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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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"Squirrelphone" is a {{w|Compound (linguistics)|compound word}} combining "{{w|squirrel}}" and "{{w|phone}}".
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In this comic, we see a squirrel pretend to be a telephone, only to bite the person who tries to pick it up and use it as one. This is humorous because a living squirrel is not an appropriate creature to maintain a phone call{{Citation needed}}.
  
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In this comic, we see a squirrel pretend to be a telephone, only to bite [[Cueball]] when he tries to pick it up and use it as one. This is humorous because a living squirrel is not an appropriate creature to maintain a phone call.{{Citation needed}}
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The sounds the squirrel makes correspond to the tones that the terminals made when you used the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) in the US:
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* When someone else called you and the receiver of your phone was hanged up, the phone made loud and long "riiing riiiing" tones. --- This is the case in the first frame of the comic.
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The sounds the squirrel makes correspond to the tones that the terminals make when you use the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) in the US:
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* When you picked up, the phone call was established and no noises were made.
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*When someone else calls you and the receiver of your phone is on the hook, the phone makes loud and long "riiing riiiing" tones. This is the case in the first frame of the comic.
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* When no phone call was established and you picked up, a continous "riiiiiiiiiiing" tone was heard, meaning the service was up and you could dial someone else's number.
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*If a phone is left off hook without use for too long (referenced in the title text), an {{w|off-hook tone}} is played. This is to alert anyone present that the phone is off-hook. In this case, you should hang up so that you can receive calls. Once on-hook, the receiver can be picked up again to dial. In this case, this means having the squirrel back on the stump.
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* When no phone call was established but dialling was not possible, short "bip bip bip bip" tones were heard. This happened either when an existing call ended or was interrupted or you had had the receiver too long (about half a minute) picked up without dialing --- This is the case in the alt-text of the comic ---. In this case, you should hang up again to be able to pick up and dial.
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[[:Category:Squirrels|Squirrels]] are a recurring theme in xkcd. They also appear in ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'', where it has for instance been used as a cute animal to replace a drawing of something scary or unpleasant like in the articles ''[https://what-if.xkcd.com/98/ Blood Alcohol]'' or ''[https://what-if.xkcd.com/105/ Cannibalism]''.
 
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:Squirrel: Riiiiiing
 
:Squirrel: Riiiiiing
  
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:[Cueball has picked up the squirrel and is holding it to his left ear.]
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:[Cueball has picked up the squirrel and is holding it to his left ear]
 
:Cueball: Hello?
 
:Cueball: Hello?
  
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:[The squirrel bites Cueball's head.]
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:[The squirrel bites Cueball's head]
 
:Squirrel: Chomp!
 
:Squirrel: Chomp!
 
:Cueball: Ow!
 
:Cueball: Ow!
  
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:[Cueball holds his hand to his cheek while the squirrel leaps away, fleeing.]
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:[Cueball holds his face while the squirrel leaps away, fleeing]
 
:Cueball: ???
 
:Cueball: ???
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{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
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[[Category:Squirrels]]
 
[[Category:Squirrels]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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[[Category:Phones]]
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[[Category:Animals]]

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