xkcd.WTF!?

Explanation ➲

Cueball begins singing "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. But, during the second line, instead of continuing with the actual lyrics, he sings that the copper from his kettles is flaking off. He then realizes that he's been scammed, and curses the name of Ea-nāṣir to the heavens.

This references the complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir, an archeological artifact containing the earliest known written business complaint, found in the ancient city of Ur and dated to around 1750 BCE. Ea-nāṣir was a Sumerian copper merchant, and the writer of the complaint alleged Ea-nāṣir had scammed him by offering sub-quality copper (echoed by Cueball's counterfeit copper kettle), refused to provide a refund and had fallen short of expectations in other ways. Additional correspondence was discovered, to indicate that this was not their only dissatisfied customer. Ea-nāṣir was also referenced in 2650: Deepfakes.

In recent years, this complaint tablet has become an internet meme, deriving humor from the fact that so many of its themes (business fraud, poor customer service, a hapless consumer trying to get his money back) are still very much applicable today, nearly 4,000 years later. One such meme references a 2021 fraud case in Turkey, in which a trader was charged 36 million USD for a shipment of copper ingots, which turned out to be stones, painted with a veneer to make them look like copper. This line about "stone with a copper veneer" likely refers to this case.

The title text continues the parody for the chorus of the song, for which the original is "When the dog bites/When the bee stings/When I'm feeling sad/I simply remember my favorite things/And then I don't feel/So bad". "Ur guy" references Ea-nāṣir, while Nanni is the name of the customer who wrote the complaint.