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The About of the SE chat bot writes:

I'm just a bot. Sometimes I post feed items, sometimes I post room status changes, sometimes I dream about electric unicorns.

I'm not a native speaker so I don't get the metaphor of the electric unicorn. What does it mean? Why does the bot dream about it? A quick google doesn't give me any useful information.

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A few things here...

One is the Unicorns reference - it is a Stack Exchange meme. We love unicorns.

The other is a play on the science fiction book that lead to the motion film Blade Runner - the original title is "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep".

Since a bot can be seen to be an "android" (albeit without a body), and with our love for unicorns, you get the "sometimes I dream about electric unicorns".

Ruined the joke for anyone?

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  • 3
    Note how dreams of unicorns also play an important role in Blade Runner.
    – Wrzlprmft
    Oct 31, 2014 at 20:59
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    I'd like to highlight that it's not a simple sci-fi book, respects shall be payed when talking about Philip K. Dick's work :)
    – brasofilo
    Oct 31, 2014 at 21:23
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    Please hide this from Marvel/DC otherwise they will make a superhero out of it.
    – Ankit Sharma
    Mar 17, 2015 at 11:03

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