Difference between revisions of "1054: The Bacon"

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This is comic number 1054.  It was posted on May 11, 2012.
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{{comic
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| number   = 1054
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| date      = May 11, 2012
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| title    = The Bacon
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| image    = thebacon.png
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| titletext = Normally pronounced 'THEH-buh-kon', I assume.
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}}
  
[[File:Thebacon.png]]
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==Explanation==
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This comic plays off the American {{w|colloquialism}} "bring home the bacon", which generally means to work hard and bring money home to your family to put food on the table. If a man is out of work he may be stressed out about how to "bring home the bacon."
  
Image text: Normally pronounced 'THEH-buh-kon', I assume.
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Some men would not be assuaged if their wife takes over but at first it seems that [[White Hat]] is happy that his wife, who work as a pharmacist, does bring home the bacon, and he tells this to [[Cueball]].
  
This comic plays off a typical American colloquialism in which "Bring home the bacon" means working hard and bringing money home to your family to put food on the table.
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Later, however, Cueball finds out, that what White Hat actually was saying was "{{w|Thebacon}}", which is a common name for ''dihydrocodeinone enol acetate'' an {{w|opioid}} commonly market under names like Acedicon and Diacodin. As a pharmacist White Hat's wife has easy access to such drugs, and this may be the reason that he is so calm, because his wife supplies him with painkiller drugs.  
  
In this comic, Randall learns that "Bring home the bacon" is actually a double entendre for the above phrase and bringing home a drug that is known as "thebacon".  In case, you aren't familiar, Vicodin is a pain medication that can be used by some as a drug of abuse.  This comic features the [[White Hat]] character.
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Thebacon is compared to the better known drug {{w|Vicodin}}, another opioid sold as a painkiller, which can (and often has) become a drug of abuse.
  
[[Category:Comics|1054]]
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The title text lists what [[Randall]] assumes to be the normal pronunciation for Thebacon.
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According to {{w|thebacon|Wikipedia}}, Randall seems to be mistaken in no less than ''three'' places (which seems to indicate that Randall has only passing knowledge of the drug and did not do extensive research beforehand):
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*The proper name is
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**Dihydrocodein<u>on</u>e enol acetate, not
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**Dihydrocodeine enol acetate.
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*It is a {{w|semisynthetic|''<u>semi</u>synthetic''}} opioid not a synthetic opioid.
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*The pronunciation is /ˈθiːbəkɒn/
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**<u>THEE</u>-buh-kon, not
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**THEH-buh-kon.
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***By saying ''I assume'', Randall indicates that he didn't research the pronunciation.
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***As an alternative explanation, there may be a joke/pun in the mistake.
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==Transcript==
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:[White Hat is holding out a hand towards Cueball while telling him about his job situation. The space between the and bacon is very small.]
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:White Hat: I'm out of work, but I'm not stressed about it because my wife is a pharmacist and she brings home the bacon.
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:[Caption below the panel:]
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:Only later did I learn that "Thebacon" is the common name for dihydrocodeine enol acetate, a synthetic opioid similar to Vicodin.
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{{comic discussion}}
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[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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[[Category:Language]]
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[[Category:Food]]

Revision as of 20:07, 9 August 2016

The Bacon
Normally pronounced 'THEH-buh-kon', I assume.
Title text: Normally pronounced 'THEH-buh-kon', I assume.

Explanation

This comic plays off the American colloquialism "bring home the bacon", which generally means to work hard and bring money home to your family to put food on the table. If a man is out of work he may be stressed out about how to "bring home the bacon."

Some men would not be assuaged if their wife takes over but at first it seems that White Hat is happy that his wife, who work as a pharmacist, does bring home the bacon, and he tells this to Cueball.

Later, however, Cueball finds out, that what White Hat actually was saying was "Thebacon", which is a common name for dihydrocodeinone enol acetate an opioid commonly market under names like Acedicon and Diacodin. As a pharmacist White Hat's wife has easy access to such drugs, and this may be the reason that he is so calm, because his wife supplies him with painkiller drugs.

Thebacon is compared to the better known drug Vicodin, another opioid sold as a painkiller, which can (and often has) become a drug of abuse.

The title text lists what Randall assumes to be the normal pronunciation for Thebacon.

According to Wikipedia, Randall seems to be mistaken in no less than three places (which seems to indicate that Randall has only passing knowledge of the drug and did not do extensive research beforehand):

  • The proper name is
    • Dihydrocodeinone enol acetate, not
    • Dihydrocodeine enol acetate.
  • It is a semisynthetic opioid not a synthetic opioid.
  • The pronunciation is /ˈθiːbəkɒn/
    • THEE-buh-kon, not
    • THEH-buh-kon.
      • By saying I assume, Randall indicates that he didn't research the pronunciation.
      • As an alternative explanation, there may be a joke/pun in the mistake.

Transcript

[White Hat is holding out a hand towards Cueball while telling him about his job situation. The space between the and bacon is very small.]
White Hat: I'm out of work, but I'm not stressed about it because my wife is a pharmacist and she brings home the bacon.
[Caption below the panel:]
Only later did I learn that "Thebacon" is the common name for dihydrocodeine enol acetate, a synthetic opioid similar to Vicodin.


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Discussion

A doc White Hat's wife will not have her job for long. 108.162.245.69 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)


Suggest marking as incomplete. Source is Wikipedia? Is there someone who has more familiarity with opioids who can comment? And what's the purpose of the title text? Stating it's incorrect does very little to explain the joke (which I don't really get). Wikiiscool123 (talk) 12:30, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

It is just me or the title comic is showing as The窶叡acon for someone else? 172.68.25.39 20:23, 12 December 2019 (UTC)

The title is showing The bacon for me. Is the title showing different unicode characters to different people? [Gopher] 15 Dec 2019