https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=108.162.245.70explain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-15T18:57:13ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3036:_Chess_Zoo&diff=3619223036: Chess Zoo2025-01-13T17:38:31Z<p>108.162.245.70: Note on Symmetry</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3036<br />
| date = January 10, 2025<br />
| title = Chess Zoo<br />
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]<br />
| image = chess_zoo_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 740x1221px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = The zoo takes special care to keep kings separated from opposite-color pieces as part of their conservation program to prevent mating in captivity.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Need to move the image in the trivia inside the explanation in a smooth way. It's not trivial, it's useful for the explanation.}}<br />
{{w|Zoo|Zoos}} are large encampments where various animals live in small enclosures. They're generally used as public exhibitions for amusement and education and as safe spaces for rescued and endangered animals. Many modern zoos deliberately allow different types of animals to mingle and interact, finding that it promotes enrichment and well-being. Naturally, in such cases, the zoo needs to be designed so that incompatible species (such as predators and prey) aren't allowed to interact, and good designs will allow animals space for rest and privacy when needed.<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] has here created a zoo for giant {{w|chess}} pieces, as if they were animals. He treats the different pieces as if they were different species and designs the enclosures to allow interactions between different species, but prevents the possibility of one piece capturing another (which is treated as analogous to one animal attacking another), as well as of escape. In the [[#Trivia|Trivia]] section a color version of the zoo shows where different types of pieces can move. The zoo is almost completely horizontally symmetrical from top to bottom with black pieces on the top and white pieces on the bottom. The only place that isn't completely symmetrical is the entrances to the bishop enclosures. <br />
<br />
There are many subtle "jokes" in the image that play on how chess pieces move:<br />
* Bishops can only move diagonally. Enclosures containing them do not have diagonal walls or corners which would allow them to slip out, and orthogonal portals into their enclosures are only one square wide and at least two squares long so that they can't get through. One bishop enclosure even has a portal open to the visiting people, letting it serve as a {{w|petting zoo}}. Opposing bishops can safely mingle as long as they are on opposite colors, since a bishop can never move to a square of the opposite color than the one on which it currently stands. This is enforced by these mingling enclosures only having two openings, each on opposite colored squares (i.e. an enclosure only has an opening for black pieces on white squares and one for white pieces on black squares).<br />
* Knights move in an "L" shape (two squares along a rank or file, then one square in an orthogonal direction), leaping over other pieces and presumably walls. The walls of their enclosures have been designed to prevent escape by placing blocks where they would land if they leapt over the wall, or using double-thick walls. They can also be blocked by the same portals that block bishops, although they would need to be four blocks long instead of two.<br />
* Rooks can only move along ranks and files. They have free roam of several enclosures, though diagonal walls are able to stop them, preventing them from accessing the center mingling bishops.<br />
* Queens and kings can move along ranks and files as well as diagonally, so their enclosures must have the same precautions as would be required for both bishops and rooks.<br />
* Pawns can only move forward (or diagonally forward when capturing), but upon reaching the final rank (the opponent's back rank), they are "promoted," becoming a knight, bishop, rook, or queen. The pawns are in a double-walled enclosure with no doors to prevent escape after promotion. It is unclear what would happen to the pawns after they are promoted. Would they remain in the "pawn" enclosure or moved to their new enclosure according to their new piece type. Also unclear is how the pawns would be repopulated if all of them were to be promoted, leaving the pawn enclosure devoid of pawns.<br />
* A special feature of the enclosure, mentioned in the caption, is that there is at least one room for every type of pieces where other pieces cannot enter (except the king is always in a room with the queens). This means that even though some of the pieces can mingle with some of the other pieces they can also always retreat to a room where the other pieces cannot disturb them. For instance the top and bottom room with rooks can not be entered by any other type of pieces. In the two rooms right above and below the middle room, the bishops of the same color have their personal room. And also the two rooms to the right where black and white bishops co-exist on different colors, cannot be entered by any other type. (This is of course needed, since else there could be captures). The pawns have their own rooms top and bottom right. The knights have a separate room from which they can jump out to the rooms with either rooks or king/queens, but no other piece can enter their personal space to the left. And the king and his queens can retreat top or bottom left where the knights cannot enter. No piece can encounter all the others (even of the same color) but all pieces can meet at least one other type of pieces, the pawns though only after promotion. But they could not meet a king. This is similar to real zoos where separate enclosures are designed to be accessible only to one species (for example, through an opening too small for one of the species to pass through), allowing animals control over their interactions. <br />
<br />
There are a couple of "interaction" areas that could have been built into the zoo design while preventing piece capture or escape but have not. There is no reason bishops and knights of the same color couldn't occupy the same enclosure, so long as there are adequate walls to prevent knights from escaping their enclosure. Additionally, it would be possible to allow visitor access to the white-bishop-on-black and black-bishop-on-white enclosure, as well as allow visitor access to the knight enclosures, however it is not apparent whether this is a priority of the zoo.<br />
<br />
Every visitor of the zoo is depicted as centered on a single square occupied only by themselves, just like a chess piece. This could perhaps imply an entire chess board "world", where humans and chess pieces coexist as separate species, both aligned to the grid.<br />
<br />
The title text contains a pun on the word 'mating'. The phrase "mating in captivity" is typically used to refer to animals in zoos copulating, hopefully producing offspring. This is typically done for species that are endangered, often in hopes of reintroducing them to the wild. In the context of chess, "mating" means delivering an attack from which the opponent's king cannot escape, thereby winning the game. Unlike captive breeding programs, "mating" in in this sense, would presumably eliminate a piece (or an entire side), rather than creating additional animals, and therefore is undesirable. To prevent this from occurring, kings are not kept in the same enclosure as any piece of an opposing color. In fact, only opposing bishops on opposite colors are shown as unallied co-residents of an enclosure, in this zoo, thanks to their particular method of wall-free separation.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A large panel is shown. It contains what appear to be a chessboard, but it is much larger than the usual 8x8=64 chess board squares. But it is divided into squares that are alternatingly white or gray. In the part shown 29x43 = 1247 squares are visible. Although for the outer rows and columns only less than half of each square there can be seen, so only 27x41 = 1107 squares are fully shown. On the "board" there are many details. Above the panel there is a large caption with a caption giving an explanation:]<br />
:<big><big>Chess Zoo</big></big><br />
:<big>Designed to give different types of pieces their own enclosures while letting them interact as much as possible without allowing captures</big><br />
<br />
:[Upon the board there has been drawn an enclosure by drawing black squares on the white/gray squares. These black squares are smaller than the underlying squares but centered on the middle of their square. The outer parts of this enclosure covers 25x39 = 975 squares. It is not an entire rectangle of the black squares, but the top, the right side and bottom is a full line of 25, 39 and 25 black squares. The left line is only a normal line for the top and bottom 6 squares. Then for the next 12 rows (top or bottom), the "solid" line is moved one step in (to the right) and only on every second row is here a black square on the outer line. Above this there is a gap of 5 squares without black squares on either of the two left most squares (and 7 rows in a row with no black squares on the outer most line). This created a section inside the enclosure connected directly to the outside, but this part is still closed off, with black squares forming walls on this inner section, that closes it off from the rest of the enclosure.]<br />
<br />
:[Inside this enclosure there are many other squares that have the black squares on top forming several rooms that are either closed of from other rooms or connected in some places. And on the white and gray squares that do not have black squares in top, there may bee drawn chess pieces or humans on them.]<br />
<br />
:[The top part of the image has enclosures for black chess pieces and the bottom for white ones. Smaller black squares form enclosures around the chess pieces while the characters are outside of them. In the middle of the image, to the right, there are black and white bishops next to each other on squares of opposite colors. Humans are only on the outside of the enclosure, mainly above (eight) and below (six) with only three to the right. The the left people can stand either outside normal (three), or inside one of the indentations (two). But they can also walk into the open part and there are nine inside like this.]<br />
<br />
:[Banner on top of smaller black squares on the top right, above an enclosure with a knight and four pawns:]<br />
:Banner: ''Shh! Pawns promoting.''<br />
<br />
:[Jill near the center, standing in front of Blondie and pointing forward:]<br />
:Jill: Look, mommy! Bishops!<br />
<br />
===Detailed description===<br />
:[The humans outside the actual part of the enclosure are listed here, and the rooms they are looking into are also described:]<br />
<br />
:[Top row from the left: Over the fifth black square a boy with what appears to be a cap. Next to him Hairbun. Two squares over Cueball. They look into the blacks King and Queens only section. There are four queens in this room and the king. One of the Queens are on her way down a hall to a room below, with a fifth queen and a knight. Over black square 14 there is another Cueball next to Hairy looking into the black rook only section. There are three rooks, one of which is moving in a hall to the room below. Over black square 19 is White Hat and two squares on Danish next to Ponytail looking into the black pawns only section, the two women over the banner. One of the pawns has promoted into a knight four others are still on their way to promote. This room has double thickness walls with two black squares all the way around.]<br />
<br />
:[Down the right side from the top: To the right of black square 12 from the top another Cueball looking into the blacks bishops only section with three bishops, two on gray squares and one on a white square. To the right of black square 26 from the top another White Hat and another Hairy are looking into the white bishops only section with two bishops both on white squares. Above this room is a room with both white and black bishops, with the three white bishops on gray squares and the three black bishops on white squares.]<br />
<br />
:[Bottom row from the right: Under the fourth black square from the right another Cueball looking into the White pawns only section, there are three pawns, none of them has promoted, bu their is also no banner- This room also has double thickness walls. Under the tenth black square to the 13th are four people in a row, from the right, another White Hat, another Hairy, another Hair Bun and another Cueball. They look into the white rooks only section. There are four rooks, one of them on the way into a hall towards the room above. Under the 21st black square from the right Megan is looking into the white King and Queens only section. There are three Queens with the King. A fourth queen is in a room above, where she is together with a knight.] <br />
<br />
:[Up the left side from the bottom: The the left of black square three from the bottom another Hairy is looking into the white King and Queens only section. The seventh black square from the bottom it moved on space to the right. In the hole left there another Cueball is standing so he can see the passage where the white King and Queen can move into a room where also white knights can be, and there is one knight and one queen. To the left of outer wall 27 squares up, is Blondie, she is standing in the normal row left of the wall, but at a place where there is an indentation, so she is not next to the nearest black square. Se looks into the black knights only section with only one knight present. Four squares above her another Ponytail is standing in an indentation in the wall looking into the room where the black King and Queens can be together with the black knights, there is a queen and a knight. Four squares above this another Hairy is seen. He seems to have turned away from the wall walking to the left, so he is not looking into the black King and Queens only section behind him.]<br />
<br />
:[The opening into the enclosure from the left to the end: Three squares in at the bottom over a black square one higher than the nearest another Megan walks to the right, next to her another Cueball walks the same way, he is not directly over a black square. And one further left below in one if the indentations another Ponytail. They are all above the white knights only section, with only one knight present. Above the first of the two Cueball's at the top of the opening in an indentation is Knit Cap looking into the black knights only section. At the bottom four squares further in than Ponytail is a person standing in an indentation with very large hair looking into a room where both white knights and rooks can be together, one of each is present. One further square in but two above him is another Blondie and next to her Jill pointing at the room with white and black bishops together, as she calls out. This room is the one where they are on their own color square, three white on white and three black on gray squares. Above them is the room where both black knight and black rooks can be together, with three knights and one rook. One square further in and one below them is another Cueball looking in to a section only accessible to white rooks next to the bishops room. There is one rook there. But below this part of the room it opens up and has both white rooks (3) and white bishops (5) with three bishops on white and two on gray squares. A similar room is above these last three persons with a black rook in the near part not accessible to bishops but then black rooks (1) and black bishops (3) can be together in the rest of that room. All bishops on gray squares.]<br />
<br />
:[In total there are 9 Cueballs, 5 Hairys, 3 White Hats, 3 Ponytails, 2 Megans, 2 Hairbuns, 2 Blondies, 1 Knit Cap, 1 Danish, 1 Jill, 1 kid with a cap, 1 man with lots of hair, for a total of 31 humans.]<br />
<br />
:[In total there are the following black pieces 1 king, 5 queens, 6 knights (one a promoted pawn), 5 rooks, 11 bishops and 4 pawns (together with the promoted knight). A total of 32 black pieces. There are the following white pieces: 1 king, 4 queens, 3 knights, 9 rooks, 13 bishops and 3 pawns for a total of 33 white pieces. 65 pieces in all. Similar number of each type of pieces as there are humans, 31, 32 and 33 for a total of 96 squares occupied by something that are "alive".]<br />
<br />
===Visual-aspects-reliant representation of the comic===<br />
:[Layout (H is a human; # is a smaller black square; chess pieces on the top half are black and below that white, unless otherwise noted):]<br />
HH H HH H HH <br />
######################### <br />
# # ######### <br />
# Q Q # R ## ## <br />
# K # R##P P## <br />
H# #Q# Q##### ## P ## <br />
### ### #R## P ## <br />
## ###### # ## N ## <br />
### # ##### # ######### <br />
H# Q # #### # ######## <br />
### N# ##### # # <br />
# # R B # # <br />
####### #### # B B#H<br />
H # # N N## B R# # <br />
### N # ## B# B # <br />
# # ## # # # # <br />
### # #N# ### ###B## #### <br />
########### # B# B# <br />
#H# # # # #R# # # <br />
##B # B # [White bishops]<br />
H HH B # B # [Black bishops]<br />
HH H## B # B # [Left bishop: white, right bishop: black]<br />
# #H# #H# # # B # B B# <br />
########### R# # # <br />
### # # # ### ## #### ### <br />
# N# ## # #B # # <br />
### # ##R R #B #H<br />
# # ## R B # #H<br />
####### R#### # B # <br />
# # BB# # <br />
###QN # N ##### B # # <br />
# # #### # ######## <br />
### # ##### # ######### <br />
H## ###### # ## ## <br />
### ### # ##P ## <br />
# # # #####R## ## <br />
# K Q# ## P P## <br />
H# Q # RR ## ## <br />
# Q # R ######### <br />
######################### <br />
H HHHH H<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*User [[User:D5xtgr|D5xtgr]] made the [https://pasteboard.co/64VsBMA5af8l.png following depiction] of the board with colors showing which rooms the different pieces can enter by mixing colors.<br />
**It was uploaded here with help, as D5xtgr could not at the time upload files:<br />
[[File:3636 Chezz Zoo-with colors.png]]<br />
*This is a version of xkcd 3036 "Chess Zoo" with partially-transparent coloured overlays illustrating the range of movement each piece has. Warm colours (red, brown, orange, yellow) are used for the black pieces, and cool colours (blue, teal , cyan, green) for the white pieces to show contrast. Because some regions are accessible to multiple pieces, these overlays overlap in places, producing colours that are combination or mixture of the originals.<br />
**The text taken from the page where the original image was posted.<br />
*Jake Oullette made an [https://cadencecode.com/play/zooofchess interactive simulation of the chess zoo].<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Large drawings]]<br />
[[Category:Chess]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2782:_Wikipedia_Article_Titles&diff=314614Talk:2782: Wikipedia Article Titles2023-05-31T10:49:05Z<p>108.162.245.70: </p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
Of course, I had to search for those keywords and found this: [https://www.playbill.com/article/bulletin-meryl-streep-in-talks-to-do-seagull-in-central-park-com-87578 Playbill: Bulletin: Meryl Streep in Talks to Do Seagull in Central Park]. Couldn't find anything about a Seagull *incident*, however. We may have to wait until the production has completed. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:44, 29 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Or doesn't happen at all. The incident might be a fight between Streep and someone involved in the production. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:07, 29 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Whatever happens we need to somehow inject the name "Meyrl Street seagull incident" into the news coverage so that the Wikipedia article can be created. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.101|172.70.162.101]] 14:24, 29 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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'''''Ah-HAH!''''' https://www.salon.com/2001/08/27/seagull/ "a 40-ish man was found dead in the bushes from a single gunshot wound near the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, just yards away from where Philip Seymour Hoffman offs himself with a single gunshot wound every night as Konstantin Gavrilovich in Anton Chekhov's ''The Seagull.''" (in which Streep was his co-star.) Thanks to ChatGPT-4's WebPilot plug-in, by the way. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.214|172.69.134.214]] 17:24, 29 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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<br />
Re the transcript: I don't think they're called checkmarks. Tick marks, maybe.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.71.182.232|172.71.182.232]] 18:00, 29 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:{{done}} [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.96|172.69.134.96]] 18:14, 29 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
::Well, given that {{w|Check mark}} and (redirected there, anyway) {{w|Tick mark}} don't actually refer to those things, I changed the transcript to use the {{w|Graduation (scale)}} terminology as the best(?) of various such terms that I'd more happily use. Which probably is going to annoy someone else, so maybe expect it to change again... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.179|172.70.162.179]] 20:36, 29 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:::I did not do this transcript, but I have used the tick marks in numerous transcripts using charts like this. I'm not native English speaker, and there have never been anyone changing it before, and seems like another user also believed tick mark could be used... So it would be nice to find out of it is actually normal to use tick marks for the "ticks" on a graph axis, else there will be 100 of transcripts to fix (as I have been involved in writing most of them). I have never head of the graduation scale terminology...--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:55, 30 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::Quick serach came up with [https://grapherhelp.goldensoftware.com/Axes/Tick_Marks.htm this page] using tick marks as I have always done, first after the wiki article on check marks which I have never heard called tick marks before. I will correct back to tick marks --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:56, 30 May 2023 (UTC) <br />
:::: Microsoft refers to them as Tick Marks - don't know whether or not that counts as supporting evidence.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.152|172.70.91.152]] 15:39, 30 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
::::: (...not sure MS is an authority, but...) Personally, I read "tick" as a ✓. And "check" is either such a [[2445: Checkbox|tick]] or [[1448: Question|a cross]] (there's also one with a tick/cross ambiguity, prompting much speculation here about positive/nevative meaning, but I can't recall which that one is right now).<br />
::::: I might accept a "tally" marker (vertically, across x-axis, it 'counts' similarly to "five-barred" tally-marks, without the barring). "Graduation" (Graduierung?) does mean both this and the event of graduating (or undertaking the Eksamen?), but has less semantic overlap than a two-stroke diagonal and a single-stroke perpendicular (both of which feature in various comics). I think I'd ignore/change prior "graph axis 'check/tick' marks", depending on context, but it ''would'' be better to be unambiguously a scale-marking and not a confirmatory "this exists" indicator. If the right word can be found. (Grad-mark? Unit-mark?) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.129|172.70.90.129]] 10:33, 31 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
just look at {{w|Hatch mark}} (which is what these are), first line claims they are also called Tick marks. The existing redirect is incorrect. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 10:49, 31 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
"User disambiguation pages" also exist. See http:/ /esolangs.org/wiki/User_talk:XKCD_Wrong_Times_Table and http://esolangs.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/XKCD_Wrong_Times_Table_(disambiguation) . [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.126|172.69.22.126]] 02:07, 30 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:Those pages are not on Explain xkcd, is this spam? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:55, 30 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
::The first link looks like perhaps unintentional spam. I'm delinking it. In any case, the message is unclear. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.175|162.158.166.175]] 08:34, 30 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
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I think that an important addition to the possible "incident" would be one where a seagull named Meryl Streep caused or was the victim of it. I'll let you work out how to word it. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.19.7|172.68.19.7]] 14:52, 30 May 2023 (UTC)<br />
:I suppose it could also be some incident between a mononymous Meryl and a streep seagull, whatever that is, but it feels like we're stretching. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.43|172.69.247.43]] 21:15, 30 May 2023 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2771:_College_Knowledge&diff=3124032771: College Knowledge2023-05-05T19:34:51Z<p>108.162.245.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2771<br />
| date = May 3, 2023<br />
| title = College Knowledge<br />
| image = college_knowledge_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 649x266px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = 'Your chitin armor is no match for our iron-tipped stingers! Better go hide in your jars!' --common playground taunt<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
>DUDE i just LOVE the hustle and bustle of the big city, it’s so DYNAMIC and makes me feel like i’m in one of my favourite TV SHOWS. you should totally come on down to my studio apartment, it’s got EXPOSED RED BRICK walls and everything, we can crack open a nice hoppy ipa or three and get crazy watching some cartoons on adult swim! and dude, dude, DUDE, we have GOTTA go down to the barcade- listen here, right, it’s a BAR where us ADULTS who do ADULTING can go DRINK. BUT!!!! it’s also an ARCADE like when we were kids, so we can play awesome VIDEO GAMES, without dumb kids bothering us. speaking of which megan and i have finally decided to tie the knot- literally -we’re both getting snipped tomorrow at the hospital, that way we can save money to spent more on ourselves and our FURBABIES. i’m fuckin JACKED man, i’m gonna SLAM this craft beer and pop open another one!!!<br />
<br />
<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT GOING TO IO TO GET MORE DIODES - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
A common playground rhyme which children will often recite when divided by gender is that "girls go to college to get more knowledge; boys go to {{w|Jupiter}} to get more stupider," with the genders being interchangeable depending on the rhyme's singer.<br />
<br />
Starting out with this cadence, three characters (or child versions) {{w|Skipping rope|jump rope}} and explore parts of the solar system and beyond by taking it in turns to provide the rhythm's tempo. First [[Science Girl]] (who is turning the left end of the rope), then a [[Cueball]] (at the right), followed by a [[Ponytail]] (doing the jumping), before returning to Science Girl. As they concentrate on various stellar bodies that are harder and harder to rhyme, their chants become increasingly hesitant and obscure, ruining the rhythm and resulting in ever more contrived "rhymes", to the point where they eventually seem compelled to abandon the whole game.<br />
<br />
The title text refers back to some of the rhymes the characters mention, making sure to stay consistent with whichever gender acquires which object. Speaking from the perspective of the college-bound gender, who had acquired {{w|ferrous}} iron from {{w|Eris}} (or perhaps {{wiktionary|ferrous|become more composed of it}}, by {{w|Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed|bodily transformation}}), the girls playfully threaten the boys with iron-tipped {{w|stinger}}s, for which the boys' acquired armour of {{w|chitin}} (a material commonly found on the exoskeletons of various insects, including in any stings these might normally have) is purportedly no match. The girls then also refer to the jars which the boys had acquired from {{w|Mars}}, telling the boys that they'd better hide in them if they wanted any sort of protection from the iron-tipped stingers. To top it all off, the title text finally claims that this is supposedly a "common playground taunt" among children, which implies the unlikely outcome that the bizarre and unwieldy rhymes which the characters in the comic created have somehow persisted and passed into common usage enough to be generally recognizable.<br />
<br />
In [[1202: Girls and Boys]], boys and girls both go to college ''and'' to Jupiter, both to get more knowledge.<br />
<br />
==Note==<br />
Going to Mars to get more jars may be a reference to a 1955 {{w|Burma-Shave}} campaign promising a free trip to Mars for whoever sent in 900 empty jars. The joking offer was accepted by a Wisconsin shopkeeper named Arliss French. The company enjoyed the publicity, and sent him and his wife to {{w|Moers}}.<br />
<br />
{{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}} is a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.<br />
<br />
{{w|Chitin}} is a polysaccharide found in the exoskeletons of insects and cell ealls of fungi.<br />
<br />
{{w|Tim Berners-Lee}} is the inventor of the World Wide Web.<br />
<br />
{{w|Pamplemousse}} is the French word for grapefruit or pomelo, depending on dialect.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Science Girl, Ponytail and Cueball are jumping rope while singing a common playground song. Science Girl and Cueball are swinging the ends of the rope, Ponytail is jumping in the middle.]<br />
:Science Girl: Girls go to college to get more knowledge<br />
:Science Girl: Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider<br />
<br />
:Cueball: Girls go to Ceres to get more theories<br />
:Cueball: Boys go to Mars to get more jars<br />
<br />
:Ponytail: Girls go to Eris to get more ferrous<br />
:Ponytail: Boys go to Triton to get more chitin<br />
<br />
:[The three have stopped playing.]<br />
:Science Girl: Girls go to...Mercury...to...meet Tim Berners-Lee<br />
:Science Girl: Boys go to... ...Betelgeuse...to get more... ...pamplemousse<br />
:Cueball: I think we're done.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cobson]]<br />
[[Category:Games]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2429:_Exposure_Models&diff=2067472429: Exposure Models2021-02-25T00:07:22Z<p>108.162.245.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2429<br />
| date = February 25, 2021<br />
| title = Exposure Models<br />
| image = exposure_models.png<br />
| titletext = "Cumulative number of coronavirus spreadsheets created over time" is a spreadsheet I am coming dangerously close to creating.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a META-MODEL. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
The idea is that Cueball is too busy making models in order to figure out how to lower his risk to actually go outside. This, this is working—but not in the intended way. [[1708: Dehydration]] also features researching something in order to prevent it affecting it—but in the opposite way, i.e. it has a detrimental effect instead of a beneficial effect.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1089:_Internal_Monologue&diff=1464661089: Internal Monologue2017-10-11T15:26:28Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1089<br />
| date = August 1, 2012<br />
| title = Internal Monologue<br />
| image = internal monologue.png<br />
| titletext = Oh right, eye contact. Ok, good, holding the eye contact... holding... still holding... ok, too long! Getting weird! Quick, look thoughtfully into space and nod. Oh, dammit, said 'yeah' again!<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] attempts social interaction at what looks like a party owing to the fact that several people have drinks in their hands. His internal monologue is just Cueball trying to make sure he is doing the right things in the conversation, reacting appropriately, and not saying "yeah" too much.<br />
<br />
The title text is a continuation of the internal monologue.<br />
<br />
This is common case of anxiety for people who are usually not very skilled in navigating social situations like parties. It can become a vicious cycle in which the fear of handling the encounter badly makes one even more uncomfortable, which in turn results in behaviour as awkward as first feared. Also, for some people it's common to want to map out a pre-planned course of action that should produce desired results, a strategy that is usually doomed to failure when dealing with sufficiently complex and unpredictable scenarios like conversations with other people. This painful, and all too common, situation has been mined for comedic effect since the beginning of human civilization.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The scene is a party. Two characters are talking - the entirety of the text is a thought bubble of one of the two.]<br />
:Cueball: Am I smiling enough? Should I be leaning on something? Where should my hands go? I hope he doesn't ask me what his name is. I've said "yeah" too much; what are some other agreeing words? Oh crap, his story just got sad ''stop smiling stop smiling''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1511:_Spice_Girl&diff=1464361511: Spice Girl2017-10-10T18:35:41Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* The internet quiz */</p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{{comic<br />
| number = 1511<br />
| date = April 13, 2015<br />
| title = Spice Girl <br />
| image = spice_girl.png<br />
| titletext = Haha, you'll see!<br />
}}<br />
''Not to be confused with [[1554: Spice Girls]]''<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
===The Spice Girls===<br />
The {{w|Spice Girls}} are a British pop girl group formed in 1994. It consists of five girls who each have a "spice girl" nickname. The five girls with their respective nicknames are:<br />
*{{w|Mel B}} (MB) or "Scary Spice"<br />
*{{w|Mel C}} (MC) or "Sporty Spice"<br />
*{{w|Emma Bunton}} (Em) or "Baby Spice"<br />
*{{w|Geri Halliwell}} (G) or "Ginger Spice"<br />
*{{w|Victoria Beckham}} (V) or "Posh Spice"<br />
The letter in parenthesis are relevant for the interpretation of the [[#The title text|title text]]<br />
<br />
In [[1554: Spice Girls]] he shows how difficult it is to remember these five names...<br />
<br />
===The internet quiz===<br />
This is one example of a trend of online quizzes that would "identify" the user with one person/personality of a group based on a series of personality questions. This will most often concern which member of a band, TV cast/film cast or character from books etc. the quizzer most resembles. In this comic it is specifically [[#Spice girl quizzes|Spice girl quizzes]] that are the subject.<br />
<br />
In this comic, [[Randall]] is suggesting that in order to cope with what he probably considers to be irritating {{w|clickbait}} links to these quizzes, he imagines the link titles as ''being shouted through a door in a postapocalyptic dystopia''. This is a reference to a trope in movies set in such postapocalyptic settings (which Randall presumably enjoys more) in which the heroes must determine whether an unknown agent is friend or foe, which in some such media occurs by shouting through locked doors. It is not likely that Randall would actually complete these quizzes, but if he did in this fantasy setting, the stakes would be higher and each answer would be fraught with dangerous meaning. It would thus also be much more fun taking the quiz and the result would seem to be important.<br />
<br />
In Randall's fantasy dystopian future, the character who is subject of the dialogue may be one of two Spice Girls, described alternately as the one who is merciful and the one started the war (which likely resulted in the said dystopia). It is possible there are only two remaining Spice Girls, or that there are simply only two likely options in the particular circumstances of the comic. It is also unclear if Randall may be suggesting two fictional Spice Girls, or if in his fantasy future, two of the actual original Spice Girls fit the criteria mentioned. ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SQYLHWo8TA The Merciful One]'' could be a reference to the song with the same name by {{w|Zohar (band)|Zohar}}, another British music ensemble.<br />
<br />
===Two interpretations===<br />
As a result of the way the speech line was drawn in this comic, there is ambiguity as to the source of the dialogue. The official transcript now states: "A CRUEL INTERLOPER, external to the scene and room, pounds on the door and shouts at the two figures in our sight.". But, before that was available, there were two possible interpretations:<br />
<br />
====The shout comes from outside====<br />
The four little lines at the source end of the speech line are often used by Randall to denote sound coming from an unseen source. This suggests that the quiz question is being shouted by an angry agent or crowd ''outside'' the door in reference to the female character seen in the comic. Presumably if she is "the one who started this war", the person(s) outside would be hostile toward her.<br />
<br />
In this case, it looks like the female character (who otherwise appears to be a [[Hairbun]] character) does not have any intention of answering, and is preparing for when the people outside break down the door by loading her shotgun to defend herself. In this interpretation, [[#The title text|the title text]] is said by "Hairbun" Spice indicating that when they get through the door they will be in trouble.<br />
<br />
====The shout comes from Cueball====<br />
In this interpretation, the four little lines at the source end of the speech line denote shouting, indicating that the quiz question is being shouted by Cueball to whoever is on the outside of the door, trying to determine if that person is merciful or hostile.<br />
<br />
In this case, it looks like Hairbun is preparing for the latter possibility, loading her shotgun to defend herself if the person/people outside break through the door. [[#The title text|The title text]] is said by the spice girl outside, its inherent challenge suggesting that she is not the merciful one.<br />
<br />
===The title text===<br />
The title text refers to the [http://lyrics.wikia.com/Spice_Girls:Wannabe lyrics] from the Spice Girls' debut single, ''{{w|Wannabe (song)|Wannabe}}'' (Listen to ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ Wannabe on YouTube]'') Here below is the relevant excerpt from the song where the letters in the last four lines refer to the spice girls [[#The Spice Girls|as given above]]. This rap {{w|bridge (music)|bridge}} is sung by Scary Spice except for the line with Easy V which is sung by Ginger Spice:<br />
:So here's a story from A to Z,<br />
:You wanna get with me You gotta listen carefully<br />
:We got Em in the place who likes it in your face<br />
:You got G like MC who likes it on an<br />
:Easy V doesn't come for free, she's a real lady<br />
:And as for me, '''ha ha, you'll see'''<br />
<br />
These lyrics function as a little introduction to the (then) less-well-known girl group. The final line takes on a threat-like tone in this new context of the comic. And it doesn't help that it is Scary Spice who sings it.<br />
<br />
The text may seem a little confusing to understand, especially the line that finishes ''on an''. According to another lyrics-site, which also has [http://genius.com/3134866 explanations] to some parts of the text, it means that G and MC likes it (sex) together with {{w|MDMA|ecstasy}} - as "On an E" is slang for being on ecstasy (see it used in this [https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090518130834AA0QdJD discussion]). They could not sing this directly without resulting in a PG rating, thus they inserted the "E" in the next line as '''E'''asy V, a line which is even sung by another spice girl, Ginger spice, where the rest of this bridge is sung by Scary spice.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is trying to barricade a door with his own body (although it already has a bar in front of it). He is in a room that is deteriorating with Hairbun who is loading a shotgun while sitting behind some sort of box.]<br />
:Knocking on the door: '''Thump Thump'''<br />
:Voice (see [[#Two interpretations|here]]): '''Which Spice Girl are you?!'''<br />
:Voice (see [[#Two interpretations|here]]): The merciful one, or the one who started this war?<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the frame:]<br />
:'''When I see those quiz titles, I like to imagine they're'''<br />
:'''being shouted through a door in a postapocalyptic dystopia.'''<br />
<br />
==Spice girl quizzes==<br />
*''What spice girl are you?'' quizzes<br />
**[http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/which-spice-girl-are-you#.gbkv2p3jDX Buzzfeed]<br />
**[http://www.zimbio.com/quiz/w-MjcRyEoFZ/Which+Spice+Girl+Are+You Zimbio]<br />
**[http://www.brainfall.com/quizzes/which-spice-girl-are-you/ Brainfall]<br />
**[http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_spice_girl_are_you GoToQuiz]<br />
*Kidspot<br />
**''[http://www.kidspot.com.au/the-spice-girls-and-10-other-mummy-types-you-might-know/ The Spice Girls and 10 other mummy types you might know];'' <br />
**Baby Mummy, Sporty Mummy, Scary Mummy, Posh Mummy, Ginger Mummy and 10 others.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Spice Girls]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]<br />
[[Category:Songs]]<br />
[[Category:Clickbait]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=256:_Online_Communities&diff=146285256: Online Communities2017-10-06T03:28:35Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Ocean of Subculture and Sea of Memes (East) */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 256<br />
| date = May 2, 2007<br />
| title = Online Communities<br />
| image = online_communities_small.png<br />
| titletext = I'm waiting for the day when, if you tell someone 'I'm from the internet', instead of laughing they just ask 'oh, what part?'<br />
}}<br />
{{TOC}}<br />
*A larger version of the image is available [http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/online_communities.png here].''<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
'''''Note:''' This comic dates from Spring 2007. The internet changed a lot since that time. <br />
This is Randall's first map of online communities, with a successor (showing some zoomed-in highlights of the map) at [[802: Online Communities 2]]. As Randall says on the map, the area of each "country" is roughly proportional to its membership, at least in 2007. Geographic location means a bit more, however, as the '''Compass-Rose-Shaped Island''' points out. North-south corresponds to a spectrum from practical to intellectual, and east-west corresponds to one from web-focused to real-life-focused. The map also bears a slight resemblance to {{w|South East Asia}}.<br />
<br />
Randall likes to draw maps in a manner like this. Each "Country" is represented by size and related points of interest. We also have a "Sea of memes" and a small "Straits of WEB 2.0".<br />
<br />
===Compass Rose-shaped Island===<br />
A joke located near the middle of the map, that nonetheless serves to organize the illustration. A Compass Rose —the name for the multi-pointed star that shows where North is on the map— appears on most maps; however, here, it's actually land that just coincidentally looks like a compass rose.<br />
<br />
The "points" of the island do, however, roughly organize the map. Left is "Focus on Real Life", labelled "IRL", an abbreviation for "In Real Life". Right is "Focus on Web", labelled ".com". Up is Practicals, labelled "N", as in "North", but with small letters making it spell "Noob", slang for a "Newbie" or "New user" — a person less experienced with the internet, as many of the sites to the top of the map are ones infamous for having large numbers of largely computer-illiterate people. Down is "Intellectuals", labelled ''"&pi;"'', an important constant in mathematics approximately equal to 3.14.<br />
<br />
===The Icy North===<br />
Communities which were once major players, but now in a much reduced role. While some are still fairly large, they're somewhat relics of older times, hence the "Mountains of Web 1.0" that run through them — Web 1.0 is the first major generation of websites.<br />
* '''[http://yahoo.com Yahoo!]''' was the most popular search engine around 1998, but lost out to Google. It remains in business due to diversification (it now owns Tumblr, for instance).<br />
* '''Windows Live''', particularly ''Windows Live Messenger'', used to be a particularly major way for friends to communicate, now taken over by Skype and the like. Once a more-or-less ubiquitous branding, now used much less. https://home.live.com/ is one remnant.<br />
* '''[http://aol.com AOL]''' was once a huge player in the internet service provider market, noted for sending out millions of floppy disks and CD-ROMs in the 1980s and '90s offering a month or so free internet service (followed by high fees and difficult cancellation). Notably, AOL was the first company to sign up large numbers of people to internet access throughout the year, whereas before then internet was mainly provided by colleges and universities, fundamentally changing internet culture (see {{w|Eternal September}}). This influx of new users or "Noobs" (short for "newbies") names the ''Noob Sea'' south of AOL. The ''Chat Rooms'' nearby were a selling feature of early ISPs — ways to communicate with other people from that ISP. They are largely dying now, but were a major selling point in the early days.<br />
* '''[http://classmates.com Classmates.com]''' and '''[http://reunion.com Reunion.com]''' are early sites that offered to help you find your former classmates from school, a role largely taken over by the big, more generalised social media sites. Classmates.com is probably best known by its memetic advertisement that said "She married him??!! And they've got 7 kids??"<br />
* '''[http://friendster.com Friendster]''' was the first big social media site. It was later outpaced by ''Myspace'' and ''Facebook'' (see Social Media below). It has survived by rebranding itself as social gaming site, now used primarily in Southeast Asia.<br />
* '''Qwghlm''': A reference to ''{{w|The Baroque Cycle}}'', a series of science fiction books by Neal Stephenson. In them, Qwghlm is a group of islands in the icy north. See [http://baroquecycle.wikia.com/wiki/Qwghlm http://baroquecycle.wikia.com/wiki/Qwghlm].<br />
* '''Chasm''': A barely-readable note just below the "O" of "NORTH". This may simply be a reference to a lot of fantasy series containing a chasm. (For example, the One Ring is destroyed by flinging it into a fiery chasm in The Lord of the Rings.)<br />
<br />
===Dating sites (Northwest coastal regions)===<br />
* '''[http://eharmony.com E-Harmony]''' and '''[http://okcupid.com OkCupid]''' are dating sites; the other, larger sites near them are mostly social media sites.<br />
* '''The Lonely Island''' label appears to be a joke: Surrounded by, but separate from dating sites and social media sites, it would be a rather lonely place. Possibly named after "[http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Tol_Eress%C3%ABa Tol Eressëa]" (Translation: The Lonely Island) a somewhat obscure location in J. R. R. Tolkien's books, but there are {{w|The Lonely Island|other possibilities}}.<br />
<br />
===Social Media (West)===<br />
Sites mainly used to communicate with friends, such as Facebook and Myspace. The first large one was ''Friendster'', but this has largely become a social gaming site primarily used in Southeast Asia, as discussed in The Icy North, above. Other social media sites listed are:<br />
<br />
* '''[http://faceparty.com Faceparty]''': A UK social media site started in 1999.<br />
* '''[http://myspace.com Myspace]''': A social media site partially owned by, of all people, Justin Timberlake. Started in 2003, and peaking around the time this comic was made, it nonetheless still remains popular for bands (hence "Myspace Bands" in the southwest). It was never known for having a particularly attractive web design (partly because users could extensively customize the look and feel of their profile pages), hence only a very small part of it labelled "Attractive Myspace Pages".<br />
** The '''Series of Tubes''': A reference to an internet meme. In 2006, U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, while arguing for the end of "Network neutrality", a concept that keeps ISPs from favouring or charging more for high-speed access to sites, claimed that such regulation was needed because the Internet was "not a truck" you could just load up with as much as you want, but a "series of tubes". This was fairly accurate, but his arguments were poor and badly phrased, and his speech subsequently received widespread derision (originally from Jon Stewart's The Daily Show), and became a running gag on the internet.<br />
* '''[http://facebook.com Facebook]''': Generally considered (at least in the West) the "modern" social media network, and the most popular. However, this comic is from 2007, and Facebook did not catch up to Myspace until 2008-2009. [Source: {{w|Myspace}}]<br />
* '''[http://orkut.com Orkut]''': A social media network launched in 2004 by Google, it became hugely popular in Brazil, India, and, to a lesser extent, Japan.<br />
* '''[http://xanga.com Xanga]''': A blogging and social media site launched in 1998.<br />
* '''[http://livejournal.com LJ]''': LiveJournal, a blogging site, more or less, but one that allows an internet forum-like structure where anyone, or selected people, can all start new posts on a community. Noted for a large number of teenagers, fanfic authors, and the like in its heyday, hence the "Bay of Angst" to its south.<br />
* '''[http://www.blurty.com/ Blurty]''': LiveJournal's software is Open Access, meaning anyone can use it to set up a site. {{w|Blurty}} is, according to Wikipedia, an 18+ general community using this software.<br />
* '''[http://cyworld.com Cyworld]''': A South Korean social media site featuring avatars and "mini-rooms".<br />
<br />
===The Blogipelago (Southwest)===<br />
Portmanteau of blog and archipelago. Sulawesi is a real island in the Indonesian archipelago, implying that this region's similarity to Indonesia is probably intentional.<br />
<br />
* '''[http://www.huffingtonpost.com Huffington Post:]''' ''The Huffington Post'' is a web-only news site, named after its founder, Arianna Huffington. It's noted for attracting notable people to do very good write-ups of politics and news, generally with a liberal slant, but also for having a medicine section that supports every sort of quackery and nonsense, including a regular column by {{w|Dana Ullman}} promoting {{w|homeopathy}} (see [[765: Dilution]]).<br />
* '''Shipwreck of the SS Howard Dean:''' In the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, Howard Dean raised funds mainly over the internet, and was doing very well, until a gaffe caused him to crash and burn just before the primaries began. See {{w|Howard Dean presidential campaign, 2004}}.<br />
* '''Cory Doctrow's Balloon:''' Reference to [[239: Blagofaire]].<br />
* '''[http://boingboing.net Boing Boing:]''' An occasional trend is for a smallish magazine to get a website, have the website become vastly more popular than its print edition, and become a successful website. Examples include [http://cracked.com Cracked.com,] [http://theonion.com The Onion,] and the subject of this label, [http://boingboing.net Boing Boing.] Boing Boing is a group blog covering technology, intellectual property, science fiction, and futurism.<br />
* '''[http://technorati.com Technorati:]''' A site for searching blogs.<br />
* '''Sulawesi:''' As mentioned above, a real island that is part of the Indonesian archipelago.<br />
* '''{{w|Xu Jinglei}}:''' Chinese actress. According to Wikipedia: "In mid-2006, her Chinese-language blog had the most incoming links of any blog in any language on the Internet, according to Technorati."<br />
* '''[http://postsecret.com/ PostSecret:]''' A website which people send postcards to, describing their secrets. Some are little secrets (like swigging milk directly from the jug or carton); some are old, deep-seated traumas; and some are just things that they could never admit to anyone publicly. Worth a look.<br />
* '''The Wet Sea''': Perhaps a reference to a West Sea, but not sure what that would be. Maybe just a simple joke, as what else would a sea be but wet?<br />
* ''TWB'' or ''TMZ'': A very-hard-to-read label, south of Technorati.<br />
** '''TWB''' is short for "{{w|Translators Without Borders}}," a charitable project that tries to translate necessary texts into the languages of the people who need them for free. This ''might'' be it, if it's meant to relate to Wikipedia, to the east of it. On the other hand,<br />
** '''[http://TMZ.com TMZ]''' is a major celebrity gossip blog, rated #15 in the "[http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/mar/09/blogs World's 50 most powerful blogs"] by ''The Guardian,'' and, at time of writing, rating #11 in the [http://technorati.com/blogs/top100/ Technorati top 100.]<br />
<br />
===Sea of Culture (Central region) ===<br />
Sites for sharing and showing off music and images, most focusing on self-created content<br />
<br />
* '''Gulf of YouTube''': [http://youtube.com YouTube] is the definitive video website where people can upload videos with the purpose of public viewing, ranging from home movies through official music videos through Let's Plays of people playing video games to questionably-legal uploads of cartoons and films. Google has since purchased YouTube.<br />
* '''Piczo''': Teen-oriented website that allowed one to make a profile and put up pictures. The site has been dead since late 2012, due to the rise of Facebook. See {{w|Piczo}}.<br />
* '''Broadcaster''': Another dead site, almost lost to the web. Only a few scraps of information remain on the web. [http://www.seomastering.com/wiki/Broadcaster.com One of the rare scraps of remaining information] indicates it was a webcam broadcasting service that also allowed YouTube-like sharing of videos.<br />
* '''The Bit Torrent''' and the '''P2P Shoals''': Reference to file sharing (passing around often copyright-infringing files, such as movies, CDs, and the like), often done with the {{w|BitTorrent}} protocol. A "Torrent" can also be a flood of water, hence it being used to name a river. "P2P" stands for "{{w|Peer-to-peer}}", the basis for the BitTorrent protocol.<br />
* '''[http://flickr.com Flickr]''': a website where people can upload and share photographs they took.<br />
* '''[http://lastfm.com LastFM]''': a music website that is notable of its "scrobbling" feature.<br />
* '''[http://deviantart.com DeviantArt]''': the largest art website, where people can upload, sell, and buy not only art itself, but also video, audio, Flash-work, and even skins (the original purpose of deviantArt). While many big-name/professional people and organizations have their works in deviantArt, the site is more infamous for the large amount of people who upload low-quality fan-art and fan-characters, most notably of media from Japan. Another point of infamy is the large amount of drama that can happen in the website.<br />
<br />
'''Straits of Web 2.0''': A ''strait'' is a narrow passage between two outcroppings. Web 2.0 is a term used to describe new internet architectures, which these programs and Wikipedia (the other side of the strait) are examples of. '''Gays of Web 2.0''' is a pun: The opposite of a gay person (homosexual) is a straight person (heterosexual).<br />
<br />
===User-created content and discussions (Southeast)===<br />
Sites such as {{w|Wikipedia}} and chat programs such as IRC.<br />
* '''[http://en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]''': The world's largest encyclopedia, collaboratively edited by its users. It's labelled as "The Wikipedia Project" (actually called ''{{w|Wikimedia}}''), since Wikipedia has generalised to cover a number of separate web sites, though, at the time of this comic, none near the size of Wikipedia (excepting, possibly, Wikimedia Commons, which is partly an image repository for Wikipedia), perhaps explaining the small size of all the other vertexes of the "web".<br />
* '''Usenet''': The predecessor of most modern forums. A set of discussion groups that dominated the early internet. It also predates the standard web architecture to some extent — there's no standard weblink for it, for instance. See {{w|Usenet}}.<br />
* '''IRC isles''': IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat, a simple, low-bandwidth program for chatting. Common uses include Dungeons and Dragons games and other geeky pursuits.<br />
* '''[http://sourceforge.net SourceForge]''': A code repository. Basically, a place for programmers to meet up and work together on a variety of free and open source projects. See {{w|sourceforge}}. Has become less respectable since this comic was created in 2007, due to [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/08/gimp_dumps_sourceforge_over_dodgy_ads_and_installer/ allowing misleading advertisements intended to trick people into installing questionable software.]<br />
* '''[http://mit.edu MIT]''': The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the most respected universities for Engineering, Robotics, and other such fields.<br />
* '''[http://www.engadget.com/ Engadget]''': A blog/online magazine, in multiple languages, reviewing tech products and commenting on technology news.<br />
* '''[http://gizmodo.com/ Gizmodo]''': A blog about technology and design.<br />
* '''[http://makezine.com/blog/ MakeBlog]''': A blog highlighting bizarre and interesting do-it-yourself projects, often with a geeky theme.<br />
* '''Google's Volcano Fortress''': A volcano fortress is one traditional dwelling place of evil geniuses in fiction, and Google has quietly taken over huge chunks of people's interaction with the web. Perhaps this provides some background for [[254: Comic Fragment]]?<br />
* '''Stallman's Airship''': A joke, perhaps in line with Cory Doctorow's Balloon ([[239: Blagofaire]], also referenced in this strip)<br />
<br />
===Ocean of Subculture and Sea of Memes (East)===<br />
:'''Need descriptions'''<br />
Sites related to smaller internet communities, a.k.a. "Subcultures". Also, a whole lot of internet memes, unsurprisingly. The "Viral Straits" references the idea of something "going viral", e.g. spreading quickly to huge numbers of people on the internet. These sites are often responsible for things going viral, and the memes listed are ones that went viral in the past.<br />
<br />
;Sites<br />
* '''[http://www.2ch.net/ 2Channel]''': a Japanese imageboard that was actually the original inspiration for...<br />
* '''[http://4chan.org 4Chan]''': an imageboard in which people can upload pictures while others comment on them. The website is infamous for its loose/often non-existent rules, incredibly vulgar userbase, source of new memes, and spawning of trolls. 4chan's random board, known internally as /b/, is almost constantly flooded with porn and image macros.<br />
**The fact that 4chan is a very small island on this map (to the far right on the map - left of "dragons" in the sentence ''Here there be anthropomorphic dragons'') made quite a fuss for Randall. And this caused the comic to be mentioned in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2008/02/25/fruit-opinions/ FRUIT OPINIONS!] on the [http://blog.xkcd.com/ Blag]. Although this comic was one of the more controversial, it had nothing on the impact of [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]] which was the cause of the Blag entry as that became the most controversial comic written to that point (i.e. 2008): ''...beating out comics about cunnilingus, the Obama endorsement, and my making 4chan tiny on the map of the internet''. (See the grapefruit comic for more details).<br />
* '''[http://reddit.com Reddit]''': the self-described "front page of the Internet" in which users submit stories, photos and videos and the best are "up-voted" to the top of the page.<br />
* '''[http://digg.com Digg]''': a former competitor to Reddit in the social-news sphere, but has been sold since this map was drawn and restarted as an aggregator of news stories.<br />
* '''[http://fark.com Fark]''': A website that writes humorous commentary on various news reports, especially the strange, bizarre, or things from the political far-left and far-right.<br />
* '''[http://somethingawful.com Something Awful]''': a website that is meant to showcase all things "awful". SomethingAwful also has a large trollbase, but they tend to be more honorable than the ones from ''Encyclopedia Dramatica'' and 4chan. One example is there being a spotty holding of the no-furries rule in the forums. The forums themselves are famous because of the holding of the "Let's Plays" of ''Dangan Ronpa'' and ''Super Dangan Ronpa 2'', which had cooked up public interest to the point of there being an English-language release of the games.<br />
* '''[http://slashdot.org /.]''': ''Slashdot'', a news site for technology-related news stories, which are submitted by its users. The "{{w|Slashdot effect}}" is named after this site.<br />
* '''[http://ytmnd.com YTMND]''': a community in which users can create meme-type nonsense by playing music over an image (either static or animated). Its name is an acronym for "You're The Man Now, Dog!"<br />
* '''[http://StumbleUpon.com Stumble Upon]''': A website that attempts to develop a profile for users in order to recommend which websites they might enjoy.<br />
* '''[http://delicious.com/ Del.icio.us]''': Another image and website aggregator, linking to various things of interest. It uses tags to let people find specific types of content. ('''Note''': Since this comic, this website was renamed as "Delicious".)<br />
<br />
;Memes and related<br />
* '''Isle of Slash''': "{{w|Slash fiction}}" is a type of {{w|fanfiction}} that takes two male characters from another work of fiction and puts them in a plot where they have lots of sex with each other. Named because of a common way of writing pairings in fanfiction, "X/Y", with the / being pronounced "slash". Adding to this, "Isle of" sounds like "I love".<br />
* '''Numa''': A reference to the viral video "Numa Numa", consisting of a man dancing and lip-syncing to the song "Dragostea din tei" (Romanian for "Love from the lindens").<br />
* '''Your Base''': A reference to the "{{w|All your base are belong to us}}" meme, a line from the game ''{{w|Zero Wing}}'', a game with a huge amount of hilariously badly translated {{w|Engrish}} dialogue. See [[286: All Your Base]] for more discussion of the meme.<br />
* '''Bay of Trolls''': {{w|Troll (Internet)|Trolls}} are people who attempt to stir up controversy by intentionally saying statements meant to annoy others into responding. "Bay" can refer to both a sheltered port, and to an animal's cry, so "Bay of Trolls" can be read as "Shelter for Trolls" or "Angry Shouting of Trolls". Given the communities surrounding it, both would make sense.<br />
* '''Soviet Russia''': {{w|Russian reversal|"In Soviet Russia" jokes}} are a style of joke commonly associated with -comedian {{w|Yakov Smirnoff}}, which has since become an internet meme. Example: "In America, you always find a party. In Russia, Party will always find ''you''." — playing off of the idea that "Party" can also refer to the Communist Party. The meme version usually isn't as clever as that, though. See "[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-soviet-russia in soviet russia]".<br />
* '''SPAAARTA''': As in, "THIS! IS! SPAAARTA!!!", A famously over-the-top line from the movie ''{{w|300 (film)|300}}''.<br />
<br />
===MMORPGs and related games (Northeast by East)===<br />
An area dedicated to MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games), large-scale games with huge numbers of players put into the same world. The label "Here there be anthromorphic dragons" references a common marking on old maps ("Here there be dragons") but updates it to joke about the more humanoid dragons seen in many games, or again, how dragons, especilally anthropomorphic dragons, are very-very popular in the furry community.<br />
<br />
* '''[http://games.yahoo.com Yahoo Games]''': A branch of Yahoo (see "The Icy North") dedicated to games (mainly boardgames).<br />
* '''[http://uo.com UO]''': ''Ultima Online'', one of the first MMORPGs, and the first to grow to any size. Based on the long-running ''Ultima'' RPG computer games. Started 1997.<br />
* '''[http://www.everquest.com/ EQ]''': ''EverQuest'', another important early MMORPG, started 1999. UO and EQ have declined significantly since then; for a while, they were each the iconic MMORPG, but that role has been taken over by...<br />
* '''[http://www.warcraft.com/ WoW]''': ''World of Warcraft'', an MMORPG launched in 2004, again based on a previously-existing RPG series, and by far the largest and most iconic at the time of this comic's creation. A few others have attempted to challenge it since.<br />
* '''[http://www.runescape.com/ Runescape]''': Free-to-play fantasy MMORPG; the largest in existence.<br />
* '''[http://www.finalfantasyxi.com/ FFXI]''': ''Final Fantasy XI'', the eleventh installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series of video games, and the first to be a MMORPG. It didn't really take off until after this comic was made.<br />
* '''[http://www.lineage.com/ Lineage]''': 1998 MMORPG. Particularly popular in South Korea, a country with somewhat of a cultural obsession with video games.<br />
* '''[http://secondlife.com Second Life]''': A virtual world, noted for largely working from user-generated content, which can be sold by users for real money. See {{w|Second Life}}. ''Third Life'' is a joke based on Second Life — if it existed it would presumably be a game people play to escape Second Life, which they play to escape their first, real life.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Hand-drawn fantasy style map with land and sea areas representing populations of online communities. Each area or item is labeled.]<br />
:Map of Online Communities and related points of interest<br />
:Geographic area represents estimated size of membership<br />
<br />
:[Land Area Labels:]<br />
:The Icy North (Yahoo, Windows Live),<br />
:AOL,<br />
::Chat Rooms<br />
:Reunion dot com,<br />
:Classmates dot com,<br />
:E-harmony,<br />
:Friendster,<br />
:Faceparty,<br />
:Chasm,<br />
:Qwghlm,<br />
:Yahoo Games,<br />
:Mountains of Web 1.0,<br />
:The Lonely Island,<br />
:MySpace,<br />
:Attractive MySpace Pages,<br />
:The Series of Tubes,<br />
:Myspace Bands,<br />
:WOW,<br />
:Lineage,<br />
:Second Life,<br />
:Third Life,<br />
:UO,<br />
:EQ,<br />
:FFXI,<br />
:2channel,<br />
:4chan,<br />
:LJ,<br />
:Xanga,<br />
:Orkut,<br />
:Cyworld,<br />
:Blurty,<br />
:OK Cupid,<br />
:Facebook,<br />
:Piczo,<br />
:The Compass-Rose-Shaped Island,<br />
::Practicals (Noob)<br />
::Focus on Real Life (IRL)<br />
::Focus on Web (.com)<br />
::Intellectuals (&pi;)<br />
:Broadcaster,<br />
:The Bit Torrent,<br />
:Flickr,<br />
:Last.fm,<br />
:DeviantArt,<br />
:Isle of Slash,<br />
:Numa,<br />
:Digg,<br />
:Fark,<br />
:Reddit,<br />
:Something Awful,<br />
:Your Base,<br />
:Soviet Russia,<br />
:/. [Slashdot],<br />
:Spaaarta (YTMND),<br />
:StumbleUpon,<br />
:Del.icio.us,<br />
:The Blogipelago,<br />
:Sulawesi,<br />
:Xu Jinglei,<br />
:Post Secret,<br />
:Technocrati,<br />
:[Hard to read label: Probably JWB, TWB, or TMZ]<br />
:BoingBoing,<br />
:Huffington Post,<br />
:Gays of Web 2.0,<br />
:The Wikipedia project,<br />
:MIT,<br />
:Engadget,<br />
:Gizmodo,<br />
:Usenet,<br />
:MAKE Blog,<br />
:IRC Isles,<br />
:Sourceforge.<br />
<br />
:[Sea Area Labels:]<br />
:NOOB Sea,<br />
:Gulf of YouTube,<br />
:Bay of Angst,<br />
:Sea of Culture,<br />
:Ocean of Subculture,<br />
:P2P Shoals,<br />
:Straits of Web 2.0,<br />
:Here Be Anthropomorphic Dragons,<br />
:Bay of Trolls,<br />
:Viral Straits,<br />
:Sea of Memes,<br />
:The Wet Sea<br />
:Item Labels: Shipwreck of the SS Howard Dean, Cory Doctrow's Balloon, Stallman's airship, Google's volcano fortress<br />
<br />
:(Not a complete survey. Sizes based on the best figures I could find but involved some guesswork. Do not use for navigation.)<br />
:Spring 2007<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Online Communities]]<br />
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Online Communities]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Large drawings]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1898:_October_2017&diff=1462581898: October 20172017-10-04T15:25:18Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1898<br />
| date = October 4, 2017<br />
| title = October 2017<br />
| image = october_2017.png<br />
| titletext = And yet I have no trouble believing that the start of the 2016 election was several decades ago.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|once again]] makes us feel old by referencing an old movie that our memory puts as recent. The movie in question is ''{{w|The Social Network}}'', written by {{w|Aaron Sorkin}} and directed by {{w|David Fincher}}, which was released seven years and three days prior to this comic, on October 1, 2010. Seven years is also how long some people believe bad luck will follow you after [http://www.mirrorhistory.com/mirror-facts/broken-mirror breaking a mirror].<br />
<br />
The {{w|United_States_presidential_election,_2016|2016 US presidential election}} took place on November 8, 2016. {{w|Donald Trump}} won in a surprise victory over {{w|Hillary Clinton}} ([[Randall]]'s favorite, see [[1756: I'm With Her]]). Donald Trump's tumultuous presidency so far probably makes [[Randall]] feel that the election took place far longer than 11 months ago. {{w|Telescoping_effect|Backward telescoping}} is a psychological effect that causes people to overestimate the elapsed time since an event.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the title of this comic is patterned on the previous "this will make you feel old" comic "[[November 2016]]," which was published in the early hours of November 9th, while the presidential election's ballots were still being counted. Some people (including ''explain xkcd'' editors, writing in that explanation's [[1757:_November_2016#Trivia|trivia]] section, see that for more details, also on this special title name) felt that Randall could have published something more timely, and commented that the election had made them feel old enough as it was. By using the same sort of title and making this joke, Randall brings the whole thing full circle. <br />
<br />
Shortly after the election Randall made [[1756:_I'm_With_Her#Sad_comics|several comics]] that could indicate his emotions regarding the result, but references to the election have become fewer and farther apart and here he again indicates that he has not been happy with the election result and what has followed, causing him to feel that all these bad things could not really have happened in less than a year, but they did.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball are walking.]<br />
:Megan: Want to feel old?<br />
:Cueball: Why do you always start your factoids that way? Of ''course'' I don't want to feel old. I ''already'' feel old.<br />
<br />
:[Beat panel]<br />
<br />
:[Frameless panel of Cueball.]<br />
:Cueball: ...Fine, hit me.<br />
<br />
:Megan: If you broke a mirror back when the Aaron Sorkin Facebook movie came out, your seven years of bad luck would be over this week.<br />
:Cueball: ''Dammit.''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=40:_Light&diff=14619240: Light2017-10-03T18:09:15Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Trivia */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 40<br />
| date = October 21, 2005<br />
| title = Light<br />
| image = light.jpg<br />
| titletext = Like a beacon<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Lighthouses were built on coasts to give ships a point of reference where land was, so that they could find where they were going, and to know what they should avoid during a storm. [[Megan]] fills this role for [[Cueball]]. She is his lighthouse to know where he can be safe.<br />
<br />
This also has a romantic notion, as Megan is lighting up the world for Cueball to find her.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A crowd of figures stand around in the dark. One figure is illuminated by a beam of light.]<br />
:In a dark and confusing world, you burn brightly. I never feel lost.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*This was the 22nd comic originally posted to [[LiveJournal]].<br />
**The previous was [[44: Love]].<br />
**The next was [[22: Barrel - Part 3]].<br />
*Original title: "Friday's Drawing"<br />
*There was no original [[Randall]] quote for this comic.<br />
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.<br />
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with all 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal as well as a few others.<br />
**The latter explaining why the numbers of these 41 LiveJournal comics ranges from 1-44.<br />
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics posted on livejournal| 22]]<br />
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]<br />
[[Category:Checkered paper]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Footer comics]] <!-- in initial footer --></div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=111:_Firefox_and_Witchcraft_-_The_Connection%3F&diff=146167111: Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?2017-10-02T17:24:43Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 111<br />
| date = June 5, 2006<br />
| title = Firefox and Witchcraft - The Connection?<br />
| image = firefox wicca.png<br />
| titletext = ThisadpaidforbythecounciltopromoteMicrosoftandChristianity. Remember, The Bible is Closed Source.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic shows a chart between the number of members of the religion {{w|Wicca}} and the number of times {{w|Firefox}} web browser was downloaded, the implication being that Firefox usage causes membership in Wicca or vice versa. In juxtaposing these almost certainly unrelated phenomena, Randall highlights the common issue of {{w|illusory correlation}}, "the phenomenon of perceiving a relationship between variables (typically people, events, or behaviors) even when no such relationship exists."<br />
<br />
Randall further illustrates one common and perhaps destructive use of illusory correlation in the bottom half of the image. The appearance of the symbol for Internet Explorer, a rival web browser, and the cross, representing Christianity, on the bottom, imply that this graph is an attack ad promoted by Microsoft and Christianity to gain an advantage over their competitors.<br />
<br />
The title text is reminiscent of political commercials, which tell you who paid for them, generally said very fast, hence why all the words are strung together. The last sentence is a play on the term of {{w|Closed source software}}, which Internet Explorer is, as opposed to Firefox, which is open source in development. Similar in that vein, the Bible can be considered "closed source" [http://kingjbible.com/revelation/22.htm due to God's prohibition on altering its contents.]<br />
<br />
This type of [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/false-cause statistical ploy] is used again in a few other comics, like [[523: Decline]], [[552: Correlation]], and [[925: Cell Phones]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Y axis]: Membership in Wicca<br />
:[X axis]: Total Firefox Downloads<br />
:[Positive slope graph.]<br />
:[Internet Explorer icon.]<br />
:Keep the Faith<br />
:[Outline of a cross.]<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Line graphs]]<br />
[[Category:Statistics]]<br />
[[Category:Religion]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1864:_City_Nicknames&diff=1428531864: City Nicknames2017-07-17T23:12:33Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Nicknames and Demonyms */ lantern city</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1864<br />
| date = July 17, 2017<br />
| title = City Nicknames<br />
| image = city_nicknames.png<br />
| titletext = This place has so many demonyms. Northlanders. Fair Folk. Honey Barons. Lake Dwellers. Treasurers. Swamp Watchers. Dream Farmers. Wellfolk. Rockeaters. Forgotten Royals. Remote Clients. Barrow-Clerks. The People of Land and Sky.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|stub}}<br />
<br />
Cities often have official or unofficial nicknames. For instance, [[wikipedia:St._Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]], is known as "Gateway to the West" among several other nicknames. The nicknames typically invoke some historical or geographic feature of the city, but can sometime be opaque to those not familiar with the city. [https://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/fullname.php The full, formal name of Bangkok] includes a long list of superlatives translating as "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]] appears to believe they are near [[wikipedia:New York City|New York City]], despite the skyline being clearly recognizable as St. Louis due to the [[wikipedia:Gateway Arch|Gateway Arch]]. However, the nickname he gives is neither a common New York nickname (such as "[[wikipedia: List of nicknames of New York City|The Big Apple]]") nor a St. Louis nickname. [[Megan]] tries to correct him, but it becomes clear that Black Hat is making up nicknames. Many of his suggestions are puns for real nicknames of other places.<br />
<br />
The title text contains made up [[wikipedia:Demonym|demonyms]] in the same pattern. A demonym is a word for the people who live in a particular place. They are typically derived from the name of the place (e.g. "St. Louisan" for people from St. Louis), but some regions have an [[wikipedia:Demonym#Informal|informal demonym]] that can be used colloquially by those familiar with the place to refer to its residents.<br />
<br />
===Nicknames and Demonyms===<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! City nickname in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Hot Tamale<br />
| {{w|Hot Tamales}}<br />
| Possibly a reference to the term [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20enchilada big enchilada] (something of great importance). In the movie <i>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(1996_film) Independence Day]</i>, the phrase "Big Tamale" is used in a similar manner as "Big Enchilada" to describe the alien fighter held at Area 51.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Winged City<br />
| The Windy City<br />
| Chicago. Possibly also [http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/incheon-international-airport/ Incheon International Airport (ICA/RKSI), South Korea]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Gold Trombone<br />
|<br />
| Possibly a reference to the gold standard.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Castleopolis<br />
| {{w|Cassopolis}}<br />
| Literally "Castle city." {{w|Polis}} (from the Greek πόλις for city) is commonly used as a suffix for city names, like {{w|Minneapolis}} or {{w|Alexandroupolis}}; {{w|Metropolis}} can either be a type of city, or one of the real or fictional cities bearing the name. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Kissing Kingdom<br />
|<br />
|<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Sandland<br />
|<br />
| {{w|Sandland}} is a village in northern Norway, most likely coincidentally.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The High Place<br />
| {{w|Denver}}<br />
|Denver is known as the Mile High City. Also, in English translations of the Old Testament, the Hebrew term במה (bamah, plural במות bamot) is rendered as "{{w|high place}}," and denotes a place of worship. In modern Jewish synagogues, the "High Place" (bimah) is the elevated platform from which the Torah is read. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Ol' Ironhook<br />
| {{w|Old Ironsides}}<br />
| Old Ironsides is a nickname for the USS Constitution (docked in Charlestown, MA). Ol' Ironhook may be a conflation of Old Ironsides (also a nickname for English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell) with Old Hookey (a nickname for Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, English general and PM) or Old Kinderhook (a nickname for US President Martin Van Buren).<br />
|-<br />
| The Thousand Spires || The City of a Hundred Spires / City of Dreaming Spires|| Prague / Oxford<br />
|-<br />
| The Graveyard of Kings || The Graveyard of Champions || Court 2 at Wimbledon, where former champions are often defeated (the playing environment is very different from Centre Court and Court One, which are larger and where games involving highly-ranked players are preferentially located). The comic was released one day after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships were finished.<br />
|-<br />
| Bloomtown || [[wikipedia: Boomtown|Boomtown]] || Generic term for a town undergoing rapid growth. Used in the 2002 TV series of the same name as a nickname for Los Angeles. Might also be referring to [[wikipedia:Bloom County|Bloom County]], a comic by [[wikipedia:Berkeley Breathed|Berkeley Breathed]], or Dublin, as the setting for Ulysses by James Joyce.<br />
|-<br />
| Lantern City USA || {{w|Tree City USA}} || A designation supporting municipalities that showcase urban forestry, in connection with Arbor Day. Lantern city is a fictional, steam-punk serial.<br />
|-<br />
| The City of Many Daughters || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Big Mauve || [[wikipedia: Big_Red_(drink)|Big Red Soda]] || Big Red Soda. The Cornell teams are known as the [[wikipedia:Cornell Big Red|Big Red]]. The Dartmouth football team is the Big Green. <br />
|-<br />
| The Glass Cradle || [[wikipedia:The Glass Menagerie|The Glass Menagerie]] || A play by Tennessee Williams<br />
|-<br />
| The Road Source ||{{w|Rome}} || From the saying that {{w|All Roads Lead to Rome}}<br />
|-<br />
| London Prime || London || In the DC comics, to incorporate multiple continuties, there were multiple universes. London Prime would be "real London" on Earth Prime. Various cities named {{w|New London}} in the United States and elsewhere are imagined as London in alternate continuities. Alternatively in mathematics, a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_(symbol)#Use_in_mathematics.2C_statistics.2C_and_science prime mark], x' can be the next iteration of variable x. <br />
|-<br />
| Hamtown || {{w|Boston}}, {{w|Hamburg}}, {{w|Toronto}} || Boston is known as [[wikipedia:Boston nicknames|beantown]], pork and beans are commonly cooked together (as in {{w|Boston baked beans}}), and ham is a form of pork. The German word ''Burg'' means castle or fort and is often used as suffix for town names. The origin of the prefix ''Ham'' is uncertain, but the food {{w|Hamburger}} derives from this city and ''Hamburger'' in German is the demonym of Hamburg. Toronto sometimes nicknamed Hogtown. <br />
|-<br />
| The Salad Bowl || || A theory of cultural integration in the US, one that stands in contrast to the older 'Melting Pot' theory. Could also refer to the [[wikipedia: Dust Bowl|Dust Bowl]]<br />
|-<br />
| God's Boudoir || God's Waiting Room || State of {{w|Florida}}, where many elderly retire then expire.<br />
|-<br />
| The Glittering Swamp || [[wikipedia:Great Dismal Swamp|The Great Dismal Swamp ]] || A large swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the city of {{w|Washington, D.C.}} has often been referred to as a "swamp," owing partly to its past as a [http://networks.h-net.org/node/28441/pages/36129/swamps-and-city-washington malarial swamp].<br />
|-<br />
| The Steel Forest || The Concrete Jungle || The Concrete Jungle is a name often given to New York's Manhattan area. There was also a book and movie titled ''The Petrified Forest''. <br />
|-<br />
| The Mobius Strip || The Strip || The Strip is a shortened and commonly used name for the Las Vegas Strip, the main area of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. A {{w|Mobius strip}} is a one-sided piece of paper created by rotating the short edge of the strip 180 degrees and attaching it to the other short edge. The Vegas strip has more or less only one side as well.<br />
|-<br />
| The Land of Trains and Fog || || Britain was home to early developments in railroading, and some portions are known for fog and mists.<br />
In the webcomic [[wikipedia:Homestuck | Homestuck]] many events take place on various planets named in the format "The Land of X and Y", e.g. "The Land of Light and Rain". The novel by George R.R. Martin, which was made into ''Game of Thrones'', was called ''A Song of Ice and Fire''.<br />
|-<br />
| The Meeting Place || ||<br />
|-<br />
| The Dark Star || || ''Dark Star'' is a 1974 science fiction comedy film.<br />
|-<br />
| The Walled Garden || {{w|Walled garden (technology)}} || A walled garden is a virtual environment where the user can only view content that is published or permitted by the proprietor, e.g. AOL or Facebook. This could also be a reference to walled cities, e.g. from the Middle Ages, or the {{w|Kowloon Walled City}} in the modern era. ''The Secret Garden'' is a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett.<br />
|-<br />
| Skin City || [[wikipedia:Sin City (description)|Sin City]] || Generic term for a city well known for gambling, drugs, or other vices. Also Las Vegas.<br />
|-<br />
| The Horse Rotary || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Turkeytown || Turkeytown || A town in Lincoln County, Kentucky<br />
|-<br />
| The Naked Towers || || ''The Naked City'' was a television series. ''The Two Towers'' is a book by Tolkien, and ''Naked Lunch'' is a book by Burroughs <br />
|-<br />
| The Meta-City || Metacity || A term for a heterogenous, sprawling urban center with multiple dense centers, such as Tokyo or New York City. Metacity was also the window manager in the Linux GNOME 2 desktop.<br />
|-<br />
| The Urban Orb || || The screen name of a Let's Player on Youtube and Twitch. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Angles || City of Angels || Los Angeles. Also, the titular City of Angles in the web novel [http://stefangagne.com/cityofangles/ City of Angles].<br />
|-<br />
| The Big Wheel || [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041179/ The Big Wheel] || A 1949 movie about a race car driver. Alternatively, a child's plastic tricycle with an oversized front wheel.<br />
|-<br />
| Bird City USA || || A program started by the Audubon Society. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Seven Crowns || City of Seven Hills || Rome<br />
|-<br />
| Hilltopia ||The Hilltop || May be reference to The Hilltop in AMC's The Walking Dead<br />
|-<br />
| Bug City || || A nickname for the bug-infested Chicago in the roleplaying game Shadowrun. Also, a sourcebook for the game.<br />
|-<br />
| The Bottomless Cup || || There are many mentions of Bottomless Pits in stories. Additionally, restaurants offering unlimited refills on drinks may refer to this offer by terms like "Bottomless Soda."<br />
|-<br />
| Lorde's Fen || Lord's Fen || [[wikipedia:Lorde| Lorde]] is a musical artist from Herne Bay, New Zealand - an area near Waitemata Harbour. A [[wikipedia:Fen| fen]] is a type of wetland, which could loosely connect to Herne Bay. <br />
|-<br />
| The Last Town || || The third book in the Wayward Pines series. <br />
|-<br />
| The Empty Set || || The concert hall in the video game Transistor. In mathematics, the {{w|empty set}} refers to an unique set with no elements, often notated as "{}" or "∅".<br />
|-<br />
| Ghost Harbor || || The name for a brewing company in North Carolina.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! Demonym in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Northlanders || {{w|Norsemen}} || Norsemen, literally men from the north, people from Scandinavia. Could also be a reference to highlanders, the people of the {{w|Scottish Highlands}}, with a similar demonym. The "High" in "Highlands" is a reference to the mountainous landscape, not the geographical position. <br />
|-<br />
| Fair Folk || {{w|Fairy}} || The fair folk is a name for fairies in folklore. The elves in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are referred to as the 'fair folk'. <br />
|-<br />
| Honey Barons || [[wikipedia: Robber_baron_(industrialist) | Robber Barons]], [[wikipedia: Honey_badger | Honey Badgers]], [[wikipedia: Honey bear| honey bear]] || Possibly a play on The Robber Barons, a group of powerful industrialists in the late 1800's known for questionable business ethics, and honey badgers, animals known for their tough skin, bad tempers, and tenacity. Honey bear is a name for a few types of bear, as well as kinkajous. <br />
|-<br />
| Lake Dwellers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Treasurers || || A {{w|treasurer}} is a person in charge of running the treasury of an organization, for example a governmental department. The Auditors were characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books who did the book-keeping for reality, and wanted to simplify the universe by destroying life.<br />
|-<br />
| Swamp Watchers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Dream Farmers || The Dream Factory || Hollywood, California, in its role as the center of the American film industry.<br />
|-<br />
| Wellfolk || Werefolk || The were folk were people who could change into animals: e.g. werewolves.<br />
|-<br />
| Rockeaters || [[Wikipedia:List_of_The_Neverending_Story_characters#Pyornkrachzark_and_the_other_messengers| Rockbiter]] || In the ''Never Ending Story'', Pyornkrachzark, more commonly known as "Rock Biter" is a large creature made completely of stone, named due to their diet of rocks. <br />
May also refer to {{w|Lotus-eaters}}; while these mythical people slept in narcotic apathy, rockeaters might have a tougher time.<br />
|-<br />
| Forgotten Royals || [[wikipedia:Forgotten Realms | Forgotten Realms]] || Royalty from Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign setting<br />
|-<br />
| Remote Clients || [[wikipedia:Remote_computer|Remote client]] || In computing, a remote client is a program used to access a computer or service over a network.<br />
|-<br />
| Barrow-Clerks || [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-wights Barrow-wights] || Wraith like creatures in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The hobbits come across them in the [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-downs Barrow-downs]. <br />
Those who keep records of items deposited in a grave mound or barrow.<br />
|-<br />
| The People of Land and Sky || [[wikipedia:Sea_Peoples|Sea Peoples]] ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are standing on a hill overlooking a city. The Gateway Arch is visible, as well as a number of skyscrapers in the skyline.]<br />
:Black Hat: Ah, New York. The Hot Tamale.<br />
:Megan: This is St. Louis. Also, that's not–<br />
:Black Hat: The Winged City. The Gold Trombone. Castleopolis.<br />
:Megan: It's none of those.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Black Hat]<br />
:Black Hat: The Kissing Kingdom. Sandland. The High Place. Ol' Ironhook.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Still wrong.<br />
:Black Hat: The Thousand Spires. The Graveyard of Kings. Bloomtown. Lantern City USA.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Please stop.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are walking]<br />
:Black Hat: The City of Many Daughters. Big Mauve. The Glass Cradle. The Road Source. London Prime. Hamtown. The Salad Bowl. God's Boudoir. The Glittering Swamp. The Steel Forest. The Mobius Strip. The Land of Trains and Fog. The Meeting Place. The Dark Star. The Walled Garden. Skin City. The Horse Rotary. Turkeytown. The Naked Towers. The Meta-City. The Urban Orb. The City of Angles. The Big Wheel. Bird City USA. The City of Seven Crowns. Hilltopia. Bug City. The Bottomless Cup. [Text size getting smaller] Lorde's Fen. The Last Town. The Empty Set. Ghost Harbor.<br />
:Megan: How long does this last?<br />
:Ponytail: No city has ever let him stay long enough to find out.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1864:_City_Nicknames&diff=1428521864: City Nicknames2017-07-17T23:00:48Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Nicknames and Demonyms */ wellington - Old Hookey</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1864<br />
| date = July 17, 2017<br />
| title = City Nicknames<br />
| image = city_nicknames.png<br />
| titletext = This place has so many demonyms. Northlanders. Fair Folk. Honey Barons. Lake Dwellers. Treasurers. Swamp Watchers. Dream Farmers. Wellfolk. Rockeaters. Forgotten Royals. Remote Clients. Barrow-Clerks. The People of Land and Sky.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|stub}}<br />
<br />
Cities often have official or unofficial nicknames. For instance, [[wikipedia:St._Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]], is known as "Gateway to the West" among several other nicknames. The nicknames typically invoke some historical or geographic feature of the city, but can sometime be opaque to those not familiar with the city. [https://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/fullname.php The full, formal name of Bangkok] includes a long list of superlatives translating as "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]] appears to believe they are near [[wikipedia:New York City|New York City]], despite the skyline being clearly recognizable as St. Louis due to the [[wikipedia:Gateway Arch|Gateway Arch]]. However, the nickname he gives is neither a common New York nickname (such as "[[wikipedia: List of nicknames of New York City|The Big Apple]]") nor a St. Louis nickname. [[Megan]] tries to correct him, but it becomes clear that Black Hat is making up nicknames. Many of his suggestions are puns for real nicknames of other places.<br />
<br />
The title text contains made up [[wikipedia:Demonym|demonyms]] in the same pattern. A demonym is a word for the people who live in a particular place. They are typically derived from the name of the place (e.g. "St. Louisan" for people from St. Louis), but some regions have an [[wikipedia:Demonym#Informal|informal demonym]] that can be used colloquially by those familiar with the place to refer to its residents.<br />
<br />
===Nicknames and Demonyms===<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! City nickname in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Hot Tamale<br />
| {{w|Hot Tamales}}<br />
| Possibly a reference to the term [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20enchilada big enchilada] (something of great importance). In the movie <i>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(1996_film) Independence Day]</i>, the phrase "Big Tamale" is used in a similar manner as "Big Enchilada" to describe the alien fighter held at Area 51.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Winged City<br />
| The Windy City<br />
| Chicago. Possibly also [http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/incheon-international-airport/ Incheon International Airport (ICA/RKSI), South Korea]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Gold Trombone<br />
|<br />
| Possibly a reference to the gold standard.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Castleopolis<br />
| {{w|Cassopolis}}<br />
| Literally "Castle city." {{w|Polis}} (from the Greek πόλις for city) is commonly used as a suffix for city names, like {{w|Minneapolis}} or {{w|Alexandroupolis}}; {{w|Metropolis}} can either be a type of city, or one of the real or fictional cities bearing the name. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Kissing Kingdom<br />
|<br />
|<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Sandland<br />
|<br />
| {{w|Sandland}} is a village in northern Norway, most likely coincidentally.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The High Place<br />
| {{w|Denver}}<br />
|Denver is known as the Mile High City. Also, in English translations of the Old Testament, the Hebrew term במה (bamah, plural במות bamot) is rendered as "{{w|high place}}," and denotes a place of worship. In modern Jewish synagogues, the "High Place" (bimah) is the elevated platform from which the Torah is read. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Ol' Ironhook<br />
| {{w|Old Ironsides}}<br />
| Old Ironsides is a nickname for the USS Constitution (docked in Charlestown, MA). Ol' Ironhook may be a conflation of Old Ironsides (also a nickname for English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell) with Old Hookey (a nickname for Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, English general and PM) or Old Kinderhook (a nickname for US President Martin Van Buren).<br />
|-<br />
| The Thousand Spires || The City of a Hundred Spires / City of Dreaming Spires|| Prague / Oxford<br />
|-<br />
| The Graveyard of Kings || The Graveyard of Champions || Court 2 at Wimbledon, where former champions are often defeated (the playing environment is very different from Centre Court and Court One, which are larger and where games involving highly-ranked players are preferentially located). The comic was released one day after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships were finished.<br />
|-<br />
| Bloomtown || [[wikipedia: Boomtown|Boomtown]] || Generic term for a town undergoing rapid growth. Used in the 2002 TV series of the same name as a nickname for Los Angeles. Might also be referring to [[wikipedia:Bloom County|Bloom County]], a comic by [[wikipedia:Berkeley Breathed|Berkeley Breathed]], or Dublin, as the setting for Ulysses by James Joyce.<br />
|-<br />
| Lantern City USA || {{w|Tree City USA}} || A designation supporting municipalities that showcase urban forestry, in connection with Arbor Day.<br />
|-<br />
| The City of Many Daughters || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Big Mauve || [[wikipedia: Big_Red_(drink)|Big Red Soda]] || Big Red Soda. The Cornell teams are known as the [[wikipedia:Cornell Big Red|Big Red]]. The Dartmouth football team is the Big Green. <br />
|-<br />
| The Glass Cradle || [[wikipedia:The Glass Menagerie|The Glass Menagerie]] || A play by Tennessee Williams<br />
|-<br />
| The Road Source ||{{w|Rome}} || From the saying that {{w|All Roads Lead to Rome}}<br />
|-<br />
| London Prime || London || In the DC comics, to incorporate multiple continuties, there were multiple universes. London Prime would be "real London" on Earth Prime. Various cities named {{w|New London}} in the United States and elsewhere are imagined as London in alternate continuities. Alternatively in mathematics, a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_(symbol)#Use_in_mathematics.2C_statistics.2C_and_science prime mark], x' can be the next iteration of variable x. <br />
|-<br />
| Hamtown || {{w|Boston}}, {{w|Hamburg}}, {{w|Toronto}} || Boston is known as [[wikipedia:Boston nicknames|beantown]], pork and beans are commonly cooked together (as in {{w|Boston baked beans}}), and ham is a form of pork. The German word ''Burg'' means castle or fort and is often used as suffix for town names. The origin of the prefix ''Ham'' is uncertain, but the food {{w|Hamburger}} derives from this city and ''Hamburger'' in German is the demonym of Hamburg. Toronto sometimes nicknamed Hogtown. <br />
|-<br />
| The Salad Bowl || || A theory of cultural integration in the US, one that stands in contrast to the older 'Melting Pot' theory. Could also refer to the [[wikipedia: Dust Bowl|Dust Bowl]]<br />
|-<br />
| God's Boudoir || God's Waiting Room || State of {{w|Florida}}, where many elderly retire then expire.<br />
|-<br />
| The Glittering Swamp || [[wikipedia:Great Dismal Swamp|The Great Dismal Swamp ]] || A large swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the city of {{w|Washington, D.C.}} has often been referred to as a "swamp," owing partly to its past as a [http://networks.h-net.org/node/28441/pages/36129/swamps-and-city-washington malarial swamp].<br />
|-<br />
| The Steel Forest || The Concrete Jungle || The Concrete Jungle is a name often given to New York's Manhattan area. There was also a book and movie titled ''The Petrified Forest''. <br />
|-<br />
| The Mobius Strip || The Strip || The Strip is a shortened and commonly used name for the Las Vegas Strip, the main area of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. A {{w|Mobius strip}} is a one-sided piece of paper created by rotating the short edge of the strip 180 degrees and attaching it to the other short edge. The Vegas strip has more or less only one side as well.<br />
|-<br />
| The Land of Trains and Fog || || Britain was home to early developments in railroading, and some portions are known for fog and mists.<br />
In the webcomic [[wikipedia:Homestuck | Homestuck]] many events take place on various planets named in the format "The Land of X and Y", e.g. "The Land of Light and Rain". The novel by George R.R. Martin, which was made into ''Game of Thrones'', was called ''A Song of Ice and Fire''.<br />
|-<br />
| The Meeting Place || ||<br />
|-<br />
| The Dark Star || || ''Dark Star'' is a 1974 science fiction comedy film.<br />
|-<br />
| The Walled Garden || {{w|Walled garden (technology)}} || A walled garden is a virtual environment where the user can only view content that is published or permitted by the proprietor, e.g. AOL or Facebook. This could also be a reference to walled cities, e.g. from the Middle Ages, or the {{w|Kowloon Walled City}} in the modern era. ''The Secret Garden'' is a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett.<br />
|-<br />
| Skin City || [[wikipedia:Sin City (description)|Sin City]] || Generic term for a city well known for gambling, drugs, or other vices. Also Las Vegas.<br />
|-<br />
| The Horse Rotary || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Turkeytown || Turkeytown || A town in Lincoln County, Kentucky<br />
|-<br />
| The Naked Towers || || ''The Naked City'' was a television series. ''The Two Towers'' is a book by Tolkien, and ''Naked Lunch'' is a book by Burroughs <br />
|-<br />
| The Meta-City || Metacity || A term for a heterogenous, sprawling urban center with multiple dense centers, such as Tokyo or New York City. Metacity was also the window manager in the Linux GNOME 2 desktop.<br />
|-<br />
| The Urban Orb || || The screen name of a Let's Player on Youtube and Twitch. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Angles || City of Angels || Los Angeles. Also, the titular City of Angles in the web novel [http://stefangagne.com/cityofangles/ City of Angles].<br />
|-<br />
| The Big Wheel || [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041179/ The Big Wheel] || A 1949 movie about a race car driver. Alternatively, a child's plastic tricycle with an oversized front wheel.<br />
|-<br />
| Bird City USA || || A program started by the Audubon Society. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Seven Crowns || City of Seven Hills || Rome<br />
|-<br />
| Hilltopia ||The Hilltop || May be reference to The Hilltop in AMC's The Walking Dead<br />
|-<br />
| Bug City || || A nickname for the bug-infested Chicago in the roleplaying game Shadowrun. Also, a sourcebook for the game.<br />
|-<br />
| The Bottomless Cup || || There are many mentions of Bottomless Pits in stories. Additionally, restaurants offering unlimited refills on drinks may refer to this offer by terms like "Bottomless Soda."<br />
|-<br />
| Lorde's Fen || Lord's Fen || [[wikipedia:Lorde| Lorde]] is a musical artist from Herne Bay, New Zealand - an area near Waitemata Harbour. A [[wikipedia:Fen| fen]] is a type of wetland, which could loosely connect to Herne Bay. <br />
|-<br />
| The Last Town || || The third book in the Wayward Pines series. <br />
|-<br />
| The Empty Set || || The concert hall in the video game Transistor. In mathematics, the {{w|empty set}} refers to an unique set with no elements, often notated as "{}" or "∅".<br />
|-<br />
| Ghost Harbor || || The name for a brewing company in North Carolina.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! Demonym in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Northlanders || {{w|Norsemen}} || Norsemen, literally men from the north, people from Scandinavia. Could also be a reference to highlanders, the people of the {{w|Scottish Highlands}}, with a similar demonym. The "High" in "Highlands" is a reference to the mountainous landscape, not the geographical position. <br />
|-<br />
| Fair Folk || {{w|Fairy}} || The fair folk is a name for fairies in folklore. The elves in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are referred to as the 'fair folk'. <br />
|-<br />
| Honey Barons || [[wikipedia: Robber_baron_(industrialist) | Robber Barons]], [[wikipedia: Honey_badger | Honey Badgers]], [[wikipedia: Honey bear| honey bear]] || Possibly a play on The Robber Barons, a group of powerful industrialists in the late 1800's known for questionable business ethics, and honey badgers, animals known for their tough skin, bad tempers, and tenacity. Honey bear is a name for a few types of bear, as well as kinkajous. <br />
|-<br />
| Lake Dwellers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Treasurers || || A {{w|treasurer}} is a person in charge of running the treasury of an organization, for example a governmental department. The Auditors were characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books who did the book-keeping for reality, and wanted to simplify the universe by destroying life.<br />
|-<br />
| Swamp Watchers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Dream Farmers || The Dream Factory || Hollywood, California, in its role as the center of the American film industry.<br />
|-<br />
| Wellfolk || Werefolk || The were folk were people who could change into animals: e.g. werewolves.<br />
|-<br />
| Rockeaters || [[Wikipedia:List_of_The_Neverending_Story_characters#Pyornkrachzark_and_the_other_messengers| Rockbiter]] || In the ''Never Ending Story'', Pyornkrachzark, more commonly known as "Rock Biter" is a large creature made completely of stone, named due to their diet of rocks. <br />
May also refer to {{w|Lotus-eaters}}; while these mythical people slept in narcotic apathy, rockeaters might have a tougher time.<br />
|-<br />
| Forgotten Royals || [[wikipedia:Forgotten Realms | Forgotten Realms]] || Royalty from Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign setting<br />
|-<br />
| Remote Clients || [[wikipedia:Remote_computer|Remote client]] || In computing, a remote client is a program used to access a computer or service over a network.<br />
|-<br />
| Barrow-Clerks || [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-wights Barrow-wights] || Wraith like creatures in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The hobbits come across them in the [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-downs Barrow-downs]. <br />
Those who keep records of items deposited in a grave mound or barrow.<br />
|-<br />
| The People of Land and Sky || [[wikipedia:Sea_Peoples|Sea Peoples]] ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are standing on a hill overlooking a city. The Gateway Arch is visible, as well as a number of skyscrapers in the skyline.]<br />
:Black Hat: Ah, New York. The Hot Tamale.<br />
:Megan: This is St. Louis. Also, that's not–<br />
:Black Hat: The Winged City. The Gold Trombone. Castleopolis.<br />
:Megan: It's none of those.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Black Hat]<br />
:Black Hat: The Kissing Kingdom. Sandland. The High Place. Ol' Ironhook.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Still wrong.<br />
:Black Hat: The Thousand Spires. The Graveyard of Kings. Bloomtown. Lantern City USA.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Please stop.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are walking]<br />
:Black Hat: The City of Many Daughters. Big Mauve. The Glass Cradle. The Road Source. London Prime. Hamtown. The Salad Bowl. God's Boudoir. The Glittering Swamp. The Steel Forest. The Mobius Strip. The Land of Trains and Fog. The Meeting Place. The Dark Star. The Walled Garden. Skin City. The Horse Rotary. Turkeytown. The Naked Towers. The Meta-City. The Urban Orb. The City of Angles. The Big Wheel. Bird City USA. The City of Seven Crowns. Hilltopia. Bug City. The Bottomless Cup. [Text size getting smaller] Lorde's Fen. The Last Town. The Empty Set. Ghost Harbor.<br />
:Megan: How long does this last?<br />
:Ponytail: No city has ever let him stay long enough to find out.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1864:_City_Nicknames&diff=142851Talk:1864: City Nicknames2017-07-17T22:51:14Z<p>108.162.245.70: Trains & Fog = Britain, but can't find quotation at moment</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and not delete this comment.--><br />
<br />
For some reason I'm reminded of [https://xkcd.com/1759/ this comic]. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 11:41, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Urban Orb" may refer to Boston, aka "The Hub". {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.220}}<br />
<br />
Los Vegas may be sin city, but I'm pretty sure that Las Vegas is quickly becoming Skin City [[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:01, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
My only guess as to "The Walled Garden": In the video game series ''{{w|Mass Effect}}'', the name of the homeworld of the Quarian species, [http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Rannoch Rannoch], translates to "walled garden". Not something I really associated with xkcd, admittedly. [[User:PvOberstein|PvOberstein]] ([[User talk:PvOberstein|talk]]) 13:19, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
A guess at "Hamtown" instead of Hamburg would be "Hogtown", a common nickname for Toronto, Canada {{unsigned|Harebenj}}<br />
<br />
The Mobius Strip is also a district in the fictional [http://perplexcitywiki.com/wiki/Mobius_Strip Perplex City]. I'm sure I've seen it used in some cyberpunk-ish novel as well, but can't identify it off the top of my head. - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.76|141.101.98.76]] 13:46, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Well Folk might be a variation on Wee Folk. [[User:Thaledison|Thaledison]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 13:48, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"Horse Rotary" could be referring to a traffic roundabout, which are called "rotaries" in some countries. [[User:Kbseah|Kbseah]] ([[User talk:Kbseah|talk]]) 14:02, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Some of these make me wonder if it might be easier to interpret if you connect adjacent ones. Seems to be easy to make the names of some real people/places/things by taking words from a pair of adjacent nicknames.<br />
For Example: The Urban Orb - City of Angles - The Big Wheel - Bird City USA - City of Seven Crowns - Hilltopia<br />
Could become: (...) - The Urban Angle - City of Wheels - Big Bird - Crown City - City of Seven Hills - (...)<br />
All of which seem to be Things That Exist™. Maybe I'm overthinking it :S - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.76|141.101.98.76]] 14:39, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
No, I don't think you are overthinking this. If you just try and make random word associations you get interesting combinations. If New Orleans can be called the "Big Easy" and Chicago can be called "Chi (Shy) Town" then why not the "Big Shy" to the "Shy Easy", like Black Hat is just spouting out random words associated with city monikers (demonyms) you get a pretty humorous connection [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 17:14, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Game of Thrones is based on the book series ''A '''Song''' of Ice and Fire'', not '''''Land''' of Ice and Fire''. Correction made in description. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 17:01, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
From my perspective from USA there is nothing more inherently funny than the names given to people in British cities. That someone from Liverpool is called a Liverpudlian makes me laugh every time I hear it. But then again the town I grew up is was referred to with the pejorative "Dreary Erie, the Mistake on the Lake" [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 17:14, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Be proud though, not many cities can claim to have [https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/63#.WWz0m4TythE set a river on fire]. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 17:39, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Agreed! Cleveland Rocks! Burn on, Cuyahoga, burn on. And a song to commemorate it [http://www.metrolyrics.com/burn-on-lyrics-randy-newman.html] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.88|108.162.219.88]] 18:08, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Random reader here... It may be familiarity bias since I'm from St. Louis, but this is the third (or fourth) comic to my memory that highlights St. Louis when it seems like any random city could have sufficed (I'm thinking of [[1321: Cold]], [[1368: One Of The]], and maybe [[1243: Snare]]) and I don't recall any other city getting name-dropped so often (at least outside of major metropolises). Have I just not paid attention as much when other cities are mentioned, or is the repeated use of St. Louis something worth including as trivia on these three/four articles? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.63|162.158.62.63]] 17:36, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Boston (New England) beat St. Louis in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI] and Randall just wants to keep rubbing it in maybe? [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 17:42, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
''The Auditors ... wanted to simplify the universe by destroying it.'' Not so. They merely wanted to destroy humans and humanity, which are unnecessarily complicated from their point of view. To quote George Carlin: The planet is fine. The '''people''' are fucked.--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.154.70|172.68.154.70]] 18:52, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Space Moose - [https://www.hackcanada.com/canadian/zines/spacemoose/rumple.gif Rumpleshithead]. NSFW, I guess, if you work somewhere stupid. :-D {{unsigned ip|162.158.63.34}}<br />
<br />
"The Kissing Kingdoms" Could be a reference to "The Kissing Kings," a common nickname for the two kings that are in the middle together in standard Bicycle new deck order. [[User:Dragonfiremalus|Dragonfiremalus]] ([[User talk:Dragonfiremalus|talk]]) 19:51, 17 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
"The Land of Trains and Fog" is obviously Britain (or some portion thereof), famous for fogs/rain, and where much of early railroading was developed. There is a quotation about this someplace, (I think Rowland Emett referenced it in one of his cartoons). I just haven't been able to dig up the source. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 22:51, 17 July 2017 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1864:_City_Nicknames&diff=1428501864: City Nicknames2017-07-17T22:50:07Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Nicknames and Demonyms */ trains and fog - britain; honeybear vs honeybaron</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1864<br />
| date = July 17, 2017<br />
| title = City Nicknames<br />
| image = city_nicknames.png<br />
| titletext = This place has so many demonyms. Northlanders. Fair Folk. Honey Barons. Lake Dwellers. Treasurers. Swamp Watchers. Dream Farmers. Wellfolk. Rockeaters. Forgotten Royals. Remote Clients. Barrow-Clerks. The People of Land and Sky.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|stub}}<br />
<br />
Cities often have official or unofficial nicknames. For instance, [[wikipedia:St._Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]], is known as "Gateway to the West" among several other nicknames. The nicknames typically invoke some historical or geographic feature of the city, but can sometime be opaque to those not familiar with the city. [https://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/fullname.php The full, formal name of Bangkok] includes a long list of superlatives translating as "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]] appears to believe they are near [[wikipedia:New York City|New York City]], despite the skyline being clearly recognizable as St. Louis due to the [[wikipedia:Gateway Arch|Gateway Arch]]. However, the nickname he gives is neither a common New York nickname (such as "[[wikipedia: List of nicknames of New York City|The Big Apple]]") nor a St. Louis nickname. [[Megan]] tries to correct him, but it becomes clear that Black Hat is making up nicknames. Many of his suggestions are puns for real nicknames of other places.<br />
<br />
The title text contains made up [[wikipedia:Demonym|demonyms]] in the same pattern. A demonym is a word for the people who live in a particular place. They are typically derived from the name of the place (e.g. "St. Louisan" for people from St. Louis), but some regions have an [[wikipedia:Demonym#Informal|informal demonym]] that can be used colloquially by those familiar with the place to refer to its residents.<br />
<br />
===Nicknames and Demonyms===<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! City nickname in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Hot Tamale<br />
| {{w|Hot Tamales}}<br />
| Possibly a reference to the term [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20enchilada big enchilada] (something of great importance). In the movie <i>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(1996_film) Independence Day]</i>, the phrase "Big Tamale" is used in a similar manner as "Big Enchilada" to describe the alien fighter held at Area 51.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Winged City<br />
| The Windy City<br />
| Chicago. Possibly also [http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/incheon-international-airport/ Incheon International Airport (ICA/RKSI), South Korea]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Gold Trombone<br />
|<br />
| Possibly a reference to the gold standard.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Castleopolis<br />
| {{w|Cassopolis}}<br />
| Literally "Castle city." {{w|Polis}} (from the Greek πόλις for city) is commonly used as a suffix for city names, like {{w|Minneapolis}} or {{w|Alexandroupolis}}; {{w|Metropolis}} can either be a type of city, or one of the real or fictional cities bearing the name. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Kissing Kingdom<br />
|<br />
|<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Sandland<br />
|<br />
| {{w|Sandland}} is a village in northern Norway, most likely coincidentally.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The High Place<br />
| {{w|Denver}}<br />
|Denver is known as the Mile High City. Also, in English translations of the Old Testament, the Hebrew term במה (bamah, plural במות bamot) is rendered as "{{w|high place}}," and denotes a place of worship. In modern Jewish synagogues, the "High Place" (bimah) is the elevated platform from which the Torah is read. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Ol' Ironhook<br />
| {{w|Old Ironsides}}<br />
| Old Ironsides is a nickname for the USS Constitution (docked in Charlestown, MA). Ol' Ironhook may be a conflation of Old Kinderhook (a nickname for US President Martin Van Buren) with Old Ironsides (also a nickname for English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell).<br />
|-<br />
| The Thousand Spires || The City of a Hundred Spires / City of Dreaming Spires|| Prague / Oxford<br />
|-<br />
| The Graveyard of Kings || The Graveyard of Champions || Court 2 at Wimbledon, where former champions are often defeated (the playing environment is very different from Centre Court and Court One, which are larger and where games involving highly-ranked players are preferentially located). The comic was released one day after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships were finished.<br />
|-<br />
| Bloomtown || [[wikipedia: Boomtown|Boomtown]] || Generic term for a town undergoing rapid growth. Used in the 2002 TV series of the same name as a nickname for Los Angeles. Might also be referring to [[wikipedia:Bloom County|Bloom County]], a comic by [[wikipedia:Berkeley Breathed|Berkeley Breathed]], or Dublin, as the setting for Ulysses by James Joyce.<br />
|-<br />
| Lantern City USA || {{w|Tree City USA}} || A designation supporting municipalities that showcase urban forestry, in connection with Arbor Day.<br />
|-<br />
| The City of Many Daughters || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Big Mauve || [[wikipedia: Big_Red_(drink)|Big Red Soda]] || Big Red Soda. The Cornell teams are known as the [[wikipedia:Cornell Big Red|Big Red]]. The Dartmouth football team is the Big Green. <br />
|-<br />
| The Glass Cradle || [[wikipedia:The Glass Menagerie|The Glass Menagerie]] || A play by Tennessee Williams<br />
|-<br />
| The Road Source ||{{w|Rome}} || From the saying that {{w|All Roads Lead to Rome}}<br />
|-<br />
| London Prime || London || In the DC comics, to incorporate multiple continuties, there were multiple universes. London Prime would be "real London" on Earth Prime. Various cities named {{w|New London}} in the United States and elsewhere are imagined as London in alternate continuities. Alternatively in mathematics, a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_(symbol)#Use_in_mathematics.2C_statistics.2C_and_science prime mark], x' can be the next iteration of variable x. <br />
|-<br />
| Hamtown || {{w|Boston}}, {{w|Hamburg}}, {{w|Toronto}} || Boston is known as [[wikipedia:Boston nicknames|beantown]], pork and beans are commonly cooked together (as in {{w|Boston baked beans}}), and ham is a form of pork. The German word ''Burg'' means castle or fort and is often used as suffix for town names. The origin of the prefix ''Ham'' is uncertain, but the food {{w|Hamburger}} derives from this city and ''Hamburger'' in German is the demonym of Hamburg. Toronto sometimes nicknamed Hogtown. <br />
|-<br />
| The Salad Bowl || || A theory of cultural integration in the US, one that stands in contrast to the older 'Melting Pot' theory. Could also refer to the [[wikipedia: Dust Bowl|Dust Bowl]]<br />
|-<br />
| God's Boudoir || God's Waiting Room || State of {{w|Florida}}, where many elderly retire then expire.<br />
|-<br />
| The Glittering Swamp || [[wikipedia:Great Dismal Swamp|The Great Dismal Swamp ]] || A large swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the city of {{w|Washington, D.C.}} has often been referred to as a "swamp," owing partly to its past as a [http://networks.h-net.org/node/28441/pages/36129/swamps-and-city-washington malarial swamp].<br />
|-<br />
| The Steel Forest || The Concrete Jungle || The Concrete Jungle is a name often given to New York's Manhattan area. There was also a book and movie titled ''The Petrified Forest''. <br />
|-<br />
| The Mobius Strip || The Strip || The Strip is a shortened and commonly used name for the Las Vegas Strip, the main area of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. A {{w|Mobius strip}} is a one-sided piece of paper created by rotating the short edge of the strip 180 degrees and attaching it to the other short edge. The Vegas strip has more or less only one side as well.<br />
|-<br />
| The Land of Trains and Fog || || Britain was home to early developments in railroading, and some portions are known for fog and mists.<br />
In the webcomic [[wikipedia:Homestuck | Homestuck]] many events take place on various planets named in the format "The Land of X and Y", e.g. "The Land of Light and Rain". The novel by George R.R. Martin, which was made into ''Game of Thrones'', was called ''A Song of Ice and Fire''.<br />
|-<br />
| The Meeting Place || ||<br />
|-<br />
| The Dark Star || || ''Dark Star'' is a 1974 science fiction comedy film.<br />
|-<br />
| The Walled Garden || {{w|Walled garden (technology)}} || A walled garden is a virtual environment where the user can only view content that is published or permitted by the proprietor, e.g. AOL or Facebook. This could also be a reference to walled cities, e.g. from the Middle Ages, or the {{w|Kowloon Walled City}} in the modern era. ''The Secret Garden'' is a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett.<br />
|-<br />
| Skin City || [[wikipedia:Sin City (description)|Sin City]] || Generic term for a city well known for gambling, drugs, or other vices. Also Las Vegas.<br />
|-<br />
| The Horse Rotary || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Turkeytown || Turkeytown || A town in Lincoln County, Kentucky<br />
|-<br />
| The Naked Towers || || ''The Naked City'' was a television series. ''The Two Towers'' is a book by Tolkien, and ''Naked Lunch'' is a book by Burroughs <br />
|-<br />
| The Meta-City || Metacity || A term for a heterogenous, sprawling urban center with multiple dense centers, such as Tokyo or New York City. Metacity was also the window manager in the Linux GNOME 2 desktop.<br />
|-<br />
| The Urban Orb || || The screen name of a Let's Player on Youtube and Twitch. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Angles || City of Angels || Los Angeles. Also, the titular City of Angles in the web novel [http://stefangagne.com/cityofangles/ City of Angles].<br />
|-<br />
| The Big Wheel || [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041179/ The Big Wheel] || A 1949 movie about a race car driver. Alternatively, a child's plastic tricycle with an oversized front wheel.<br />
|-<br />
| Bird City USA || || A program started by the Audubon Society. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Seven Crowns || City of Seven Hills || Rome<br />
|-<br />
| Hilltopia ||The Hilltop || May be reference to The Hilltop in AMC's The Walking Dead<br />
|-<br />
| Bug City || || A nickname for the bug-infested Chicago in the roleplaying game Shadowrun. Also, a sourcebook for the game.<br />
|-<br />
| The Bottomless Cup || || There are many mentions of Bottomless Pits in stories. Additionally, restaurants offering unlimited refills on drinks may refer to this offer by terms like "Bottomless Soda."<br />
|-<br />
| Lorde's Fen || Lord's Fen || [[wikipedia:Lorde| Lorde]] is a musical artist from Herne Bay, New Zealand - an area near Waitemata Harbour. A [[wikipedia:Fen| fen]] is a type of wetland, which could loosely connect to Herne Bay. <br />
|-<br />
| The Last Town || || The third book in the Wayward Pines series. <br />
|-<br />
| The Empty Set || || The concert hall in the video game Transistor. In mathematics, the {{w|empty set}} refers to an unique set with no elements, often notated as "{}" or "∅".<br />
|-<br />
| Ghost Harbor || || The name for a brewing company in North Carolina.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! Demonym in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Northlanders || {{w|Norsemen}} || Norsemen, literally men from the north, people from Scandinavia. Could also be a reference to highlanders, the people of the {{w|Scottish Highlands}}, with a similar demonym. The "High" in "Highlands" is a reference to the mountainous landscape, not the geographical position. <br />
|-<br />
| Fair Folk || {{w|Fairy}} || The fair folk is a name for fairies in folklore. The elves in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are referred to as the 'fair folk'. <br />
|-<br />
| Honey Barons || [[wikipedia: Robber_baron_(industrialist) | Robber Barons]], [[wikipedia: Honey_badger | Honey Badgers]], [[wikipedia: Honey bear| honey bear]] || Possibly a play on The Robber Barons, a group of powerful industrialists in the late 1800's known for questionable business ethics, and honey badgers, animals known for their tough skin, bad tempers, and tenacity. Honey bear is a name for a few types of bear, as well as kinkajous. <br />
|-<br />
| Lake Dwellers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Treasurers || || A {{w|treasurer}} is a person in charge of running the treasury of an organization, for example a governmental department. The Auditors were characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books who did the book-keeping for reality, and wanted to simplify the universe by destroying life.<br />
|-<br />
| Swamp Watchers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Dream Farmers || The Dream Factory || Hollywood, California, in its role as the center of the American film industry.<br />
|-<br />
| Wellfolk || Werefolk || The were folk were people who could change into animals: e.g. werewolves.<br />
|-<br />
| Rockeaters || [[Wikipedia:List_of_The_Neverending_Story_characters#Pyornkrachzark_and_the_other_messengers| Rockbiter]] || In the ''Never Ending Story'', Pyornkrachzark, more commonly known as "Rock Biter" is a large creature made completely of stone, named due to their diet of rocks. <br />
May also refer to {{w|Lotus-eaters}}; while these mythical people slept in narcotic apathy, rockeaters might have a tougher time.<br />
|-<br />
| Forgotten Royals || [[wikipedia:Forgotten Realms | Forgotten Realms]] || Royalty from Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign setting<br />
|-<br />
| Remote Clients || [[wikipedia:Remote_computer|Remote client]] || In computing, a remote client is a program used to access a computer or service over a network.<br />
|-<br />
| Barrow-Clerks || [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-wights Barrow-wights] || Wraith like creatures in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The hobbits come across them in the [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-downs Barrow-downs]. <br />
Those who keep records of items deposited in a grave mound or barrow.<br />
|-<br />
| The People of Land and Sky || [[wikipedia:Sea_Peoples|Sea Peoples]] ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are standing on a hill overlooking a city. The Gateway Arch is visible, as well as a number of skyscrapers in the skyline.]<br />
:Black Hat: Ah, New York. The Hot Tamale.<br />
:Megan: This is St. Louis. Also, that's not–<br />
:Black Hat: The Winged City. The Gold Trombone. Castleopolis.<br />
:Megan: It's none of those.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Black Hat]<br />
:Black Hat: The Kissing Kingdom. Sandland. The High Place. Ol' Ironhook.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Still wrong.<br />
:Black Hat: The Thousand Spires. The Graveyard of Kings. Bloomtown. Lantern City USA.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Please stop.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are walking]<br />
:Black Hat: The City of Many Daughters. Big Mauve. The Glass Cradle. The Road Source. London Prime. Hamtown. The Salad Bowl. God's Boudoir. The Glittering Swamp. The Steel Forest. The Mobius Strip. The Land of Trains and Fog. The Meeting Place. The Dark Star. The Walled Garden. Skin City. The Horse Rotary. Turkeytown. The Naked Towers. The Meta-City. The Urban Orb. The City of Angles. The Big Wheel. Bird City USA. The City of Seven Crowns. Hilltopia. Bug City. The Bottomless Cup. [Text size getting smaller] Lorde's Fen. The Last Town. The Empty Set. Ghost Harbor.<br />
:Megan: How long does this last?<br />
:Ponytail: No city has ever let him stay long enough to find out.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1864:_City_Nicknames&diff=1428481864: City Nicknames2017-07-17T22:20:35Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Nicknames and Demonyms */ The dream factory (holywood) vs dream farmers. Lotus-eaters vs rockbiters.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1864<br />
| date = July 17, 2017<br />
| title = City Nicknames<br />
| image = city_nicknames.png<br />
| titletext = This place has so many demonyms. Northlanders. Fair Folk. Honey Barons. Lake Dwellers. Treasurers. Swamp Watchers. Dream Farmers. Wellfolk. Rockeaters. Forgotten Royals. Remote Clients. Barrow-Clerks. The People of Land and Sky.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|stub}}<br />
<br />
Cities often have official or unofficial nicknames. For instance, [[wikipedia:St._Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]], is known as "Gateway to the West" among several other nicknames. The nicknames typically invoke some historical or geographic feature of the city, but can sometime be opaque to those not familiar with the city. [https://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/fullname.php The full, formal name of Bangkok] includes a long list of superlatives translating as "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]] appears to believe they are near [[wikipedia:New York City|New York City]], despite the skyline being clearly recognizable as St. Louis due to the [[wikipedia:Gateway Arch|Gateway Arch]]. However, the nickname he gives is neither a common New York nickname (such as "[[wikipedia: List of nicknames of New York City|The Big Apple]]") nor a St. Louis nickname. [[Megan]] tries to correct him, but it becomes clear that Black Hat is making up nicknames. Many of his suggestions are puns for real nicknames of other places.<br />
<br />
The title text contains made up [[wikipedia:Demonym|demonyms]] in the same pattern. A demonym is a word for the people who live in a particular place. They are typically derived from the name of the place (e.g. "St. Louisan" for people from St. Louis), but some regions have an [[wikipedia:Demonym#Informal|informal demonym]] that can be used colloquially by those familiar with the place to refer to its residents.<br />
<br />
===Nicknames and Demonyms===<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! City nickname in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Hot Tamale<br />
| {{w|Hot Tamales}}<br />
| Possibly a reference to the term [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20enchilada big enchilada] (something of great importance). In the movie <i>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(1996_film) Independence Day]</i>, the phrase "Big Tamale" is used in a similar manner as "Big Enchilada" to describe the alien fighter held at Area 51.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Winged City<br />
| The Windy City<br />
| Chicago. Possibly also [http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/incheon-international-airport/ Incheon International Airport (ICA/RKSI), South Korea]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Gold Trombone<br />
|<br />
| Possibly a reference to the gold standard.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Castleopolis<br />
| {{w|Cassopolis}}<br />
| Literally "Castle city." {{w|Polis}} (from the Greek πόλις for city) is commonly used as a suffix for city names, like {{w|Minneapolis}} or {{w|Alexandroupolis}}; {{w|Metropolis}} can either be a type of city, or one of the real or fictional cities bearing the name. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Kissing Kingdom<br />
|<br />
|<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Sandland<br />
|<br />
| {{w|Sandland}} is a village in northern Norway, most likely coincidentally.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The High Place<br />
| {{w|Denver}}<br />
|Denver is known as the Mile High City. Also, in English translations of the Old Testament, the Hebrew term במה (bamah, plural במות bamot) is rendered as "{{w|high place}}," and denotes a place of worship. In modern Jewish synagogues, the "High Place" (bimah) is the elevated platform from which the Torah is read. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Ol' Ironhook<br />
| {{w|Old Ironsides}}<br />
| Old Ironsides is a nickname for the USS Constitution (docked in Charlestown, MA). Ol' Ironhook may be a conflation of Old Kinderhook (a nickname for US President Martin Van Buren) with Old Ironsides (also a nickname for English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell).<br />
|-<br />
| The Thousand Spires || The City of a Hundred Spires / City of Dreaming Spires|| Prague / Oxford<br />
|-<br />
| The Graveyard of Kings || The Graveyard of Champions || Court 2 at Wimbledon, where former champions are often defeated (the playing environment is very different from Centre Court and Court One, which are larger and where games involving highly-ranked players are preferentially located). The comic was released one day after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships were finished.<br />
|-<br />
| Bloomtown || [[wikipedia: Boomtown|Boomtown]] || Generic term for a town undergoing rapid growth. Used in the 2002 TV series of the same name as a nickname for Los Angeles. Might also be referring to [[wikipedia:Bloom County|Bloom County]], a comic by [[wikipedia:Berkeley Breathed|Berkeley Breathed]], or Dublin, as the setting for Ulysses by James Joyce.<br />
|-<br />
| Lantern City USA || {{w|Tree City USA}} || A designation supporting municipalities that showcase urban forestry, in connection with Arbor Day.<br />
|-<br />
| The City of Many Daughters || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Big Mauve || [[wikipedia: Big_Red_(drink)|Big Red Soda]] || Big Red Soda. The Cornell teams are known as the [[wikipedia:Cornell Big Red|Big Red]]. The Dartmouth football team is the Big Green. <br />
|-<br />
| The Glass Cradle || [[wikipedia:The Glass Menagerie|The Glass Menagerie]] || A play by Tennessee Williams<br />
|-<br />
| The Road Source ||{{w|Rome}} || From the saying that {{w|All Roads Lead to Rome}}<br />
|-<br />
| London Prime || London || In the DC comics, to incorporate multiple continuties, there were multiple universes. London Prime would be "real London" on Earth Prime. Various cities named {{w|New London}} in the United States and elsewhere are imagined as London in alternate continuities. Alternatively in mathematics, a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_(symbol)#Use_in_mathematics.2C_statistics.2C_and_science prime mark], x' can be the next iteration of variable x. <br />
|-<br />
| Hamtown || {{w|Boston}}, {{w|Hamburg}}, {{w|Toronto}} || Boston is known as [[wikipedia:Boston nicknames|beantown]], pork and beans are commonly cooked together (as in {{w|Boston baked beans}}), and ham is a form of pork. The German word ''Burg'' means castle or fort and is often used as suffix for town names. The origin of the prefix ''Ham'' is uncertain, but the food {{w|Hamburger}} derives from this city and ''Hamburger'' in German is the demonym of Hamburg. Toronto sometimes nicknamed Hogtown. <br />
|-<br />
| The Salad Bowl || || A theory of cultural integration in the US, one that stands in contrast to the older 'Melting Pot' theory. Could also refer to the [[wikipedia: Dust Bowl|Dust Bowl]]<br />
|-<br />
| God's Boudoir || God's Waiting Room || State of {{w|Florida}}, where many elderly retire then expire.<br />
|-<br />
| The Glittering Swamp || [[wikipedia:Great Dismal Swamp|The Great Dismal Swamp ]] || A large swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the city of {{w|Washington, D.C.}} has often been referred to as a "swamp," owing partly to its past as a [http://networks.h-net.org/node/28441/pages/36129/swamps-and-city-washington malarial swamp].<br />
|-<br />
| The Steel Forest || The Concrete Jungle || The Concrete Jungle is a name often given to New York's Manhattan area. There was also a book and movie titled ''The Petrified Forest''. <br />
|-<br />
| The Mobius Strip || The Strip || The Strip is a shortened and commonly used name for the Las Vegas Strip, the main area of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. A {{w|Mobius strip}} is a one-sided piece of paper created by rotating the short edge of the strip 180 degrees and attaching it to the other short edge. The Vegas strip has more or less only one side as well.<br />
|-<br />
| The Land of Trains and Fog || || In the webcomic [[wikipedia:Homestuck | Homestuck]] many events take place on various planets named in the format "The Land of X and Y", e.g. "The Land of Light and Rain". The novel by George R.R. Martin, which was made into ''Game of Thrones'', was called ''A Song of Ice and Fire''.<br />
|-<br />
| The Meeting Place || ||<br />
|-<br />
| The Dark Star || || ''Dark Star'' is a 1974 science fiction comedy film.<br />
|-<br />
| The Walled Garden || {{w|Walled garden (technology)}} || A walled garden is a virtual environment where the user can only view content that is published or permitted by the proprietor, e.g. AOL or Facebook. This could also be a reference to walled cities, e.g. from the Middle Ages, or the {{w|Kowloon Walled City}} in the modern era. ''The Secret Garden'' is a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett.<br />
|-<br />
| Skin City || [[wikipedia:Sin City (description)|Sin City]] || Generic term for a city well known for gambling, drugs, or other vices. Also Las Vegas.<br />
|-<br />
| The Horse Rotary || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Turkeytown || Turkeytown || A town in Lincoln County, Kentucky<br />
|-<br />
| The Naked Towers || || ''The Naked City'' was a television series. ''The Two Towers'' is a book by Tolkien, and ''Naked Lunch'' is a book by Burroughs <br />
|-<br />
| The Meta-City || Metacity || A term for a heterogenous, sprawling urban center with multiple dense centers, such as Tokyo or New York City. Metacity was also the window manager in the Linux GNOME 2 desktop.<br />
|-<br />
| The Urban Orb || || The screen name of a Let's Player on Youtube and Twitch. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Angles || City of Angels || Los Angeles. Also, the titular City of Angles in the web novel [http://stefangagne.com/cityofangles/ City of Angles].<br />
|-<br />
| The Big Wheel || [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041179/ The Big Wheel] || A 1949 movie about a race car driver. Alternatively, a child's plastic tricycle with an oversized front wheel.<br />
|-<br />
| Bird City USA || || A program started by the Audubon Society. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Seven Crowns || City of Seven Hills || Rome<br />
|-<br />
| Hilltopia ||The Hilltop || May be reference to The Hilltop in AMC's The Walking Dead<br />
|-<br />
| Bug City || || A nickname for the bug-infested Chicago in the roleplaying game Shadowrun. Also, a sourcebook for the game.<br />
|-<br />
| The Bottomless Cup || || There are many mentions of Bottomless Pits in stories. Additionally, restaurants offering unlimited refills on drinks may refer to this offer by terms like "Bottomless Soda."<br />
|-<br />
| Lorde's Fen || Lord's Fen || [[wikipedia:Lorde| Lorde]] is a musical artist from Herne Bay, New Zealand - an area near Waitemata Harbour. A [[wikipedia:Fen| Fen]] is a type of wetland, which could loosely connect to Herne Bay. <br />
|-<br />
| The Last Town || || The third book in the Wayward Pines series. <br />
|-<br />
| The Empty Set || || The concert hall in the video game Transistor. In mathematics, the {{w|empty set}} refers to an unique set with no elements, often notated as "{}" or "∅".<br />
|-<br />
| Ghost Harbor || || The name for a brewing company in North Carolina.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! Demonym in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Northlanders || {{w|Norsemen}} || Norsemen, literally men from the north, people from scandinavia. Could also be a reference to highlanders, the people of the {{w|Scottish Highlands}}, with a similar demonym. The "High" in "Highlands" is a reference to the mountainous landscape, not the geographical position. <br />
|-<br />
| Fair Folk || {{w|Fairy}} || The fair folk is a name for fairies in folklore. The elves in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are referred to as the 'fair folk'. <br />
|-<br />
| Honey Barons || [[wikipedia: Robber_baron_(industrialist) | Robber Barons]], [[wikipedia: Honey_badger | Honey Badgers]] || Possibly a play on The Robber Barons, a group of powerful industrialists in the late 1800's known for questionable business ethics, and honey badgers, animals known for their tough skin, bad tempers, and tenacity. <br />
|-<br />
| Lake Dwellers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Treasurers || || A {{w|treasurer}} is a person in charge of running the treasury of an organization, for example a governmental department. The Auditors were characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books who did the book-keeping for reality, and wanted to simplify the universe by destroying life.<br />
|-<br />
| Swamp Watchers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Dream Farmers || The Dream Factory || Hollywood, California, in its role as the center of the American film industry.<br />
|-<br />
| Wellfolk || Werefolk || The were folk were people who could change into animals: e.g. werewolves.<br />
|-<br />
| Rockeaters || [[Wikipedia:List_of_The_Neverending_Story_characters#Pyornkrachzark_and_the_other_messengers| Rockbiter]] || In the ''Never Ending Story'', Pyornkrachzark, more commonly known as "Rock Biter" is a large creature made completely of stone, named due to their diet of rocks. <br />
May also refer to {{w|Lotus-eaters}}; while these mythical people slept in narcotic apathy, rockeaters might have a tougher time.<br />
|-<br />
| Forgotten Royals || [[wikipedia:Forgotten Realms | Forgotten Realms]] || Royalty from Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign setting<br />
|-<br />
| Remote Clients || [[wikipedia:Remote_computer|Remote computer client]] || In computing, a remote client is a program used to access a computer or service over a network.<br />
|-<br />
| Barrow-Clerks || [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-wights Barrow-wights] || Wraith like creatures in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The hobbits come across them in the [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-downs Barrow-downs]. <br />
Those who keep records of items deposited in a grave mound or barrow.<br />
|-<br />
| The People of Land and Sky || [[wikipedia:Sea_Peoples|Sea Peoples]] ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are standing on a hill overlooking a city. The Gateway Arch is visible, as well as a number of skyscrapers in the skyline.]<br />
:Black Hat: Ah, New York. The Hot Tamale.<br />
:Megan: This is St. Louis. Also, that's not–<br />
:Black Hat: The Winged City. The Gold Trombone. Castleopolis.<br />
:Megan: It's none of those.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Black Hat]<br />
:Black Hat: The Kissing Kingdom. Sandland. The High Place. Ol' Ironhook.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Still wrong.<br />
:Black Hat: The Thousand Spires. The Graveyard of Kings. Bloomtown. Lantern City USA.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Please stop.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are walking]<br />
:Black Hat: The City of Many Daughters. Big Mauve. The Glass Cradle. The Road Source. London Prime. Hamtown. The Salad Bowl. God's Boudoir. The Glittering Swamp. The Steel Forest. The Mobius Strip. The Land of Trains and Fog. The Meeting Place. The Dark Star. The Walled Garden. Skin City. The Horse Rotary. Turkeytown. The Naked Towers. The Meta-City. The Urban Orb. The City of Angles. The Big Wheel. Bird City USA. The City of Seven Crowns. Hilltopia. Bug City. The Bottomless Cup. [Text size getting smaller] Lorde's Fen. The Last Town. The Empty Set. Ghost Harbor.<br />
:Megan: How long does this last?<br />
:Ponytail: No city has ever let him stay long enough to find out.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1864:_City_Nicknames&diff=1428471864: City Nicknames2017-07-17T22:07:31Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Nicknames and Demonyms */ northlanders - Norsemen, also wikify, explain auditors a little more</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1864<br />
| date = July 17, 2017<br />
| title = City Nicknames<br />
| image = city_nicknames.png<br />
| titletext = This place has so many demonyms. Northlanders. Fair Folk. Honey Barons. Lake Dwellers. Treasurers. Swamp Watchers. Dream Farmers. Wellfolk. Rockeaters. Forgotten Royals. Remote Clients. Barrow-Clerks. The People of Land and Sky.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|stub}}<br />
<br />
Cities often have official or unofficial nicknames. For instance, [[wikipedia:St._Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]], is known as "Gateway to the West" among several other nicknames. The nicknames typically invoke some historical or geographic feature of the city, but can sometime be opaque to those not familiar with the city. [https://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/fullname.php The full, formal name of Bangkok] includes a long list of superlatives translating as "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]] appears to believe they are near [[wikipedia:New York City|New York City]], despite the skyline being clearly recognizable as St. Louis due to the [[wikipedia:Gateway Arch|Gateway Arch]]. However, the nickname he gives is neither a common New York nickname (such as "[[wikipedia: List of nicknames of New York City|The Big Apple]]") nor a St. Louis nickname. [[Megan]] tries to correct him, but it becomes clear that Black Hat is making up nicknames. Many of his suggestions are puns for real nicknames of other places.<br />
<br />
The title text contains made up [[wikipedia:Demonym|demonyms]] in the same pattern. A demonym is a word for the people who live in a particular place. They are typically derived from the name of the place (e.g. "St. Louisan" for people from St. Louis), but some regions have an [[wikipedia:Demonym#Informal|informal demonym]] that can be used colloquially by those familiar with the place to refer to its residents.<br />
<br />
===Nicknames and Demonyms===<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! City nickname in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Hot Tamale<br />
| {{w|Hot Tamales}}<br />
| Possibly a reference to the term [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20enchilada big enchilada] (something of great importance). In the movie <i>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(1996_film) Independence Day]</i>, the phrase "Big Tamale" is used in a similar manner as "Big Enchilada" to describe the alien fighter held at Area 51.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Winged City<br />
| The Windy City<br />
| Chicago. Possibly also [http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/incheon-international-airport/ Incheon International Airport (ICA/RKSI), South Korea]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Gold Trombone<br />
|<br />
| Possibly a reference to the gold standard.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Castleopolis<br />
| {{w|Cassopolis}}<br />
| Literally "Castle city." {{w|Polis}} (from the Greek πόλις for city) is commonly used as a suffix for city names, like {{w|Minneapolis}} or {{w|Alexandroupolis}}; {{w|Metropolis}} can either be a type of city, or one of the real or fictional cities bearing the name. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Kissing Kingdom<br />
|<br />
|<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Sandland<br />
|<br />
| {{w|Sandland}} is a village in northern Norway, most likely coincidentally.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The High Place<br />
| {{w|Denver}}<br />
|Denver is known as the Mile High City. Also, in English translations of the Old Testament, the Hebrew term במה (bamah, plural במות bamot) is rendered as "{{w|high place}}," and denotes a place of worship. In modern Jewish synagogues, the "High Place" (bimah) is the elevated platform from which the Torah is read. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Ol' Ironhook<br />
| {{w|Old Ironsides}}<br />
| Old Ironsides is a nickname for the USS Constitution (docked in Charlestown, MA). Ol' Ironhook may be a conflation of Old Kinderhook (a nickname for US President Martin Van Buren) with Old Ironsides (also a nickname for English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell).<br />
|-<br />
| The Thousand Spires || The City of a Hundred Spires / City of Dreaming Spires|| Prague / Oxford<br />
|-<br />
| The Graveyard of Kings || The Graveyard of Champions || Court 2 at Wimbledon, where former champions are often defeated (the playing environment is very different from Centre Court and Court One, which are larger and where games involving highly-ranked players are preferentially located). The comic was released one day after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships were finished.<br />
|-<br />
| Bloomtown || [[wikipedia: Boomtown|Boomtown]] || Generic term for a town undergoing rapid growth. Used in the 2002 TV series of the same name as a nickname for Los Angeles. Might also be referring to [[wikipedia:Bloom County|Bloom County]], a comic by [[wikipedia:Berkeley Breathed|Berkeley Breathed]], or Dublin, as the setting for Ulysses by James Joyce.<br />
|-<br />
| Lantern City USA || {{w|Tree City USA}} || A designation supporting municipalities that showcase urban forestry, in connection with Arbor Day.<br />
|-<br />
| The City of Many Daughters || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Big Mauve || [[wikipedia: Big_Red_(drink)|Big Red Soda]] || Big Red Soda. The Cornell teams are known as the [[wikipedia:Cornell Big Red|Big Red]]. The Dartmouth football team is the Big Green. <br />
|-<br />
| The Glass Cradle || [[wikipedia:The Glass Menagerie|The Glass Menagerie]] || A play by Tennessee Williams<br />
|-<br />
| The Road Source ||{{w|Rome}} || From the saying that {{w|All Roads Lead to Rome}}<br />
|-<br />
| London Prime || London || In the DC comics, to incorporate multiple continuties, there were multiple universes. London Prime would be "real London" on Earth Prime. Various cities named {{w|New London}} in the United States and elsewhere are imagined as London in alternate continuities. Alternatively in mathematics, a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_(symbol)#Use_in_mathematics.2C_statistics.2C_and_science prime mark], x' can be the next iteration of variable x. <br />
|-<br />
| Hamtown || {{w|Boston}}, {{w|Hamburg}}, {{w|Toronto}} || Boston is known as [[wikipedia:Boston nicknames|beantown]], pork and beans are commonly cooked together (as in {{w|Boston baked beans}}), and ham is a form of pork. The German word ''Burg'' means castle or fort and is often used as suffix for town names. The origin of the prefix ''Ham'' is uncertain, but the food {{w|Hamburger}} derives from this city and ''Hamburger'' in German is the demonym of Hamburg. Toronto sometimes nicknamed Hogtown. <br />
|-<br />
| The Salad Bowl || || A theory of cultural integration in the US, one that stands in contrast to the older 'Melting Pot' theory. Could also refer to the [[wikipedia: Dust Bowl|Dust Bowl]]<br />
|-<br />
| God's Boudoir || God's Waiting Room || State of {{w|Florida}}, where many elderly retire then expire.<br />
|-<br />
| The Glittering Swamp || [[wikipedia:Great Dismal Swamp|The Great Dismal Swamp ]] || A large swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the city of {{w|Washington, D.C.}} has often been referred to as a "swamp," owing partly to its past as a [http://networks.h-net.org/node/28441/pages/36129/swamps-and-city-washington malarial swamp].<br />
|-<br />
| The Steel Forest || The Concrete Jungle || The Concrete Jungle is a name often given to New York's Manhattan area. There was also a book and movie titled ''The Petrified Forest''. <br />
|-<br />
| The Mobius Strip || The Strip || The Strip is a shortened and commonly used name for the Las Vegas Strip, the main area of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. A {{w|Mobius strip}} is a one-sided piece of paper created by rotating the short edge of the strip 180 degrees and attaching it to the other short edge. The Vegas strip has more or less only one side as well.<br />
|-<br />
| The Land of Trains and Fog || || In the webcomic [[wikipedia:Homestuck | Homestuck]] many events take place on various planets named in the format "The Land of X and Y", e.g. "The Land of Light and Rain". The novel by George R.R. Martin, which was made into ''Game of Thrones'', was called ''A Song of Ice and Fire''.<br />
|-<br />
| The Meeting Place || ||<br />
|-<br />
| The Dark Star || || ''Dark Star'' is a 1974 science fiction comedy film.<br />
|-<br />
| The Walled Garden || {{w|Walled garden (technology)}} || A walled garden is a virtual environment where the user can only view content that is published or permitted by the proprietor, e.g. AOL or Facebook. This could also be a reference to walled cities, e.g. from the Middle Ages, or the {{w|Kowloon Walled City}} in the modern era. ''The Secret Garden'' is a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett.<br />
|-<br />
| Skin City || [[wikipedia:Sin City (description)|Sin City]] || Generic term for a city well known for gambling, drugs, or other vices. Also Las Vegas.<br />
|-<br />
| The Horse Rotary || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Turkeytown || Turkeytown || A town in Lincoln County, Kentucky<br />
|-<br />
| The Naked Towers || || ''The Naked City'' was a television series. ''The Two Towers'' is a book by Tolkien, and ''Naked Lunch'' is a book by Burroughs <br />
|-<br />
| The Meta-City || Metacity || A term for a heterogenous, sprawling urban center with multiple dense centers, such as Tokyo or New York City. Metacity was also the window manager in the Linux GNOME 2 desktop.<br />
|-<br />
| The Urban Orb || || The screen name of a Let's Player on Youtube and Twitch. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Angles || City of Angels || Los Angeles. Also, the titular City of Angles in the web novel [http://stefangagne.com/cityofangles/ City of Angles].<br />
|-<br />
| The Big Wheel || [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041179/ The Big Wheel] || A 1949 movie about a race car driver. Alternatively, a child's plastic tricycle with an oversized front wheel.<br />
|-<br />
| Bird City USA || || A program started by the Audubon Society. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Seven Crowns || City of Seven Hills || Rome<br />
|-<br />
| Hilltopia ||The Hilltop || May be reference to The Hilltop in AMC's The Walking Dead<br />
|-<br />
| Bug City || || A nickname for the bug-infested Chicago in the roleplaying game Shadowrun. Also, a sourcebook for the game.<br />
|-<br />
| The Bottomless Cup || || There are many mentions of Bottomless Pits in stories. Additionally, restaurants offering unlimited refills on drinks may refer to this offer by terms like "Bottomless Soda."<br />
|-<br />
| Lorde's Fen || Lord's Fen || [[wikipedia:Lorde| Lorde]] is a musical artist from Herne Bay, New Zealand - an area near Waitemata Harbour. A [[wikipedia:Fen| Fen]] is a type of wetland, which could loosely connect to Herne Bay. <br />
|-<br />
| The Last Town || || The third book in the Wayward Pines series. <br />
|-<br />
| The Empty Set || || The concert hall in the video game Transistor. In mathematics, the {{w|empty set}} refers to an unique set with no elements, often notated as "{}" or "∅".<br />
|-<br />
| Ghost Harbor || || The name for a brewing company in North Carolina.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! Demonym in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Northlanders || {{w|Norsemen}} || Norsemen, literally men from the north, people from scandinavia. Could also be a reference to highlanders, the people of the {{w|Scottish Highlands}}, with a similar demonym. The "High" in "Highlands" is a reference to the mountainous landscape, not the geographical position. <br />
|-<br />
| Fair Folk || {{w|Fairy}} || The fair folk is a name for fairies in folklore. The elves in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are referred to as the 'fair folk'. <br />
|-<br />
| Honey Barons || [[wikipedia: Robber_baron_(industrialist) | Robber Barons]], [[wikipedia: Honey_badger | Honey Badgers]] || Possibly a play on The Robber Barons, a group of powerful industrialists in the late 1800's known for questionable business ethics, and honey badgers, animals known for their tough skin, bad tempers, and tenacity. <br />
|-<br />
| Lake Dwellers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Treasurers || || A {{w|treasurer}} is a person in charge of running the treasury of an organization, for example a governmental department. The Auditors were characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books who did the book-keeping for reality, and wanted to simplify the universe by destroying life.<br />
|-<br />
| Swamp Watchers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Dream Farmers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Wellfolk || Werefolk || The were folk were people who could change into animals: e.g. werewolves.<br />
|-<br />
| Rockeaters || [[Wikipedia:List_of_The_Neverending_Story_characters#Pyornkrachzark_and_the_other_messengers| Rockbiter]] || In the ''Never Ending Story'', Pyornkrachzark, more commonly known as "Rock Biter" is a large creature made completely of stone, named due to their diet of rocks.<br />
|-<br />
| Forgotten Royals || [[wikipedia:Forgotten Realms | Forgotten Realms]] || Royalty from Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign setting<br />
|-<br />
| Remote Clients || [[wikipedia:Remote_computer|Remote computer client]] || In computing, a remote client is a program used to access a computer or service over a network.<br />
|-<br />
| Barrow-Clerks || [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-wights Barrow-wights] || Wraith like creatures in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The hobbits come across them in the [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-downs Barrow-downs]. <br />
Those who keep records of items deposited in a grave mound or barrow.<br />
|-<br />
| The People of Land and Sky || [[wikipedia:Sea_Peoples|Sea Peoples]] ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are standing on a hill overlooking a city. The Gateway Arch is visible, as well as a number of skyscrapers in the skyline.]<br />
:Black Hat: Ah, New York. The Hot Tamale.<br />
:Megan: This is St. Louis. Also, that's not–<br />
:Black Hat: The Winged City. The Gold Trombone. Castleopolis.<br />
:Megan: It's none of those.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Black Hat]<br />
:Black Hat: The Kissing Kingdom. Sandland. The High Place. Ol' Ironhook.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Still wrong.<br />
:Black Hat: The Thousand Spires. The Graveyard of Kings. Bloomtown. Lantern City USA.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Please stop.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are walking]<br />
:Black Hat: The City of Many Daughters. Big Mauve. The Glass Cradle. The Road Source. London Prime. Hamtown. The Salad Bowl. God's Boudoir. The Glittering Swamp. The Steel Forest. The Mobius Strip. The Land of Trains and Fog. The Meeting Place. The Dark Star. The Walled Garden. Skin City. The Horse Rotary. Turkeytown. The Naked Towers. The Meta-City. The Urban Orb. The City of Angles. The Big Wheel. Bird City USA. The City of Seven Crowns. Hilltopia. Bug City. The Bottomless Cup. [Text size getting smaller] Lorde's Fen. The Last Town. The Empty Set. Ghost Harbor.<br />
:Megan: How long does this last?<br />
:Ponytail: No city has ever let him stay long enough to find out.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1864:_City_Nicknames&diff=1428461864: City Nicknames2017-07-17T21:25:07Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Nicknames and Demonyms */ hamtown - boston (beantown). Cornell big red. wikify</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1864<br />
| date = July 17, 2017<br />
| title = City Nicknames<br />
| image = city_nicknames.png<br />
| titletext = This place has so many demonyms. Northlanders. Fair Folk. Honey Barons. Lake Dwellers. Treasurers. Swamp Watchers. Dream Farmers. Wellfolk. Rockeaters. Forgotten Royals. Remote Clients. Barrow-Clerks. The People of Land and Sky.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|stub}}<br />
<br />
Cities often have official or unofficial nicknames. For instance, [[wikipedia:St._Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]], is known as "Gateway to the West" among several other nicknames. The nicknames typically invoke some historical or geographic feature of the city, but can sometime be opaque to those not familiar with the city. [https://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/fullname.php The full, formal name of Bangkok] includes a long list of superlatives translating as "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]] appears to believe they are near [[wikipedia:New York City|New York City]], despite the skyline being clearly recognizable as St. Louis due to the [[wikipedia:Gateway Arch|Gateway Arch]]. However, the nickname he gives is neither a common New York nickname (such as "[[wikipedia: List of nicknames of New York City|The Big Apple]]") nor a St. Louis nickname. [[Megan]] tries to correct him, but it becomes clear that Black Hat is making up nicknames. Many of his suggestions are puns for real nicknames of other places.<br />
<br />
The title text contains made up [[wikipedia:Demonym|demonyms]] in the same pattern. A demonym is a word for the people who live in a particular place. They are typically derived from the name of the place (e.g. "St. Louisan" for people from St. Louis), but some regions have an [[wikipedia:Demonym#Informal|informal demonym]] that can be used colloquially by those familiar with the place to refer to its residents.<br />
<br />
===Nicknames and Demonyms===<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! City nickname in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Hot Tamale<br />
| {{w|Hot Tamales}}<br />
| Possibly a reference to the term [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20enchilada big enchilada] (something of great importance). In the movie <i>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(1996_film) Independence Day]</i>, the phrase "Big Tamale" is used in a similar manner as "Big Enchilada" to describe the alien fighter held at Area 51.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Winged City<br />
| The Windy City<br />
| Chicago. Possibly also [http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/incheon-international-airport/ Incheon International Airport (ICA/RKSI), South Korea]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Gold Trombone<br />
|<br />
| Possibly a reference to the gold standard.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Castleopolis<br />
| {{w|Cassopolis}}<br />
| Literally "Castle city." {{w|Polis}} (from the Greek πόλις for city) is commonly used as a suffix for city names, like {{w|Minneapolis}} or {{w|Alexandroupolis}}; {{w|Metropolis}} can either be a type of city, or one of the real or fictional cities bearing the name. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Kissing Kingdom<br />
|<br />
|<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Sandland<br />
|<br />
| {{w|Sandland}} is a village in northern Norway, most likely coincidentally.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The High Place<br />
| {{w|Denver}}<br />
|Denver is known as the Mile High City. Also, in English translations of the Old Testament, the Hebrew term במה (bamah, plural במות bamot) is rendered as "{{w|high place}}," and denotes a place of worship. In modern Jewish synagogues, the "High Place" (bimah) is the elevated platform from which the Torah is read. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Ol' Ironhook<br />
| {{w|Old Ironsides}}<br />
| Old Ironsides is a nickname for the USS Constitution (docked in Charlestown, MA). Ol' Ironhook may be a conflation of Old Kinderhook (a nickname for US President Martin Van Buren) with Old Ironsides (also a nickname for English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell).<br />
|-<br />
| The Thousand Spires || The City of a Hundred Spires / City of Dreaming Spires|| Prague / Oxford<br />
|-<br />
| The Graveyard of Kings || The Graveyard of Champions || Court 2 at Wimbledon, where former champions are often defeated (the playing environment is very different from Centre Court and Court One, which are larger and where games involving highly-ranked players are preferentially located). The comic was released one day after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships were finished.<br />
|-<br />
| Bloomtown || [[wikipedia: Boomtown|Boomtown]] || Generic term for a town undergoing rapid growth. Used in the 2002 TV series of the same name as a nickname for Los Angeles. Might also be referring to [[wikipedia:Bloom County|Bloom County]], a comic by [[wikipedia:Berkeley Breathed|Berkeley Breathed]], or Dublin, as the setting for Ulysses by James Joyce.<br />
|-<br />
| Lantern City USA || {{w|Tree City USA}} || A designation supporting municipalities that showcase urban forestry, in connection with Arbor Day.<br />
|-<br />
| The City of Many Daughters || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Big Mauve || [[wikipedia: Big_Red_(drink)|Big Red Soda]] || Big Red Soda. The Cornell teams are known as the [[wikipedia:Cornell Big Red|Big Red]]. The Dartmouth football team is the Big Green. <br />
|-<br />
| The Glass Cradle || [[wikipedia:The Glass Menagerie|The Glass Menagerie]] || A play by Tennessee Williams<br />
|-<br />
| The Road Source ||{{w|Rome}} || From the saying that {{w|All Roads Lead to Rome}}<br />
|-<br />
| London Prime || London || In the DC comics, to incorporate multiple continuties, there were multiple universes. London Prime would be "real London" on Earth Prime. Various cities named {{w|New London}} in the United States and elsewhere are imagined as London in alternate continuities. Alternatively in mathematics, a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_(symbol)#Use_in_mathematics.2C_statistics.2C_and_science prime mark], x' can be the next iteration of variable x. <br />
|-<br />
| Hamtown || {{w|Boston}}, {{w|Hamburg}}, {{w|Toronto}} || Boston is known as [[wikipedia:Boston nicknames|beantown]], pork and beans are commonly cooked together (as in {{w|Boston baked beans}}), and ham is a form of pork. The German word ''Burg'' means castle or fort and is often used as suffix for town names. The origin of the prefix ''Ham'' is uncertain, but the food {{w|Hamburger}} derives from this city and ''Hamburger'' in German is the demonym of Hamburg. Toronto sometimes nicknamed Hogtown. <br />
|-<br />
| The Salad Bowl || || A theory of cultural integration in the US, one that stands in contrast to the older 'Melting Pot' theory. Could also refer to the [[wikipedia: Dust Bowl|Dust Bowl]]<br />
|-<br />
| God's Boudoir || God's Waiting Room || State of {{w|Florida}}, where many elderly retire then expire.<br />
|-<br />
| The Glittering Swamp || [[wikipedia:Great Dismal Swamp|The Great Dismal Swamp ]] || A large swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the city of {{w|Washington, D.C.}} has often been referred to as a "swamp," owing partly to its past as a [http://networks.h-net.org/node/28441/pages/36129/swamps-and-city-washington malarial swamp].<br />
|-<br />
| The Steel Forest || The Concrete Jungle || The Concrete Jungle is a name often given to New York's Manhattan area. There was also a book and movie titled ''The Petrified Forest''. <br />
|-<br />
| The Mobius Strip || The Strip || The Strip is a shortened and commonly used name for the Las Vegas Strip, the main area of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. A {{w|Mobius strip}} is a one-sided piece of paper created by rotating the short edge of the strip 180 degrees and attaching it to the other short edge. The Vegas strip has more or less only one side as well.<br />
|-<br />
| The Land of Trains and Fog || || In the webcomic [[wikipedia:Homestuck | Homestuck]] many events take place on various planets named in the format "The Land of X and Y", e.g. "The Land of Light and Rain". The novel by George R.R. Martin, which was made into ''Game of Thrones'', was called ''A Song of Ice and Fire''.<br />
|-<br />
| The Meeting Place || ||<br />
|-<br />
| The Dark Star || || Dark Star is a 1974 science fiction comedy film.<br />
|-<br />
| The Walled Garden || {{w|Walled garden (technology)}} || A walled garden is a virtual environment where the user can only view content that is published or permitted by the proprietor, e.g. AOL or Facebook. This could also be a reference to walled cities, e.g. from the Middle Ages, or the {{w|Kowloon Walled City}} in the modern era. ''The Secret Garden'' is a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett.<br />
|-<br />
| Skin City || [[wikipedia:Sin City (description)|Sin City]] || Generic term for a city well known for gambling, drugs, or other vices. Also Las Vegas.<br />
|-<br />
| The Horse Rotary || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Turkeytown || Turkeytown || A town in Lincoln County, Kentucky<br />
|-<br />
| The Naked Towers || || ''The Naked City'' was a television series. ''The Two Towers'' is a book by Tolkien, and ''Naked Lunch'' is a book by Burroughs <br />
|-<br />
| The Meta-City || Metacity || A term for a heterogenous, sprawling urban center with multiple dense centers, such as Tokyo or New York City. Metacity was also the window manager in the Linux GNOME 2 desktop.<br />
|-<br />
| The Urban Orb || || The screen name of a Let's Player on Youtube and Twitch. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Angles || City of Angels || Los Angeles. Also, the titular City of Angles in the web novel [http://stefangagne.com/cityofangles/ City of Angles].<br />
|-<br />
| The Big Wheel || [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041179/ The Big Wheel] || A 1949 movie about a race car driver. Alternatively, a child's plastic tricycle with an oversized front wheel.<br />
|-<br />
| Bird City USA || || A program started by the Audubon Society. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Seven Crowns || City of Seven Hills || Rome<br />
|-<br />
| Hilltopia ||The Hilltop || May be reference to The Hilltop in AMC's The Walking Dead<br />
|-<br />
| Bug City || || A nickname for the bug-infested Chicago in the roleplaying game Shadowrun. Also, a sourcebook for the game.<br />
|-<br />
| The Bottomless Cup || || There are many mentions of Bottomless Pits in stories. Additionally, restaurants offering unlimited refills on drinks may refer to this offer by terms like "Bottomless Soda."<br />
|-<br />
| Lorde's Fen || Lord's Fen || [[wikipedia:Lorde| Lorde]] is a musical artist from Herne Bay, New Zealand - an area near Waitemata Harbour. A [[wikipedia:Fen| Fen]] is a type of wetland, which could loosely connect to Herne Bay. <br />
|-<br />
| The Last Town || || The third book in the Wayward Pines series. <br />
|-<br />
| The Empty Set || || The concert hall in the video game Transistor. In mathematics, the {{w|empty set}} refers to an unique set with no elements, often notated as "{}" or "∅".<br />
|-<br />
| Ghost Harbor || || The name for a brewing company in North Carolina.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! Demonym in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Northlanders || Highlanders || Maybe a reference to the people of the {{w|Scottish Highlands}}, with a similar demonym. The "High" in "Highlands" is a reference to the mountainous landscape, not the geographical position. <br />
|-<br />
| Fair Folk || || The elves in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are referred to as the 'fair folk'. The fair folk is also more generally used as a name for fairies in folklore.<br />
|-<br />
| Honey Barons || [[wikipedia: Robber_baron_(industrialist) | Robber Barons]], [[wikipedia: Honey_badger | Honey Badgers]] || Possibly a play on The Robber Barons, a group of powerful industrialists in the late 1800's known for questionable business ethics, and honey badgers, animals known for their tough skin, bad tempers, and tenacity. <br />
|-<br />
| Lake Dwellers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Treasurers || || A {{w|treasurer}} is a person in charge of running the treasury of an organization, for example a governmental department. The Auditors were characters in the Pratchett Discworld books who wanted to simplify the universe by destroying it.<br />
|-<br />
| Swamp Watchers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Dream Farmers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Wellfolk || Werefolk || The were folk were people who could change into animals: e.g. werewolves.<br />
|-<br />
| Rockeaters || [[Wikipedia:List_of_The_Neverending_Story_characters#Pyornkrachzark_and_the_other_messengers| Rockbiter]] || In the Never Ending Story, Pyornkrachzark, more commonly known as "Rock Biter" is a large creature made completely of stone, named due to their diet of rocks.<br />
|-<br />
| Forgotten Royals || [[wikipedia:Forgotten Realms | Forgotten Realms]] || Royalty from D&D campaign setting<br />
|-<br />
| Remote Clients || [[wikipedia:Remote_computer|Remote computer client]] || In computing, a remote client is a program used to access a computer or service over the internet.<br />
|-<br />
| Barrow-Clerks || [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-wights Barrow-wights] || Creatures in "The Lord of the Rings" that resemble wraiths. The Hobbits come across them in the [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-downs Barrow-downs].<br />
|-<br />
| The People of Land and Sky || [[wikipedia:Sea_Peoples|Sea Peoples]] ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are standing on a hill overlooking a city. The Gateway Arch is visible, as well as a number of skyscrapers in the skyline.]<br />
:Black Hat: Ah, New York. The Hot Tamale.<br />
:Megan: This is St. Louis. Also, that's not–<br />
:Black Hat: The Winged City. The Gold Trombone. Castleopolis.<br />
:Megan: It's none of those.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Black Hat]<br />
:Black Hat: The Kissing Kingdom. Sandland. The High Place. Ol' Ironhook.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Still wrong.<br />
:Black Hat: The Thousand Spires. The Graveyard of Kings. Bloomtown. Lantern City USA.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Please stop.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are walking]<br />
:Black Hat: The City of Many Daughters. Big Mauve. The Glass Cradle. The Road Source. London Prime. Hamtown. The Salad Bowl. God's Boudoir. The Glittering Swamp. The Steel Forest. The Mobius Strip. The Land of Trains and Fog. The Meeting Place. The Dark Star. The Walled Garden. Skin City. The Horse Rotary. Turkeytown. The Naked Towers. The Meta-City. The Urban Orb. The City of Angles. The Big Wheel. Bird City USA. The City of Seven Crowns. Hilltopia. Bug City. The Bottomless Cup. [Text size getting smaller] Lorde's Fen. The Last Town. The Empty Set. Ghost Harbor.<br />
:Megan: How long does this last?<br />
:Ponytail: No city has ever let him stay long enough to find out.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1864:_City_Nicknames&diff=1428441864: City Nicknames2017-07-17T20:23:47Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Nicknames and Demonyms */ convert html to wiki code, also fix link - big enchelada</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1864<br />
| date = July 17, 2017<br />
| title = City Nicknames<br />
| image = city_nicknames.png<br />
| titletext = This place has so many demonyms. Northlanders. Fair Folk. Honey Barons. Lake Dwellers. Treasurers. Swamp Watchers. Dream Farmers. Wellfolk. Rockeaters. Forgotten Royals. Remote Clients. Barrow-Clerks. The People of Land and Sky.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|stub}}<br />
<br />
Cities often have official or unofficial nicknames. For instance, [[wikipedia:St._Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]], is known as "Gateway to the West" among several other nicknames. The nicknames typically invoke some historical or geographic feature of the city, but can sometime be opaque to those not familiar with the city. [https://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/fullname.php The full, formal name of Bangkok] includes a long list of superlatives translating as "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn."<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Black Hat]] appears to believe they are near [[wikipedia:New York City|New York City]], despite the skyline being clearly recognizable as St. Louis due to the [[wikipedia:Gateway Arch|Gateway Arch]]. However, the nickname he gives is neither a common New York nickname (such as "[[wikipedia: List of nicknames of New York City|The Big Apple]]") nor a St. Louis nickname. [[Megan]] tries to correct him, but it becomes clear that Black Hat is making up nicknames. Many of his suggestions are puns for real nicknames of other places.<br />
<br />
The title text contains made up [[wikipedia:Demonym|demonyms]] in the same pattern. A demonym is a word for the people who live in a particular place. They are typically derived from the name of the place (e.g. "St. Louisan" for people from St. Louis), but some regions have an [[wikipedia:Demonym#Informal|informal demonym]] that can be used colloquially by those familiar with the place to refer to its residents.<br />
<br />
===Nicknames and Demonyms===<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! City nickname in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Hot Tamale<br />
| {{w|Hot Tamales}}<br />
| Possibly a reference to the term [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20enchilada big enchilada] (something of great importance). In the movie <i>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(1996_film) Independence Day]</i>, the phrase "Big Tamale" is used in a similar manner as "Big Enchilada" to describe the alien fighter held at Area 51.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Winged City<br />
| The Windy City<br />
| Chicago. Possibly also [http://www.airport-technology.com/projects/incheon-international-airport/ Incheon International Airport (ICA/RKSI), South Korea]<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Gold Trombone<br />
|<br />
| Possibly a reference to the gold standard.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Castleopolis<br />
| {{w|Cassopolis}}<br />
| {{w|Polis}} (from the Greek πόλις for city) is commonly used as a suffix for city names, like {{w|Minneapolis}} or {{w|Alexandroupolis}}; {{w|Metropolis}} can either be a type of city, or one of the real or fictional cities bearing the name. Appended to the base word "Castle", this would be the "Castle city".<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The Kissing Kingdom<br />
|<br />
|<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Sandland<br />
|<br />
| {{w|Sandland}} is a village in northern Norway, most likely coincidentally.<br />
<br />
|-<br />
| The High Place<br />
|Denver<br />
|Denver is known as the Mile High City. Also, in English translations of the Old Testament, the Hebrew term במה (bamah, plural במות bamot) is rendered as "{{w|high place}}," and denotes a place of worship. In modern Jewish synagogues, the "High Place" (bimah) is the elevated platform from which the Torah is read. <br />
<br />
|-<br />
| Ol' Ironhook<br />
| {{w|Old Ironsides}}<br />
| A nickname for the USS Constitution (docked in Charlestown, MA). Possibly a conflation of Old Kinderhook (a nickname for US President Martin Van Buren) with Old Ironsides (a nickname for English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell).<br />
|-<br />
| The Thousand Spires || The City of a Hundred Spires / City of Dreaming Spires|| Prague / Oxford<br />
|-<br />
| The Graveyard of Kings || The Graveyard of Champions || Court 2 at Wimbledon, where former champions are often defeated (the playing environment is very different from Centre Court and Court One, which are larger and where games involving highly-ranked players are preferentially located). The comic was released one day after the 2017 Wimbledon Championships were finished.<br />
|-<br />
| Bloomtown || [[wikipedia: Boomtown|Boomtown]] || Generic term for a town undergoing rapid growth. Used in the 2002 TV series of the same name as a nickname for Los Angeles. Might also be referring to [[wikipedia:Bloom County|Bloom County]], a comic by [[wikipedia:Berkeley Breathed|Berkeley Breathed]], or Dublin, as the setting for Ulysses by James Joyce.<br />
|-<br />
| Lantern City USA || {{w|Tree City USA}} || A designation supporting municipalities that showcase urban forestry, in connection with Arbor Day.<br />
|-<br />
| The City of Many Daughters || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Big Mauve || [[wikipedia: Big_Red_(drink)|Big Red Soda]] || Big Red Soda. The Dartmouth football team is the Big Green.<br />
|-<br />
| The Glass Cradle || [[wikipedia:The Glass Menagerie|The Glass Menagerie]] || A play by Tennessee Williams<br />
|-<br />
| The Road Source ||{{w|Rome}} || From the saying that {{w|All Roads Lead to Rome}}<br />
|-<br />
| London Prime || London || In the DC comics, to incorporate multiple continuties, there were multiple universes. London Prime would be "real London" on Earth Prime. Various cities named {{w|New London}} in the United States and elsewhere are imagined as London in alternate continuities.<br />
|-<br />
| Hamtown || {{w|Hamburg}} {{w|Toronto}} || The German word ''Burg'' means castle or fort and is often used as suffix for town names. The origin of the prefix ''Ham'' is uncertain, but the food {{w|Hamburger}} derives from this city and ''Hamburger'' in German is the demonym of Hamburg. Toronto sometimes nicknamed Hogtown.<br />
|-<br />
| The Salad Bowl || || A theory of cultural integration in the US, one that stands in contrast to the older 'Melting Pot' theory. Could also refer to the [[wikipedia: Dust Bowl|Dust Bowl]]<br />
|-<br />
| God's Boudoir || || Humorous reference similar to "God's Waiting Room" used for the state of Florida, where many elderly retire then expire.<br />
|-<br />
| The Glittering Swamp || [[wikipedia:Great Dismal Swamp|The Great Dismal Swamp ]] || A large swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Also, the city of {{w|Washington, D.C.}} has often been referred to as a "swamp" owing partly to its past as a <a href="https://networks.h-net.org/node/28441/pages/36129/swamps-and-city-washington">malarial swamp</a>.<br />
|-<br />
| The Steel Forest || The Concrete Jungle || The Concrete Jungle is a name often given to New York's Manhattan area. There was also a book and movie entitled The Petrified Forest. <br />
|-<br />
| The Mobius Strip || The Strip || The Strip is a shortened and commonly used name for the Las Vegas Strip, the main area of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. A {{w|Mobius strip}} is a one-sided piece of paper created by rotating the short edge of the strip 180 degrees and attaching it to the other short edge. The Vegas strip has more or less only one side as well.<br />
|-<br />
| The Land of Trains and Fog || || In the webcomic [[wikipedia:Homestuck | Homestuck]] many events take place on various planets named in the format "The Land of X and Y", e.g. "The Land of Light and Rain". The novel by George R.R. Martin, which was made into ''Game of Thrones'', was called ''A Song of Ice and Fire''.<br />
|-<br />
| The Meeting Place || ||<br />
|-<br />
| The Dark Star || || Dark Star is a 1974 science fiction comedy film.<br />
|-<br />
| The Walled Garden || {{w|Walled garden (technology)}} || A walled garden is a virtual environment where the user can only view content that is published or permitted by the proprietor, e.g. AOL or Facebook. This could also be a reference to walled cities, e.g. from the Middle Ages, or the {{w|Kowloon Walled City}} in the modern era. The Secret Garden was a book.<br />
|-<br />
| Skin City || [[wikipedia:Sin City (description)|Sin City]] || Generic term for a city well known for gambling, drugs, or other vices. Also Las Vegas.<br />
|-<br />
| The Horse Rotary || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Turkeytown || Turkeytown || A town in Lincoln County, Kentucky<br />
|-<br />
| The Naked Towers || || The Naked City was a television series. The Two Towers is a book by Tolkien, and Naked Lunch is a book by Burroughs <br />
|-<br />
| The Meta-City || Metacity || A term for a heterogenous, sprawling urban center with multiple dense centers, such as Tokyo or New York City. Metacity was also the window manager in the Linux GNOME 2 desktop.<br />
|-<br />
| The Urban Orb || || The screenname of a Let's Player on Youtube and Twitch. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Angles || City of Angels || Los Angeles. Also, the titular City of Angles in the web novel [http://stefangagne.com/cityofangles/ City of Angles].<br />
|-<br />
| The Big Wheel || [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041179/ The Big Wheel] || A 1949 movie about a race car driver. Alternatively, a child's plastic tricycle with an oversized front wheel.<br />
|-<br />
| Bird City USA || || A program started by the Audubon Society. <br />
|-<br />
| The City of Seven Crowns || City of Seven Hills || Rome<br />
|-<br />
| Hilltopia ||The Hilltop || May be reference to The Hilltop in AMC's The Walking Dead<br />
|-<br />
| Bug City || || A nickname for the bug-infested Chicago in the roleplaying game Shadowrun. Also, a sourcebook for the game.<br />
|-<br />
| The Bottomless Cup || || There are many mentions of Bottomless Pits in stories. Additionally, restaurants offering unlimited refills on drinks may refer to this offer by terms like "Bottomless Soda."<br />
|-<br />
| Lorde's Fen || Lord's Fen || [[wikipedia:Lorde| Lorde]] is a musical artist from Herne Bay, New Zealand - an area near Waitemata Harbour. A [[wikipedia:Fen| Fen]] is a type of wetland, which could loosely connect to Herne Bay. <br />
|-<br />
| The Last Town || || The third book in the Wayward Pines series. <br />
|-<br />
| The Empty Set || || The concert hall in the video game Transistor. In mathematics, the {{w|empty set}} refers to an unique set with no elements, often notated as "{}" or "∅".<br />
|-<br />
| Ghost Harbor || || The name for a brewing company in North Carolina.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
{| class=wikitable<br />
! Demonym in comic<br />
! Reference<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Northlanders || Highlanders || Maybe a reference to the people of the {{w|Scottish Highlands}}, with a similar demonym. The "High" in "Highlands" is a reference to the mountainous landscape, not the geographical position. <br />
|-<br />
| Fair Folk || || The elves in ''The Lord of the Rings'' are referred to as the 'fair folk'. The fair folk is also more generally used as a name for fairies in folklore.<br />
|-<br />
| Honey Barons || [[wikipedia: Robber_baron_(industrialist) | Robber Barons]], [[wikipedia: Honey_badger | Honey Badgers]] || Possibly a play on The Robber Barons, a group of powerful industrialists in the late 1800's known for questionable business ethics, and honey badgers, animals known for their tough skin, bad tempers, and tenacity. <br />
|-<br />
| Lake Dwellers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Treasurers || || A {{w|treasurer}} is a person in charge of running the treasury of an organization, for example a governmental department. The Auditors were characters in the Pratchett Discworld books who wanted to simplify the universe by destroying it.<br />
|-<br />
| Swamp Watchers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Dream Farmers || ||<br />
|-<br />
| Wellfolk || Werefolk || The were folk were people who could change into animals: e.g. werewolves.<br />
|-<br />
| Rockeaters || [[Wikipedia:List_of_The_Neverending_Story_characters#Pyornkrachzark_and_the_other_messengers| Rockbiter]] || In the Never Ending Story, Pyornkrachzark, more commonly known as "Rock Biter" is a large creature made completely of stone, named due to their diet of rocks.<br />
|-<br />
| Forgotten Royals || [[wikipedia:Forgotten Realms | Forgotten Realms]] || Royalty from D&D campaign setting<br />
|-<br />
| Remote Clients || [[wikipedia:Remote_computer|Remote computer client]] || In computing, a remote client is a program used to access a computer or service over the internet.<br />
|-<br />
| Barrow-Clerks || [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-wights Barrow-wights] || Creatures in "The Lord of the Rings" that resemble wraiths. The Hobbits come across them in the [http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Barrow-downs Barrow-downs].<br />
|-<br />
| The People of Land and Sky || [[wikipedia:Sea_Peoples|Sea Peoples]] ||<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are standing on a hill overlooking a city. The Gateway Arch is visible, as well as a number of skyscrapers in the skyline.]<br />
:Black Hat: Ah, New York. The Hot Tamale.<br />
:Megan: This is St. Louis. Also, that's not–<br />
:Black Hat: The Winged City. The Gold Trombone. Castleopolis.<br />
:Megan: It's none of those.<br />
<br />
:[Close-up of Black Hat]<br />
:Black Hat: The Kissing Kingdom. Sandland. The High Place. Ol' Ironhook.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Still wrong.<br />
:Black Hat: The Thousand Spires. The Graveyard of Kings. Bloomtown. Lantern City USA.<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Please stop.<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat, Megan, and Ponytail are walking]<br />
:Black Hat: The City of Many Daughters. Big Mauve. The Glass Cradle. The Road Source. London Prime. Hamtown. The Salad Bowl. God's Boudoir. The Glittering Swamp. The Steel Forest. The Mobius Strip. The Land of Trains and Fog. The Meeting Place. The Dark Star. The Walled Garden. Skin City. The Horse Rotary. Turkeytown. The Naked Towers. The Meta-City. The Urban Orb. The City of Angles. The Big Wheel. Bird City USA. The City of Seven Crowns. Hilltopia. Bug City. The Bottomless Cup. [Text size getting smaller] Lorde's Fen. The Last Town. The Empty Set. Ghost Harbor.<br />
:Megan: How long does this last?<br />
:Ponytail: No city has ever let him stay long enough to find out.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1860:_Communicating&diff=142464Talk:1860: Communicating2017-07-10T21:37:29Z<p>108.162.245.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>Joke's on Alice, Humpty Dumpty doesn't have any stuff!<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.136|162.158.165.136]] 12:01, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I took this to be a critique of deconstruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction and other similarly ridiculous approaches to hermeneutics/semiotics. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.88|162.158.2.88]] 00:15, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and not delete this comment.--><br />
<br />
Isn't this [[Science Girl]], and not necessarily "Alice"? Although they could be one and the same, in this comic and all comics? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 16:45, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
*I agree that this is [[Science Girl]], but she could be playing the role of Alice, or alternatively she could be merely visiting the Looking Glass world as Alice also did. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 17:13, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've heard that the nursery rhyme never makes explicit that Humpty is an egg. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.83|108.162.212.83]] 18:36, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:It’s my understanding that the original nursery rhyme was a riddle where the question was “What is Humpty Dumpty?” and the answer is “an Egg.” [[User:Rylon|Rylon]] ([[User talk:Rylon|talk]]) 21:51, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::If that is the case, then the riddle is nearly as bad as "Words that end in -gry." [[User:OriginalName|OriginalName]] ([[User talk:OriginalName|talk]]) 04:08, 8 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/origins1-humpty-dumpty-and-the-fall-of-colchester.html<br />
<br />
I took this to mean politicians stating false things then equivocating by saying the words they used mean something different from what the traditional meaning the listeners assumed they meant were. Maybe I just watch too much late night TV tho. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:44, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Can't you children discuss in a nonpartisan matter instead of turning literally everything into politics? Maybe you should have voted instead of gathering in mass pro-illegal-immigrant protests. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.137|108.162.246.137]] 23:42, 9 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:The comic's subject matter is applicable to many things, but that doesn't mean it's about those things. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.83|108.162.212.83]] 04:33, 8 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::[[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]]'s comment ''was'' nonpartisan. ~ [[User:Quackslikeaduck|Quackslikeaduck]] ([[User talk:Quackslikeaduck|talk]]) 11:37, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:::The comic is not meant to be nonpartisan (see #1756). The political context IS what surrounds Trump. Many Trump supporters agree with his claim that various establishment voices (NYT, CNN, certain US Courts) are "fake." I agree it's very hard to write an explanation about this that is neutral enough to not devolve into a political debate - which it should not be. But the explanation is incomplete if it doesn't mention the very pervasive political topic right now where the veracity of basic facts and words are called into question in a way that was not happening until the 2016 election.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 21:30, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree - this reminded me of how politicians especially Trump claim their meaning after people react. <br />
: True, it is something Trump and right wing does a lot at the moment, but this isn't a Trumpism though. Bill Clinton did the same when he redefined "having sex with".<br />
:: You've provided a good example of how the political debate right now is, where historical events are re-defined and re-examined. In the late 1990s it was universally agreed that Clinton tried to redefine a word "sex" and in doing so was being deceptive. That is not the same situation now. Right now Trump redefines words and many see that as deceptive but a large number agree with his redefinition and instead question basic facts from the NYT, CNN or other formerly not very controversial news sources. This comic is very much about the Trump era. However it doesn't take a specific side and pro- and anti- trump debaters could claim their own side in this comic. I think we need to put this political context into the explanation. But someone more neutral than me should do it because I'm not able to write the pro-trump view in any neutral kind of way because I just can't wrap my brain around it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 21:37, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think this might be the first time I've seen Randall draw a facial expression in one of his comics. Surely this can't be the only one, right? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.22|108.162.241.22]] 18:03, 8 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
: I wasn't able to finish, I got up to 1516. Here's a list of comics which include expressions by humans. 1, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 23, 24, 38, 39, 46, 53, 57, 67, 68, 78, 93, 109, 110, 119, 130, 133, 135, 142, 143, 160, 380, 463, 824, 902. Also 778 if a detailed skull is a facial expression, 1004 if that's Joker's face and not make up, 1256, 1393, if the ghostly afterlife is just a phase of being human and if ghosts have faces. I also have comics that include animals, didn't think that was in the spirit of the question but most of the animals in xkcd have faces.<br />
: Time for a new list of comics with facial expressions! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.52|172.68.110.52]] 12:36, 9 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
This reminds me of Samantha Bee's "Semantic Vortex" on the June 21 episode of ''Full Frontal''. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.22|172.68.78.22]] 18:02, 9 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::This is exactly the topic of this comic. Comedy relies on context. This comic is topical. While the Lewis Caroll angle is great literary context to add, the "post-truth" meme is more well known as an internet meme that this comic addresses. If we do not add that context it will be hard to understand this comic in a few years when people don't remember the political landscape right now. So, some mention of Trump needs to be added here. Though xkcd is generally not very political Comic #1756 makes it pretty clear that the context of the comics is not totally devoid of contemporary political context.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 21:23, 10 July 2017 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1860:_Communicating&diff=142462Talk:1860: Communicating2017-07-10T21:30:12Z<p>108.162.245.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>Joke's on Alice, Humpty Dumpty doesn't have any stuff!<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.136|162.158.165.136]] 12:01, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I took this to be a critique of deconstruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction and other similarly ridiculous approaches to hermeneutics/semiotics. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.88|162.158.2.88]] 00:15, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and not delete this comment.--><br />
<br />
Isn't this [[Science Girl]], and not necessarily "Alice"? Although they could be one and the same, in this comic and all comics? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 16:45, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
*I agree that this is [[Science Girl]], but she could be playing the role of Alice, or alternatively she could be merely visiting the Looking Glass world as Alice also did. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 17:13, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've heard that the nursery rhyme never makes explicit that Humpty is an egg. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.83|108.162.212.83]] 18:36, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:It’s my understanding that the original nursery rhyme was a riddle where the question was “What is Humpty Dumpty?” and the answer is “an Egg.” [[User:Rylon|Rylon]] ([[User talk:Rylon|talk]]) 21:51, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::If that is the case, then the riddle is nearly as bad as "Words that end in -gry." [[User:OriginalName|OriginalName]] ([[User talk:OriginalName|talk]]) 04:08, 8 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/origins1-humpty-dumpty-and-the-fall-of-colchester.html<br />
<br />
I took this to mean politicians stating false things then equivocating by saying the words they used mean something different from what the traditional meaning the listeners assumed they meant were. Maybe I just watch too much late night TV tho. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:44, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Can't you children discuss in a nonpartisan matter instead of turning literally everything into politics? Maybe you should have voted instead of gathering in mass pro-illegal-immigrant protests. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.137|108.162.246.137]] 23:42, 9 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:The comic's subject matter is applicable to many things, but that doesn't mean it's about those things. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.83|108.162.212.83]] 04:33, 8 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::[[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]]'s comment ''was'' nonpartisan. ~ [[User:Quackslikeaduck|Quackslikeaduck]] ([[User talk:Quackslikeaduck|talk]]) 11:37, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:::The comic is not meant to be nonpartisan (see #1756). The political context IS what surrounds Trump. Many Trump supporters agree with his claim that various establishment voices (NYT, CNN, certain US Courts) are "fake." I agree it's very hard to write an explanation about this that is neutral enough to not devolve into a political debate - which it should not be. But the explanation is incomplete if it doesn't mention the very pervasive political topic right now where the veracity of basic facts and words are called into question in a way that was not happening until the 2016 election.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 21:30, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree - this reminded me of how politicians especially Trump claim their meaning after people react. <br />
: True, it is something Trump and right wing does a lot at the moment, but this isn't a Trumpism though. Bill Clinton did the same when he redefined "having sex with". <br />
<br />
I think this might be the first time I've seen Randall draw a facial expression in one of his comics. Surely this can't be the only one, right? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.22|108.162.241.22]] 18:03, 8 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
: I wasn't able to finish, I got up to 1516. Here's a list of comics which include expressions by humans. 1, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 23, 24, 38, 39, 46, 53, 57, 67, 68, 78, 93, 109, 110, 119, 130, 133, 135, 142, 143, 160, 380, 463, 824, 902. Also 778 if a detailed skull is a facial expression, 1004 if that's Joker's face and not make up, 1256, 1393, if the ghostly afterlife is just a phase of being human and if ghosts have faces. I also have comics that include animals, didn't think that was in the spirit of the question but most of the animals in xkcd have faces.<br />
: Time for a new list of comics with facial expressions! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.52|172.68.110.52]] 12:36, 9 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
This reminds me of Samantha Bee's "Semantic Vortex" on the June 21 episode of ''Full Frontal''. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.22|172.68.78.22]] 18:02, 9 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::This is exactly the topic of this comic. Comedy relies on context. This comic is topical. While the Lewis Caroll angle is great literary context to add, the "post-truth" meme is more well known as an internet meme that this comic addresses. If we do not add that context it will be hard to understand this comic in a few years when people don't remember the political landscape right now. So, some mention of Trump needs to be added here. Though xkcd is generally not very political Comic #1756 makes it pretty clear that the context of the comics is not totally devoid of contemporary political context.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 21:23, 10 July 2017 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1860:_Communicating&diff=142459Talk:1860: Communicating2017-07-10T21:23:16Z<p>108.162.245.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>Joke's on Alice, Humpty Dumpty doesn't have any stuff!<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.136|162.158.165.136]] 12:01, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I took this to be a critique of deconstruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstruction and other similarly ridiculous approaches to hermeneutics/semiotics. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.88|162.158.2.88]] 00:15, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and not delete this comment.--><br />
<br />
Isn't this [[Science Girl]], and not necessarily "Alice"? Although they could be one and the same, in this comic and all comics? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 16:45, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
*I agree that this is [[Science Girl]], but she could be playing the role of Alice, or alternatively she could be merely visiting the Looking Glass world as Alice also did. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.94|108.162.216.94]] 17:13, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I've heard that the nursery rhyme never makes explicit that Humpty is an egg. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.83|108.162.212.83]] 18:36, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:It’s my understanding that the original nursery rhyme was a riddle where the question was “What is Humpty Dumpty?” and the answer is “an Egg.” [[User:Rylon|Rylon]] ([[User talk:Rylon|talk]]) 21:51, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::If that is the case, then the riddle is nearly as bad as "Words that end in -gry." [[User:OriginalName|OriginalName]] ([[User talk:OriginalName|talk]]) 04:08, 8 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/origins1-humpty-dumpty-and-the-fall-of-colchester.html<br />
<br />
I took this to mean politicians stating false things then equivocating by saying the words they used mean something different from what the traditional meaning the listeners assumed they meant were. Maybe I just watch too much late night TV tho. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:44, 7 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:Can't you children discuss in a nonpartisan matter instead of turning literally everything into politics? Maybe you should have voted instead of gathering in mass pro-illegal-immigrant protests. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.137|108.162.246.137]] 23:42, 9 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
:The comic's subject matter is applicable to many things, but that doesn't mean it's about those things. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.83|108.162.212.83]] 04:33, 8 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::[[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]]'s comment ''was'' nonpartisan. ~ [[User:Quackslikeaduck|Quackslikeaduck]] ([[User talk:Quackslikeaduck|talk]]) 11:37, 10 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I agree - this reminded me of how politicians especially Trump claim their meaning after people react. <br />
: True, it is something Trump and right wing does a lot at the moment, but this isn't a Trumpism though. Bill Clinton did the same when he redefined "having sex with". <br />
<br />
I think this might be the first time I've seen Randall draw a facial expression in one of his comics. Surely this can't be the only one, right? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.22|108.162.241.22]] 18:03, 8 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
: I wasn't able to finish, I got up to 1516. Here's a list of comics which include expressions by humans. 1, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 23, 24, 38, 39, 46, 53, 57, 67, 68, 78, 93, 109, 110, 119, 130, 133, 135, 142, 143, 160, 380, 463, 824, 902. Also 778 if a detailed skull is a facial expression, 1004 if that's Joker's face and not make up, 1256, 1393, if the ghostly afterlife is just a phase of being human and if ghosts have faces. I also have comics that include animals, didn't think that was in the spirit of the question but most of the animals in xkcd have faces.<br />
: Time for a new list of comics with facial expressions! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.52|172.68.110.52]] 12:36, 9 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
This reminds me of Samantha Bee's "Semantic Vortex" on the June 21 episode of ''Full Frontal''. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.22|172.68.78.22]] 18:02, 9 July 2017 (UTC)<br />
::This is exactly the topic of this comic. Comedy relies on context. This comic is topical. While the Lewis Caroll angle is great literary context to add, the "post-truth" meme is more well known as an internet meme that this comic addresses. If we do not add that context it will be hard to understand this comic in a few years when people don't remember the political landscape right now. So, some mention of Trump needs to be added here. Though xkcd is generally not very political Comic #1756 makes it pretty clear that the context of the comics is not totally devoid of contemporary political context.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 21:23, 10 July 2017 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:781:_Ahead_Stop&diff=141691Talk:781: Ahead Stop2017-06-22T22:55:03Z<p>108.162.245.70: </p>
<hr />
<div>Reminds me of something I saw in San Diego on a pedestrian/bike path: PED TO YIELD. At first I thought it meant that pedestrians are to yield to bicyclists. But then I remembered my highway grammar. <br />
<br />
--[[Special:Contributions/98.203.241.55|98.203.241.55]] 21:49, 1 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:"highway grammar" that's a good one! [[User:Saibot84|Saibot84]] ([[User talk:Saibot84|talk]]) 05:25, 19 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::"grammar highway" [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.166|173.245.53.166]] 19:50, 10 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The phrase suffers from parallax. Being near the first words you can't read the phrase in the correct order but the words further away make more sense, so you read:<br />
"HIGHWAY ENGINEERS THINK BACKWARD I READ".<br />
<br />
[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 17:23, 26 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
In Idaho you can see signs which say:<br />
GUBERIF<br />
BE A<br />
DONT<br />
<br />
So theyre not only downside-up and backside-front, there ungrammaticle. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.36|173.245.54.36]] 22:18, 13 May 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Please do not reenact the title text. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.44}}<br />
<br />
To save you the bother, I googled guberif and found it is firebug spelt backwards, which I should have realised for myself, and comes from a 70+ year old marketing campaign. So now you know. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 22:55, 22 June 2017 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1826:_Birdwatching&diff=138954Talk:1826: Birdwatching2017-04-19T04:47:00Z<p>108.162.245.70: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~--><br />
This is a big one.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.41|108.162.246.41]] 04:07, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wonder if the size is a technical error, or if I am missing some subtle joke. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.184|108.162.245.184]] 04:37, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I guess it's the latter. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.71|162.158.166.71]] 04:39, 19 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I think the vacuum is a further joke about scale and distance playing on the absurdity of trying to vacuum from a range of one mile. I must say I don't really understand this comic very well.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.70|108.162.245.70]] 04:47, 19 April 2017 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1826:_Birdwatching&diff=1389531826: Birdwatching2017-04-19T04:44:25Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1826<br />
| date = April 19, 2017<br />
| title = Birdwatching<br />
| image = birdwatching_huge.png<br />
| titletext = No, tell the park rangers to calm down, it's fine--I put a screen on the front. I just want to get the birds a little closer.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
- Iincomplete -<br />
This comic was published with a large picture size, much larger then the standard screen. This is deliberate, evidenced by the image title : birdwatching_huge.png.<br />
This is a joke on the visual acuity of a Hawk - even at 'a Mile up' they can spot tiny creatures, so this comic is presented as if you are the hawk.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball and Beanie Man are standing with camera and binoculars.]<br />
:Cueball: Birdwatching is hard. They're all too small and far away.<br />
<br />
:[Both raise tool eyepiece.]<br />
:Cueball: That Hawk is over a mile up! How did you even spot it?<br />
<br />
:[Both, lower eyepiece. Cueball looks down, fuming.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball now has a SHOP VAC and has it pointed to the sky.]<br />
:Shop Vac: WHRRRRRR<br />
:[Beanie Guy looks at Cueball, confused.]<br />
<br />
:title text: No, tell the park rangers to calm down, it's fine--I put a screen on the front. I just want to get the birds a little closer.<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1790:_Sad&diff=134361Talk:1790: Sad2017-01-27T21:03:50Z<p>108.162.245.70: </p>
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My first instinct is that Ponytail is feeling despondent about politics. I am reading too much of myself into it? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.72|172.68.65.72]] 17:25, 25 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
: The title ("Sad" - a common interjection in Trump's tweets) strengthens this argument. {{unsigned ip|162.158.58.129}}<br />
:: As does this being a problem that's been going on for the past few months. Contrary to what the explanation says, a programmer creating functions that don't do anything but return the same data back is not 'semi-common in regular life'. That and the title clearly indicate that this is about more than a programmer subverting complaints about their work. Something very bad is going on that has Ponytail, who also just happens to be a woman, depressed and angry. The election seems like the obvious thing. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.28}}<br />
::: My reaction was based on the "Fact Check" reference, which is largely used in politics. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.72|172.68.65.72]] 18:01, 25 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
Could "sad" could also refer to the medical term "[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder Seasonal Affective Disorder]", a condition where people feel depressed during the winter as a result of getting too little sunlight? [[User:Mr. I|Mr. I]] ([[User talk:Mr. I|talk]]) 20:05, 25 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
: I would have expected it to be in all caps if that were the case [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.72|172.68.65.72]] 20:42, 25 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
::Well in principle it is written in all caps on xkcd, but that is because of the font. If you copy paste the title it does come out Sad. But if you read it on xkcd you would see it as SAD. That is why we have this site to clarify. She (or rather Randall) is really sad, and with the way Trump is going to ruin the US for over half the population many will be really sad. Horrible what he has already started within a week of his inauguration, and with Randall obviously feeling like this too, and even living under him (not like us foreigners) then he is very likely sad. :-( --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:56, 26 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
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It is not really true that "side effects" in this context are "unexpected, unintended, and typically unwanted..." A side effect in functional terms is simply an effect other than on the output of the function. As the linked wikipedia article explains, these are very common and typically (but not always) how a program interacts with the outside world. In a pure functional language functions do not have side effects. Ponytail's job may or may not be (but probably isn't) to avoid side effects at all costs. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.24|141.101.107.24]] 21:23, 25 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
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Having just been through a break up recently (and the resulting sadness that eventuates) I identified with the "No, you deal with this" as a classic response to "If you have a problem with what I did, deal with it." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.178.27|162.158.178.27]] 02:00, 26 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
: Even without suffering a break up I came to the same connection and interpret the whole comic in that way. Tbh I don't see any connection to Trump's inauguration at all. But I'm not from the USA, and I understand the arguments leading to this conclusion. Yet I think it could be inserted as an alternative interpretation. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:09, 26 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
::For sure it is that which caused this. See my comment above, and the other Sad after Trumps election comic in the trivia. (And his [[I'm With Her]] comic). But a break-up also makes you sad, so if that is easier to relate to then this comic could also be for such a person. I do not live in the states but I'm sad because now we end up in a worse than current path scenario from the very bottom of the [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]] comic. I would not be surprised if this election result will cause all ice to melt on Greenland very soon with devastating effect for Europe (because the Gulf stream may stop, so the "heat up" could case ice winters in Europe and cold summers) and many other places due to higher sea levels and wilder weather to boot. Sad? maybe, scared? for sure. We are not talking centuries, and maybe not even many decades the way things are going already and now Trump will make it worse by trying to stop scientist talking about their results and making oil lines through protected/fragile nature areas. ( Not to talk about the wall or women's rights etc. etc. etc.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:56, 26 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
::: I recommend reading this http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/11/its-going-to-be-okay.html and this http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/11/its-going-to-be-okay-follow-up.html Those articles were written right after the vote, but they're still valid, I think. Yes, I agree with you that Trump might wreck havoc. But I object that he can do as much damage in (at most) 8 years as you worry about. He's no totalitarian dictator who can do whatever he wants (and if he can do, the US American system is seriously flawed. I know another democratic system which was seriously flawed and yes, the result was the worst catastrophe in the 20th century which indeed did influence the whole world in a very bad way). However, I don't want to argue about politics. And I don't want to say that the current explanation is wrong. I just want to say that there might be a (plausible) alternative interpretation. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:40, 27 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
::::I entirely agree with Elektrizikekswerk. The election was bad, but it isn't the source of all sadness these days. There's no indication that this is about the election, so I don't understand why everyone is automatically accepting that as truth. [[User:HisHighestMinion|HisHighestMinion]] ([[User talk:HisHighestMinion|talk]]) 11:18, 27 January 2017 (UTC)<br />
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When people talk about virtual farms, I assume that they're talking about Farmville, so I was a little surprised for them to mention Stardew Valley instead. Oh well. I guess it's just me. (#waiting-for-the-nintendo-switch-port) --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|'''JayRules''XKCD''' ]]<sup>[[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|what's up?]]</sup> 12:02, 27 January 2017 (UTC)</div>108.162.245.70https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1202:_Girls_and_Boys&diff=1254601202: Girls and Boys2016-08-17T22:11:38Z<p>108.162.245.70: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1202<br />
| date = April 22, 2013<br />
| title = Girls and Boys<br />
| image = girls and boys.png<br />
| titletext = To get more knowledge<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a play on the popular [https://onsizzle.com/i/girls-go-to-college-to-get-more-knowledge-boys-go-1121310 school-yard taunt], "Girls go to college, to get more knowledge; boys go to Jupiter, to get more stupider," also commonly heard as "Boys go to Mars, to get more candy bars; girls go to Jupiter, to get more stupider." The words "boys" and "girls" may be interchanged depending on the gender of the person chanting. The schoolyard taunt embodies the competitiveness and separation commonly seen between young boys and girls, and ideas about the superiority of one's gender. <br />
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The comic subverts the original rhyme by having both girls ([[Megan]]) and boys ([[Cueball]]) go to college to gain knowledge, and then using that knowledge to go to {{w|Jupiter}} as part of a {{w|space program}} working in cooperation with other men (another Cueball-like guy) and women ([[Ponytail]]).<br />
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Going "to Jupiter, to get more stupider" is ironic considering that human beings have not yet even gone to Mars, so the ability to go to Jupiter would take a huge amount of knowledge and investment and developing current technology further. Likewise, people in space programs going to Jupiter would definitely have advanced degrees, a great deal of knowledge, and a motivation to seek out more knowledge. Space programs and going to Jupiter would require the cooperation of many different people, men and women included, rather than the divisive atmosphere of the schoolyard.<br />
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The title text points out that by going to Jupiter you would ''get more knowledge'' which is generally the purpose of any space program. That is to advance science and it wouldn't actually be dumb at all. So the task of going to Jupiter is absolutely dependent on going to college, cooperation, and getting more knowledge, completely opposite of what the schoolyard taunt suggests; pointing this out is the reason for this comic.<br />
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Going to Jupiter was most famously explored in the film {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001}} and its sequel {{w|2010: Odyssey Two|2010}}, where a space ship lands on the moon {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}}. The film {{w|Outland (film)|Outland}} is set on a mining operation on Jupiter's moon {{w|Io (moon)|Io}}.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan facing left is sitting on a stool at a table while studying. She is bend over her paper writing on it, while her laptop is standing open on top of two books lying in front of her. In front of her, just inside the panel to the left is the back and neck of another student sitting on a chair visible, with only the rear leg and back of the chair shown. Behind her just inside the panel to the right is the front end of another table, one leg visible, and here lies a pile of paper, as tall as the two books. Two frames above Megan narrates the poem:]<br />
:Girls go to college<br />
:To get more knowledge<br />
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:[Cueball facing right, is sitting on a chair at a table also studying. He is holding a piece of paper up in one hand head turned toward it. His other hand holds a page, with text shown as thin lines, in the open book lying in front of him. His laptop is standing open behind the book. In front of him, just inside the panel to the right is the back and arms of another student sitting on a chair visible, with only the rear leg and back of the chair shown. Behind him just inside the panel to the left is the front end of another table, one leg visible, and here lies a pile of four books. Two frames above Cueball narrates the poem:]<br />
:Boys go to college<br />
:To get more knowledge<br />
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:[Space launch control room with Megan and Cueball standing in the middle of the room working together. Megan sitting behind a table with a rectangular item on top, holds a model of the capsule that goes on the top of a space craft in her hand pointing to it with the other hand while Cueball standing to the right gestures at the model as well. To the left sits Ponytail in an office chair, she is wearing a head-set and sits in front of screen, just inside the panel, she seems to be controlling something, but no keyboard is visitable. Above her is another screen attached to the wall (off-panel). The the right there sits a Cueball-like guy on a chair, who is also working on some screen, which is mainly off-panel as is the front of his head. On the wall behind there hangs two pictures. The first shows the curve of a white planet against black space, two continents or clouds visible. There is an insert in the top left corner with a small drawing, and some text or number (unreadable) in the top right corner. The other picture seems to show a space craft with two large solar panels, white on the black black background of space. Has some similarities to the international space station. There are four white lines representing text labels pointing to different parts. One frame at the top narrates the poem:]<br />
:Girls and boys<br />
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:[A large gray rocket with two lifter rockets, one on each side, launch into the black night, rising up with white fire out the end on top of a huge pile of gray exhaust smoke, that billows out filling the entire width at the ground level, where gray lines stars out on the black ground. A white rectangle right above the tip of the rocket narrates the poem (which first ends in the title text):]<br />
:Go to Jupiter<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Science]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]</div>108.162.245.70