explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1011: Baby Names

2015-07-12T07:42:06Z

108.162.221.183: A computer from Free China (arguably the Chinese gov't-in-exile)

{{comic
| number = 1011
| date = February 1, 2012
| title = Baby Names
| image = baby names.png
| titletext = I've been trying for a couple years now but I haven't been able to come up with a name dumber than 'Renesmee'.
}}

==Explanation==

The punchline for this one is in the title text as Renesmee is the name of {{w|Renesmee_Cullen#Renesmee_Cullen|Renesmee Cullen}}, who is the baby born in the book and movie {{w|Breaking Dawn}} to parents Edward and Bella. Edward and Bella get "Renesmee" from an amalgamation of the names of Bella's mother, Renée, and Edward's adoptive mother, Esme.

[[Randall]]'s point above stands. All those names are terrible, but (arguably) not nearly as terrible as the name Renesmee.

A further analysis on baby names are presented by Randall at his Blag (Blog) here: [http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/01/31/the-baby-name-wizard/ The Baby Name Wizard].

* Ponzi - An Italian surname, most often associated with "Ponzi scheme".
* Eeemily - A corruption of "Emily". May also be a {{w|Asus_Eee_PC|marketing plug}}.
* Fire Fire - Even a single "Fire" would be odd as a name, at least in the American dialects. It would also not be a good idea to call your child's name in a crowded place.
* Chipotla - A reference to chipotle seasoning, or perhaps the very popular restaurant.
* Astamouthe - Could be pronounced "Ass to mouth".
* Eggsperm - A child is conceived by combining an egg and a sperm, this child's name is conceived by combining the names of the two things.
* [sound of record scratch] - This cannot be spelled or reliably pronounced.
* Parsley - A seasoning.
* Hot'n'Juicy Ann - "Ann" is a normal name. Prefacing it with the sexual "Hot'n'Juicy" part is not normal. {{Citation needed}}
* Ovari - Female reproductive organ, misspelled.
* Friendly - Odd enough on its own, but when referring to her possessions it would create confusion with the restaurant {{w|Friendly's}}. Can also be humorous in introductions - "Hi I'm Friendly and I hate you."
* Sean (pronounced "seen") - While this isn't an incorrect pronunciation, the more common pronunciation would be "Shawn".
* Joyst - Corruption of "Joyce".

==Transcript==
:[Cueball sits at a desk, thinking with his hand on his chin, his other hand holding a pen over a piece of paper. Megan stands behind him, looking over his shoulder, also with her hand on her chin.]

:[Above the drawing is the list they are writing by hand.]

:Names for daughter

:# Ponzi
:# Eeemily
:# Fire Fire
:# Chipotla
:# Astamouthe
:# Eggsperm
:# [sound of record scratch]
:# Parsley
:# Hot'n'Juicy Ann
:# Ovari
:# Friendly
:# Sean (pronounced "seen")
:# Joyst

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Charts]]

Talk:1537: Types

2015-06-12T17:10:07Z

108.162.221.183: Line 3 is missing its prompt.

Relevant: WAT talk https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat

Are (6) and (7) about completing sequences?

If the sequence was [1, 2, 3, ?] we would expect the ? to be a placeholder for 4. So [1, 2, 3]+2 is wrong := FALSE. But [1, 2, 3]+4 is correct := TRUE.

"+2 appears to be applying a unary + to the number 2" : or it adds the number of the line, 10, to 2 => 12. Also, the eleventh line, "2+2" may add 2 to all the following 2, explaining line 12. (that theory is from a friend of mine) [[User:Seipas|Seipas]] ([[User talk:Seipas|talk]]) 12:17, 12 June 2015 (UTC)
: Also, for the lines 6 and 7, the operation "[1,2,3]+x" may add x to the set [1,2,3] and return true if the operation succeeded or false if not. Adding 2 to the set [1,2,3] returns false because 2 is already in [1,2,3]. [[User:Seipas|Seipas]] ([[User talk:Seipas|talk]]) 12:23, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

Yellowish Blue: http://www.livescience.com/17948-red-green-blue-yellow-stunning-colors.html is NaN!

''"The ironic thing is that fractions with 2 in the nominator are not the kind of numbers that typically suffer from floating point impreciseness."''
- This is not technically correct. Should read "fractions with 'power of 2' in the '''de'''nominator. However, the 3/2 would cause precision errors.
: I don't know proper English wording for things, but 3/2=3*2^-1, so it would be represented exactly under IEEE-754 too. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.217|141.101.89.217]] 13:58, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

Is there more to this comic, a fixed set of rules that can tie all the examples together, or does each line make its own joke independently? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.5|108.162.219.5]] 12:54, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

== "normally" ==

<blockquote>This would make sense if it was <code>[] + 2</code></blockquote>

It really wouldn't. Javascript returns <code>"2"</code> (god knows why) and Python gives an error. Don't really feel like testing many other languages, but I also think it's not really a logical assumption to make at all. Can't think of a reason for <code>[] + 2</code> to return <code>[2]</code>... ever. It ''might'' make a little bit of sense in Randall's oddly typed language, but not in any sane one. --[[User:TotempaaltJ|TotempaaltJ]] ([[User talk:TotempaaltJ|talk]]) 12:35, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

: Javascript first converts <code>[]</code> (the empty array) to the empty string (using the rule "stringify each element and join with a comma"), then treats the operation as <code>"" + 2</code>, which results in conversion of the other operand to string and then concatenation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.214|141.101.97.214]] 12:46, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

line 4: asci code of N + 2 = asci code of P [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 13:07, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

My favourite xkcd in a while. =8o) Of the list I got a good laugh out of numbers 8 and 13. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:11, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

I think a lot of this is his joke about programming languages loving the number 4. 2 + "2" = "4", [1,2,3] + 4 = true, 2+2 = DONE, and the range one all seem to support this. Also reminds me of this: http://xkcd.com/221/

Why isn't yellowish blue just green? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 16:18, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

line 4: I read NaP as Not a Problem. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.12|141.101.104.12]] 17:00, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

Line 3 is missing its prompt. There does not appear to be any relevance to the joke, nor has anyone yet explained why it should be missing. Typo? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.183|108.162.221.183]] 17:10, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

1537: Types

2015-06-12T17:03:30Z

108.162.221.183: /* Transcript */ Line 3 does not contain a prompt bracket.

{{comic
| number = 1537
| date = June 12, 2015
| title = Types
| image = types.png
| titletext = colors.rgb("blue") yields "#0000FF". colors.rgb("yellowish blue") yields NaN. colors.sort() yields "rainbow"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Title text not explained. More details before the list.}}

This comic is a series of programming jokes about a ridiculous new programming language, perhaps inspired by [https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat Gary Bernhardt's CodeMash 2012 lightning talk] on Javascript's unpredictable typing. The (highly technical) audience is unable to correctly guess the results of adding various Javascript types, and roars with laughter when they're revealed.

Most regular programming languages distinguish a number of types, e.g. integers , strings, lists,... All of which have different behaviours. The operation "+" is conventionally defined over more than one of these types. Applied to two integers, it returns their addition, but applied to two strings (denoted by being enclosed in quotes) it concatenates them:

<code>> 2 + 3

5

> "123" + "abc"

"123abc"</code>

While these behaviours are standard, conventional, and intuitive, there is a huge amount of variation among programming languages when you apply an operation like "+" to different types. One logical approach is to always return an error in all cases of type mixing, but it is often practical to allow some case mixing, since it can hugely simplify an operation. Variation and lack of a clearly more intuitive behaviour leads some languages to have weird results when you mix types.

# <code>2 + "2"</code> uses the <code>+</code> operator on a number and a string. In a normal language, this would result either the number <code>4</code> (addition), or <code>"22"</code> (string concatenation); however, the new language converts the string to an integer, adds them to produce <code>4</code> and converts back to a string. Alternately, it is adding 2 to the ASCII value of the character <code>"2"</code>, which (interpreted as a string) is <code>"4"</code>. This is (somewhat) consistent with the behavior for item 4.
# <code>"2" + []</code> adds a string to an array (a list), this time. This first inexplicably converts the string to a number again, and then it literally adds the number to the list by appending it (this would make sense if it was <code>[] + 2</code>, but usually not the other way around). And then the result (the entire array) is converted to a string again.
# <code>(2/0)</code> divides <code>2</code> by <code>0</code> and quite reasonably results in <code>NaN</code> (not a number).
# <code>(2/0)+2</code> adds <code>2</code> to <code>NaN</code>. <code>2</code> is "added" to the string <code>"NaN"</code> (again, the number is converted to a string for apparently no reason), which produces <code>"NaP"</code>, as if <code>2</code> was added to <code>"N"</code> to produce <code>"P"</code> (as per alphabetical order or ASCII encoding; <code>N</code> is <code>01001110</code>, and adding 2 to this results in <code>01010000</code> which is <code>P</code>).
# <code>""+""</code> looks like it is concatenating (adding) an empty string (i.e. <code>""</code>) to another empty string, which should produce an empty string. However, the entire thing is treated as one string (with the start quote being the first one and the end quote being the very last one), which produces the egregious '<code>"+"</code>'.
# <code>[1,2,3]+2</code> seems to test whether it's sound to append <code>2</code> to the list <code>[1,2,3]</code>, and concludes that it doesn't fit the pattern, returning the boolean value <code>false</code>. It could conceivably also be the result of an attempt to add <code>2</code> to the ''set'' <code>[1,2,3]</code>, which already contains that element (although <code>{1,2,3}</code> would be a more common notation for sets).
# <code>[1,2,3]+4</code> returns <code>true</code> for much the same reason.
# <code>2/(2-(3/2+1/2))</code> is a floating point joke. Floating point numbers are notoriously imprecise. With precise mathematics, <code>(3/2+1/2)</code> would be exactly 2, hence the entire thing would evaluate to <code>2/0</code> or <code>NaN</code> in Randall's new language. However, the result of <code>(3/2+1/2)</code> is "just slightly off," which makes the result "just slightly off" of <code>NaN</code> (which would be ridiculous in a real language). The ironic thing is that fractions with 2 in the denominator are ''not'' the kind of numbers that typically suffer from floating point impreciseness. Additionally, if there was indeed a rounding error, the actual calculation becomes something like <code>2/0.0000000000000013</code>, which should not return a <code>NaN</code> since it is not division by zero.
# <code>range(" ")</code> normally wouldn't make any sense. However, the new language appears to interpret it as ASCII, and in the ASCII table, character #32 is space, #33 is <code>!</code>, and #34 is <code>"</code>. So, instead of interpreting <code>" "</code> as a string, it seems to be interpreted as <code>34, 32, 34</code> (in ASCII), and then <code>range</code> appears to transform this into <code>34, 33, 32, 33, 34</code> (the "ranges" between the numbers), which, interpreted as ASCII, becomes <code>['"', '!', ' ', '!', '"']</code>.
# <code>+2</code> appears to be applying a unary <code>+</code> to the number <code>2</code>, which should just be <code>2</code>. However, the code is adding <code>2</code> to the line number <code>10</code> in this context.
# <code>2+2</code> would normally be <code>4</code>. However, the interpreter takes this instruction to mean to add the value 2 to the literal value of <code>2</code>, making it <code>4</code> and then reports that the work is "Done". This can be seen in the subsequent lines where all <code>2</code>s are replaced by <code>4</code>s. This could be a reference to languages like Fortran where [http://everything2.com/title/Changing+the+value+of+5+in+FORTRAN literals could be assigned new values].
# <code>range(1,5)</code> would normally return <code>[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]</code>. However, since the value of <code>2</code> has been changed to <code>4</code>, it returns <code>[1, 4, 3, 4, 5]</code>, and this even affects the line number (which is 14 instead of 12).
# <code>floor(10.5)</code> should return <code>10</code> (the "floor" of a decimal number is that number rounded down). However, it instead returns {{w|ASCII art}} of the number on a "floor."

The title text contains three further examples relating to color. <code>color.rgb("blue")</code> returns the hexadecimal code for pure blue (as would be used in HTML, for example), which is how a real programming language might work. The lookup for "yellowish blue" returns "NaN" (Not a Number) again, which makes sense at one level because there is no such color as "yellowish blue" (yellow and blue make green). However a more typical result would have been a failure indicating that the color database does not include the name, in the same way that a typo such as "bluw" would. Similarly sorting the colors would normally produce some defined ordering, such as alphabetical, but in this language it generates the string "rainbow". It seems that Randall's new language understands color theory in an unusually deep way.

==Transcript==
My new language is great, but it has a few quirks regarding type:
<pre>
[1]> 2+"2"
=> "4"
[2]> "2"+[]
=> "[2]"
[3] (2/0)
=> NaN
[4]> (2/0)+2
=> NaP
[5]> ""+""
=> '"+"'
[6]> [1,2,3]+2
=> FALSE
[7]> [1,2,3]+4
=> TRUE
[8]> 2/(2-(3/2+1/2))
=> NaN.0000000000000013
[9]> range(" ")
=> ('"','!'," ","!",'"')
[10]> +2
=> 12
[11]> 2+2
=> DONE
[14]> RANGE(1,5)
=> (1,4,3,4,5)
[13]> FLOOR(10.5)
=> |
=> |
=> |
=> |
=> |___10.5___
</pre>

The alt text for the image starts out with colors.rgb("blue") yields "#0000FF". Again, it just took a string, turned it into a variable, and made it a string again. However, the .rgb function shouldn't be returning a hex code for the color!
It then transitions into colors.rgb("yellowish blue") yields "NaN". Seeing how it returned a hex code for the last one, attempting to get the RGB value of an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_color impossible color] would predictably cause it to return NaN.
Finally, colors.sort() yields "rainbow". It just got stuffed through a prism, which sorted the colors into a rainbow!
{{comic discussion}}

647: Scary

2015-01-28T06:06:14Z

108.162.221.183: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 647
| date = October 9, 2009
| title = Scary
| image = scary.png
| titletext = I'm teaching every 8-year-old relative to say this, and every 14-year-old to do the same thing with Toy Story. Also, Pokemon hit the US over a decade ago and kids born after Aladdin came out will turn 18 next year.
}}

==Explanation==
Uncle [[Rob]] is telling his eight-year-old nephew a ghost story, employing such stereotyped devices as a flash light-lit face and stock ghost story endings. Normally you do not look for the head of a ghost, but of a body - then the ghost may be a headless one.

Rob's precocious nephew thus characterizes the ghost story as "lame," meaning that it was unimpressive or unconvincingly feeble. His uncle Rob ask him if he can come up with something scarier. Sure he says and offers the much scarier notion that even though he has been born after {{w|9/11}} he is already old enough to be able to have this kind of conversation.

No hidden meaning here, but this sure is scary for many adults. What's being implied here is that time seems to be moving really quickly and we're getting older faster than we think. Events that seem like they "just happened" have happened long enough ago for a whole other person to come into existence, grow up, and learn to carry on a conversation. Every time we get reminded of this fact, it can be scary, as you then realize that you are now closer to your death...

9/11 was a terrorist attack in the United States in 2001, on September 11th. Major events such as the assassination of {{w|Assassination of John F. Kennedy|Kennedy}}, the Moon Landing of {{w|Apollo 11}} or 9/11 are easily memorable. It is often said that "everyone remembers where they were when they first heard...". In consequence, these events act as milestones in our memory. They are recalled more vividly, and seem more recent. Today this is maybe also topping the {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor}} happened in 1941.

The title text mentions that [[Randall]] is teaching his 8 year old relatives to say the same as in the comic — presumably to the annoyance of his older relatives who will be reminded of the fast passage of time. He does not stop here, but teaches the 14 year old's to say they are born after {{w|Toy Story}} — a major block buster hit from {{w|Pixar}} which came out in 1995. A movie many people will remember fondly and feel just came out the other day... He continues with these scary thoughts by mentioning that {{w|Pokémon}} (1996) came out over a decade ago and that kids born after the big {{w|Disney}} hit movie {{w|Aladdin_(1992_Disney_film)|Aladdin}} from 1992 will turn 18 next year (i.e. in 2010 a year after this comic was published).

[[Randall]] has since this comic tried to make people feel old several times in [[891: Movie Ages]], [[973: MTV Generation]], [[1393: Timeghost]], and [[1477: Star Wars]].

==Transcript==
:[First panel: Rob and his nephew are sitting on the ground. Rob is holding a flash-light up to his face.]
:Rob: But they ''never found the ghost's head!''
:Nephew: Lame story, Uncle Rob.
:Rob: And you could do scarier?
:Nephew: Sure.

:[Second panel: Rob has removed the flash-light from his face.]
:Rob: Try me.
:Nephew: 9/11 happened before I was born, yet I'm old enough to have this conversation with you.

:[Third panel: Rob has dropped the flash-light.]

:[Last panel: Rob has curled up and wrapped his arms around himself.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Rob]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

1393: Timeghost

2015-01-28T06:05:21Z

108.162.221.183: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1393
| date = July 11, 2014
| title = Timeghost
| image = timeghost.png
| titletext = 'Hello, Ghostbusters?' 'ooOOoooo people born years after that movie came out are having a second chiiiild right now ooOoooOoo'
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] has been haunted by a ''Timeghost'' for some time. It is obviously not the first time the ghost arrives to let Megan know that "...ooOOOOOOOOooo... Tiiiime is passiiiing!" The ghost is dedicated to making people feel old by having them think about the passage of time. It is shown to reference time periods related to well-known people and events, such as famous actors and the release of movies and TV shows. Megan is just annoyed that it is back and wishes it to go away.

But then when [[Cueball]] ask "How long has it been doing this?" the ghost suddenly predicts that Megan and Cueball will die in a shorter amount of time than the time that has passed since the ghost began its hauntings. This disturbs Megan who stops her complaining and asks "'''What!?'''" This is not the first time she has been haunted by the ghost but it has probably not been that long, so this is a very scary thought to her (and Cueball).

We do, however, not know how long the ghost has been haunting Megan. Also the "staaaaart of my haunting" may refer to the first time the ghost haunted anyone, not just Megan. This could be a long time ago and thus be true for anyone it meets today. Or it could mean since the start of this particular manifestation, meaning their deaths are imminent! It is also possible Timeghost is being deliberately ambiguous in an effort to frighten them even more. This is of course only scary if you believe the ghost can predict the future, which is not what it has been doing so far. There is no example in the comic where it makes a prediction that we know is accurate - only comparing time spans we can look up - see below.

But one thing about the prediction is true - they will eventually '''die'''. And this is the scary part about realizing how old you are and that you are quickly getting older: You will die soon.

The comic seems to be using "factoid" to mean a small fact. "{{w|Factoid}}" can also mean a "questionable or spurious statement presented as a fact", but this does not seem to be intended usage here. In this instance, some of the factoids are easily verifiable, while others are reasonable assumptions based on the number of years passed since the individual events. Several sources advocate the use of the word "factlet" to express a brief interesting fact, while using the word "factoid" for unverifiable or untrue statements passed as fact.

While ''factoids'' tend only to have mostly only entertainment value, the last ''fact'' from the ghost is a prediction of the future (Megan and Cueball's death) which is actually of some practical value if it can be trusted.

"Timeghost" might be a literal interpretation of {{w|Zeitgeist}}, which is a German term for "spirit of time" and refers to the school of thought that influences or dominates the art and culture of a time period. All the events and people mentioned in this comic may be considered influences on present day art and culture.

In the title text Megan calls {{w|Ghostbusters}} (from the 1984 movie) to help get rid of the Timeghost. This of course makes the ghost state that "people born years after that movie came out are having a second chiiiild right now" making her feel old once more.

[[Randall]] has covered making people feel old several times in [[647: Scary]], [[891: Movie Ages]], [[973: MTV Generation]], and [[1477: Star Wars]]. Also see the blag post [http://blog.xkcd.com/2012/09/29/odd-temporal-milestones/ Odd Temporal Milestones]. This is, however, so far the only one that makes a prediction of anyone's death. A similar ghost with a much different agenda was seen in [[1108: Cautionary Ghost]]. Similarly annoying fact(oids) were given in [[1272: Shadowfacts]].

'''Timeline'''
{| class="wikitable"
!Year||Event
|-
|1955-1975||{{w|Vietnam War}}
|-
|colspan="2"|19 years
|-
|1994||{{w|Forrest Gump (film)|Forrest Gump}}
|-
|colspan="2"|20 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1964||{{w|Keanu Reeves}} (Actor) born
|-
|colspan="2"|2 years
|-
|1966||Today's new grandparents born (Average age: 48 in the US)
|-
|colspan="2"|48 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1990||[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr051.pdf Today's new parents born] (Average age: 24 in the US)
|-
|colspan="2"|3 years
|-
|1993-1994||{{w|The Simpsons}} Season 5
|-
|colspan="2"|2 years (from '93 to '95)
|-
|1994-1995||{{w|The Simpsons}} Season 6
|-
|colspan="2"|4 years
|-
|1999||{{w|Eminem}} (Rapper) got big (second album)
|-
|colspan="2"|15 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|-
|colspan="2"|
|-
|1984||{{w|Ghostbusters}}
|-
|colspan="2"|3 years
|-
|1987||[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr051.pdf Today's people just having a second child born] (Average age at first childbirth (24) + average gap between first two births (3))
|-
|colspan="2"|27 years
|-
|2014||Year of this comic
|}

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are approached by a floating ghost]
:Timeghost: ''...ooOOOOOOOOooo... Tiiiime is passiiiing!''
:Megan: Ugh. Timeghost.
:Cueball: Huh?
:Megan: Here come the factoids.

:[Timeghost floats around.]
:Timeghost: ''Forrest Gump'' came out closer to the Vietnam War than to the present daaay.
:Megan: Go ''away!''
:Timeghost: The average new grand-parents are younger than Keanu Reeeeves!
:Cueball: That can't be right...

:[Megan clutches her head, possibly attempting to cover her ears.]
:Timeghost: ''Today's new parents were ten when Eminem got big. Daaaaaad muuuuusic. They remember Simpsons season 5 or 6 at the '''earliest'''''.
:Megan: Argh!
:Cueball: How long has it been ''doing'' this?

:[Megan and Cueball looks up at the Timeghost as it delivers its most scary message.]
:Timeghost: ''The staaaaart of my haunting is now further away than your deaaaths!''
:Megan: Will you sto- -'''''WHAT!?'''''
:Timeghost: ''ooOOOOOOOoo''
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

891: Movie Ages

2015-01-28T06:04:25Z

108.162.221.183: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 891
| date = April 27, 2011
| title = Movie Ages
| image = movie ages.png
| titletext = If you're 15 or younger, then just remember that it's nevertheless probably too late to be a child prodigy.
}}

==Explanation==
Based on the person you are talking to, take their age on the far left, add "Did you realize that..." add the corresponding movie that is across from their age then "...came out..." add the phrase at the end of row.

E.g. - If a person is 30, then it would go a little something like this "Did you realize that Home Alone came out more than 20 years ago?"

This would make people feel old because certain movies that they felt were close to them are actually aging quickly. In a way, this chart likens the age of the movie to the age of the person, as the person is about 10 years older than the movie, but as movies have shorter "life cycles" and seem to lose glory quickly, it seems that the movie is very old. However, the age at which a movie is accepted to be old is not nearly as large as the age at which a person is accepted to be old, so the person is not actually that old. This makes it seem that the person is far older than they actually are.

And since this chart is designed to make someone feel old, anyone over 35 gets lumped in with "older people," which no one likes.

The title text states that if you are 15 or younger it is probably already too late to be a {{w|child prodigy}}. This may be a reference to [[447: Too Old For This Shit]], in which Randall believes that anyone over the age of 11 has already missed out on their chance to become famous.

[[Randall]] has covered making people feel old several times in [[647: Scary]], [[973: MTV Generation]], [[1393: Timeghost]] and [[1477: Star Wars]].

==Transcript==
:The 2011 Guide to Making People Feel Old
:-Using Movie Release Dates-
:[A chart with 2 columns. First column is labeled 'Their Age,' and is numbered 16 through 35 & 'over 35.' The second column is labeled 'You Say' and is divided into four sub-columns. The first sub-column reads '"Did you realize that...' from 16-35, and the third sub-column says 'Came Out' from 16-35.]
:Age 16: Snakes on a Plane... Half a decade ago?"
:17-19: Revenge of the Sith... More than half a decade ago?"
:20: Finding Nemo... Eight years ago?"
:21-22: Shrek... Ten years ago?"
:23-25: The Matrix... Not the last decade, but the one before ''that''?"
:26: Toy Story... Over fifteen years ago?"
:27: The Lion King... Seventeen years ago?"
:28: Jurassic Park... Eighteen years ago?"
:29: Terminator 2... Twenty years ago?"
:30-32: Home Alone... More than twenty years ago?"
:33-35: The Little Mermaid ... Closer to the moon landing than the present day?
:Over 35: "Hey, did you see this chart? You match your age to movie - oh, right, sorry, it only goes up to 35. I guess it's not really aimed at older people."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

891: Movie Ages

2015-01-28T06:03:29Z

108.162.221.183: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 891
| date = April 27, 2011
| title = Movie Ages
| image = movie ages.png
| titletext = If you're 15 or younger, then just remember that it's nevertheless probably too late to be a child prodigy.
}}

==Explanation==
Based on the person you are talking to, take their age on the far left, add "Did you realize that..." add the corresponding movie that is across from their age then "...came out..." add the phrase at the end of row.

E.g. - If a person is 30, then it would go a little something like this "Did you realize that Home Alone came out more than 20 years ago?"

This would make people feel old because certain movies that they felt were close to them are actually aging quickly. In a way, this chart likens the age of the movie to the age of the person, as the person is about 10 years older than the movie, but as movies have shorter "life cycles" and seem to lose glory quickly, it seems that the movie is very old. However, the age at which a movie is accepted to be old is not nearly as large as the age at which a person is accepted to be old, so the person is not actually that old. This makes it seem that the person is far older than they actually are.

And since this chart is designed to make someone feel old, anyone over 35 gets lumped in with "older people," which no one likes.

The title text states that if you are 15 or younger it is probably already too late to be a {{w|child prodigy}}. This may be a reference to [[447: Too Old For This Shit]], in which Randall believes that anyone over the age of 11 has already missed out on their chance to become famous.

[[Randall]] has covered making people feel old several times in [[647: Scary]], [[973: MTV Generation]] and [[1393: Timeghost]] [[1477: Star Wars]].

==Transcript==
:The 2011 Guide to Making People Feel Old
:-Using Movie Release Dates-
:[A chart with 2 columns. First column is labeled 'Their Age,' and is numbered 16 through 35 & 'over 35.' The second column is labeled 'You Say' and is divided into four sub-columns. The first sub-column reads '"Did you realize that...' from 16-35, and the third sub-column says 'Came Out' from 16-35.]
:Age 16: Snakes on a Plane... Half a decade ago?"
:17-19: Revenge of the Sith... More than half a decade ago?"
:20: Finding Nemo... Eight years ago?"
:21-22: Shrek... Ten years ago?"
:23-25: The Matrix... Not the last decade, but the one before ''that''?"
:26: Toy Story... Over fifteen years ago?"
:27: The Lion King... Seventeen years ago?"
:28: Jurassic Park... Eighteen years ago?"
:29: Terminator 2... Twenty years ago?"
:30-32: Home Alone... More than twenty years ago?"
:33-35: The Little Mermaid ... Closer to the moon landing than the present day?
:Over 35: "Hey, did you see this chart? You match your age to movie - oh, right, sorry, it only goes up to 35. I guess it's not really aimed at older people."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

973: MTV Generation

2015-01-28T06:01:27Z

108.162.221.183: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 973
| date = November 4, 2011
| title = MTV Generation
| image = mtv_generation.png
| titletext = If you identified with the kids from The Breakfast Club when it came out, you're now much closer to the age of Principal Vernon.
}}

==Explanation==
People often call today's kids the '''MTV Generation''', like [[White Hat]] does in the strip, because the {{w|MTV Generation}} were accused of bad attention spans and concentration (caused by MTV). [[Megan]] explains that the term really originated about 25 years ago, so today's kids are actually one generation newer.

An alternative definition of "the MTV generation", is that they '''are''' the teenage 12-19 year olds of the early 2000's to mid 2010's, because they were born to parents who came of child-bearing age during the core popularity time period referenced by the comic.

{{w|MTV}} is Music Television, it is a TV channel in the US and elsewhere that, when it started in the 1980s, used to show {{w|music video}}s. The focus has now shifted to {{w|reality shows}}.

{{w|The Breakfast Club}} is an iconic movie from 1985 in which 5 very different teenagers spend a Saturday detention together at the school. Principal Vernon was the principal in the movie and was the overseer of the detention - the actor playing principal Vernon was around 45 years old at the time of filming.

[[Randall]] has covered making people feel old several times in [[647: Scary]], [[891: Movie Ages]], [[1393: Timeghost]], and [[1477: Star Wars]].

==Transcript==
:[One of them damn kids that won't get OFF MY LAWN plays with some gadget-a-mabob while ignoring every damn thing around him off in the background. White Hat and Megan are in the foreground.]
:White Hat: See, that's the problem with the MTV generation— No attention span.

:Megan: You know, that phrase referred to the 12-19 demographic that formed the core MTV audience in the mid-1980s.

:White Hat: Uh huh? So?
:Megan: That generation's now in their 40s.

:[White Hat scratches his head.]
:White Hat: That can't be right.
:Megan: Face it: Your problem with the MTV generation is their ''kids''.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]

1426: Reduce Your Payments

2014-09-26T06:13:45Z

108.162.221.183: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1426
| date = September 26, 2014
| title = Reduce Your Payments
| image = reduce_your_payments.png
| titletext = I tried oxidizing them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This explanation states what is obvious in the comic without explaining. More explanatory tone plus a description of Sodium borohydride's effects on paper are required. Also the Sodium borohydride link is broken}}

In this comic [[Black Hat]] walks into a room where Cueball is sitting in an armchair. Blackhat says to Cueball that he can reduce his mortgage bills, while holding a docket of paper presumably Cueball's bill.
Black Hat uses the same formulation many internet advertisements use: "Discover this (strange/new/amazing...) trick to (lose weight/reduce your mortgage bills/meet amazing women)" to gather clicks.
Cueball wants to know how and Blackhat responses by mentioning {{w|Sodium_borohydride|sodium borohydride (NaBH4)}}. Cueball then says I hate you.
Now to reduce mortgage payments is something high on many people's minds but as with Blackhat's personality his method is rather unorthodox. Sodium borohydride is a strong reducing agent. A reducing agent is a chemical that donates electrons to another chemical (in inorganic chemistry). When a chemical is reduced another one has to become oxidized (oxidizing, the opposite of reducing, is the accepting of electrons from a chemical).
The title text implies that Blackhat has attempt to oxidize the paper mortgage bill in the chemical sense by burning it (reacting it with atmospheric oxygen) but the paper would not light.
Thus the point of the strip is a play on the word "reduce": to a mortgage holder reduction means lower payments, to a chemist it describes a reaction in which one reagent is oxidised, when the other is said to be ''reduced''.

==Transcript==
[Cueball siting on sofa Blackhat walks into frame from behind]

Blackhat: I discovered this weird trick for reducing your mortgage payments!

Cueball: What?

Blackhat: Sodium borohydride.

Cueball: ...I hate you.

I tried to oxidize them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.

{{comic discussion}}

1426: Reduce Your Payments

2014-09-26T05:56:57Z

108.162.221.183: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1426
| date = September 26, 2014
| title = Reduce Your Payments
| image = reduce_your_payments.png
| titletext = I tried oxidizing them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This explanation states what is obvious in the comic without explaining. More explanatory tone plus a description of Sodium borohydride's effects on paper are required. Also the Sodium borohydride link is broken}}

In this comic [[Black Hat]] walks into a room where Cueball is sitting in an armchair. Blackhat says to Cueball that he can reduce his mortgage bills, while holding a docket of paper presumably Cueball's bill.
Black Hat uses the same formulation many internet advertisements use: "Discover this (strange/new/amazing...) trick to (lose weight/reduce your mortgage bills/meet amazing women)" to gather clicks.
Cueball wants to know how and Blackhat responses by mentioning {{w|Sodium_borohydride|sodium borohydride (NaBH4)}}. Cueball then says I hate you.
Now to reduce mortgage payments is something high on many people's minds but as with Blackhat's personality his method is rather unorthodox. Sodium borohydride is a strong reducing agent. A reducing agent is a chemical that donates electrons to another chemical (in inorganic chemistry). When a chemical is reduced another one has to become oxidized (oxidizing, the opposite of reducing, is the accepting of electrons from a chemical).
The title text implies that Blackhat has attempt to oxidize the paper mortgage bill in the chemical sense by burning it (reacting it with atmospheric oxygen) but the paper would not light.

Sodium borohydride is actually used in paper manufacture (to bleach the pulp), but, given that in a literal sense it might only whiten the mortgage bill and not do anything where "reduce" would be a pun, that paper industry use may be a mere coincidence (and the reference to use of the specific chemical for reducing mortgage payments is only because it is a common reducing agent).

==Transcript==
[Cueball siting on sofa Blackhat walks into frame from behind]

Blackhat: I discovered this weird trick for reducing your mortgage payments!

Cueball: What?

Blackhat: Sodium Borohydride.

Cueball: ...I hate you.

I tried to oxidize them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.

{{comic discussion}}

1426: Reduce Your Payments

2014-09-26T05:52:33Z

108.162.221.183: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1426
| date = September 26, 2014
| title = Reduce Your Payments
| image = reduce_your_payments.png
| titletext = I tried oxidizing them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This explanation states what is obvious in the comic without explaining. More explanatory tone plus a description of Sodium borohydride's effects on paper are required. Also the Sodium borohydride link is broken}}

In this comic [[Black Hat]] walks into a room where Cueball is sitting in an armchair. Blackhat says to Cueball that he can reduce his mortgage bills, while holding a docket of paper presumably Cueball's bill.
Black Hat uses the same formulation many internet advertisements use: "Discover this (strange/new/amazing...) trick to (lose weight/reduce your mortgage bills/meet amazing women)" to gather clicks.
Cueball wants to know how and Blackhat responses by mentioning {{w|Sodium_borohydride|sodium borohydride (NaBH4)}}. Cueball then says I hate you.
Now to reduce mortgage payments is something high on many people's minds but as with Blackhat's personality his method is rather unorthodox. Sodium borohydride is a strong reducing agent. A reducing agent is a chemical that donates electrons to another chemical (in inorganic chemistry). When a chemical is reduced another one has to become oxidized.
The title text implies that Blackhat has attempt to oxidize the paper mortgage bill in the chemical sense by burning it (reacting it with atmospheric oxygen) but the paper would not light.

Sodium borohydride is actually used in paper manufacture (to bleach the pulp), but, given that in a literal sense it might only whiten the mortgage bill and not do anything where "reduce" would be a pun, that paper industry use may be a mere coincidence (and the reference to use of the specific chemical for reducing mortgage payments is only because it is a common reducing agent).

==Transcript==
[Cueball siting on sofa Blackhat walks into frame from behind]

Blackhat: I discovered this weird trick for reducing your mortgage payments!

Cueball: What?

Blackhat: Sodium Borohydride.

Cueball: ...I hate you.

I tried to oxidize them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.

{{comic discussion}}

1426: Reduce Your Payments

2014-09-26T05:36:28Z

108.162.221.183: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1426
| date = September 26, 2014
| title = Reduce Your Payments
| image = reduce_your_payments.png
| titletext = I tried oxidizing them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic [[Black Hat]] walks into a room where Cueball is sitting in an armchair. Blackhat says to Cueball that he can reduce his mortgage bills, while holding a docket of paper presumably Cueball's bill.
Black Hat uses the same formulation many internet advertisements use: "Discover this (strange/new/amazing...) trick to (lose weight/reduce your mortgage bills/meet amazing women)" to gather clicks.
Cueball wants to know how and Blackhat responses by mentioning {{w|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_borohydride|sodium borohydride (NaBH4)}}. Cueball then says I hate you.
Now to reduce mortgage payments is something high on many people's minds but as with Blackhat's personality his method is rather unorthodox. Sodium borohydride is a strong reducing agent. A reducing agent is a chemical that donates electrons to another chemical (in inorganic chemistry). When a chemical is reduced another one has to become oxidized.
The title text implies that Blackhat has attempt to oxidize the paper mortgage bill in the chemical sense by burning it (reacting it with atmospheric oxygen) but the paper would not light.

==Transcript==
[Cueball siting on sofa Blackhat walks into frame from behind]

Blackhat: I discovered this weird trick for reducing your mortgage payments!

Cueball: What?

Blackhat: Sodium Borohydride.

Cueball: ...I hate you.

I tried to oxidize them, but your bank uses some really weird paper and it wouldn't light.

{{comic discussion}}