3277: Forth

Forth

|< < Prev #3277 (July 27, 2026)

Title text: I NOTATION POLISH REVERSE ❤️

|< < Prev Random Explanation

Explanation

This is one of 40 incomplete explanations: This page was created recently by A FORTH ENTHUSIAST. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

Forth is a stack-oriented programming language. Like most stack-oriented programming languages, Forth's grammar incorporates Reverse Polish notation. For example, instead of an expression that adds two numbers via infix notation, such as 8 + 5, Forth would denote it as 8 5 +, indicating that the value "8" is pushed onto the stack, then a value of "5", then the operation "+" will take these latest two items from the stack and push their sum (the value 13) back onto it. Reverse Polish notation is not just limited to mathematical expressions in the language; control flow and function calls also analogously follow this notation.

This can be similar to Subject–object–verb word order, where a statement in English using Subject–verb–object order, as in "Sam ate apples", can be represented as "Sam apples ate".

The comic features a car with a bumper sticker that mentions Forth, but in a way where the message humorously reflects its grammar; a self-referential joke. The bumper sticker is a take on a common type of such with the format "I ❤️ [object]", where the object is what the driver publicly expresses personal attachment to. The heart symbol is an abbreviation of the word "love". A real-life example is the abbreviated form of the slogan "I Love New York", expressed as "I ❤️ NY". In this case, the sticker reading "I FORTH ❤️" is to be interpreted, following Forth's grammar, as "I love Forth".

Likely coincidental, the capitalization of the word "FORTH" also parallels the convention of how the language was stylized in its early years until the late 1970s. Likewise, it can be confused as an acronym, despite it not being so.

Furthermore, the English word order "Adjective-NounPhrase" becomes "NounPhrase-Adjective" in Forth. So the title text "I NOTATION POLISH REVERSE ❤️" is interpreted as "I love Reverse Polish notation".

Similarly, 1033: Formal Logic features a bumper sticker on a car, which involves personal expression. Reverse Polish notation is also the subject of 645: RPS.

Transcript

This is one of 30 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

[The right rear portion of a car is shown. On the bumper is a sticker that says:]

I FORTH ❤️

  Add comment        Create topic (use sparingly)       Refresh 

Discussion

The English language generally uses "Subject-Verb-Object" (SVO) word order, as in "Sam ate apples". Forth uses "Subject-Object-Verb" (SOV) order, as in "Sam apples ate." [[1]]

The comic refers to postfix notation, also called "reverse polish notation" or RPN for short. It's useful in technical fields. They don't seem to teach it much anymore. Forth used RPN. 130.76.187.47 18:40, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

I this hate.2A02:3032:8D:D3C9:CC6C:37FF:FE64:7969 17:58, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

Me this comic like. It very funny is! 23.251.194.242 18:22, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

Ergative? Japanese? 24.123.140.66 19:39, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

わたしはフォースが大好きです。61.8.128.78 18:42, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

Now... what kind of car is this? RadiantRainwing (talk) 18:44, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

Outside of some specialist programming, the most widespread FORTH dialects probably are Adobe's PostScript and the user and programming interface of (most of) Hewlett-Packard's handheld calculators.

Wouldn't it be: I NOTATION POLISH REVERSE ❤️ -> I NOTATION {POLISH ❤️ REVERSE} -> I {POLISH ❤️ REVERSE} NOTATION, regarding ❤️ as an operator and the result as another operator?
        Add comment