3237: Husband and Wife - Revision history

DKMell: why Kazakhstan; other clarification

2026-04-24T22:43:02Z

why Kazakhstan; other clarification

158.173.67.162: /* Explanation */ Kazakhstan

2026-04-24T22:23:02Z

‎Explanation: Kazakhstan

Wowitschris: /* Explanation */

2026-04-24T21:03:04Z

‎Explanation

130.76.187.33: /* Transcript */ cats

2026-04-24T20:09:17Z

‎Transcript: cats

130.76.187.33: /* Transcript */ ce

2026-04-24T20:08:22Z

‎Transcript: ce

130.76.187.33: /* Explanation */ whoops

2026-04-24T20:05:25Z

‎Explanation: whoops

130.76.187.33: /* Explanation */ ce

2026-04-24T20:05:08Z

‎Explanation: ce

GSLikesCats307 at 17:39, 24 April 2026

2026-04-24T17:39:37Z

Dtgriscom: /* Transcript */

2026-04-24T17:18:11Z

‎Transcript

Dtgriscom: /* Explanation */

2026-04-24T17:16:30Z

‎Explanation

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 {{incomplete|This page was created recently by MAH BAAT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing the phrases that married couples use to refer to each other, traditionally "my husband" and "my wife". Megan thinks it sounds too traditional to either refer to a spouse as a possession or to use the term "husband" (unclear which meaning is meant).
+[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing the phrases that married couples use to refer to each other, traditionally "my husband" and "my wife". Megan thinks this sounds too traditional, though it isn't clear whether this is because of referring to a spouse possessively or using the term "husband".
-Cueball, on the other hand, isn't bothered as much by this implication than by the association with 2006 film ''{{w|Borat}}''. Borat had a distinct, cringy way of saying [https://youtu.be/Zw16aew4Pt0 "my wife"], which Cueball can't get out of his head when he uses the phrase.
+Cueball, on the other hand, isn't bothered as much by this implication as by the association with 2006 film ''{{w|Borat}}''. Borat, a fictional character from {{w|Kazakhstan}}, had a distinct, cringy way of saying [https://youtu.be/Zw16aew4Pt0 "my wife"], which Cueball can't get out of his head when he uses the phrase.
-Megan's concern may be a little overblown. "My" isn't only used to denote possession, it's also often used to refer to a close association. For instance, 'my mother', 'my friend', 'my teacher' or 'my cleaner' almost never imply ownership. This construction is not only used for people, for example, a student or employee may refer to "my school" or "my company", and people often say "my town" to refer to the place where they live, without any concern over the speaker 'owning' any of them.
+Megan's concern may be a little overblown. "My" isn't only used to denote possession, it's also often used to refer to a close association. For instance, "my mother", "my friend", "my teacher" or "my cleaner" almost never imply ownership. This construction is not only used for people, for example, a student or employee may refer to "my school" or "my company", and people often say "my town" to refer to the place where they live, without any concern over the speaker owning any of them.
-On the other hand, Cueball has a serious problem -- it's hard to forget that {{w|earworm}}. The title text points out that the 20 years from the movie's release to the publication of this comic is longer than the 15 years from the breakup of the Soviet Union to the movie (Kazakhstan was briefly the last-remaining member of the USSR). This could be considered one of the comics where [[Randall]] [[1393|makes people feel old]], even if this time unintentionally. Coincidentally enough, [[Cueball]] uses a 'cringy ghost' as a descriptor for how annoying it is - Yet [[1393|strange]] & [[1108|random]] ghosts have been referred to before on xkcd.
+On the other hand, Cueball has a serious problem -- it's hard to forget that {{w|earworm}}. The title text points out that the 20 years from the movie's release to the publication of this comic is longer than the 15 years from the {{w|dissolution of the Soviet Union}} to the movie (Kazakhstan was briefly the last-remaining member of the USSR). This could be considered one of the comics in which [[Randall]] makes people feel old, like [[1393|this one about a Timeghost]]. Coincidentally enough, Cueball uses a 'cringey ghost' as a descriptor for how annoying it is - another of several [[1393|strange]] and [[1108|random]] ghosts that xkcd has mentioned before.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 Megan's concern may be a little overblown. "My" isn't only used to denote possession, it's also often used to refer to a close association. For instance, 'my mother', 'my friend', 'my teacher' or 'my cleaner' almost never imply ownership. This construction is not only used for people, for example, a student or employee may refer to "my school" or "my company", and people often say "my town" to refer to the place where they live, without any concern over the speaker 'owning' any of them.
-On the other hand, Cueball has a serious problem -- it's hard to forget that {{w|earworm}}. The title text points out that the 20 years from the movie's release to the publication of this comic is longer than the 15 years from the breakup of the Soviet Union to the movie (Kazakhstan was a former member of the USSR). This could be considered one of the comics where [[Randall]] [[1393|makes people feel old]], even if this time unintentionally. Coincidentally enough, [[Cueball]] uses a 'cringy ghost' as a descriptor for how annoying it is - Yet [[1393|strange]] & [[1108|random]] ghosts have been referred to before on xkcd.
+On the other hand, Cueball has a serious problem -- it's hard to forget that {{w|earworm}}. The title text points out that the 20 years from the movie's release to the publication of this comic is longer than the 15 years from the breakup of the Soviet Union to the movie (Kazakhstan was briefly the last-remaining member of the USSR). This could be considered one of the comics where [[Randall]] [[1393|makes people feel old]], even if this time unintentionally. Coincidentally enough, [[Cueball]] uses a 'cringy ghost' as a descriptor for how annoying it is - Yet [[1393|strange]] & [[1108|random]] ghosts have been referred to before on xkcd.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 {{incomplete|This page was created recently by MAH BAAT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing the phrases that married couples use to refer to each other, traditionally "my husband" and "my wife". Megan thinks it sounds too traditional to refer to a spouse as a possession.
+[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing the phrases that married couples use to refer to each other, traditionally "my husband" and "my wife". Megan thinks it sounds too traditional to either refer to a spouse as a possession or to use the term "husband" (unclear which meaning is meant).
 Cueball, on the other hand, isn't bothered as much by this implication than by the association with 2006 film ''{{w|Borat}}''. Borat had a distinct, cringy way of saying [https://youtu.be/Zw16aew4Pt0 "my wife"], which Cueball can't get out of his head when he uses the phrase.

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ==Transcript==
-:[[[Megan]] & [[Cueball]] are talking, standing next to each other]
+:[ [[Megan]] & [[Cueball]] are talking, standing next to each other]
 :Megan: I still feel a little weird saying the phrase "my husband".
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ==Transcript==
-[Across 3 panels, [[Megan]] & [[Cueball]] are talking]
+:[[[Megan]] & [[Cueball]] are talking, standing next to each other]
-Megan: I still feel a little weird saying the phrase “my husband”.
+:Megan: I still feel a little weird saying the phrase "my husband".
-Megan: It makes me feel so traditional, like a Victorian gossip.
+:[Megan and Cueball still standing next to each other]
-nd Panel:
+:[In the 3rd panel, Cueball has his hands raised]
+:Megan: Ughhhh, true.
-Cueball: Yeah, well, '''''my''''' plight isn’t much better.
+:Cueball: Even now, after two decades, when I speak of you I hear his voice, echoing through the halls of memory like a cringey ghost.
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing the phrases that married couples use to refer to each other, traditionally "my husband" and "my wife". Megan thinks it sounds too traditional to refer to a spouse as a possession.
-Cueball, on the other hand, isn't bothered as much by this implication than by the association with 2006 film {{w|Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan}}. Borat had a distinct, cringy way of saying [https://youtu.be/Zw16aew4Pt0 "my wife"], which Cueball can't get out of his head when he uses the phrase.
+Cueball, on the other hand, isn't bothered as much by this implication than by the association with 2006 film ''{{w||Borat}}''. Borat had a distinct, cringy way of saying [https://youtu.be/Zw16aew4Pt0 "my wife"], which Cueball can't get out of his head when he uses the phrase.
 Megan's concern may be a little overblown. "My" isn't only used to denote possession, it's also often used to refer to a close association. For instance, 'my mother', 'my friend', 'my teacher' or 'my cleaner' almost never imply ownership. This construction is not only used for people, for example, a student or employee may refer to "my school" or "my company", and people often say "my town" to refer to the place where they live, without any concern over the speaker 'owning' any of them.

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 Cueball: What’s the most salient cultural reference for the phrase “my wife”?
-[In the 3rd panel, [[Cueball]] has his hand raised]
+[In the 3rd panel, Cueball has his hand raised]
 Megan: Ughhhh, true.