# Xkcd 914 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2011, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133 "2011-06-20T10:44:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/21 "2011-06-20T17:27:12Z")
This may be the most obscure XKCD comic strips I ever had to deal with. The previous winner was the one where I had to watch the movie **Primer** to figure out the punchline. Most of the obscure ones can usually figured out with a Google query. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/22 "2011-06-20T17:29:29Z")
Had you ever heard the urban legend the strip is referring to? I thought it was hilarious. I didn’t get the AAA Club joke until BigT linked to the AIDS Club reference, but the kidney joke I recognized immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/23 "2011-06-20T17:44:13Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > This may be the most obscure XKCD comic strips I ever had to deal with. The previous winner was the one where I had to watch the movie **Primer** to figure out the punchline. Most of the obscure ones can usually figured out with a Google query. Google for: [kidney ice bath](http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=kidney+ice+bath&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) [lipstick mirror welcome](http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=lipstick+mirror+welcome&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) I think those are pretty obvious search terms. In both cases, the first hit was a Snopes link to the urban legend in question. Granted, for the first one, you have to figure out that the little blobs are kidneys, but they look pretty kidney-like to me. (Of course, I’ve had a City of Villains character called “Kidney Thief” for years, so it wasn’t much of a leap for me.) Googling the words “wake”, “ice”, and “bath” together also gets you the Snopes link, though it’s a few hits down the page, below some YouTube links, so at least there’s a way past the stick-figure kidneys. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/24 "2011-06-20T18:01:17Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Why? The link in the OP goes directly to the strip ([914](http://xkcd.com/914/)), not to the “today’s strip” ([constantly changing](http://xkcd.com/)). Because the thread title is 941. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/25 "2011-06-20T18:09:53Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Because the thread title is 941. Fixed that. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/26 "2011-06-20T18:47:29Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **Mod swoops in…** > > Fixed that. Everybody stand back! [Wheeeeee[taptaptap]eeeeee](http://xkcd.com/208/) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/27 "2011-06-20T18:55:30Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Because the thread title is 941. Sorry or maybe I should say Srory. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/28 "2011-06-20T19:03:44Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > What’s in the tub is **kidneys**. Instead of waking up in a tub of ice with his kidneys stolen, he woke up in a tub of _kidneys_ with his _ice_ stolen. Exactly! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/29 "2011-06-20T19:16:48Z")
I wonder if Monroe is prepared for the Strip 1k problem. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/30 "2011-06-20T19:31:31Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Google for: > [kidney ice bath](http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=kidney+ice+bath&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) > > [lipstick mirror welcome](http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=lipstick+mirror+welcome&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) > > I think those are pretty obvious search terms. In both cases, the first hit was a Snopes link to the urban legend in question. Granted, for the first one, you have to figure out that the little blobs are kidneys, but they look pretty kidney-like to me. (Of course, I’ve had a City of Villains character called “Kidney Thief” for years, so it wasn’t much of a leap for me.) > > Googling the words “wake”, “ice”, and “bath” together also gets you the Snopes link, though it’s a few hits down the page, below some YouTube links, so at least there’s a way past the stick-figure kidneys. It looks to me like we have an excellent opportunity for a discussion of which XKCD strip is the most obscure. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/31 "2011-06-20T19:55:43Z")
The problem with Xkcd is that you suspect that you are a smart enough fellow, the artist is just not too clear about his jokes, but you can’t say anything in case everybody else did get it and it turns out that you are too dumb. In my opinion, the character realizing that his ice had been stolen should have been the last panel punchline. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/32 "2011-06-20T20:10:39Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > It looks to me like we have an excellent opportunity for a discussion of which XKCD strip is the most obscure. I think the most obscure is going to be something much more limited in audience. I have no idea what PERL is, so I don’t fully get the strip that chrisk linked to. But I can appreciate that it’s some programming joke, and understand it on that level without bothering to learn what “regular expressions” or what “escape a space” mean. The stolen kidney urban legend is popular and been around long enough that my mom has probably heard of it. I don’t think it’d ever be in the running. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/33 "2011-06-20T20:17:03Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > In my opinion, the character realizing that his ice had been stolen should have been the last panel punchline. Do you mean, cut out the bathtub full of kidneys altogether, or just swap the last two panels, so we see him in the bathtub asleep, and then he wakes up and realizes his ice has been stolen? ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/34 "2011-06-20T21:37:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Do you mean, cut out the bathtub full of kidneys altogether, or just swap the last two panels, so we see him in the bathtub asleep, and then he wakes up and realizes his ice has been stolen? The latter. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133/35 "2011-06-21T00:16:50Z")
I have to admit that I really loved this one because, for once, I got the obscure joke, since it wasn’t pop culture related. You see, the reason I even found this site was because I visited snopes religiously, ran out of urban legends from hitting the random button, and so headed into their forums, where one urban legend was debunked by a Straight Dope article. And all of this is because I used to think Mr. Ed was really a zebra… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-914/586133.md?page=1)