The Simpsons fans stunned after learning why Maggie was scanned in opening credits

There is a hilariously brilliant reason why Maggie has one of the best and most odd gags in The Simpsons' opening credits.

As it is one of the best things to ever grace TV screens, there is no shame in admitting you still throw up the odd Simpsons episode.

Granted... it better be between season 1 and 12, the less said about the later seasons the better, to be honest.

But anyway, have you ever wondered why in the opening credits why Maggie gets scanned?

Going beyond that, did you ever wonder what it actually says when she is scanned?

Now technically there are two answers. So hold on to your Duff hats.

Based on the season 7 episode, 'The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular' it the barcode says 'NRA4EVER'

In the episode the narrator jokes: "Just one of the hundreds of radical, right-wing messages inserted into every show by creator Matt Groening"

But there is actually another explanation which Groening has previously commented on.

Maggie is one pricey baby. (Disney)

In early episodes of The Simpsons, the cash register charges $847.63 for the youngest Simpson - potentially not that much in terms of how much a human life costs, but a figure which fit with a fact at the time.

Show creator Matt Groening has previously confirmed that in the year The Simpsons was released (1989) the estimated monthly cost of raising a child in the US was – you guessed it – $847.63.

The figure was the creator's inside joke, though it has changed over the years.

More recently, viewers could see Marge's total shopping bill come in at $243.26 before Maggie passes through, at which point it doubles to $486.52.

Unfortunately, the cost of raising a child hasn't decreased - instead, the creators decided to change the figure to reflect the fact that kids are still costly, without tying themselves to a figure that would quickly change.

Maggie being scanned was an inside joke. (Disney)

Learning that there's an actual reason tied to Maggie being scanned, and that it's not just another quip at how chaotic the family is, has left fans of the show stunned.

After X - formerly known as Twitter - account Uber Facts shared the revelation last month, one person wrote: "I’ve always wondered about that. Not kidding."

Another Simpsons fan previously responded to the news with a gif reading 'you just blew my mind', while others couldn't resist pointing out that the cost of raising a child has risen steeply since the show first aired.

"That’s one month of daycare for an infant (if you’re lucky)," one wrote years after the first episodes.

In case you were wondering, 2022 analysis from the Brookings Institution revealed that the cost to raise a child in the US now will set you back a whopping $310,000.

With all those zeroes, I think the Simpsons' cash register is going to need a bigger screen.