In one strip, Calvin says to Hobbes, "I've been reading about the beginning of the universe. They call it 'The Big Bang.' Isn't it weird how scientists can imagine all the matter of the universe exploding out of a dot smaller than the head of a pin, but they can't come up with a more evocative name for it than 'the Big Bang'? That's the whole problem with science. You've got a bunch of empiricists trying to describe things of unimaginable wonder."
Hobbes asks, "What would you call the creation of the universe?"
Calvin replies, "The Horrendous Space Kablooie!"
This term enjoyed a brief popularity in the scientific community and was widely used in informal communications (often abbreviated to "the HSK").