Geiger Counter
Geiger Counter
[Cueball and Ponytail are wearing hard hats and standing in what looks to be some sort of desert or rocky area. Cueball is holding a Geiger counter in his hands. Ponytail is holding a clipboard.] Cueball: At first I was confused about why they wanted me to carry a Geiger counter here, but then it clicked.

This comic is a simple pun . Cueball and Ponytail are standing in what looks to be a desert, and Cueball is holding a Geiger counter in his hand. Cueball remarks that he did not understand why he was asked to carry a Geiger counter, but that it then "clicked" with him.
Geiger counters are devices used to measure the amount of radiation in an area. When a particle of ionizing radiation hits the sensor of a Geiger counter, it will give off a distinct "clicking" noise. "Click" can also be a slang term for the Eureka effect , a sudden moment of understanding. The pun in this comic insinuates that Cueball realized why he was asked to bring the Geiger counter when it clicked, indicating radiation nearby. In radioactive areas, it is usually a good idea to carry around some sort of radiation detector for safety reasons . [ citation needed ]
This is likely a parody of a fairly well-known pun that takes advantage of a similar double meaning: "I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me." Just as that pun uses "hit me" to mean both the action of the ball and to understand, this comic uses the "clicking" to mean both the action of the Geiger counter and to understand. A related variety of pun, told in the third person , is the Tom Swifty .
The title text is also a pun, with the implication being the narrator "understood" once they "stood under" the birds that were perched on the wire (who may have then pooped on the narrator to bring them to their understanding [in the "realization" sense]).
[Cueball and Ponytail are wearing hard hats and standing in what looks to be some sort of desert or rocky area. Cueball is holding a Geiger counter in his hands. Ponytail is holding a clipboard.] Cueball: At first I was confused about why they wanted me to carry a Geiger counter here, but then it clicked.
