Editing 1090: Formal Languages

{{comic
| number    = 1090
| date      = August 3, 2012
| title     = Formal Languages
| image     = formal_languages.png
| titletext = [audience looks around] 'What just happened?' 'There must be some context we're missing.'
}}

==Explanation==

This joke is a play on the phrase {{w|context-free grammar}}, which is a technical term used in {{w|formal languages|formal language}} theory.

Cueball crashes Megan's speech on formal language theory, nonsensically shouts "Grammar!" without any context, and runs off. Because the gag is delivered in a particularly obtuse manner, the title text clears things up by having the confused audience mention "missing context", thus having them unwittingly explain the joke.

The concept of context-free grammar is incredibly nuanced and nigh impossible to rephrase in layman's terms. Luckily, the joke only interprets the phrase "context-free grammar" literally, so no understanding of the actual subject is required.

A context-free grammar can be described as a dictionary, translating single symbols to one or multiple symbols, who then are replaced again, until no further replacements are possible. If a string of symbols adheres to this grammar, it can be reconstructed solely by following these kind of orders.

==Transcript==
:[A large banner is hanging over a podium, where a speaker is standing. Cueball crashes through the left side of the panel, scattering glass.]
:10th Annual Symposium on Formal Languages
:''CRASH''

:Cueball: Grammar!

:[Cueball runs off the right side of the panel, so swiftly he leaves a cloud of dust in his wake. The speaker at the podium just watches silently.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]
[[Category:Puns]]