139: I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 16:46, 18 September 2012 by Lcarsos (talk | contribs) (updated The Race link to new style)
Jump to: navigation, search
I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards
Both the skateboards I owned were pretty cheap and broke from heavy use;  I'm gonna get a really nice one if I move to the city.
Title text: Both the skateboards I owned were pretty cheap and broke from heavy use; I'm gonna get a really nice one if I move to the city.

Explanation

Randall is trying to say that chicks dig electric skateboards. And that going from any Point A to any Point B, the male rider of an electric skateboard will inevitably gather a gaggle of said chicks during the trip.

Specifically, these chicks appear to be all the major recurring female characters: Megan, Ponytail, and rather uncharacteristically Danish.

There is a future series of electric skateboard related comics beginning with: 577: The Race: Part 1.

Transcript

How Electric Skateboards Work:
[A person is standing on a skateboard, next to a sign that says "Point A" and pushes a button.]
<<click>>
[He skates.]
<<whirrr>>
[He stops, with a sign saying "Point B" to his right and a group of chicks (labeled "chicks") to his left.]


comment.png add a comment! ⋅ comment.png add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif refresh comments!

Discussion

I can hardly believe that Randall yet had any thougt of Danish, as he introduced her in 377: Journal 2. It's just a "chic", like "Megan-2", who only just happens to have a little longer hair. –St.nerol (talk) 08:53, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

We know Randall likes electric skateboards. And most of his early comics are not on a deeper sarcasm. This was just a fun comic. --Dgbrt (talk) 22:13, 29 May 2013 (UTC)
Definitely not Danish. Danish is one of the characters that are defined by her malice and her relation to Black Hat. She does seem to have longer hair than the one we usually call Megan (but Megan's hair length changes). But a character should never behave like this, and then be linked to Danish! Have removed the category. Instead this is one of the examples where Megan actually has a Megan-like counter part, which is similar to the Multiple Cueballs that are often used. --Kynde (talk) 10:23, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Do you really want a longer explanation, if there's nothing more to explain? –St.nerol (talk) 13:23, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

Your link to bitches is definitively wrong. I am sure it is related to this song: Chicks DigIt by Chris Cagle. The video was performed at a skate park and he tries to impress females, because the "chicks dig it". What do you think?--Dgbrt (talk) 16:49, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
Randalls arrows pointing towards "chicks" is probably not referencing anything else than the chicks. It's just a word. I don't know who linked to the "biches love X" meme, but I am quite sure it was just for the fun of it, and nothing more. :) –St.nerol (talk) 18:12, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
I was just checking the early history of this explain and this "bitches" are from "Revision as of 20:04, 17 September 2012 by Lcarsos". Maybe I did misunderstood you but this explain still does need some polish. So I will work on this soon.--Dgbrt (talk) 18:52, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
I feel that the connections are too vague for the conclusion that the comic was inspired by the "Chicks dig it"-song. The comic doesn't use the phrase "chicks dig it", and the song doesn't seem to touch upon skateboarding.
I don't think the comic has anything to do with the "bitches love X"-meme either, I think lcarsos only linked to it because it humorously related to the topic (like the song). I suggest that we have those two things somehow linked from the explanation or trivia without any claims that the comic was inspired by or references them. ––St.nerol (talk) 00:18, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

I did remove the "bitches" last week and now I found a proper sentence for the title text. The "incomplete" tag is removed.--Dgbrt (talk) 12:50, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

Often it feels like explanations of self-evident stuff just describes or repeats the stuff concerned... Secondly, how about: "I suggest that we have those two things somehow linked from the explanation or trivia without any claims that the comic was inspired by or references them." ––St.nerol (talk) 22:24, 9 June 2013 (UTC)
Please never edit posts by other people! Ok? --Dgbrt (talk) 22:29, 9 June 2013 (UTC)
Hey, I didn't edit your post, I indented it, only to help people follow the conversation. I assumed it was a reply, since you were talking about the "bitches"-meme. Sorry if I misinterpreted. Why did you remove "bitches love X"? –St.nerol (talk) 12:00, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Is it Cueball or Randall talking in the title text? I always thought of it as Randall's side note, rather than the characters in the comic saying it. Alcatraz ii (talk) 23:47, 7 November 2013 (UTC)

I agree. Unless it's a clear continuation of a thought expressed by a character, I tend to assume that the title text is directly from Randall. In this case no characters are talking so Cueball likely wasn't even assigned enough personality for this comic to have that kind of back story. He's just a guy with an electric skateboard.--108.162.219.192 04:02, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
It is Randall, all of it.

This explanation seems to miss the main point. Electric skateboards get you from point A to point B and by the time you get there you will have a crowd of screaming chicks chasing after you (because the skateboard is just that awesome). What's all this talk about a song that was at no point clearly referenced?--108.162.219.192 03:54, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

I absolutely agree with the above poster's point. Nowhere in the explanation does it even mention the entire point of the comic, which in my interpretation is an understated joke that if you use an electric skateboard just to get around, by the time you get to where you are going, there will be a group of chick cheering and following you are because electric skateboards are just that awesome. Also, I agree with the assertion that the title text is directly from Randall, especially because we know that Randall has had two electric skateboards break in the past from his weblag, and eventually bought a new one when he moved. Thus, the explanation should reflect these two points.Rmyere (talk) 14:42, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

I think a big part of the joke is the phonetic similarity between "Click" and "Chick" (only one letter difference): The electric Skateboard allows cueball to turn a "click" into "Chicks." Also, I read points 'A' and 'B' to represent states of being (A: alone, clicking; B: with admiring Chicks) Mountain Hikes (talk) 09:02, 14 September 2015 (UTC)

Disagree completely with both the click thing and the Alone. --Kynde (talk) 10:23, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Also, electric skateboards. 173.245.54.52 20:03, 30 October 2015 (UTC)