1261: Shake That

2013-09-06T19:51:57Z

Hadron: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1261
| date = September 6, 2013
| title = Shake That
| image = shake that.png
| titletext = How do I work it? IT'S ALREADY WORKING!
}}

==Explanation==
Visiting a club, [[Megan]] is exhorted by a cliche line used in several songs, to "shake what your mama gave you", a reference to body parts, often the posterior region. Taking this exhortation to heart, and extremely literally, she proceeds to locate a cliched mug given by her mother labeled ''World's greatest daughter'' and shakes it. The title text refers to another lyrical cliche, "work it", saying "it's already working".

The line "shake what your mama gave ya" has been a staple of rap music since 1995 when Stik-E & Da Hoodz released the single "Shake Whatcha Mama Gave Ya" on Phat Wax records. The line gained a wider audience when it was sampled by {{w|Fatboy Slim}} in the similarly titled "Ya Mama" on his 2000 album ''{{w|Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars}}''. More recently the line was featured in the {{w|Lil Jon}} single "Stick That Thang Out". In fitting with the general thematic composition of such a song, a large part of which revolves around either goading a woman to, or describing one who is dancing seductively in a nightclub - this line asks a girl to dance, thereby swaying her hips & buttocks, or breasts, the most common male 'fetishes' - making them more conspicuous because of the phase lag with the rest of the body, which may be attributed to non-rigidity of the elastic structures in the usually dim ambiance, for purposes of her male audience's gratification (whether it be solicited or voyeuristic). "Work it" also serves a similar purpose, appealing to the person to get them to dance and move around which can be considered work either from the point of mechanical work, or be a reference to a professional dancer.

"What your mama gave ya" is a crude euphemism referring to any of the sexually appealing anatomical parts of the dancer. [While the line is used in a male-watching-female context, there is nothing to preclude the reverse, or indeed any alternative sexual orientation and fetishes.] It is, however, an applicable one if he/she considers his/her body as something given to her by her mother. This is not entirely spurious a consideration either. Aside from the fact that each human child starts off as an egg in the mother's body, with only a small percentage (at an atomic mass accounting level) of mass inherited from the father, almost all the anabolic material responsible for conferring the birth mass of a baby is obtained through the mother - and from the nutrients she processes.

Megan interprets the objects referred to by the line as something literally presented to her by her mother - viz the coffee mug proclaiming her as "The world's greatest daughter". She also thinks of "Work it" in the context of enabling the function of a technological device. This naturally leads to confusion (as indicated by the title text), because the object she's holding is a novelty mug, which doesn't require any special actions to use for its intended purpose of holding a drink (or even just serving as a memory).

It may also be relevant that Megan, being a stick-figure in an XKCD cartoon, and so having neither breasts nor buttocks, could well be perplexed about how she is expected to comply with the injunction.

==Transcript==
:[Lyrics playing in a nightclub.]
:Shake what your Mama gave you
:[Megan exits the club.]
:[Close-up view of a mug that says "World's Greatest Daughter".]
:[Megan shakes the mug.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Music]]

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1261: Shake That