2013-06-26
Explanation
This comic shows a couple in an intimate moment. The woman asks the man, "Why do you always do that counter-clockwise motion?" The man, positioned below her, responds with a pseudo-scientific explanation: "We'''re 40 degrees north of the equator. Clockwise cunnilingus is impossible without mechanical assistance." The caption at the bottom reads: "Life Tip: People will believe anything you say if you attribute it to the Coriolis effect."
The joke is a parody of the popular myth that water drains in different directions depending on which hemisphere you are in, supposedly due to the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect is a real phenomenon caused by the Earth'''s rotation that influences large-scale systems like weather patterns and ocean currents, but it has essentially zero effect on small-scale phenomena like draining bathtubs -- let alone the absurd application presented here. The man is using this common scientific misconception to give a hilariously over-the-top justification for his bedroom technique.
In the votey, the child of this couple (presumably) prays, "Please let my parents skip today, please let my parents skip today" -- implying that the child has been exposed to more of their parents''' candid discussions than any child would want, and dreads when they read this particular SMBC comic aloud or discuss such topics.