206: Reno Rhymes

2026-05-18T08:04:12Z

85.76.150.51: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 206
| date = January 5, 2007
| title = Reno Rhymes
| image = reno rhymes.png
| titletext = Did you shoot a man in Reno? Now, I don't mean to pry.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic starts with a line from the song {{w|Folsom Prison Blues|"Folsom Prison Blues"}} by Johnny Cash. Cash is noted as saying, "I sat with my pen in my hand, trying to think up the worst reason a person could have for killing another person, and that's what came to mind," which fits pretty well with the personality of [[Black Hat]]. Rather than react badly, [[Cueball]] starts a rhyming game, which they continue until Black Hat refers to the horrifying {{w|My Lai Massacre}}, which is apparently going too far for Cueball.

;You know, I once shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
:Black Hat starts with the original line from the song.

;Really? Well I once shot a man in Reno but I couldn't tell you why.
:Cueball then begins the rhyming game by saying that he can't tell the reason why he killed the man.

;I once shot a man in Reno then I went home to cry.
:Black Hat continues by saying that he got emotional after killing the man... Unlikely, given that he's ''Black Hat'', and it could be him trying to continue, or he could be being sarcastic. This line is also the closest to the original follow-up in the Cash song; "I hang my head and cry".

;I once shot a man in Reno then I watered his cacti.
:An unlikely action after you have just killed someone, unless you're elaborately trying to cover up your actions. More likely, Cueball is just trying to continue the rhyme.

;I once shot a man in Reno 'cause they cancelled Firefly.
:{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} was a TV series that aired on Fox during 2002. Its cancellation was a source of much annoyance to its fans, a fact frequently referenced in xkcd. In this case, Black Hat goes as far as to murder someone for this.

;I once shot a man in Reno, him and all his succubi.
:Cueball says he shot a man and all the succubi that he owned/was attached to ("his succubi"). A {{w|succubus}} is a demon or spirit which seduces men via sexual intercourse and subsists off their semen, though it is also used euphemistically for promiscuous (human) women or prostitutes (in fact, this was the word's origin in ancient Latin).

;I once shot a man in Reno and a bunch more in My Lai.
:The {{w|My Lai massacre}} was an atrocity committed by US soldiers in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, in which between 347 - 504 civilians were killed, almost all being women, children, and elderly men. Here, Black Hat says he not only shot a man in Reno, '''he shot a bunch more in My Lai''', meaning that he was actually a perpetrator of the massacre. Cueball is obviously horrified by this, and he ends the rhyme with a "I think we're done," signifying his horror at Black Hat's words.

The title text continues the rhyme, but changes the roles: now the speaker is asking someone else if they shot a man in Reno. It may be a reference to The Princess Bride (Inigo says the "I don't mean to pry" part to Westley).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Black Hat stand facing one another. Black Hat is on the left.]
:Black Hat: You know, I once shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
:Cueball: Really? Well, I once shot a man in Reno, but I couldn't tell you why.

:Black Hat: I once shot a man in Reno, then I went home to cry.
:Cueball: I once shot a man in Reno, then I watered his cacti.

:Black Hat: I once shot a man in Reno 'cause they cancelled Firefly.
:Cueball: I once shot a man in Reno, him and all his succubi.

:Black Hat: I once shot a man in Reno and a bunch more in My Lai.
:Cueball: I think we're done.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Firefly]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Rhymes]]
[[Category:Demons]]

561: Well

2026-05-18T07:59:16Z

85.76.150.51: /* Explanation */

{{distinguish|3004: Wells|common=Well}}
{{comic
| number = 561
| date = March 27, 2009
| title = Well
| image = well.png
| titletext = I'll concede ergonomics anecdotally, but none of the studies of Dvorak were at all rigorous (the most-cited Navy study was overseen by Dvorak himself). And the 'slow typists down' thing is a myth. Also EMACS RULES VI DROOLS WOOOOOOO!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic would later be followed by [[568: Well 2]]. Uncomfortable truths are truths that exist, but no one wants to have to think about them. The first is about ''{{w|Firefly (TV Series)|Firefly}}'', a TV series [[Randall]] has repeatedly expressed liking for. The series was created by {{w|Joss Whedon}} and canceled by {{w|FOX}}, due to poor ratings performance, after {{tvtropes|OutOfOrder|airing the first 13 episodes out-of-order}}. In ''Firefly'', the main languages spoken are English and Chinese (supposedly in equal measure), because China was the only other world power besides America to go to space (Joss Whedon's own explanation on the DVDs). However, there are {{tvtropes|HumansAreWhite|very few actual Asians}} on-screen.

The second is about two different keyboard layouts, QWERTY and Dvorak. One interpretation is that early {{w|typewriter}}s used to jam easily if two keys with mechanically adjacent 'hammers' were struck at about the same time. To work around this, the {{w|QWERTY}} layout, named after the first six letters on its keys, scattered common letter combinations around the keyboard to mitigate this, thus greatly avoiding the problem. The true history is {{w|QWERTY#History|more complicated}}, though jamming was likely amongst the various considerations that led to its final form. Later typewriter mechanisms were less prone to jamming, which prompted a few people to try to create alternative layouts to solve perceived problems with QWERTY's various assumptions, such as {{w|Blickensderfer typewriter|Blickensderfer's DHIATENSOR layout}} in 1892, or the {{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard}} in 1932. Such layouts never really caught on; by then, established typists were all very used to the QWERTY layout, and were unwilling to take the time and effort to learn a new one.

In the Dvorak layout, {{w|August Dvorak}} placed the most frequently used keys at the most easily accessible places; Dvorak's advocates claim this reduces typing effort and repetitive strain (as mentioned in the title text) while increasing typing speed and accuracy. However, rigorous, unbiased studies have yet to clearly show significant superiority. (As the title text mentions, the most commonly cited study in Dvorak's favor was overseen by Dvorak himself during his US Navy service in World War II.) This was the second comic to refer to Dvorak after [[554: Not Enough Work]], and since then it has become a [[:Category:Dvorak|recurrent theme]] on xkcd.

The third and fourth truths are connected: they involve the two people receiving them and (presumably) their relationship with each other. Every time [[Cueball]] said "I love you" he never really meant it; whereas [[Megan]] meant it every time she said "I love you". This is very uncomfortable for both! This could also be intentional, since in [[568: Well 2]], a person called Mike (who happens to be a friend of [[Megan]]), is actually hiding inside the well and tells these uncomfortable "truths", he would have intentionally broken Cueball and Megan up to be able to manipulate Megan in the next installment. In [[1608: Hoverboard]], there is also a well in the left part of the world. It has the same type of covered top and, at the bottom, there is a girl with a coin, like the one thrown into a wishing well. Here are the [http://xkcd.com/1608/980:-1077+s.png top] and the [http://xkcd.com/1608/980:-1073+s.png bottom] of the well from [[1608: Hoverboard]].

The title text perpetuates the {{w|Editor war|Emacs vs. vi debate}}. Both {{w|Emacs}} and {{w|Vim (text editor)|Vim}} are text editors that are frequently used as general-language editors of source code. The issue is that, while Emacs is more user-friendly and customizable, vim is more lightweight while needing few keystrokes in text editing. Because of this balance, fans of Emacs and fans of vim end up fighting each other.

==Transcript==
:[A sign sits by a well.]
:The Uncomfortable Truths Well

:[Cueball and Ponytail are lined up for the well; Cueball throws a coin in.]
:Well: For a universe that's supposed to be half Chinese, Firefly sure doesn't have any Asians.

:[The first Cueball is gone, a second Cueball and Megan arrives as a couple lining up behind Ponytail; Ponytail throws a coin in.]
:Well: There's no solid evidence DVORAK's better than QWERTY. The standard histories are urban legends.

:[Just the couple remain; the second Cueball throws another coin in.]
:Well: You've never said "I love you" and meant it. It was always just words.

:[Megan has presumably also thrown a coin in the well. This is not shown as for the first three. Cueball waits for her on the other side of the well.]
:Well: You meant it every time.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Dvorak]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Firefly]]
[[Category:Emacs]]
[[Category:The Uncomfortable Truths Well]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

206: Reno Rhymes

561: Well