xkcd explained

August 8, 2015 7:33 AM

You know those days when you read the latest xkcd comic, and you sit there, scratching your head, clueless as to the meaning, scared that someone will reference it and your response will immediately expose you as the idiot that you are? Relax, the explain xkcd wiki answers all your questions. You too can smile at the in jokes, understand the math, and get the obscure references. or you could just memail Randall
posted by HuronBob (24 comments total)

Yeah, I tend to gauge the obscurity of a given xkcd by the server load of this site-- if I don't understand a particular comic but then it takes 5 seconds for the explainxkcd homepage to load, I know I'm not alone.
posted by gwint at 7:44 AM on August 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

That one wasn't particularly obscure was it? I'm trying to gauge if my wheelhouse has shifted to 80's and 90's nostalgia in the same manner that what is obvious and funny to me is an obscure reference for kids these days.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lawn to water... and I need to figure out if I need to start standing watch to chase kids off of it so they don't trample the wet grass everywhere...
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:57 AM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I was surprised at the lack of a Cat's Cradle reference
posted by timdiggerm at 8:06 AM on August 8, 2015 [16 favorites]

See also.
posted by kenko at 8:23 AM on August 8, 2015

I generally assume the ones I don't understand are just not very funny.
posted by Segundus at 8:32 AM on August 8, 2015 [16 favorites]

I was hoping this would be full of ironic and willful misinterpretations.
posted by mccarty.tim at 8:33 AM on August 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

Guy leaves an obvious Ice-9 shaped hole in a comic and everybody is all LOOK YOU FORGOT SOMETHING!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 8:34 AM on August 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

You know those days when you read the latest xkcd comic, and you sit there, scratching your head, clueless as to the meaning, scared that someone will reference it and your response will immediately expose you as the idiot that you are?

no
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:41 AM on August 8, 2015 [22 favorites]

The wiki is a good example of someone stopping, collaborating, and listening.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:50 AM on August 8, 2015 [28 favorites]

s l o w c l a p
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:51 AM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

> That one wasn't particularly obscure was it? I'm trying to gauge if my wheelhouse has shifted to 80's and 90's nostalgia in the same manner that what is obvious and funny to me is an obscure reference for kids these days.

It was obscure to me (and I was grateful for the Wiki), so it's an obscure reference not only for kids these days but for old farts who know nothing about Vanilla Ice.
posted by languagehat at 9:07 AM on August 8, 2015

My friends pointed out this latest xkcd to me at our game last night because they knew any mention of phase diagrams would make me swoon. Randall makes me so very happy.

I did, however, appreciate the wiki for the Ozymandias entry.

My education may be a bit one-sided.
posted by blurker at 9:17 AM on August 8, 2015

Heh... searching for some explanation of the Ozymandias comic was what led me to the wiki.... I was trying to figure out what that had to do with Watchmen.
posted by HuronBob at 9:21 AM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oglaf 4 Life.
posted by benzenedream at 9:38 AM on August 8, 2015 [10 favorites]

Ice-9 would have to be off to the side somewhere.
posted by Flashman at 11:25 AM on August 8, 2015

Word to your mother.
posted by briank at 11:29 AM on August 8, 2015

The ones that explain the science/math stuff and the so-subtle-you-might-have-missed-it jokes are actually pretty neat. The ones that devote multiple paragraphs to painstakingly explaining things as if the reader has never encountered concepts such as "pop music" or "eating food" or "automobiles"...yeah, maybe turn off the computer at that point and go for a walk.

For comic readers who struggle even with less intellectual fare, there is also the classic Marmaduke Explained.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 12:17 PM on August 8, 2015

I've found explain xkcd to be great for some of Randall's higher concept comics, like Click and Drag, Pixels and, of course, Time.

It was especially great for Time, as they summarized/discussed the plot line for months, and maintained links to the various archives of the whole story.
posted by thecaddy at 12:37 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I should probably point out that the names for the characters (in particular, "cueball") are purely of the wiki's own invention. They're non-canon.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 1:37 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

"Randall has referenced "Ice Ice Baby" and "Under Pressure", separately and together, on many previous occasions." When he was born, did his parents suspect that someone would one day write this sentence about their newborn son?
posted by goatdog at 5:45 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

He was born several years before "Ice Ice Baby" was released, so I would imagine not!
posted by Shmuel510 at 5:57 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Mod note: A few comments deleted. Sorry, but the unrelated goatse thing is becoming a derail, leading to more gross NSFW links in thread, and also 1999 called, etc...
posted by taz (staff) at 3:25 AM on August 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

They did? Did you warn them?
posted by logopetria at 7:03 AM on August 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

I was looking for the circuit diagram (730)
I love the blender explanation: This appears to be a blender.^{[citation needed]}
posted by MtDewd at 5:13 PM on August 9, 2015