 02:23, 25 December 2018 (UTC)
::I added a trivia with the same count, before I saw yours, so now three have reported that it is 364 (and next year is not a leap year, so no mistake there either). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:53, 28 December 2018 (UTC)

My kids call the day before Christmas Eve "Christmas Adam". --[[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 18:33, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

I wonder if this explanation is the page on this wiki with the most occurrences of the letter 'v'. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.106|108.162.241.106]] 19:21, 24 December 2018 (UTC)
:The perl script to find the explanation with he most “v”s would not be particularly hard to write, but I might have to read documentation on the LWP module so I’m not going to bother (unless Christmas dinner at my brother-in-law’s goes particularly badly, in which case some mindless coding might be fun). Perhaps the guy who counted all the “eve”s will be more motivated than I 😀[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.89|162.158.79.89]]
::Hoverboard has over 4 times as many v's as this comic. April Fool's Day > Christmas confirmed? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.82|162.158.214.82]] 23:01, 29 December 2019 (UTC)

> Most Americans don't know this and make jokes about how it refers to the sport of boxing.
Since when do Americans know about Boxing Day to begin with, lol [[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.243|172.69.62.243]] 15:41, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve!

Talk:2089: Christmas Eve Eve

2026-06-14T22:38:28Z

2605:59C8:22E3:3E14:F8EA:B61A:D6B0:1C6C:

Talk:1932: The True Meaning of Christmas

2026-06-14T22:25:46Z

2605:59C8:22E3:3E14:F8EA:B61A:D6B0:1C6C:

Is that guy with a black "santa cap" Black Hat? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.77|162.158.166.77]] 13:38, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:Since most comics a not in color we safely can assume this Santa Hat as red. And if it should be Black Hat we would be able to identify him. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:01, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
::I definitely think it's supposed to be Black Hat Guy (Cueball's comment in the first panel fits). However, as we're uncertain, how about we use "Santa Hat" as in the below comments? -- [[User:Peregrine|Peregrine]] ([[User talk:Peregrine|talk]]) 15:13, 22 December 2017 (UTC)

:: based on speech patterns and topic choice, "Santa Hat" might be Beret Guy. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.202|162.158.75.202]] 19:18, 23 December 2017 (UTC)
:::Like my former comment: If it should be Beret Guy we would be able to identify him. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:21, 23 December 2017 (UTC)
:::Its beret guy. definitly beret guy -Someone from pluto
:: I think the santa hat may actually be black, because in [[361: Christmas Back Home]] and [[838: Incident]] red christmas clothing was represented as red. Those were probably only times we have seen Christmas clothing in xkcd. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.101|162.158.238.101]] 10:53, 25 December 2017 (UTC)
::For me, Santa Hat is not mean enough to be Black Hat, and not QUITE goofy enough to be Beret Guy. I vote Just Some Guy In A Santa Hat, or our regular Cueball wearing a Santa hat, or Cueball's brother although I guess then Cueball would know his feelings about Christmas. I also don't accept the argument that the meaning of Christmas is "the meaning of Christmas", and I think Autometalogolex should be a Transformer, probably the good Transformers' snooty librarian / archivist. He or she can be a reindeer when transformed, sure. Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.124|141.101.76.124]] 10:43, 26 December 2017 (UTC)
Cant find a definition or recognition of the word autometalogolex. My google-fu is weak. ̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶d̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶u̶p̶ [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 14:11, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:"autometalogolex" is an invention by Santa Hat and consists of three prefixes "auto-", "meta-", and "logo-" and the word "lex" for law or statute. I'm still thinking about the deeper meaning.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:17, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
::Why dont we make it a word? UrbanDictionary is blocked where i am. [[User:DPS2004|DPS2004'); DROP TABLE users;--]] ([[User talk:DPS2004|talk]]) 14:25, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:I added the meanings of each of the prefixes, as well as a more likely analysis of the root, though "auto-" is still up in the air. It can mean "self" as in the classic meaning, but it can also mean done without interaction (as in "automatic") which sounds closer to the usage present in the comic. I'll leave it to others to refine. We still need to better interpret the fullness of the title text. Respectfully, -- a guy stuck in a government cube all day. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.184}}
::"auto-" means self. The roots of automatic mean "self-acting" or "self-thinking". [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 15:26, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:I'd say that Autometalogolex is the word that Santa Hat is making up for the definition that cueball gives "The act of looking up the definition of this word.", so my interpretation is that the definition of Autometalogolex is "The act of looking up the definition of autometalogolex" (so you are all autometalogolexing at this moment) -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.152|141.101.77.152]] 15:06, 22 December 2017 (UTC)volivav
::So what is the word for the act of making up a word for this definition? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.82|172.68.141.82]] 00:41, 23 December 2017 (UTC)

:WDYT about my reference to autological words? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autological_word] [[User:DarlingGeert|DarlingGeert]]

Doesn't the title text reference Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.166|172.69.69.166]] 17:25, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:Thanks, I thought about this too. Please check my additions. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:20, 22 December 2017 (UTC)

Tautometalogolex should be "the act of looking up the definition of autometalogolex". [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 18:23, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
:This phrase hits the nail on the head. And that's a recursive never ending action. And this recursion happens to all those "meaning of Christmas stories." --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 00:13, 23 December 2017 (UTC)

The current explanation speaks of the title text like it might mean that a reindeer named "Autometalogolex" might cause headaches. NO! Usually such strange clearly wrong interpretations come from looking at it in a weird way (a way I only discover by reading it here), but this time it's simply not paying attention! Why would anybody be looking to GIVE Santa a headache??!?!? It's literally saying the opposite, who will they call when Santa ALREADY HAS a headache. Yes, the title text is referencing Rudolph, who is depicted as an outsider until he becomes useful, his glowing nose helping guide the way. This is the same. It's making fun of the fact that "autometalogolex" sounds like a medicine, so it's saying that a reindeer with this name would CURE Santa's headache, saving the day like Rudolph, helping out like Rudolph. Everyone will look for Autometalogolex at this time. Don't always make things so complicated.

And I don't think Santa Hat is Black Hat. That's what I figured at first, since hat colour, but he isn't sporting the usual anti-social mess-with-people attitude. But the comments sound like he usually wears a different hat, so... Wihout further evidence I think we have to take him as a separate character. Maybe the blackness is supposed to paint him as a Christmas pessimist? [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 06:37, 29 December 2017 (UTC)
:I've updated the incomplete reason to ''Title text explanation: Why did Santa need a headache? Sounds absurd.'' IMO the last paragraph is nonsense. "Autometalogolex" is a reference to Rudolph and your phrase ''the fact that "autometalogolex" sounds like a medicine'' is much more reasonable. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:37, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

On Wiktionary, the administrators have proactively protected the title [[:wikt:autometalogolex|autometalogolex]] so that it cannot be created. - [[User:Mike Rosoft|Mike Rosoft]] ([[User talk:Mike Rosoft|talk]]) 17:37, 29 December 2017 (UTC)
* Also, who else tried to parse the word as "auto-metalo-golex"? - [[User:Mike Rosoft|Mike Rosoft]] ([[User talk:Mike Rosoft|talk]]) 17:55, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

Talk:1005: SOPA

2026-06-14T18:06:41Z

2605:59C8:22E3:3E14:F8EA:B61A:D6B0:1C6C:

Anyone try the brightness-contrast with the XKCD [[521: 2008 Christmas Special|2008 x-mas Special]]? [[Special:Contributions/66.19.70.101|66.19.70.101]] 02:20, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

:Negative. [[Special:Contributions/108.233.253.211|108.233.253.211]] 02:53, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

:Yes. There is NO color information in those black panels, all pixels read 0x000000. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.53|108.162.216.53]] 20:52, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

:I tried it in Microsoft Office 2010 and got a faint, but very readable image just like the one above.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.42|141.101.99.42]] 18:35, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

::What does it say? I tried it & just got nothing. [[User:B_for_brain|B for brain]] ([[User_talk:B_for_brain|talk]]) ([https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg4bo-hj-mDyOOUp_Yp0pug youtube channel] [https://bforbrain.weebly.com/ wobsite (supposed to be a blag)]) 18:26, 9 August 2024 (UTC)

What do they mean "typical XKCD fashion"? What other comics have hidden messages in them? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.91|173.245.48.91]] 22:11, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
:The "typical xkcd fashion" line wasn't referring to the exact scenario of a hidden message in the comic. It was referring to the tendency of xkcd comics to have deeper messages (besides the explicit point being made) that may not be immediately visible. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 19:13, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

To me, the phrasing "I'm getting totally blacked out" suggests that the narrator is getting blackout drunk. Does anyone else get this impression, or am I crazy? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.123|108.162.241.123]] 16:58, 31 October 2015 (UTC)
:Ah yes, I totally get that impression too. [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.115|103.22.201.115]] 14:45, 11 November 2015 (UTC)
:: Agreed. Added that to the explanation. [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 21:47, 11 September 2020 (UTC)

PDF links and DYN link on the comic page are no longer available.
:Added links to archived versions of these, around the time the comic was published. – [[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 03:10, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

I'm glad both that there is a hidden joke and that somebody found and posted it, but the idea that somebody was playing around with brightness on every comic just to find if there is anything like that freaks me out even more than tongue awareness.

u rgubj rg"r qgurw gAr. (rgua ua xuogwe! ri swxuogwe: ib " QWERTY jwtvi"es, rtow rgw jwt ri rgw eufgr id rgw jwt ur ua (A = ". if you cant find it i will tell you the deciphered message next Wednesday.))