# i don't get today's dilbert **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389 "2005-02-10T13:42:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/1 "2005-02-10T13:42:34Z")
Either it’s too early and the caffeine hasn’t yet reached my brain, or i have just become humor challanged. I love Dilbert, but i don’t get today’s. It’s the one that’s on yahoo comics. It’s about a blackberry. Help, make me feel not so stupid. Probably the wrong crowd to ask that particular favor, but help anyway. I’m GUESSING the humor has something to do with the boss having tried the “blackberry as impressive accessory” ploy and seen it fail. But that’s not all that funny, so…? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/2 "2005-02-10T13:46:12Z")
Well, I don’t get it either, so it’s not just you. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/3 "2005-02-10T13:52:23Z")
Chalk me up as another one. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/4 "2005-02-10T13:52:56Z")
me three. 😉 possibly the boss saying that once you get a blackberry that way, you actually ARE expected to work (or at least be on call) all day and all night?? Doubtful about that one though. :-/ ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/5 "2005-02-10T13:53:35Z")
Dilbert is typing away on the Blackberry during the meeting…under the table. People on the other side don’t know about the device so the fiddling doesn’t look ‘appropriate’. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/6 "2005-02-10T13:54:57Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Chalk me up as another one. stupid simulpost!! Okay, me not three, me four ☹ and on preview… ewwww!! I’m sorry, that’s not the G-rated dilbert I’m used to LOL. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/7 "2005-02-10T14:14:00Z")
Looks like **cantara got it**. I didn’t notice the position of Dilbert’s arms. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/8 "2005-02-10T14:16:26Z")
I didn’t get it either. I think it’s a little too subtle for a comic strip. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/9 "2005-02-10T14:23:07Z")
The masturbation angle is the one they’re going for, but it’s mainly funny because they’re called (in my circle and many others) “Crackberry” because once you get one, you just can’t stop using it. I know quite a few people who have exhibited picture-perfect withdrawal symptoms after having been downsized. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/10 "2005-02-10T14:23:13Z")
I missed that also. So then what about whats-her-name sitting next to Dilbert? Her arms are down too. Funnier now with an explanation, but still I agree, too subtle for B/W comics. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/11 "2005-02-10T14:29:34Z")
[Here is a link](http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/) for the imagination impaired (like me). (That link is probably only good for today, 2/10) I don’t see anything to support the ‘blackberry under the table’ explanation, so the chicken choking humor is pretty weak. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/12 "2005-02-10T14:49:19Z")
I planned on opening a similar thread - I didn’t get it either. Thanks to \*\*cantara \*\* for the explanation ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/13 "2005-02-10T14:52:54Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I don’t see anything to support the ‘blackberry under the table’ explanation, so the chicken choking humor is pretty weak. Notice how the sleaves on his shirt are angled towards his mid section. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Sparky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Saint\_Sparky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Sparky)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/14 "2005-02-10T14:55:39Z")
I think it is meant to say that if Dilbert is doing all this work, it will look bad on the other office workers who don’t really work (well other then Dogbert). ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/15 "2005-02-10T15:08:26Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > [Here is a link](http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/) for the imagination impaired (like me). (That link is probably only good for today, 2/10) > > I don’t see anything to support the ‘blackberry under the table’ explanation, so the chicken choking humor is pretty weak. If that’s the answer, (and I think it may be,) I just think the strip is weak because it’s disjointed and doesn’t lead up to the final gag in an intuitive way. Oh, and the ‘ewww’ factor as well of course. Don’t need to picture dilbert doing THAT! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/16 "2005-02-10T15:23:17Z")
I saw his arms, but the only explanation for them I could think of was that he was needing to pee, which really didn’t help it make any more sense. I suspect this one is going to appear in a “Best of Dilbert” collection at some point with a “Cow Tools” explanation under it. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/17 "2005-02-10T16:54:04Z")
Sign me in as one of the Don’t Get It. I was wondering if the back-of-the-head guy we see has something to do with the punch line we’ll get tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/18 "2005-02-10T17:04:14Z")
OK, [this](http://www.blackberry.net/) is a Blackberry. I’m not that techno savvy, so I didn’t understand what he was talking about, even from the context of the last panel. I feel like Mandy Patinkin’s character in Alien Nation when James Caan was trying to explain a joke to him. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/19 "2005-02-10T17:20:39Z")
As soon as I read Dilbert this morning, I thought to myself: “I hope there’s going to be a thread on this.” Never would have got the explanation without it. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389/20 "2005-02-10T17:45:28Z")
I laughed when I saw that this morning, and couldn’t believe that Scott Adams slipped a masturbation joke in there. However, I may have been the target audience for that strip, considering I carry a Blackberry every other week. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-dilbert/289389.md?page=2)