550: Density

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Density
If only I had asked 4chan for ideas for what I should do to prevent this!
Title text: If only I had asked 4chan for ideas for what I should do to prevent this!

Explanation

This comic depicts a sex scene with Cueball in bed together with Megan, and a sentence being spoken by Cueball. The sentence's overt meaning suggests Megan doesn't wish to become pregnant, but Cueball has prematurely or unintentionally ejaculated inside her. The sentence contains five popular (at the time) memes:

  • Yo Dawg: With the full meme having the form "Yo Dawg, I heard you like (noun X), so I put an (noun X) in your (noun y) so you can (verb x) while you (verb y)", this is the largest meme used in the sentence, and lays out the overall structure of the sentence. The greeting at the beginning can be changed to "Sup Dawg" as in this comic.
  • I herd u liek Mudkips: The misspelling of words "herd" (heard) and "liek" (like) come from this meme. While this meme is usually used with Mudkip (a Pokémon), in this case the noun has been replaced by something she didn't like.
  • How is babby formed?: The expression "forming babby" (with the misspelling of "baby") comes from this meme. This meme comes from a question that was originally asked on Yahoo! Answers. The full question was "how is babby formed / how girl get pragnent". This meme was also referenced in the title text of 481: Listen to Yourself and in 522: Google Trends.
  • I Accidentally: This meme carries the pattern of omitting an important verb, leaving the reader wondering what had happened accidentally. In this case the omitted verb is presumably "came" or "ejaculated". This meme was referenced again in 997: Wait Wait.
  • In your base: This references the Starcraft meme "im in ur base, killing ur d00ds." It also might be used for its relation to baseball metaphors for sex, which was also referenced in 540: Base System).

In plain English, the sentence roughly means:

Hey girl, I heard that you don't want to have a baby but I accidentally came inside you.

The comic then goes to describe the pros and cons of the situation. "Ruined life" is listed as a major downside, as he may have caused a girl to become pregnant against her wishes, and may have to father a child with her. The usage of memes in response to the situation also conveys an uncaring attitude that is likely to put a damper on their relationship even if she did not get pregnant. On the other hand, it is noted that the sentence could set a new record for the density of memes (most memes packed into the fewest number of words) which can be considered a positive. This explains the title of the comic, though it will be a very superficial and meaningless record, especially when weighed against the downsides.

The reason Cueball chose to construct the sentence with so many memes is not clear. Since the comic lists "ruined life" as one of the cons of this scene, it would seem that the accident, as well as the subsequent use of memes, were not planned. It's possible that Cueball had too many memes in his head and couldn't think of anything else to say amid the nervous tension. If this were another character, say Black Hat, then it would be easier to believe that the entire night could have been staged just to give him an opportunity to use the sentence and set a record.

The title text references 4chan, a site known for its memes, trolls and other assorted Internet clutter, and sarcastically implies that any advice they might give would in any way be at all helpful. Due to its population of trolls and other unhelpful sorts, advice given by 4chan would normally be useless at best and actively detrimental at worst; however, the title text implies that Cueball regrets that he did not ask 4chan for advice, and maybe have used them for this earlier.

Transcript

[Cueball is in a bed with Megan.]
Cueball: Sup dawg, I herd you didn't liek forming babby, but I accidentally in your base.
[Below the frame:]
Cons: Ruined life.
Pros: Sentence set the new meme density record.


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Discussion

I'm crying -- Lemphek (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

In ur base seems like all your bases are belongs to us... 141.101.107.120 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I second the above. 'All your base are belong to us' is an old 2nd gen gaming console meme. 172.68.2.76 17:01, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

I don't think Megan will ever sleep with him again after this, and if I were Cueball, I'd consider this a greater loss than having to raise a babby. 84.224.87.179 07:56, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Title text

I think the title text implies that while Cueball relies on 4chan for advice, he hadn't asked them on contraception and he now regrets this omission thinking that it would help him to prevent this situation. This is even funnier since it implies that advices from 4chan are in fact valuable. STEN (talk) 22:26, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

Relevant links: Withdrawal method (or Coitus interruptus) and Emergency contraception. Surprisingly, the withdrawal method may be quite effective with a failure rate as low as 4% (chance of pregnancy per year of use) if done correctly. In practice, though, it has a 15-28% failure rate. In comparison, condom use has a 2% failure rate when used correctly and a 10–18% actual failure rate. -- 108.162.212.217 10:06, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

This is completely irrelevant. My point is that if he was regretting asking 4chan, the title text would start If only I had not asked but it starts If only I had asked implying he did not ask. -- Sten (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
Agreed have corrected explain. --Kynde (talk) 13:47, 11 June 2015 (UTC)

I think the "ruined life" part refers more to having an unplanned and unprepared-for baby, a more disruptive consequence than a break his relationship with Megan.. 108.162.208.236 11:07, 4 March 2015 (UTC)

Agreed have corrected explain. --Kynde (talk) 13:47, 11 June 2015 (UTC)

This is not the meme density record any more.162.158.49.6 15:37, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

Isn't there a reference to 'all your base are belong to us' in there too? 162.158.111.91 09:09, 22 May 2017 (UTC)

In ur base references the 'I'm in ur base, killing all ur dude's' meme. 172.68.65.126 03:58, 17 November 2017 (UTC)

Agreed, the "in" makes that pretty clear. I've edited to match. I'm fine with the Zero Wing explanation as an alternative, but I'm leaving it out unless someone thinks it's more likely. -- Zzyzx (talk)

Needs more memes, uwu 172.68.244.168 05:05, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

the amount of memes (5) in that sentence is what makes it a record. if it was a song, i could probably find one in less than 30 seconds by looking up "brainrot" on youtube.I HAVE NO NAME (talk) 07:37, 20 August 2024 (UTC)