conlang
Original: conlang on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A man with flame-like orange hair stands in front of a building with a sign reading "TODAY: CONSTRUCTED LANGUAGE CLUB MEETING."
Orange-haired man: It's a tonal language I invented this week. 175 tones are possible, with every word consisting of two identical syllables.
Panel 2:
A group of people listens. One of them addresses the orange-haired man (named Steve).
Listener: Steve, are you going through a rough breakup right now?
Panel 3:
A close-up of the distressed orange-haired man, mouth wide open, shouting.
Steve: CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL, CHERYL, CHERRRRYLLL...
Panel 4:
A listener (off-panel speech).
Listener: What makes you say that?
Votey:
A tiny figure stands alone, shouting upward into a large speech bubble:
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL.*
Caption at bottom: *Elizabeth was a much easier language to construct.
A man with flame-like orange hair stands in front of a building with a sign reading "TODAY: CONSTRUCTED LANGUAGE CLUB MEETING."
Orange-haired man: It's a tonal language I invented this week. 175 tones are possible, with every word consisting of two identical syllables.
Panel 2:
A group of people listens. One of them addresses the orange-haired man (named Steve).
Listener: Steve, are you going through a rough breakup right now?
Panel 3:
A close-up of the distressed orange-haired man, mouth wide open, shouting.
Steve: CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL, CHERYL, CHERRRRYLLL...
Panel 4:
A listener (off-panel speech).
Listener: What makes you say that?
Votey:
A tiny figure stands alone, shouting upward into a large speech bubble:
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL
CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL.*
Caption at bottom: *Elizabeth was a much easier language to construct.
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: An orange-haired man stands in front of a sign reading "TODAY: CONSTRUCTED LANGUAGE CLUB MEETING" and explains, "It's a tonal language I invented this week. 175 tones are possible, with every word consisting of two identical syllables." Panel 2: A small audience of people listens; one asks, "Steve, are you going through a rough breakup right now?" Panel 3: A close-up of the orange-haired man, Steve, with his mouth wide open, shouting in anguish: "CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL, CHERYL, CHERRRRYLLL..." Panel 4: A listener asks, "What makes you say that?" The joke: Steve's so-called invented tonal language of repeated identical two-syllable words is really just him grief-screaming his ex's name, Cheryl. Votey (aftercomic): A tiny lone figure shouts a huge speech bubble filled with rows of "CHERYL CHERYL CHERYL" repeated, ending with an asterisk. A caption reads: "*Elizabeth was a much easier language to construct" — implying a previous, easier breakup.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.