post
Explanation
The Joke
A man asks whether the old English word "post" in "postman" could mean something other than "mail" — specifically, he raises the possibility that it could mean "after man," as the Latin prefix "post-" means "after." The woman he's asking responds "Absolutely," validating the interpretation.
The man then starts building absurd implications from this reading: a "postman" would be a being that comes after humanity, implying that the role of mail carrier is actually a reference to a posthuman or post-human entity. The final panel reveals the punchline — someone exclaims "Oh God, the postman is here!" as if the arrival of the postman is a terrifying event, now reframed as the arrival of a being that has transcended humanity.
The Humor
The comic plays on the dual meaning of "post" — as a word for mail and as a Latin-derived prefix meaning "after." By taking an absurd etymological reading completely seriously, the comic transforms the mundane figure of a postal worker into an existential threat. The joke is a classic SMBC move of taking a nerdy linguistic observation and escalating it to ridiculous extremes. The final panel sells the gag by showing people reacting to the postman with genuine fear, as though the posthuman apocalypse has arrived in the form of a mail carrier.
The caption text "Do better, Socrates" adds another layer, mocking the Socratic method of questioning — the man's line of reasoning follows a technically valid logical structure but arrives at an absurd conclusion, parodying how philosophical inquiry can go off the rails.