language-6
Explanation
This comic is another installment in SMBC's "language" series, exploring quirks of linguistics and language evolution.
A character asks: "You ever notice how language is getting more and more imprecise?" Another responds: "Like, people say 'let's look at' but..." The comic then traces the evolution of a particular linguistic construction.
The explanation goes: "Originally, to kick ass meant to do something remarkable, a particular ass-kicker. After it loosened up, it was generalized to universal ass-kicking." In modern usage, "ass" could refer to a particular person, but it generalized into a universal intensifier.
Then: "A worldwide change in which all meaning is lost." But the counterpoint: "Please, leave and never return."
The final panel has one character saying: "So what makes you feel compelled to contribute to our middle school language development?" and the other responding: "I love language!"
The comic satirizes linguistic prescriptivism -- the tendency for people to complain that language is "getting worse" or "less precise" over time. This is a perennial complaint in every generation, and linguists generally regard it as unfounded. Language change is natural and inevitable, and what seems like "degradation" to one generation is simply evolution.
The humor comes from the irony that the very person complaining about imprecise language is themselves using casual, imprecise language to make their argument. The comic also pokes fun at amateur linguists who treat normal language evolution as a catastrophe, and the "middle school" reference suggests that this kind of language policing is juvenile. The recurring "I love language" punchline in the SMBC language series typically serves as an ironic declaration from someone whose "love" of language manifests as pedantic complaints about how other people use it.