2013-08-01
Original: 2013-08-01 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Title (above panels): RELATIONSHIP TIP: ACHIEVE HONEST COMPLIMENTS THROUGH CLEVER COMMA USAGE
Panel 1 (header banner): LIE:
Woman (speech bubble): You have a body like Adonis.
Panel 2 (header banner): TRUTH:
Woman (speech bubble): You have a body, like Adonis.
Votey:
A bespectacled person (speech bubble): You draw a comic, like Randall Munroe.
Panel 1 (header banner): LIE:
Woman (speech bubble): You have a body like Adonis.
Panel 2 (header banner): TRUTH:
Woman (speech bubble): You have a body, like Adonis.
Votey:
A bespectacled person (speech bubble): You draw a comic, like Randall Munroe.
Alt text
A two-panel SMBC comic titled "RELATIONSHIP TIP: ACHIEVE HONEST COMPLIMENTS THROUGH CLEVER COMMA USAGE." Both panels show the same scene of a smiling woman speaking to a red-haired man, but with different colored backgrounds and a single difference in punctuation. The left panel is labeled "LIE:" and her speech reads "You have a body like Adonis." The right panel is labeled "TRUTH:" and the same line gains a comma: "You have a body, like Adonis." The joke is that adding the comma turns the flattering simile into a literal, technically-true statement (you have a body; so does Adonis). In the votey aftercomic, a bespectacled person says to another person, "You draw a comic, like Randall Munroe." applying the same comma trick as a backhanded jab at the comic's own art.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.