431: Delivery

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Delivery Jump to:
Ma'am, I admit that wasn't in the best taste, but you have to admire my delivery!  Ha, ha get it?  Oh god, don't throw those syringes! Your baby's fine!
Title text: Ma'am, I admit that wasn't in the best taste, but you have to admire my delivery! Ha, ha get it? Oh god, don't throw those syringes! Your baby's fine!

Explanation

An old superstition is that you can tell at the end of winter if spring will be early or late by whether a groundhog (a type of rodent akin to a large squirrel), after sticking his head out, see's his shadow and retreats back in, or - thanks to cloudy weather - doesn't and boldly steps out. This, in turn, is the basis for a really funny movie that has been referenced in other comics.

The joke here is that, instead of a groundhog predicting when spring will come, it's a baby predicting when he'll be born. Evidently he decided to wait six more weeks. I feel for the mother, especially with a doctor like that.

On a side note, the title-text may or may not imply that the doctor was joking about the baby retreating back inside. He certainly appears to have taste bad enough to pull a prank like that.

Transcript

[In a delivery room] Doctor: There's the head... he's looking at me... Wait, he's crawling back into the womb. Mother: What?! Doctor: Yeah, it's the darnedest thing. Mother: Um, what does it mean? Doctor: My guess? Six more weeks of winter.


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Discussion

Yeah, I got the image to show this time!!! Now to get rid of that "Jump to:"...--7OO Tnega Terces (talk) 08:22, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

I added a reference to Punxsutawney Phil in the explanation.NikoNarf (talk) 15:07, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

I don't think this was necessarily a Groundhog Day joke. I interpreted it as "the baby didn't want to come out yet" (nothing about a coming winter), and "6 more weeks of winter" meant "6 more weeks of pregnancy." I think the doctor was just comically jesting; half-laughing, confused but maintaining his stature. --108.162.216.126 17:38, 24 January 2020 (UTC)