https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Bobbobexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-24T03:52:01ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=28:_Elefino&diff=33484328: Elefino2024-02-12T01:43:40Z<p>Bobbob: /* Explanation */ Added comparison to Buster Keaton's 1921 joke "Damfino" in the film "The Boat".</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 28<br />
| date = November 14, 2005<br />
| title = Elefino<br />
| 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><br />
| image = elefino.jpg<br />
| titletext = Hell if I know<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
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]].<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:Q: What do you get when you cross an Elephant with a Rhino?<br />
:[Picture of elephant, mathematical addition symbol, picture of rhino, equals sign, large question mark.]<br />
:A: I haven't a goddamn clue.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Posted on LiveJournal| 32]]<br />
[[Category:First day on xkcd.com]]<br />
[[Category:Checkered paper]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Portmanteau]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]</div>Bobbob