1257: Monster

2013-08-30T20:58:11Z

64.125.71.142: /* Explanation */ Does everyone concur that the word should have been "recurring"?

{{comic
| number = 1257
| date = August 28, 2013
| title = Monster
| image = monster.png
| titletext = It was finally destroyed with a nuclear weapon carrying the destructive energy of the Hiroshima bomb.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

This comic is a parody on the opening scene of the science fiction monster movie Pacific Rim (2013). In the film, huge monsters called Kaiju entered the world through an inter-dimensional portal under the Pacific ocean and attacked coastal cities. The first city to be attacked by a Kaiju was San Francisco, which killed tens of thousands of people before its death after six days. In the comic, officials and police are evidently trying to describe the extraordinary qualities of a huge monster by comparing it with everyday objects instead of numbers, which is a recurring theme on xkcd ([[1047: Approximations]], [[526: Converting to Metric]]) and a [http://blog.xkcd.com/2013/05/15/dictionary-of-numbers/ blog article] where Randall says "I don’t like large numbers without context."

This comic pokes fun at how common it is in the media to compare things of extraordinary qualities to a certain narrow set of well-known objects. The comic features people discussing a fictional monster which - apparently - can be only described by these overused comparisons. The caption and the title text take this joke further, especially with the tautology involved.

==Transcript==

:[People discussing anxiously over a table with a map. Megan has a clipboard, Cueball and Ponytail are wearing police hats.]

:Megan: It's as long as a football field. Runs as fast as a cheetah.
:Cueball: Weighs as much as a blue whale.
:Blonde girl: Can we negotiate with it?
:Ponytail: No. It has the intelligence of a two-year-old child.

:Caption: By the time the Frequently-Made Comparisons Monster was finally defeated, it had eaten enough people to fill a stadium and devastated an area the size of Rhode Island.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:1178: Pickup Artists

2013-02-26T23:13:03Z

64.125.71.142: Hairy or Curly, not Harry!

Oh my God, this one's brilliant. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 06:53, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:I did not get it. Waiting for explanation. [[Special:Contributions/95.35.63.243|95.35.63.243]] 07:43, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:See also comic #1027 [[Special:Contributions/65.49.14.70|65.49.14.70]] 10:47, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
Added an explanation for the title text, but it's probably too wordy and not very clear. Anyone have any suggestions? [[User:Cornarias|Cornarias]] ([[User talk:Cornarias|talk]]) 11:07, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

Umm... "The pun lies in the fact that a pickup basketball player becomes skilled at basketball."
I thought the pun was on the word "artist" meaning someone that does...art. The same goes with the "friend zone" explanation. It doesn't seem like disbelief, but rather that there is a "place to meet friends" or "a place that friends go to hang out" (in other words, "a zone of friends"). So the joke is that the world seems happier because you think the words are describing subjectively better things than they actually are. But that's just my take on the comic. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 11:11, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:P.S. This is a Saturday comic? [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 11:19, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
::Not anymore. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:21, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:Al right, just change it then. :) [[User:Jaap-Jan|Jaap-Jan]] ([[User talk:Jaap-Jan|talk]]) 14:33, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
::It's a matter of opinion, though. I don't make edits based on opinion. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 02:52, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

I think it's time we give the other guy a name. What about Sleezy Guy? [[User:ChrisFortyTwo|ChrisFortyTwo]] ([[User talk:ChrisFortyTwo|talk]])
:Seconded. I remember he's been named Harry in the past. A quick search brings up [[1028]]. He's appeared quite a bit now, and he probably should be named. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 12:54, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
::Thirded. But maybe something a bit nicer sounding. [[User:Cornarias|Cornarias]] ([[User talk:Cornarias|talk]]) 13:49, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:::Fourthed. And changed to 'Harry'. Should we add a tag as well? [[User:Jaap-Jan|Jaap-Jan]] ([[User talk:Jaap-Jan|talk]]) 14:33, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
::::That would probably have to go through due process via [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals]], but it should go through quickly enough, given how often Harry appears. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:42, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::Ah, now I get it, hehe – Harry–Hairy! (Are those two pronounced exactly the same, or just similarly?) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 18:10, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::I think he should be called "Hairy", not Harry: attributing a random real name to a character that the author himself didn't choose (like [[Megan]] or [[Mrs. Roberts]]) is likely to bring up issues, whereas calling him in a way that simply reflects how he's drawn (like [[Cueball]], [[Black Hat]], [[Ponytail]] and all the rest) just goes in direct line with what is done in the source; and it's self-explanatory in the description, it does not require the reader to be accustomed to the habits of this wiki (currently, reading "Harry" out of nowhere is quite uncanny). So, since it works pretty well here, let's call him Hairy. - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 19:30, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:::::::Agreed. Let's wait for the name to go through before messing with the edits further. [[User:Cornarias|Cornarias]] ([[User talk:Cornarias|talk]]) 21:41, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::See [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Proposals#New character]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:11, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
::::::::+1 for Hairy (or Curly?) -1 for Harry. Cueball, Black Hat, etc are descriptions, not names. [[Special:Contributions/64.125.71.142|64.125.71.142]] 23:13, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
Beret Guy is right, a day of Pickup Art sounds like a lot of fun. Everybody pack their sketchbooks, pastels and watercolours, wander around town till they find interesting vignettes or vistas, everyone sketch and paint without showing each other till picnic time. At PT, all pull out their packed lunches and eat and enjoy each other's efforts. He'll, this sounds 1000% better than almost every pub outing I have ever had.[[Special:Contributions/24.79.11.46|24.79.11.46]] 13:00, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:We could combine it with Geohashing. [[User:Curtmack|Curtmack]] ([[User talk:Curtmack|talk]]) 20:26, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
::Too bad this comic appeared in winter, not summer (in the US at least). We could make Feb 25th "Pickup Art Day" with a pickup art meet at that day's geohash. It might not catch on if it's too cold, though. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 22:09, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
:::I've always found the cold months to be more inspiring. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 02:54, 26 February 2013 (UTC)
Nice comic but as a non-American I was not familiar with the "pickup" term used in basketball. Perhaps next time include some temperature jokes in Fahrenheit to throw us right off. :) [[Special:Contributions/124.149.182.124|124.149.182.124]] 07:38, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1257: Monster

Talk:1178: Pickup Artists