Difference between revisions of "Talk:1221: Nomenclature"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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"Nomenclature" could use a definition, since it ties the joke together. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 03:41, 6 June 2013 (UTC)
 
"Nomenclature" could use a definition, since it ties the joke together. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 03:41, 6 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:So write one. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 14:17, 6 June 2013 (UTC)
 
:So write one. --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 14:17, 6 June 2013 (UTC)
 +
::The explanation looks like it needs to be rewritten since it looks so patchy from pieces of explanations just getting added on a whim.  I don't want to add to that problem since I'm not a writer.  But I appreciate your faith in me. [[Special:Contributions/76.106.251.87|76.106.251.87]] 16:55, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Revision as of 16:55, 6 June 2013

When I saw the obvious Doctor Who reference, I jumped on the Wiki hoping to be the first to post the Who's On First reference. I drastically underestimate xkcd fans. 76.106.251.87 04:44, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

I thought that the middle guy was Short Round from Temple of Doom, since he shouts "Doctor Jones, Doctor Jones!" but I suppose that doesn't really make sense.--74.125.18.32 10:05, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

I came here for an explanation of the comic and found none. So far there are only explanations of the references. Who are the three characters in the comic, and what is the situation they’re in? Which kind of confusion arised between them? (Though I got all the pop-cultural references mentioned I cannot make any sense of the comic so far.) --77.185.42.247 10:45, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

Hypothetical answer: The tall and short baseball players are Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, respectively. Abbott is talking about the baseball team with the oddly-named players from the "Who's on First" routine, except that the Doctor from "Doctor Who" is playing first base. Abbott is attempting to tell Costello about his lineup in the usual "Who's on First" style, and Costello is completely confused by it as usual. However, Megan (someone more familiar with the Doctor Who franchise) interrupts to explain that the first baseman, who Abbott thinks is named "Dr. Who", is actually just "The Doctor" and does not have "Who" as part of his name. --99.140.166.189 13:42, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

I see it as an homage to Abbot & Costello's "Who's on first" routine, but with actual characters from literature and the media. The joke is that when the "Who's on first" routine first came out everyone thought the names were just implausible, made-up characters. We were wrong, but I don't know (Third Base). Galois (talk) 11:05, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

I went a bit verbose on expanding the exposition, only to get edit-sniped right as I was posting. I think the other version is better, but FYI here is what I'd ended up with, in case any of it is still useful...

The Doctor from the long-running British television series Doctor Who has been incorrectly referred to as "Who", "Doctor Who" or "Dr. Who" by fans and commentators (not helped by the series name, itself, and how the character was credited in various earlier episodes' and some spin-off works). When not using a pseudonym or playing along with some form of mistaken identity, however, he overwhelmingly tends to introduce himself as "The Doctor". If not unquestionably accepted (perhaps due to natural Time Lord 'glamour'/confidence or some TARDIS effect) this tends to elicit the response "Doctor who?". His response to this question is often "Just 'The Doctor'."

(...which, I originally pointed out but edited away, often tends to settle things. Really, between the TARDIS translation field/etc, his recent use of psychic paper and of course his own long-practiced assertive air of self-confidence, he has avoided a lot of 'First Contact'-type problems. Not infallably so, of course, but that's Plot for you.) 178.98.154.137 13:05, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

Interestingly, it appears that his name is both "Doctor Who" and "The Doctor". All living pre-2005 actors who played the role, as well as Doctor Who Magazine itself, refer to him as Doctor Who. It's only since the reboot of the series in 2005 that people, mostly those referred to as "NuWhos", insist his one and only name is "The Doctor".

How is it that no one has mentioned the Robot Chicken take on this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNIdqvMUhrE

What does "Aunt Beast" in the title text refer to? 72.92.72.222 16:13, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

On the issue of "NuWhos" being the pedantic ones, I'm an avowed traditionalist Whovian from way back when (4th Doctor era, technically, although I actually relate more to Five's era), and we were always being joyfully sniffy about those (including 'official media', and episode credits themselves) that used to name any given incarnation as "Doctor Who". (Apart from Peter Cushing, who is a doctor named Who... and is also entirely human.)
We noticed with disgust when new-era Who perpetuated the error. The end-credits for Nine/Eccleston said "Doctor Who" for his entire season. It became only became "The Doctor" for The Christmas Invasion, the inter-season special that was Ten's first full episode. Probably due to a load of us fans berating TPTB about the error. (My recordings of the '96 TV movie and what I have of the older seasons aren't at hand, though, to double check their credits, and I know it varied. The IMDB listing for McGann's production suggests "The Doctor" was correct for him, though.)
And I can't subscribe to the authority of 'mere' actors or even official spin-off literature if the producers themselves can be shown to be utterly wrong... ;) 178.107.63.150 19:21, 5 June 2013 (UTC)


I slightly disagree with the current state of the explanation. First, I think the Doctor is the first baseman, not Mrs. Who (why else is the Doctor even being mentioned by the duo in the comic?). Second, the "on first" or "on second" is little bit ambiguous. If you say "X is on first" that could mean that X is a member of the batting team and has made it to first base, or it could mean that X is a member of the fielding team and is the first baseman. Now, the Abbot and Costello routine removes the ambiguity because it is said at the start of the skit that the team's lineup is being given, which means any references to "on first", "on second", etc. have to be to the defensive positions. But in this explanation I think it would be better to say that the Doctor is the first baseman (or is playing first) and Mrs. Whatsit is the second baseman. 16:54 5 June 2013 (UTC)

That's actually what's funny about this comic. Costello is confused about the name of the player playing first base. Megan is adding to the confusion because she misinterprets the "Who" in a new, different way than either Abbott or Costello. --DanB (talk) 17:42, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

I think we do need more explain on the title text. While we still have this confusion about names there is someone (the captain?) shouting to the field. So this must be a real baseball game. Aunt Beast is the batter and hitting the ball for Mrs Whatsit to reach the second base. --Dgbrt (talk) 19:02, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

The title text refers to "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. 71.199.241.5 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

"Nomenclature" could use a definition, since it ties the joke together. 76.106.251.87 03:41, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

So write one. --DanB (talk) 14:17, 6 June 2013 (UTC)
The explanation looks like it needs to be rewritten since it looks so patchy from pieces of explanations just getting added on a whim. I don't want to add to that problem since I'm not a writer. But I appreciate your faith in me. 76.106.251.87 16:55, 6 June 2013 (UTC)