explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:883: Pain Rating

2026-04-09T11:13:21Z

Xkcd-ian contributor (multicellular eukaryote):

So, is hell like a 6 or something? '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:36, 11 January 2013 (UTC)
:Perhaps somewhere around 62/3..? [[Special:Contributions/178.99.81.144|178.99.81.144]] 19:19, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
:Maybe 7, (66/6)? ~Fuzion {{unsigned ip|162.158.214.222}}
::400 Karmas for you!! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 19:26, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
Someone has been playing *way* too much Mortal Combat... - DustFox[[Special:Contributions/162.158.50.41|162.158.50.41]] 08:08, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

Heads are detached from the body in some panels. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.227.11|108.162.227.11]] 05:42, 25 February

You think it would be any better if the doctor said the scale was logarithmic? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.90|162.158.103.90]] 09:27, 29 October 2024 (UTC)
:"Like being regularly bashed on the head with a big bit of wood", right? ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.242|172.70.85.242]] 10:11, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

Are we using a log scale or a linear scale?

[[User:Xkcd-ian contributor (multicellular eukaryote)|Xkcd-ian contributor (multicellular eukaryote)]] ([[User talk:Xkcd-ian contributor (multicellular eukaryote)|talk]]) 11:13, 9 April 2026 (UTC)George Gaylord Simpson (He's an American paleontologist btw)

506: Theft of the Magi

2026-04-09T11:01:25Z

Xkcd-ian contributor (multicellular eukaryote): More on roomba dueling harnesses

{{comic
| number = 506
| date = November 19, 2008
| title = Theft of the Magi
| image = theft_of_the_magi.png
| titletext = Every Roomba needs a dueling harness.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a satirical play on {{w|O. Henry}}'s short story "{{w|The Gift of the Magi}}." In O. Henry's story, a couple with very little money goes to great lengths to purchase gifts for one another. The wife sells her prized possession, her hair, to purchase a fancy chain for her husband's prize possession, a watch; the husband sells his watch to purchase some fancy hair accessories (clips/combs) for his wife. The story is about selflessness, as each party sold their prize possession to purchase something to enhance the other's prize possession.

In this comic, however, the opposite occurs: [[Black Hat]] stole [[Danish]]'s {{w|Roomba}} (an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner) and sold it to buy {{w|Left 4 Dead|a new game}} for his {{w|Xbox}}, while Danish stole Black Hat's Xbox and sold it to buy a "dueling harness" for her Roomba, highlighting their mutually destructive selfishness. Although these actions reflect their sociopathic personalities and are at each other's detriment, both are apparently touched by the symmetry of their actions and consequences, and both find their mutual selfishness to be appealing. This is a reversal of the typical reaction to the O. Henry story: although neither of the characters in that story can actually use their gift, the gifts are touching nevertheless because they represent the self-sacrificing love the characters have for each other.

An alternative interpretation is that the word "AWW.", rather than an expression of being touched, is an expression of disappointment. Thus they are each disappointed by the turn of events.

The "dueling harness," also mentioned in the title text, is an invention by [[Randall]], which presumably would allow Roombas to wield weapons and battle each other like the robots in ''{{w|Robot Wars (TV series)|Robot Wars}}''. Another, less destructive form of roomba dueling involves mounting various pieces of weaponry along with a balloon onto roombas, with the latter acting as the target of the duel. This allows for roomba dueling without inflicting damage on the robot itself.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is holding up a copy of ''Left 4 Dead''. Danish is holding up a small harness.]
:Black Hat: Hey. I sold your Roomba on Craigslist so I could buy myself ''Left 4 Dead''.
:Danish: But I eBayed your XBox so I could get this dueling harness for my Roomba!
:Black hat and Danish at the same time: Aww.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Roomba]]
[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]

90: Jacket

2026-04-09T10:51:12Z

Xkcd-ian contributor (multicellular eukaryote): /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 90
| date = April 17, 2006
| title = Jacket
| image = jacket.jpg
| titletext = We have this conversation at least once a day in my apartment
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] clearly means to use ''{{Wiktionary|fucking}}'' as an intensifier. However, the friend (likely intentionally in response to the unnecessary swearing) takes ''fucking'' to be an identifier of which jacket is being discussed, and gives a smart-aleck response implying that Cueball wears the jacket while having sex. His counterpart gets confused by the sarcasm, and the topic is dismissed.

Alternatively, the statement may imply that the jacket itself is capable of and actively partakes in fornication.

The title text states that this often occurs in Cueball/Randall's apartment.

==Transcript==
:[Two men stand and talk to one another.]
:Cueball: Where's my fucking jacket?
:[Friend indicates something behind him.]
:Friend: Over there, next to your regular one.
:Cueball: My what?
:Friend: Never mind.

==Trivia==
This comic is the second comic to use an all-caps lettering, the first being [[78: Garfield]], where the all-caps lettering may have been based off of the lettering in the actual comic strip.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]