explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Mattress

2013-06-15T20:30:15Z

74.90.238.128: Redirected page to 335: Mattress

#REDIRECT [[335: Mattress]]

335

2013-06-15T20:29:34Z

74.90.238.128: Redirected page to 335: Mattress

#REDIRECT [[335: Mattress]]

335: Mattress

2013-06-15T20:28:13Z

74.90.238.128: Created page with "{{comic | number = 335 | date = October 29, 2007 | title = Mattress | image = mattress.png | titletext = The TempurPedic wineglass guy broke his ankle. }} ==E..."

{{comic
| number = 335
| date = October 29, 2007
| title = Mattress
| image = mattress.png
| titletext = The TempurPedic wineglass guy broke his ankle.
}}

==Explanation==
A commonly cited problem with cuddling is that whatever arms you and your partner are lying on tend to fall asleep from your and/or your partner's weight, and are in any case not very comfortable to be lying upon. Here Cueball and Megan have invented a mattress with a slot in it to solve that problem. To provide an activity for their lower arms when they are comfortably placed in that slot, they have installed a game of "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots" underneath the bed.

The humour arises from the juxtaposition of a sedate activity like cuddling with a boisterous activity like "Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots" with the implication that Megan and Cueball are doing both at once.

The title text refers to a series of commercials for TermpurPedic mattresses where the presenter would place a wine glass on the mattress and then jump up and down somewhere else on the mattress. The fact that the wine did not spill was meant to indicate that one partner's motions would not disturb the other. It is implied that he did that test on this mattress and fell into the slot, hurting himself.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are cuddling.]
:Cuddling face-to-face is nice, but we can never figure out where to put our lower arms.
:Our solution: the Cuddle Mattress!
:Your lower arms fit in the convenient gap.
:[There is a diagram of a mattress with a notch cut through it at shoulder level. The gap is indicated with an arrow.]
:[The same couple is shown again, cuddling snugly on the mattress.]

:[Cueball and Megan are giving a presentation to another person. Cueball has a pointer and a clicker for the slides which are projected on the screen next to him.]
:Listener: Oh man, that's ALWAYS bothered me.
:Listener: I want one.

:Listener: Although ... so the lower arms just sort of dangle?
:Listener: What do you do with them?

:Cueball: It was a bit awkward.
:Clicker: <<click>>
:Megan: Then we had a second breakthrough.

:[The couple is shown again on the cuddle mattress, this time in more detail and facing the tops of their heads. Their lower arms are sticking through the gap in the mattress and playing a conveniently located game of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots.]
:Cueball: <<click>> <<click>>
:Blue Robot: <<punch>>
:Red Robot: <<punch>>
:Megan: <<click>> <<click>>

{{comic discussion}}

Wasteland

2013-06-15T20:09:34Z

74.90.238.128: Redirected page to 334: Wasteland

#REDIRECT [[334: Wasteland]]

334

2013-06-15T20:08:58Z

74.90.238.128: Redirected page to 334: Wasteland

#REDIRECT [[334: Wasteland]]

334: Wasteland

2013-06-15T20:08:00Z

74.90.238.128: Created page with "{{comic | number = 334 | date = October 26, 2007 | title = Wasteland | image = wasteland.png | titletext = You make forgetting look so easy. }} ==Explanation=..."

{{comic
| number = 334
| date = October 26, 2007
| title = Wasteland
| image = wasteland.png
| titletext = You make forgetting look so easy.
}}

==Explanation==
The first two lines of this comic set up an expectation Cueball is fondly remembering his partner during an involuntary separation. The last two lines subvert this expectation by implying that he is deliberately separating himself in order to forget. The title text implies that his (ex-)partner has already forgotten him.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is walking through a wasteland talking to himself]
:I am alone in this wasteland, a thousand miles from you.
:But I haven't forgotten the feel of your skin, your mischievous smile.
:You'd think a thousand miles would be enough.
:I guess I'll keep walking.

{{comic discussion}}

Babies

2013-06-15T16:11:28Z

74.90.238.128: Redirected page to 441: Babies

#REDIRECT [[441: Babies]]

441

2013-06-15T16:10:12Z

74.90.238.128: Redirected page to 441: Babies

#REDIRECT [[441: Babies]]

441: Babies

2013-06-15T16:08:28Z

74.90.238.128: Created page with "{{comic | number = 441 | date = June 25, 2008 | title = Babies | image = babies.png | titletext = I bet my future kids will read this someday. DEAR FUTURE KID..."

{{comic
| number = 441
| date = June 25, 2008
| title = Babies
| image = babies.png
| titletext = I bet my future kids will read this someday. DEAR FUTURE KIDS: how did you get internet in the cellar?
}}

==Explanation==
A common theme of XKCD is that one never feels that one has "transitioned to adulthood", in the sense of actually attaining the seriousness and sense of responsibility that children imagine all adults to possess. Here, the author illustrates this by imagining Cueball and Megan taking on the ultimate "adult responsibility" -- having a child, treating it as they would any other engineering project. Disassembling a project to check the parts is an activity that is appropriate for a self-built computer or robot, but is impractical for a child.

The title text implies the author will have kids someday.. It will be surprising if they read this comic, not just because it will give them an unflattering look into their father's attitudes on having children, but because he plans to lock them in the cellar where there will be no internet access.

==Transcript==
:It doesn't seem right that we're old enough to have kids.
:Megan: Sweet! We made a baby!
:Cueball: Are we sure we did it right?
:Cueball: We should disassemble it, check all the parts, and put it back together.

{{comic discussion}}

Making Rules

2013-06-09T22:26:56Z

74.90.238.128: Redirected page to 392: Making Rules

#REDIRECT [[392: Making Rules]]

392

2013-06-09T22:26:04Z

74.90.238.128: Redirected page to 392: Making Rules

#REDIRECT [[392: Making Rules]]

392: Making Rules

2013-06-09T22:23:31Z

74.90.238.128: Created page with "{{comic | number = 392 | date = March 5, 2008 | title = Making Rules | image = making_rules.png | titletext = I never understood why someone would expect me to..."

{{comic
| number = 392
| date = March 5, 2008
| title = Making Rules
| image = making_rules.png
| titletext = I never understood why someone would expect me to accept their rules right after they'd punched me. I'm sure it's all very symbolic or something.
}}

==Explanation==
"Punch Buggy" is a game played by two people with a view of traffic (often, but not in this case during a car ride). For each Volkswagen Beetle that passes nearby, the first player to see it is entitled to punch the other player, while calling "Punch Buggy" followed by the colour of the spotted Beetle. Traditionally the other player is permitted to return the punch, unless the first player also calls "no punch back".

Implicit in this game is the idea that you can make rules just be declaring them (e.g. "no punch back") even if those rules are ridiculously unfair. When the man in the comic realizes this, he decides to make the game stakes more desirable than just the right to punch someone, and (seemingly successful) uses the same principle to secure the right to sleep with the other man's girlfriend.

==Transcript==
:[Two men are sitting. A yellow buggy passes by.]
:Man 1: Punch buggy yellow. No punch back!
:Man 2: <<Punch>>
:Man 1: I said no punch back!
:Man 2: You can do that?
:Man 2: This changes _everything_.
:Soon...
:[A blue buggy passes by.]
:Man 2: Sleep with your girlfriend buggy blue!
:Man 1: Hey!
:Man 2: No complaining back!
:Man 1: Aww...

{{comic discussion}}

464: RBA

2013-06-09T17:40:05Z

74.90.238.128: Created page with "{{comic | number = 464 | date = August 18, 2008 | title = RBA | image = rba.png | titletext = This is a story all about how I started drinking. }} ==Explanati..."

{{comic
| number = 464
| date = August 18, 2008
| title = RBA
| image = rba.png
| titletext = This is a story all about how I started drinking.
}}

==Explanation==
A "Bel-Air" is an internet meme where a poster on a message board starts a post on a serious topic, but partway through the post switches to repeating the lyrics to the opening theme song of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", a 1990s sitcom starring Will Smith (previously known in his rapping career as the "Fresh Prince") as a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who has been sent to live with his affluent and stuffy Aunt and Uncle in Bel Air, Los Angeles by his mother as a consequence of a single altercation with a couple of no-good guys who were making trouble in his previous neighbourhood.

The girl in the comic reverses the traditional arrangement by starting the conversation with a recitation of the lyrics to said theme song, and then switching partway through to a very serious discussion of the status of their relationship culminating in a break up.

==Transcript==
:[Girl walks up to boy pouring himself a drink]
:Girl: Now, this is a story all about how
:Girl: My life got flipped turned upside down
:Girl: And I'd like to take a minute
:Girl: Just sit right there
:Girl: I'll tell you how I became uncertain about our relationship. I think you just like having a girlfriend, it doesn't matter who.
:Girl: I think we should break up.
:[Cut to dropped glass, drink spilled on ground]
:Narrator: The reverse Bel-Air only works once, so make it something unforgettable.
:Boy: ...wait, seriously?
:Girl: Yeah.

{{comic discussion}}

469: Improvised

2013-06-09T17:22:42Z

74.90.238.128: Created page with "{{comic | number = 469 | date = August 29, 2008 | title = Improvised | image = improvised.png | titletext = Oh, your brother is Luke. Sorry, should've mentione..."

{{comic
| number = 469
| date = August 29, 2008
| title = Improvised
| image = improvised.png
| titletext = Oh, your brother is Luke. Sorry, should've mentioned that first.
}}

==Explanation==
In the film "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back", just before Han Solo is frozen in carbonite, the following exchange occurs:

:Leia: I love you.
:Han: I know.

The original script had Han Solo respond with "I love you, too", but Harrison Ford felt that the character would not give such a cliched response, even in the face of likely death and ad-libbed the "I know" line that was actually used in the finished film. The ad-libbed line is generally though to be better than the original would have been.

The comic presents several alternate ad-libs that Ford could have made in that exchange as well as at various points throughout the trilogy.

The title text refers to the plot twist that Luke is Leia's brother, which would not be revealed until the next film in the series. How Han Solo knows this twist at this point in the story is unknown, but he must at least know that Leia has a brother in the centre left panel.

==Transcript==
:Harrison Ford Famously Improvised His "I know" Line in E.S.B. (The Empire Strikes Back). Here are a few of his less-successful ad-libs:
[Han Solo stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber]
:Leia: I Love You.
:Han: Well, Duh
:[Han Solo in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon]
:C-3P0: Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3720 to 1!
:Han: Seriously? ...Christ
[Han Solo stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber]
:Leia: I Love You.
:Han: Oh! Hey, that explains the kissing earlier.
:[Han Solo stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber]
:Leia: I Love You.
:Han: I'm Nailing Your Brother.
:[Han Solo standing in front of Luke Skywalker, who is holding the blast shield helmet. The training droid hovers between them]
:Han: Hokey Religions and ancient weapons are no match for scissors, though they do beat paper and rock.
:[Han Solo stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber]
:Leia: I Love You.
:Han: Cool. Listen, this thing is really, REALLY cold.
:[Han Solo stands in front of Princess Leia on the Cloud City Carbon Freezing Chamber]
:Leia: I Love You.
:Han: Wowzers.
:[Han Solo sits with two others. General Madine approaches.]
:Madine: General Solo, is your strike team assembled?
:Han: Barely.
:Han: They're pretty drunk.
:[Han Solo and Princess Leia stand in an Ice Tunnel of Hoth]
:Leia: I'd just as soon kiss a wookie.
:Han: Man, me too, but chewie never seems interested.
:Han: Maybe I should Grow My hair out.

{{comic discussion}}

476: One-Sided

2013-06-09T15:50:58Z

74.90.238.128: Created page with "{{comic | number = 476 | date = September 15, 2008 | title = One-Sided | image = one-sided.png | titletext = He continued, "Okay, Bernanke is uncontaminated. ..."

{{comic
| number = 476
| date = September 15, 2008
| title = One-Sided
| image = one-sided.png
| titletext = He continued, "Okay, Bernanke is uncontaminated. Find a crossbow and get him into position behind one of the columns at the Fed entrance. This is gonna get ugly."
}}

==Explanation==
The comic refers to the phenomenon of hearing half a conversation from a stranger on a cell phone and, not noticing the cell phone, imagining that that person is talking to you and responding in kind. The chart gives a plot of the frequency that this occurs against the amount of time that passes before the error is discovered, and implies that the author's second relationship was in reality just a particularly long instance of this occurrence.

==Transcript==
:[Caption Above Comic] Sometimes my conversations with strangers go on for a while before I realize that they're talking on their phones.
:Guy With Backpack: Hi!
:Narrator: Hi.
:Guy With Backpack: What's up?
:Narrator: Uh, not a lot...
:Guy With Backpack: Shit. Does Bernanke own a crossbow?
:[Background is a graph, with x-axis labeled "Length of Conversation" and y-axis labeled "How Often This Happens". The graph looks parabolic towards the left-hand side, but as x approaches infinity, y approaches zero. A vertical dashed line runs through the graph, slightly to the right of the peak of the graph. To the right of the dashed line there is an arrow pointing to the right that is labeled "Awkward Zone". The x-axis has a broken scale, and to the right of the break there is a very small increase in the graph that is parenthetically labeled "My Second Relationship".]

{{comic discussion}}

328: Eggs

2013-06-09T01:39:36Z

74.90.238.128: Created page with "{{comic | number = 328 | date = October 12, 2007 | title = Eggs | image = eggs.png | titletext = Oh, yeah, we get tons of them at these casual sex bars. }} ==..."

{{comic
| number = 328
| date = October 12, 2007
| title = Eggs
| image = eggs.png
| titletext = Oh, yeah, we get tons of them at these casual sex bars.
}}

==Explanation==
The man in the comic seems to be using a common cheesy pick up line (So, how do you like your eggs in the morning? -- implying that he will be the one cooking them, because they will still be together in the morning, because they spent the night having sex). The standard response to this pick up line for a woman seeking to brush off the potential partner (as one would expect a woman in a bar being propositioned by a stranger to do most of the time) is "unfertilized". In fact, the man is not trying to solicit sex from the woman, but instead is trying to set her up for that punchline as he is in the habit of setting up jokes. The woman's desire for actual casual sex subverts his plan for comedy.

The title text implies that this is a bar where most people are looking for casual sex, and jokers are a common nuisance, in contrast with bars were most women are not looking for a hookup and men who troll for casual sex are a common nuisance.

==Transcript==
:[A woman sits at a bar, a man approaches.]
:Man: So, how do you like your eggs in the morning?
:Woman: Ooh, sunny side up.
:Man: Oh. Huh.
:Woman: Is that a problem?
:Man: Well, it's just that I was trying to set you up for the "unfertilised" line.
:Woman: Ah. Bad timing; I'm actually looking for casual sex. ...interested?
:Man: I'd love to, but I've got like 20 more jokes to set up tonight. Hey, have you seen a priest and a rabbi?


{{comic discussion}}

843: Misconceptions

2013-06-04T11:29:22Z

74.90.238.128: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 843
| date = January 5, 2011
| title = Misconceptions
| image = misconceptions.png
| titletext = "Grandpa, what was it like in the Before time?" "It was hell. People went around saying glass was a slow-flowing liquid. You folks these days don't know how good you have it."
}}

==Explanation==
The Wikipedia article {{w|List of common misconceptions}} gives a list of commonly-repeated anecdotes that are widely believed to be true, but actually are not. The teacher, or the school board has made the reading of this article a curriculum requirement to stem the repetition of these incorrect anecdotes.

The title text refers to a specific one of these false stories: That glass, while seeming solid, is actually an extremely viscous liquid and will flow over time, as is seen on older buildings where the window panes are thicker at the bottom. In reality, older manufacturing processes did not produce glass panes with as uniform thickness as modern processes, and people tended to install the uneven panes with the thicker side at the bottom for stability.

{{Incomplete}}

==Transcript==
:[Miss Lenhart is standing in front of a board, holding a laptop computer and elocuting.]
:Miss Lenhart: Okay, middle school students, it's the first Tuesday in February.
:Miss Lenhart: This means that by law and custom, we must spend the morning reading through the Wikipedia article ''List of Common Misconceptions'', so you can spend the rest of your lives being a little less wrong.
:Miss Lenhart: The guests at every party you'll ever attend thank us in advance.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]