Difference between revisions of "478: The Staple Madness"

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{{comic
 
{{comic
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| number    =  
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| number    = 478
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| date      = <!-- Click on the "All Comics" button in the sidebar on the left and find this comic in the list. The date is in the rightmost column, in the form YYYY-MM-DD. Please replace this comment with the date in Mmmm D, YYYY format. -->
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| date      = September 19, 2008
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| title    =  
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| title    = The Staple Madness
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| image    =  
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| image    = the_staple_madness.png
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| titletext =  
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| titletext = Staple guns: because duct tape can't make that 'kaCHUNK' noise.
 
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}}
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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No apparent literary or scientific references, just a comic sketch.
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Optimistic [[Beret Guy]] can never take life seriously. He loves to play with everything, and nothing is more exciting than {{w|Staple gun|a tool that sticks things together with an impressive ''kaCHUNK'' sound}} when he pulls the trigger, even on things that (definitely) shouldn't be stapled.
  
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Optimistic Beret can never take life seriously. He loves to play with everything, and nothing is more exciting than a tool that sticks things together with an impressive "kaChunk!" when you pull the trigger.
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This comic may reference an engineering truism describing a similar scenario: "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". The truism's actual meaning refers to the scenario where when a novice has only learned to use one tool (such as one programming language), they may attempt to solve all problems using only that tool, which may end badly.
  
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Unfortunately, Beret optimist gets addicted to the staple gun and attempts to use his new toy on everything in sight, even things that shouldn't be stapled.  In the course of Beret's staple rampage, Cueball evidently gets stapled to the ceiling.
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From just reading the comic by itself, one may presume that in the last panel, [[Cueball]] has been stapled to the ceiling (as obvious evidence to [[Megan]] that Beret Guy has indeed been abusing her staple gun). According to the comic's official transcript, it is in fact God who is speaking.  
  
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Beret hides the staple gun behind his back and lies about it when Megan returns, because he doesn't want her to confiscate it.
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{{w|Duct tape}}, thanks to its combination of tensile and adhesive strength, is commonly regarded as the ultimate do-it-yourself repair tool. Like a staple gun, it can also be used to stick things together, but of course lacks any distinctive sound upon doing so.
  
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Oddly, Randall has missed the chance to make reference to the engineering truism: "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."
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==Transcript==
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:[Beret Guy and Cueball standing.]
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:Beret Guy: [holding up a staple gun] I found Megan's staple gun!
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:Cueball: [facepalming] Oh no.
  
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:[Beret Guy kneeling over a laptop on the floor.]
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:Cueball: [from outside panel] Oh God, what are you--
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:Beret Guy: [stapling a DVD to the laptop] Installing Debian! ''kaCHUNK''
  
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==Transcript==
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:[Beret Guy standing over a table.]
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<!-- The transcript can be found in a hidden <div> element on the xkcd comic's html source, with id "transcript".
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:Beret Guy: [staples a sandwich together] Sandwiches! ''kaCHUNK kaCHUNK''
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  -- Tip: Use colons (:) in the beginning of lines to preserve the original line breaks.
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  -- Any actions or descriptive lines in [[double brackets]] should be reduced to [single brackets] to avoid wikilinking.
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:[Beret Guy running with the staple gun.]
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  -- Similarly for {{}}. Be careful to escape multiple ~s with <nowiki></nowiki>.
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:Beret Guy: Must affix everything to everything!
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  -- Do not include the title text again here. -->
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:''kaCHUNK kaCHUNK kaCHUNK kaCHUNK kaCHUNK kaCHUNK''
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:[Megan enters, holding a tote bag.]
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:Megan: ...Have you been abusing my staple gun?
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:Beret Guy: No.
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<!-- God is correct, as per official transcript -->
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:God: [as voice from above] YES!
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
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<!-- Include any categories below this line. -->
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
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[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

Revision as of 23:19, 5 July 2014

The Staple Madness
Staple guns: because duct tape can't make that 'kaCHUNK' noise.
Title text: Staple guns: because duct tape can't make that 'kaCHUNK' noise.

Explanation

Optimistic Beret Guy can never take life seriously. He loves to play with everything, and nothing is more exciting than a tool that sticks things together with an impressive kaCHUNK sound when he pulls the trigger, even on things that (definitely) shouldn't be stapled.

This comic may reference an engineering truism describing a similar scenario: "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". The truism's actual meaning refers to the scenario where when a novice has only learned to use one tool (such as one programming language), they may attempt to solve all problems using only that tool, which may end badly.

From just reading the comic by itself, one may presume that in the last panel, Cueball has been stapled to the ceiling (as obvious evidence to Megan that Beret Guy has indeed been abusing her staple gun). According to the comic's official transcript, it is in fact God who is speaking.

Duct tape, thanks to its combination of tensile and adhesive strength, is commonly regarded as the ultimate do-it-yourself repair tool. Like a staple gun, it can also be used to stick things together, but of course lacks any distinctive sound upon doing so.

Transcript

[Beret Guy and Cueball standing.]
Beret Guy: [holding up a staple gun] I found Megan's staple gun!
Cueball: [facepalming] Oh no.
[Beret Guy kneeling over a laptop on the floor.]
Cueball: [from outside panel] Oh God, what are you--
Beret Guy: [stapling a DVD to the laptop] Installing Debian! kaCHUNK
[Beret Guy standing over a table.]
Beret Guy: [staples a sandwich together] Sandwiches! kaCHUNK kaCHUNK
[Beret Guy running with the staple gun.]
Beret Guy: Must affix everything to everything!
kaCHUNK kaCHUNK kaCHUNK kaCHUNK kaCHUNK kaCHUNK
[Megan enters, holding a tote bag.]
Megan: ...Have you been abusing my staple gun?
Beret Guy: No.
God: [as voice from above] YES!


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Discussion

Is it possible that Beret Guy stapled Cueball to the ceiling? 71.135.43.118 19:30, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

No, it's not that easy to staple a man to the ceiling. And the original transcript is clear:
  • Megan: ...HAVE YOU BEEN ABUSING MY STAPLE GUN?
  • Man with Beret: NO.
  • God: [[outside of scene, as voice from above]] YES!
God tells Megan the truth, not Cueball.--Dgbrt (talk) 19:38, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
The power of staples is greater than what your mortal mind can comprehend. RedHatGuy68 (talk) 03:34, 14 April 2016 (UTC)
I think it's pretty obvious that Cueball is stapled to the ceiling, since he was in the first few frames, and then was no longer there at the end, and it seems like all of the frames occur in the same building. I doubt cueball would have just left, so I'm guessing it's probably him... Ceiling Cueball. 173.245.56.180 16:30, 23 May 2015 (UTC)
I choose to believe that Berret Guy stapled God to the ceiling. 162.158.91.59 19:31, 14 January 2019 (UTC)

The comment from god is rather like dinosaur comics.78.144.232.6 20:38, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

The whole "staple-crazy $HAT Guy" thing isn't as original as you'd think: [1]. Also, some of this is pertinent. Yep, Beret Guy is clearly Beriah (punny, eh?) as much as Black Hat is Aram. --79.241.123.239 09:32, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

my reading is that the "yes" comes from someone stapled to the ceiling . . . 108.162.225.135 20:31, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
Since he can do the ridiculous such as stapling an OS into a computer... Weatherlawyer (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

...there's no way that voice is actually God, I don't care what the transcript says. Having that be God would be non-sequitur and not all that funny, while if it was Cueball it would make sense and be quite funny. Just some random derp 23:58, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

if GOD is saying something than beret gey did something wrong. Overlord of oddities (talk) 02:22, 12 March 2020 (UTC)

One of my favorites. --Char Latte49 (talk) 02:10, 15 March 2021 (UTC)

installing debian... argh An user who has no account yet (talk) 00:23, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

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