1054: "The Bacon"

[Rotherian]

Not Dihydrocodeine enol acetate, but Dihydrocodeinone enol acetate.

So will Mr. Munroe correct the spelling in the comic panel to dihydrodeinone enol acetate?

I doubt it. Especially given the fact that dihydrodeinone enol acetate matches neither the mistake nor the correction. You're missing a co between dihydro- and -deinone.

[Rotherian]

Reminds me of, http://xkcd.com/169/ but then most of xkcd does.

Also something that irks me, I read the passage under the comic as being the right hand guy's thoughts at a later date, like he is re-calling this event, but then the confusion wouldn't have been there as he would have heard thebacon said and not had to have read it himself. So that's where I think the ALT text comes in, again right hand guy's thoughts, which suggests that the speaker didn't pronounce it right but instead pronounced it as 'the bacon' in which case maybe he meant the bacon as you are meant to assume at the start. But then that means thebacon as a drug doesn't come into the situation at all. Hmmm...

Perhaps, as an alternate theory, he heard the conversation, and assumed standard spelling. Then later, while researching something completely unrelated, he read about Thebacon. Since the wiki article doesn't give a pronunciation, he may have just pronounced it the same as the bacon. Then in the mouseover text, he admits that it may not be pronounced how he interpreted it.

Judging by the pronunciation of the chemical compound from which it is derived (Thebiane), it probably is etymologically connected to the word Thebes, a city in Ancient Egypt. This would likely make the pronunciation /thē'-bə-kən/ ( or in IPA symbology /ˈθi-bə-kən/).

[xsk8rat]

This one hit close to home - i have a hat like that, just lost my job, and the wife is a pharmacist.
Now for a BLT!

[marketdoctor]

Bacon *can* prove Fermat's Last Theorem:

1. Eat lots of bacon.
2. Share your bacon, and otherwise lead a good life. (If Andrew Wiles likes bacon, you might be able to save a few steps here.)
3. Befriend people who know CPR (VERY important step.)
4. When you've eaten enough bacon, eventually you will see bright lights and dead relatives.
5. Ask one of them to find Fermat, and find out what the proof to his last theorem is.
6. If he says "I don't have time to explain before you go back", consider upgrading your belief system, since you might have been in Hell. This is doubly true if you see lots of people in red suits and pitchforks, or you were holding raw bacon when you checked out, but it's fully cooked when you return.*

Note that this is VERY DANGEROUS and should not be attempted by anyone, for reasons I would explain, but don't have room for in this post.

* This could also be caused by those shock paddles, or a prank from friends who like pranking heart attack victims, so be careful.

[Vael]

Randall must be burning the midnight oil to come up with these.

[BrianW]

Unfortunately, I cannot appreciate the humor in this particular strip. My cousin lost his job as a pharmacist and spent time in federal prison because he developed an addiction to narcotics and got caught stealing them from his employer. I have no sympathy for him, but still . . .

[pyronius]

Unfortunately, I cannot appreciate the humor in this particular strip. My cousin lost his job as a pharmacist and spent time in federal prison because he developed an addiction to narcotics and got caught stealing them from his employer. I have no sympathy for him, but still . . .

did he also overdose on homographs?

[willpellmn]

This is a pretty weak strip, but I'd imagine Randall pretty much blew his load on Every Major's Terrible, so I don't blame him if he's kinda phoning it in for the rest of the week.

And if you can't bring home thebacon, then fucitol.

I don't care if this is fake, I lol'ed and saved the page.

[lynkyn]

I assume Randall isn't a /1015/ person.

[Mloren]

um... can someone explain this one? I don't get it...

[AUS]

Someone could misunderstand what he's saying for something much worse, I guess.
It's not one of the great ones, but whatever.

[Mirkwood]

um... can someone explain this one? I don't get it...

The man says he's not upset because his wife "brings home the bacon", meaning she earns enough money to sustain the both of them. However, "thebacon" is the name of an opioid, a group of drugs which soothes people, relieves stress, and dulls pain. Because "the bacon" and "thebacon" are written similarly, the joke is that the man's statement can be interpreted in multiple ways: one is perfectly innocent, the other means they are habitual drug users. The fact that his wife is a pharmacist supports the latter.

[Dr. Diaphanous]

I read the passage under the comic as being the right hand guy's thoughts at a later date, like he is re-calling this event, but then the confusion wouldn't have been there as he would have heard thebacon said and not had to have read it himself. So that's where I think the ALT text comes in, again right hand guy's thoughts, which suggests that the speaker didn't pronounce it right but instead pronounced it as 'the bacon' in which case maybe he meant the bacon as you are meant to assume at the start. But then that means thebacon as a drug doesn't come into the situation at all. Hmmm...

I interpreted it that there is no sound in their universe. They also lack mouths, but when they wish to communicate, a telekinetic field causes nearby magnetised ink droplets to form large, black, poorly-kerned letters to appear near their heads. These can then be read.

[webgrunt]

I think it's funny how they put acetaminophen (Tylenol) in Vicodin so it's "safe" to give to potential drug abusers, because if you take too much of it, the acetaminophen will kill you and rid society of someone who might take more than the prescribed amount of painkillers. Actually, I don't think that's funny at all, I'm being sarcastic.

Oh, they say they add acetaminophen in there because it helps the pain relief effect, but that's crap. That junk has such a negligible effect on pain, it makes aspirin look like Dilaudid.

Tylenol has one of the lowest LD50/standard dose ratios of any drug, even prescription ones. For those unfamiliar with the LD50/standard dose ratio, it's the ratio of how much of the drug would be estimated to kill 50% of the people who took that amount divided by the amount of the drug in a standard dose. In other words, it takes less of an overdose of Tylenol to kill you than most drugs.

And considering how little effect it has on pain, I'm surprised anyone takes it at all. Just goes to show that advertising really works.

[iamspen]

I interpreted it that there is no sound in their universe. They also lack mouths, but when they wish to communicate, a telekinetic field causes nearby magnetised ink droplets to form large, black, poorly-kerned letters to appear near their heads. These can then be read.

Assuming xkcd comics all inhabit the same universe, how do the comics involving parabolic reflectors make sense?

[Prix]

I sent a suggestion to add "Thebacon" to howjsay.com. I added a link to the comic, and the man referenced it. Weee!

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=thebacon

Sorry for bumping this old thread that nobody has cared about for half a year. Carry on.