ie
Original: ie on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: A bald older man with glasses (professor-like) speaks to a woman with dark hair, explaining the Latin abbreviation "i.e."
Man: Oh, that, that i.e. is an abbreviation for "id est," which means "now that I've made my argument in a confusing way to demonstrate intelligence, here's the same idea but with clarity."
Fun Fact (caption box): You can learn Latin just by reading scientific manuscripts.
Votey:
An unseen speaker (continuing the bit, with a child's face/cherub-like figure below the speech bubble) gives the next sarcastic Latin-abbreviation "definition."
Speaker: cf. means "if you don't believe me, read this other thing, asshole."
Man: Oh, that, that i.e. is an abbreviation for "id est," which means "now that I've made my argument in a confusing way to demonstrate intelligence, here's the same idea but with clarity."
Fun Fact (caption box): You can learn Latin just by reading scientific manuscripts.
Votey:
An unseen speaker (continuing the bit, with a child's face/cherub-like figure below the speech bubble) gives the next sarcastic Latin-abbreviation "definition."
Speaker: cf. means "if you don't believe me, read this other thing, asshole."
Alt text
A two-part SMBC comic mocking the pretentious overuse of Latin abbreviations in academic writing. In the main panel, a bald, bespectacled older man (professor-like) talks to a dark-haired woman, explaining: "Oh, that, that i.e. is an abbreviation for 'id est,' which means 'now that I've made my argument in a confusing way to demonstrate intelligence, here's the same idea but with clarity.'" A caption reads: "Fun Fact: You can learn Latin just by reading scientific manuscripts." The votey (bonus panel) shows a small cherub-like face beneath a speech bubble continuing the gag with a blunt fake definition: "cf. means 'if you don't believe me, read this other thing, asshole.'" The joke is that these scholarly Latin abbreviations really translate to snarky, ego-driven meanings.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.