xkcd.WTF!?

Explanation ➲

This comic presents a busy day in the clinic for doctor Ponytail, who orders 50 CCs from a nurse (probably Megan who walks in front of her rather than Cueball walking away behind her), all the while everyone is hurrying along the hall. This could be a typical scenario in a busy hospital. However the pun is that the 50 CCs are not medicine but should be used to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times.

In medicine, "CC" usually means "cubic centimeter", and is often called that by medical personnel. A cubic centimeter is equal to 1 ml (milliliter), so "50 CCs" usually means 50 ml of a certain medicine. In this case however, the doctor has not told the nurse to bring 50 CCs of any given medicine; instead, she needs to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times, with both words containing the letter combination "cc", so she needs to write that combination 50 times.

There's no conventional vaccine against hiccups. However, performing tasks meant to distract one's self is a method to stop hiccups. Therefore the act of writing "hiccup vaccine" 25 times would itself comprise one more of those hiccup cures that never seems to work. What these techniques all rely on is that they all force one to hold one's breath, thus resetting the diaphragm from its out of sync spasms. But if Ponytail has discovered a vaccine that does somehow cure or prevent hiccups, then this unexpected result is worth reporting in medical journals and seeking grants for further study. Thus, wanting to write about it 25 times is understandable!

The title text text refers to a fictional event (a wine festival with music played on accordions that has had an accident involving raccoons) with four words containing "cc" (raccoon, accident, accordion, bacchanalia), which means she needs to write "cc" 100 times. Referring to the 50 CCs from above, this would be a double dosage.

A similar doctor Ponytail is shown in 883: Pain Rating also along with Cueball and Megan and just with Megan in 996: Making Things Difficult.