# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 278
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5543 "2026-02-02T23:29:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Rather, the priest has a couple of unlit candles used as a prop for blessing the throats of the congregants. I initially misread that as the stoats of the congregants. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5544 "2026-02-02T23:41:34Z")
You definitely don’t want diseases of the stoat, but I don’t know which Bishop has that covered ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5545 "2026-02-03T00:00:29Z")
Don’t worry, someone will ferret that out! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2026, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5546 "2026-02-03T00:01:38Z")
The Catholic Church has a saint for every need. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2026, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5547 "2026-02-03T00:09:11Z")
Not that I could find. Francis gets the general stewardship of all animals. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5548 "2026-02-03T00:41:10Z")
When our mass spectrometer was acting up, I looked it up and yes…there is a patron saint of lab equipment. Well, he’s the patron saint of scientists so lab equipment falls under his jurisdiction. [St. Albertus Magnus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertus_Magnus). We put up a poster. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5549 "2026-02-03T00:43:59Z")
There’s a lot of those general-purpose broad patron saints, that are officially declared, but the folks working in any given field generally have their own notion of who the real, and specific, patron saints are. Who might not even be canonized yet: Ordinary people recognizing someone as a saint is the start of the process of canonization. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5550 "2026-02-03T16:09:01Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Let’s put candle back [Putting the candle back](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4zFeP36wGkQ) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5551 "2026-02-03T18:02:42Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > [St. Albertus Magnus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertus_Magnus). Sounds like he belongs in the Potterverse. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5552 "2026-02-05T07:11:07Z")
> **[Binary Star](https://xkcd.com/3203/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/binary_star.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/binary_star.png) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5553 "2026-02-05T07:15:05Z")
Mouseover: The discovery of a fully typographical star system comes with a big asterisk. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5554 "2026-02-05T14:18:32Z")
That always raises the question of whose asterisk is it anyway? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5555 "2026-02-05T16:19:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [xkcd: Groundhog Day Meaning](https://xkcd.com/3202/) This was one of the funnier recent XKCDs I actually LOLed. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5556 "2026-02-05T16:23:32Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > That always raises the question of whose asterisk is it anyway? Asterisk. Isn’t he that French comic Viking kind of guy? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5557 "2026-02-05T19:50:53Z")
Almost, but not quite. His name is **[Asterix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix)** (Astérix in the French original) and he is a Gaul. But his name is a pun on asterisk indeed, just as his friend Obelix’ name is a pun on obelisk. The whole comic is full of puns. This Asterix is René Goscinny’s (writer) and Albert Uderzo’s (illustrator). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5558 "2026-02-06T03:35:07Z")
Yeah, Asterisk and his pal Odalesque, or maybe it’s Oubliette. I forget. ;-D ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5559 "2026-02-06T04:42:52Z")
Naw, naw, naw. Oubliette was the round-headed kid in _The Point_. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5560 "2026-02-06T10:54:28Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > or maybe it’s Oubliette. I forget. ISWYDT ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5561 "2026-02-06T13:47:10Z")
Me and my Oreo, wherever we go . . . ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5562 "2026-02-06T14:44:20Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > his friend Obelix’ name is a pun on obelisk Asterisk: \* Obelus: ÷ † ⁒ ⸓ Obelisk: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/France-000122\_-\_Luxor\_Obelisk\_(14524589927).jpg/500px-France-000122\_-\_Luxor\_Obelisk\_(14524589927).jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/France-000122_-_Luxor_Obelisk_%2814524589927%29.jpg/500px-France-000122_-_Luxor_Obelisk_%2814524589927%29.jpg) Goscinny, how we miss thee 😢 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=277) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=279)