2014-01-10
Explanation
The Joke
In a segment titled "Weiner Family Stories" (a recurring meta-reference to the cartoonist Zach Weiner'''s own family), a couple explains that they named their daughter Ada. A friend asks if they are worried that kids will make fun of someone named Ada Weiner (which sounds like "ate a wiener"). The mother dismisses the concern, saying if kids tease her, she will just grow up tough. When the friend then asks what Ada'''s middle name is, the mother cheerfully reveals it is "Opuncturable" -- making the full name "Ada Opuncturable Weiner" (i.e., "ate a unpuncturable wiener").
The Humor
The comic sets up the reader to think the parents are being reasonable and resilient about the teasing potential of the last name "Weiner." The friend'''s concern about "Ada Weiner" sounding like "ate a wiener" is acknowledged and brushed aside. But the punchline reveals that the parents have, perhaps unwittingly or perhaps mischievously, made things far worse by giving her the middle name "Opuncturable," which turns the full name into an even more elaborate and absurd innuendo. The humor is in the escalation: instead of mitigating the problem, they have doubled down on it spectacularly.
References
"Weiner Family Stories" is a recurring bit in SMBC where Zach Weinersmith (the cartoonist) mines humor from his own surname. Ada is also the name of Ada Lovelace, the pioneering mathematician, which may be an intentional nod given Weinersmith'''s fondness for science and math references.