I love being an English nerd that understands obscure literary references. Brownie points for anyone else who knows what short story this comic from xkcd refers to! Click on this link for the answer.
A Literary xkcd
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lol I knew it immediately. It’s called The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry. We read it in grade 9.
LOL I hadn’t a clue 😉 Had to cheat and click the link.
A rather twisted version, however! I sold YOURs to buy ME something? ha. good one.
Brownie points for me, but mostly because someone inevitably reads this story at church every Christmas!
I didn’t get it because I didn’t know what “left 4 dead” and “roomba” were. It distracted me… Negative points for me for not being “in the know” in 2008.
To everyone: Ha ha, I know, this made me laugh a lot. Nothing like a good English joke around the holidays.
Rebecca: It took me a second to figure out what those things were too. There are worse things not to be “in the know” about 🙂
I, too, love my English nerdiness, and I knew the story at once, too. But The Gift of the Magi’s not really obscure, is it?
I saw this comic yesterday and laughed so hard I forwarded it to my sister, but I TOTALLY missed the lit reference. Hawhoops!
Jena: I think the idea behind “The Gift of the Magi” is pretty well-known, but I don’t know how many people know it’s a short story by O. Henry, but I could be wrong on that. I just like to think I’m smart enough to get literary references 🙂
Do I get extra credit for knowing what a Roomba and “Left 4 Dead” are AND knowing the O Henry reference?
Alas, I was not an English major. But I did see a Christmas play one year based on the famous short story.
I caught onto the change, but I couldn’t remember where I knew it from! I looked at all the references — where it’s been used (the idea)… and it was actually the kids TV show Rugrats! hahaha 🙂 Thanks for expanding my horizons!
Kim L: Yes you do! I didn’t know what “Left 4 Dead” was.
monnibo: I used to love Rugrats! I must have missed that when I read the Wikipedia thing about “Gift of the Magi.”
So what is a roomba?
Louise: It’s a robotic vacuum cleaner — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roomba