875: 2009 Called - Revision history

Thathuman at 03:47, 1 November 2025

2025-11-01T03:47:47Z

172.68.186.41: /* Explanation */ To be fair, I'm not sure he believes in anything other than his own image and whatever seems to promote that.

2025-04-08T12:59:53Z

‎Explanation: To be fair, I'm not sure he believes in anything other than his own image and whatever seems to promote that.

CalibansCreations: /* Explanation */

2025-04-08T11:46:23Z

‎Explanation

172.69.67.203 at 18:20, 1 April 2025

2025-04-01T18:20:22Z

172.68.244.163 at 18:36, 22 September 2024

2024-09-22T18:36:29Z

172.70.163.48: /* Trivia */ Removing spoiling pipes from []-links. (Tricky, I know...)

2024-04-26T19:04:17Z

‎Trivia: Removing spoiling pipes from []-links. (Tricky, I know...)

172.69.7.141 at 18:46, 26 April 2024

2024-04-26T18:46:45Z

172.71.146.43: /* Explanation */

2023-11-01T23:59:30Z

‎Explanation

Tromag: /* Explanation */

2023-05-30T15:40:26Z

‎Explanation

172.70.91.77: /* Explanation */ Really needs a more global list of world 'devastators' that take in the bit of the world that aint America. If, indeed, that remains the best example of of the year with most natural disasters. (Beyond typhoons, also earthquakes, etc?)

2022-12-12T15:39:20Z

‎Explanation: Really needs a more global list of world 'devastators' that take in the bit of the world that aint America. If, indeed, that remains the best example of of the year with most natural disasters. (Beyond typhoons, also earthquakes, etc?)

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 The title text continues the snowclone by implying a terrible future awaits in 2017. Likewise, non-apocalyptic events, such as political protests, can generate "yelling and screaming". Given the public's general inclination to focus on the negative the prediction of a "bad future" may have worked with any date.
-has occurred, and the world hasn't exploded.{{Citation needed}} In hindsight, 2020 would work better for the joke. [insert hindsight is 2020 joke here]
+has occurred, and the world hasn't exploded.{{Citation needed}} In hindsight, 2020 would work better for the joke.{{Citation needed}}
 However, 2017 was actually one of the world's most devastating years in terms of natural disasters, for starters, there were Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria: all particularly devastating, for that particular corner of the world. In addition, the election of [[Donald Trump]] was upsetting for many people, especially people who did not agree with his controversial nature. There was no proof of [[Randall]] owning a time machine yet.

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 has occurred, and the world hasn't exploded.{{Citation needed}} In hindsight, 2020 would work better for the joke. [insert hindsight is 2020 joke here]
-However, 2017 was actually one of the world's most devastating years in terms of natural disasters, for starters, there were Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria: all particularly devastating, for that particular corner of the world. In addition, the election of [[Donald Trump]] was upsetting for many people, especially people who did not agree with his controversial beliefs. There was no proof of [[Randall]] owning a time machine yet.
+However, 2017 was actually one of the world's most devastating years in terms of natural disasters, for starters, there were Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria: all particularly devastating, for that particular corner of the world. In addition, the election of [[Donald Trump]] was upsetting for many people, especially people who did not agree with his controversial nature. There was no proof of [[Randall]] owning a time machine yet.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 has occurred, and the world hasn't exploded.{{Citation needed}} In hindsight, 2020 would work better for the joke. [insert hindsight is 2020 joke here]
-However, 2017 was actually one of the world's most devastating years in terms of natural disasters, for starters, there were Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria: all particularly devastating, for that particular corner of the world. In addition, the election of Donald Trump was upsetting for many people, especially people who did not agree with his controversial beliefs. There was no proof of Randall Munroe owning a time machine yet.
+However, 2017 was actually one of the world's most devastating years in terms of natural disasters, for starters, there were Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria: all particularly devastating, for that particular corner of the world. In addition, the election of [[Donald Trump]] was upsetting for many people, especially people who did not agree with his controversial beliefs. There was no proof of [[Randall]] owning a time machine yet.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 {{comic discussion}}
 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 has occurred, and the world hasn't exploded.{{Citation needed}} In hindsight, 2020 would work better for the joke. [insert hindsight is 2020 joke here]
-However, 2017 was actually one of the world's most devastating years in terms of natural disasters, for starters, there were Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria: all particularly devastating, for that particular corner of the world. In addition, the election of Donald Trump was upsetting for many people, especially people who did not agree with his controversial beliefs.
+However, 2017 was actually one of the world's most devastating years in terms of natural disasters, for starters, there were Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria: all particularly devastating, for that particular corner of the world. In addition, the election of Donald Trump was upsetting for many people, especially people who did not agree with his controversial beliefs. There was no proof of Randall Munroe owning a time machine yet.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ==Trivia==
-* In 2013, the webcomic "Bearato Comics" ran [https://nedroid.com/?601| a comic strip] with a joke very similar to the joke in this XKCD comic. After the creator was notified by XKCD fans that he had used a joke already done on XKCD just two years earlier in his comic, the [https://nedroid.com/?602| next comic strip] on "Beartato Comics" then parodied the incident.
+* In 2013, the webcomic "Bearato Comics" ran [https://nedroid.com/?601 a comic strip] with a joke very similar to the joke in this XKCD comic. After the creator was notified by XKCD fans that he had used a joke already done on XKCD just two years earlier in his comic, the [https://nedroid.com/?602 next comic strip] on "Beartato Comics" then parodied the incident.
 See also:
 *[[102: Back to the Future]]

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-The comic deconstructs a {{w|snowclone}} or common idiom - "X called, they want their Y back." Usually, X is a year (like 2009 here), and Y is something very popular in that year that is seen as ridiculous in the present day.
+The comic deconstructs a {{w|snowclone}} or common idiom - "X called, they want their Y back." In a common version, the "X" in this phrase is a year, or era, and "Y" is something that was common in that time, but is now unfashionable, or outright ridiculous.
-Here, [[Megan]] notices a Three-Wolf Moon T-shirt that [[Cueball]] apparently owns. The {{w|Three Wolf Moon|Three-Wolf Moon}} is a shirt of three wolves howling at the moon that reached meme status when several people posted ironic reviews giving it supernatural powers on {{w|Amazon}} around late 2008.
+Here, [[Megan]] notices a Three-Wolf Moon T-shirt that [[Cueball]] apparently owns. The {{w|Three Wolf Moon|Three-Wolf Moon}} is a shirt of three wolves howling at the moon that reached meme status when several people posted ironic reviews ascribing supernatural powers to it on {{w|Amazon}} around late 2008. Like many memes, it became popular for a short period, but rapidly became outdated.
-Megan says the snowclone, but before she can finish, Cueball pretends to take it literally (that is, that the year 2009 actually called her) and admonishes her for not telling them about {{w|2010 Haiti earthquake|the February 2010 earthquake in Haiti}} and {{w|2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan}}. The comic was posted shortly after the latter, so it is reasonable to assume that it was created as a response to the disaster. Knowing Cueball, he's either preempting Megan's attempt to humiliate him and giving her a pretty good burn, or Cueball, being Cueball, actually thinks the past called.
+Presumably, Megan is trying to say "2009 called, they want their shirt back", mocking Cueball for still owning something so outdated. Before she can finish, though, Cueball appears to take her literally, and responds as if she'd actually received a call from the year 2009. If she'd actually had the opportunity to communicate across time, that would be a golden opportunity to warn the people of the past about events that had not yet occurred. Specifically, he asks if she'd warned the people of the past about {{w|2010 Haiti earthquake|the February 2010 earthquake in Haiti}} and {{w|2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan}}, and admonishes her when she admits she didn't. Both of these were events in which huge amounts of human suffering and death likely could have been prevented with foreknowledge.
 The title text continues the snowclone by implying a terrible future awaits in 2017. Likewise, non-apocalyptic events, such as political protests, can generate "yelling and screaming". Given the public's general inclination to focus on the negative the prediction of a "bad future" may have worked with any date.