explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2272: Ringtone Timeline

2020-02-25T21:40:56Z

141.101.99.221: /* Explanation */ Because I think Randall didn't actually go as far as he could have.

{{comic
| number = 2272
| date = February 24, 2020
| title = Ringtone Timeline
| image = ringtone_timeline.png
| titletext = No one likes my novelty ringtone, an audio recording of a phone on vibrate sitting on a hard surface.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a COOL SPACE BEEP. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

After the {{w|telephone}} was invented, a way of indicating when a call was coming through was needed. Special voltages sent through the line were used to activate a physical bell on the other end, leading to what we recognize as a {{w|Ringtone|phone ringing sound}}, and that method of generating sound persisted for quite some time, even when new methods of detecting and generating ringing sounds were developed.

Eventually, however, people realized they were no longer confined to the traditional bell ringing sound, as computers became more and more involved with the telephone process, and variations of bell-type sounds were introduced, often sounding like spaceship sounds from sci-fi movies. Probably the most iconic "cool space beeps" are the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y64wVO3Uv0 chirps] from the communicators from ''{{w|Star Trek}}'' (which themselves resemble flip-phones in style). Another common ringtone was the {{w|Nokia tune}}.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, [https://orangemag.co/orangeblog/2018/9/25/a-retrospective-on-ringtones actual songs, or song snippets] were able to be used as a ringing sound. It became common to record song snippets from the radio, or to use song MP3 files as ringtones. Many of these songs are grating to hear, and also a social ''faux pas'' if they sound in theatres or other listening venues. As an example, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-PmJYxusHI this Geico ad] featuring bad ringtones, including "the worst ringtone [the Geico gecko has] ever heard", came out around the end of the "song and novelty ringtone" period (according to Randall's periodization).

As people got sick of that, they reverted to use the default ring tone, a spaceship / computer sound, although this time often of higher quality and more melodious in nature. Nowadays, there are more people electing to use a more traditional ringing sound, both as the novelty has worn off, and possibly also as an ironic statement about ringtones. Randall (in the person of Cueball) made a statement like this in [[479: Tones]] in 2008, which according to his reckoning was in the waning years of the novelty ringtone epoch.

The final stage the comic is pointing to is do away with traditional sound entirely, and going with the vibrate mode most portable phones have; what little sound there is is more of a low rumbling sound. Using this setting is common for schools, workplaces, or churches, as it can be [https://www.androidcentral.com/do-us-all-favor-and-put-your-phone-vibrate-mode disruptive to have a phone ring in a public place]. Some users have chosen to always set their phones to the vibrate setting, to avoid having to change their ringing settings back and forth. [[Randall]] claims that vibrate mode is the "final victory" over ringtones, which he apparently dislikes.

In the title text, [[Randall]] ironically uses a "novelty ringtone" which is an audio recording of a phone vibrating. This would sound like a phone on vibrate mode, but his actual phone is not vibrating, and is actually producing a "ringing" sound. However, if the original phone was vibrating on a hard surface (as opposed to in a pocket, muffled by fabric), the sound would be much louder and more grating. A recording of that sound, played as an audio ringtone, would go back to being annoying again. But maybe less imaginatively so than might be a version of the staccato "drum-da-da-drum-da-da-drum" of a phone's periodic handshaking with a mast, such as you sometimes hear over unassociated audio equipment, at pretty much any time it pleases.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A horizontal timeline spanning between the years 1875 and 2022. Every year is indicated by a tick below the line, and labeled every 5 years. There is a gap between 1883 and 1989 with jagged lines to indicate a jump in time. 7 sections are labeled on the chart, with 5 of them grouped in blocks:]

:[1875:]
:Telephone ringer invented

:[1878-1883:]
:Normal ringing sounds

:[Gap and jagged lines to indicate jump in time from 1883 to 1989]

:[1989-1996:]
:Normal ringing sounds

:[1996-2003:]
:Cool space beeps

:[2003-2009:]
:Song and novelty ringtones

:[2009-2013:]
:Cool space beeps

:[2013-2019:]
:Normal ringing sounds

:[2020:]
:Everyone sets their phones to vibrate

:[Caption below the panel:]
:After 140 years, humanity is finally on the verge of winning the war against ringtones.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]

Talk:2272: Ringtone Timeline

2020-02-25T21:29:46Z

141.101.99.221:

Doing the Title Text. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 18:07, 24 February 2020 (UTC)

What about the era of "I would love to set my phone to a traditional ringing sound but this weird space garbage is the closest my phone will get"? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.61|173.245.54.61]] 18:53, 24 February 2020 (UTC)
: What kind of phone is this? circa 2000s flip phone? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.82|162.158.214.82]] 08:52, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

I've got my smartphone set to the classic monophoncic Nokia 3310 tune. You can easily tell the >25y from the <25y generation apart from their reaction. [[User:Gir|-- //gir.st/]] ([[User talk:Gir|talk]]) 19:22, 24 February 2020 (UTC)

I wonder if Randal actually found some data to support his timeline or if it's more of a general observation made by him. In my subjective experience, the trend towards having the phone on vibrate all the time has been going on since at least 2017-2018 rather than the future/present time indicated in his timeline. [[User:Bischoff|Bischoff]] ([[User talk:Bischoff|talk]]) 19:41, 24 February 2020 (UTC)

: And I've not even noticed the change. I still hear ringtones going off when people get calls. I'm not even sure how it would work, since surely you'd at least need it to ring while charging or when you don't have pockets (like a lot of dressier women's clothing). And then there's the trend I have noticed of people actually playing their music out loud without headphones, which makes me think that people are not becoming more concerned about their phones making noise. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 10:35, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Early ringers were hand-cranked generators (or perhaps magnetos), so you might be able to tell who was calling by how fast they cranked.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.206.22|172.68.206.22]] 19:51, 24 February 2020 (UTC)
:No, in that period it was mostly still operators. I suppose you would know which operator was on duty, if your area was small enough. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 22:07, 24 February 2020 (UTC)

Party lines shared the signal and differentiated the callee by ring. I grew up on 19-ring-12, i.e. line 19 (on the manual switchboard in the village) ringing one long and two short. There was a magneto, but you used it to request the operator to give you a line for an outgoing call; it signaled the switchboard, not another party.

I remember around 1982 staying over at a friend's house and hearing the electronic tweedling of their new landline phone and not knowing what it was. Prior to that all the phones I'd heard at homes, businesses, school, etc. were all normal ringers. So the cool space beeps starting around 1996 seems skewed to the right by about a decade. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.124|172.68.38.124]] 20:21, 24 February 2020 (UTC)Pat
: There's obviously plenty of overlap, and I think the boxes represent when a particular style was prevalent, not the entire duration. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:37, 24 February 2020 (UTC)
: In the UK, the so-called trimphone was introduced in the sixties with a warbling ringtone instead of the traditional bell sound. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.12|162.158.159.12]] 23:12, 24 February 2020 (UTC)
: The initial tones for tweedling or beeping phones were often pure sine wave tones, which are difficult for the human ear to locate. If you had five phones (not uncommon in some offices) you would need to pick up each in succession to find the one that was ringing. [[User:Snezzy|Snezzy]] ([[User talk:Snezzy|talk]]) 10:07, 25 February 2020 (UTC)
: I also remember being told (in the era of mostly electromechanical bells, but echoed by the occasionally extant trimphone) that the time signature of the ringing was something weird, like 13/8 (or 8/13 - I'm not musical enough to know what the difference is, and it's probably not those numbers exactly anyway), on the basis that you couldn't subvert the rhythm into a pleasant tune (real or imagined) and so *had* to respond to it, like you possibly could with 2/4-time. And I've seen the mechanism at the (automatic, but largely mechanical) exchange that continually rotates with variously spotted electrical contacts on its axle that produce the required dialling/ringing/busy/etc signals to get 'tapped' for all currently relevent subscriber circuits (meaning that every phone in a street, neighbourhood or even whole town would be exactly in synch with any other phone also producing the same sound on either ringer or ear-speaker, notwithstanding speed-of-sound delays between the locales and audibility of each). A remarkable clockworkpunk solution to simplifying the otherwise quite complex array of Subscriber Trunk Dialling/etc mechanisms. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.76|162.158.159.76]] 15:09, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Interesting contrast to [https://xkcd.com/479/ xkcd 479].
[[User:LHN|LHN]]

I would like to point out that "a phone on vibrate sitting on a hard surface" may not have been receiving a call at the time of the audio recording so technically Randall's ringtone could be utter silence (or a very low coil whine). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.226.46|172.68.226.46]] 00:56, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

I can't stand people who use the old fashioned 1950s bell ringtone. It's not cute anymore, it's just boring and overused. Almost as bad as the many "default" ringtones that people are too lazy to change. These are smartphones! You can easily use just about any song or sound imaginable! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.82|162.158.214.82]] 08:52, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

I will definitely not switch to vibration any time soon. I hate vibration in phones so much that I have installed multiple apps and mods to get rid of every single variant of vibration on my phone (which is surprisingly difficult), at least as long as the system is running. After shutdown it sadly still vibrates. Maybe I should screw off the vibration motor one day. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:54, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

1820s to 1870s: {{w|Steamship|whistle at end of long tube}}; (me, turn of the millenium: much abbreviated monophonic '[https://nokia.fandom.com/wiki/Composer Composer]' version of a complex polyphonic MIDI file of a {{w|In_the_Hall_of_the_Mountain_King|classical tune I quite liked}}); Mid 23rdC: {{w|USS_Enterprise_(NCC-1701)|electronic version of a whistle through a long tube}}; Mid 24thC {{w|USS_Enterprise_(NCC-1701-D)|beeps}} [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.76|162.158.159.76]] 15:09, 25 February 2020 (UTC)
:I did that (entered my own ringtone Nokia's on-phone Composer thingummy) with the Thunderbirds theme tune. Learnt just enough how to extract note data from a MIDI file via a quick-and-dirty Perl script. Then had to monophonise it to get the vital trumpet refrain just right where it overlapped "Duh dah-dah-d(DAH-DAH-DAAAH!) ...". Would you believe I also tended to wear lots of very colourful/cartoony ties? Still got 'em. But my phones just (sort of) ring these days - No fun in it once you could just start to plug in sampled MP3s/etc of ''anything''. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.221|141.101.99.221]] 21:29, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Talk:327: Exploits of a Mom

2020-02-12T10:55:18Z

141.101.99.221: Removed junk text.

What about the daughter's name?[[User:Guru-45|Guru-45]] ([[User talk:Guru-45|talk]]) 14:57, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

:I think that's embellished upon later in a series called l33t. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 15:42, 17 November 2012 (UTC)
:It's for novelty license plates with people's names on them (like "Bort" for example). [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.67|199.27.128.67]] 18:15, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

After fixing my stupid undo I think this comic is still incomplete: What is the "driver's license factory" at the title text? --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:17, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

:The common tale is that someone purchases some item or other with writing on it (or somewhere where writing can appear, on closer examination) and finds that this writing reads "Help, I'm trapped in a <item> factory", or similar, as appropriate to the object concerned. This suggests that someone is trapped (or perhaps even enslaved to work) within such a place and their only hope of escape is to make 'messages in a bottle' out of the product that leaves the facility. This is often extended to various fantastical situations, like the (British only?) joke about the stick of {{w|Rock_(confectionery)|sea-side rock}}.
:(Of course, the writing in sticks of rock generally starts to become unreadable (for normal-sized sticks) for any name larger than "Bridlington", although with care I suppose they've made them with a semi-legible "Western-super-Mare" set through them. But one aspect of this version of the joke could definitely well be that the theoretical SOS message wouldn't legibly fit.)
:So, anyway, Mrs Roberts (who waited for a number of years for Little Bobby Tables to grow up to school-age, for the illustrated exploit) is patiently waiting for her daughter to get to somewhere in her mid-teens, or later, all the while intending that she will get to spoof such a message from the local DMV's license-printing facility at some point. (Turns out that could be as 'soon' as her reaching 14-16 years of age for her first Learner license, depending on state.) Momma Roberts likes playing the long-game, it appears. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.31.27|178.98.31.27]] 16:02, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

:She can already can get a passport with her name in it, which would look kind of weird. If she needs/wants to have a photo ID for use within the US (e.g., air travel), what would that be? [[User:Tessarakt|Tessarakt]] ([[User talk:Tessarakt|talk]]) 20:12, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

:The mouseover text might also be a reference to an easter egg in classic Mac OS, in which the text "Help! Help! We're being held prisoner in a system software factory!" was embedded in the {{w|system suitcase}}. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.90|173.245.50.90]] 20:02, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

::Someone should probably put something like this on the actual page instead of just the discussion... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.178|173.245.56.178]] 02:23, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

Wasn't there another comic that had the digits of pi with "Help I'm trapped in a universe factory!" included in it? {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.205}}
:Yes, the earlier [[10: Pi Equals]]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.83|108.162.216.83]] 20:32, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

The example talks about a SELECT query (for looking up information in a database), but I think an INSERT query (for inserting new information in the database) makes more sense, because of the closing bracket. A SELECT query is usually of the following form: SELECT column1, coulm2 FROM table WHERE username='somethingsomething'.
An INSERT query is usually of the following form: INSERT INTO table (column1, columns2) VALUES (value1, value2)
In the case of the comic, I think it's reasonable to assume it's the start of the school year and someone is adding the name of a new student (Bobby) to the database, which triggers the exploit.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.228.5|108.162.228.5]] 21:23, 23 March 2015 (UTC) David

I've made an explanation for the title text, if anyone wants to change it to make it less ambiguous or anything, edits are welcome. [[User:StairwayToHenry|StairwayToHenry]] ([[User talk:StairwayToHenry|talk]]) 15:35, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

It seems to me that Bobby doesn't necessarily share her technical savvy or sense of humour, but caused the incident simply through having the name she gave him. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.203|141.101.98.203]] 23:47, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Anyone want to comment on the missing outline from panel 2? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.165|108.162.238.165]] 23:48, 27 July 2015 (UTC)someGuy

The explanation says that Bobby Tables got his technical savvy from his mom, however we have no reason to believe that he has any technical savvy at all- this prank was entirely his parents'. He is most likely having his first day of kindergarten, and has no technical savvy at all. [[User:Bbruzzo|Bbruzzo]] ([[User talk:Bbruzzo|talk]]) 13:15, 4 September 2015 (UTC)

Is no one going to notice that his name is Robert Roberts? [[User:Abbyclem|Abbyclem]] ([[User talk:Abbyclem|talk]]) 22:04, 12 September 2015 (UTC)

:... I read all the way down here waiting to see someone mention that, only to find you did it ... about a month ago. On what is now a very old strip. Weird o_O [[Special:Contributions/162.158.39.209|162.158.39.209]] 18:56, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

; Real Life
It might be worth adding under "trivia" that situations similar to the one in the comic actually seem to [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4456438/how-do-i-correctly-pass-the-string-null-an-employees-proper-surname-to-a-so happen in real life].--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.138|162.158.114.138]] 17:50, 22 November 2015 (UTC)

And possibly a warning not to try this on a live system.. a colleague just got fired after XKCD inspired stupidity. ~100% his own fault, but might be worth mentioning. [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 09:49, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

The point of this comic is to make fun of automated systems that input without searching for exploits, not for anyone to see if this would happen in real life(I hope). [[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 23:54, 17 April 2017 (UTC)

;Incomplete
The explanation is incorrect. It keeps putting single quotes around the variable $name when it is the input stored in $name which will have the single quotes. It even mentions how the single quotes around $name are the reason for the exploit as opposed to the single quotes in the input stored in the variable $name.

On another note, the explanation seems to indicate that Bobby is responsible for the SQL injection and later suggests instead the mother is responsible. My interpretation was that this is entirely attributed to the mother since it is called "Exploits of a Mom". I do not believe she actually named her son with an SQL injection, but rather input that as his first name in the school's online registration form.

[[User:Flewk|Flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 17:15, 26 December 2015 (UTC)

;Importance of the space after double dash.
In order for the double dash to properly instruct the database to ignore the rest of the line as a comment, it is necessary for at least one space to follow it. This is indicated explicitly in the MySQL documentation [http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/comments.html], and it is clearly included in the XKCD sketch (I'm imagining a person on the other end of the phone reading every character. "capital ess tee yew dee ee en tee ess semicolon dash dash space"). This space is not included in the code examples. I believe we at Explain XKCD should strive to provide valid code, so I am adding the spaces in the article.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.72|108.162.246.72]] 02:51, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

;Driver's license

An important aspect here is that driver's licenses are the preferred form of photo ID in the US (up to the point where you can even get a driver's license which does not allow you to drive ...), where other countries have identity cards. [[User:Tessarakt|Tessarakt]] ([[User talk:Tessarakt|talk]]) 20:09, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Talk:2260: Reaction Maps

2020-01-28T14:45:41Z

141.101.99.221:

I can't find Jump, OH. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 23:19, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

I can't find a town named "A" in Clay County WV. Is there supposed to be one? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 23:35, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Wiki sez: "Clay is a town in and the county seat of Clay County, West Virginia, United States.[6] The population was 491 at the 2010 census. It is the only incorporated town in Clay County." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 23:37, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

I looked for "A, Clay County, WV" and [https://goo.gl/maps/sUm6MtwEvpsBbfLX8 found this]. "B" and "C" also find places but "D" doesn't. It looks like Clay County is divided into A, B and C. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.53|141.101.99.53]] 08:11, 28 January 2020 (UTC) Update: According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_County,_West_Virginia#Geography they rationalised their old districts into "A", "B" and "C" between 1990 and 2000.

I completely missed this one! In my defence, here in southern England ‘Tudor’ sounds much less like ‘two-door’, and ‘compact’ is much less commonly applied to cars... [[User:Gidds|Gidds]] ([[User talk:Gidds|talk]]) 23:44, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Tip if you are doing a European version, and want to avoid F-Bombs: You can [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Fucking,+%C3%96sterreich/Bad+Kissingen,+Deutschland/ replace "Fucking" by "bad Kissing"]. It is "only" a 430km reroute. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:47, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Does that pun actually work in US English? In UK English, Tudor and two-door have totally different vowel sounds. The former is more "tew-der". {{unsigned ip|162.158.158.179|09:58, 28 January 2020‎}}
:It does work with my weird accent (German, officially learned british English in school, tought by a German teacher who lived a while in Australia, and refined with watching Hollywood productions, travelling Ireland (and other places, but mostly Ireland), and working with Indians, Americans and Brits in an American company...) Slight difference between how I would pronounce two and "tu" of tudor. (more or less as tju(?)) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 09:05, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
:Yes, and in fact, Ford named several two-doored body styles in the interwar period "Tudor" (and, somewhat distressingly, dubbed the corresponding four-door styles "Fordor"). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.160|172.69.34.160]] 12:03, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

;H.ON.D.A.
This reminds of when I worked in a place with a very slow Internet connection, but I found one solution (sort of) which required about 40 minutes to get connected, but was very fast once I was connected. I called it Hurry-ON Driving Access (HONDA). The way it worked was that I got in my Honda Civic, and drove to a place with a better Internet connection... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.20|172.69.34.20]] 03:14, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

I named my Smart Fortwo "Eddie." Fortwo > 42 > Hitchhikers. And that engine was a pretty improbable size. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.236|108.162.216.236]] 13:54, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Anyone who can make a decent argument why this joke should be bad enough to end a friendship? Or could Randall just not find anything better. Did it need to be related to driving? I like the idea of answering like this, but cannot really understand why such a joke would necessitate such a fierce response...? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:04, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
:It's kind of a cultural joke that puns are the one of the lowest forms of wit, and that especially bad or forced puns are so bad as to merit comical overreactions, such as flipping tables, throwing yourself out of a window, or expressing physical pain. It might be an internet thing, although I'm sure the sentiment pre-dates the internet. Cueball is not seriously suggesting ending their friendship - he's just suggesting that he ''should'', as penance for the terribleness of the pun. I believe the pun doesn't have to relate to driving - Randall has just found a clever way to express disapproval that happens to use driving directions. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 14:05, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
:Possible reason: it's not that the pun itself is so bad, it's the "get it"--Ponytail (probably) knows the pun isn't very funny, *knows Cueball didn't think it was funny*, and is demanding that he acknowledge the pun. Once is nothing, but annoyance can build up. The fiftieth time someone interrupts a real conversation with a pun, and repeats the pun if nobody gives them the laugh or at least groan they want, it becomes something like "yeah, guy, we heard you. If it was funny someone would have laughed. Stop interrupting the conversation to get attention. It's not as clever as you think it is."

2260: Reaction Maps

2020-01-28T14:40:18Z

141.101.99.221: Fixed formatting.

{{comic
| number = 2260
| date = January 27, 2020
| title = Reaction Maps
| image = reaction_maps.png
| titletext = If Google Maps stops letting you navigate to (Clay County District) A in West Virginia, you can try Jump, OH -> Ina, IL -> Big Hole, TX.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EMOJI OR GIF. Why is Ponytails pun so bad for Cueball that he wish to end the friendship over it. It is not just a joke. Any explanation for this would be great. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a Texting Tip. Randall suggests readers to send a set of driving directions as an intense / extremely annoyed response.

In this comic, [[Ponytail]] texts the following car pun/joke:
:You should name your new Honda Civic ''The Treaty of Edinburgh''
:Because it's a Tudor compact [Tudor - pronounced twodoor some places in the US!]

The {{w|Treaty of Edinburgh}} was a treaty drawn up in 1560, which falls during the {{w|Tudor period}} of the history of {{w|England}}, while a compact is another word for a treaty. A {{w|Honda Civic}} is a {{w|compact car}} with a {{w|coupé}} body model and only two doors (there are also hatchback and 4-door sedan versions). The joke is thus a pun on the similarity of the words "Tudor" and "two-door", as well as a pun on the words "treaty" and "compact."

Because of this joke [[Cueball]] gets so mad at her that he replies twice, first that their friendship is over and second that he hopes she falls in a lake. Both times using driving directions to do so, because he is really mad at her for the joke and wish to show how much by spending time finding cities with relevant names just to do it.

The [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Truly,+MT+59421/Saari,+L'Anse+Township,+MI+49946/Toulouse,+Kentucky/A,+Clay+County,+WV/Friendship,+South+Carolina/This+Way,+Lake+Jackson,+TX+77566/@37.9396464,-104.4176717,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m38!4m37!1m5!1m1!1s0x53424d6552eab029:0xb7fcd8937da3ec25!2m2!1d-111.4413578!2d47.3557881!1m5!1m1!1s0x4d50e1468af1ce9b:0xb02e7ce99f9e641a!2m2!1d-88.3092692!2d46.8784933!1m5!1m1!1s0x8844b40da22762bf:0xee4cd8dba67a2afa!2m2!1d-83.3269444!2d37.1766667!1m5!1m1!1s0x884943786da899b1:0x5eb17b45f77f3480!2m2!1d-81.0533854!2d38.5410076!1m5!1m1!1s0x88ffff04df8a3dc1:0x2e50cd1fdf10df52!2m2!1d-79.4353317!2d34.0168293!1m5!1m1!1s0x864043e6372e0009:0x1372621459655543!2m2!1d-95.4597276!2d29.0382495!3e0 list of map destinations], Truly, Saari, Toulouse, A, {{w|Friendship,_South_Carolina|Friendship}}, This Way is a way of saying, "Truly sorry to lose a friendship this way".
The [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Hope,+NY+12134/Yoe,+PA/Fallin+Lake,+Magnolia+Township,+AR/@38.214792,-88.0772473,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x89df00206dc519a7:0x8c095186fc80dee1!2m2!1d-74.2431907!2d43.3036812!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c8886da851113b:0x96fa3e47edbd1953!2m2!1d-76.6369116!2d39.9089887!1m5!1m1!1s0x8633c43fa49e5997:0x864650e233fea97b!2m2!1d-93.3167015!2d33.2840166!3e0 list of map destinations], {{w|Hope, New York|Hope}}, {{w|Yoe, Pennsylvania|Yoe}}, Fallin Lake is a way of saying, "Hope you fall in [a] lake".

"A" is [https://goo.gl/maps/sUm6MtwEvpsBbfLX8 one] of the three districts in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_County,_West_Virginia#Geography Clay County WV]. The others are "B" and "C".

In the title text, [[Randall]] offers a different option if "A" is removed from Google Maps, {{w|Ina, Illinois|Ina (IL)}}, to make [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Jump,+McDonald+Township,+Ohio,+USA/Ina,+IL,+USA/Big+Hole,+Texas,+USA/@35.8263797,-93.8102845,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x883edadb5282cd7d:0xbd26e9e97ce76762!2m2!1d-83.79438!2d40.6158849!1m5!1m1!1s0x8876cfd2b9f24b79:0xa00498b7be5e90c4!2m2!1d-88.9039554!2d38.1511606!1m5!1m1!1s0x863813224a969417:0x61e1c3c664eadc63!2m2!1d-94.8453391!2d31.1918015!3e0 this response]: Jump, {{w|Ina, Illinois|Ina}}, Big Hole ("Jump in a big hole".)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Caption to the left of the comic:]

:Texting Tip

:Is your reaction too intense to be expressed in an emoji or gif?
:Try using driving directions!
:The extra research it requires shows how strongly you feel.

:[A split panel, showing Ponytail texting Cueball with her text messages shown above in gray and Cueball reading the texts angrily below]

:Ponytail: You should name your new Honda Civic ''The Treaty of Edinburgh''
:Ponytail: Because it's a Tudor compact
:Ponytail: Get it

:[Cueball replies to Ponytail, with his text messages shown above him. Ponytail's last text ("Get it") is shown. Cueball sends Ponytail a screenshot of driving directions that go through Truly, Saari, Toulouse, A, Friendship, and This Way]

:[Cueball continues to text Ponytail, with his text messages shown above him. He sends Ponytail a screenshot of driving directions that go through Hope, Yoe, and Fallin Lake]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]
[[Category:Puns]]

2260: Reaction Maps

2020-01-28T14:38:08Z

141.101.99.221: Added explanation of what "A" is in WV.

{{comic
| number = 2260
| date = January 27, 2020
| title = Reaction Maps
| image = reaction_maps.png
| titletext = If Google Maps stops letting you navigate to (Clay County District) A in West Virginia, you can try Jump, OH -> Ina, IL -> Big Hole, TX.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EMOJI OR GIF. Why is Ponytails pun so bad for Cueball that he wish to end the friendship over it. It is not just a joke. Any explanation for this would be great. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another one of [[Randall|Randall's]] [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], this time a Texting Tip. Randall suggests readers to send a set of driving directions as an intense / extremely annoyed response.

In this comic, [[Ponytail]] texts the following car pun/joke:
:You should name your new Honda Civic ''The Treaty of Edinburgh''
:Because it's a Tudor compact [Tudor - pronounced twodoor some places in the US!]

The {{w|Treaty of Edinburgh}} was a treaty drawn up in 1560, which falls during the {{w|Tudor period}} of the history of {{w|England}}, while a compact is another word for a treaty. A {{w|Honda Civic}} is a {{w|compact car}} with a {{w|coupé}} body model and only two doors (there are also hatchback and 4-door sedan versions). The joke is thus a pun on the similarity of the words "Tudor" and "two-door", as well as a pun on the words "treaty" and "compact."

Because of this joke [[Cueball]] gets so mad at her that he replies twice, first that their friendship is over and second that he hopes she falls in a lake. Both times using driving directions to do so, because he is really mad at her for the joke and wish to show how much by spending time finding cities with relevant names just to do it.

The [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Truly,+MT+59421/Saari,+L'Anse+Township,+MI+49946/Toulouse,+Kentucky/A,+Clay+County,+WV/Friendship,+South+Carolina/This+Way,+Lake+Jackson,+TX+77566/@37.9396464,-104.4176717,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m38!4m37!1m5!1m1!1s0x53424d6552eab029:0xb7fcd8937da3ec25!2m2!1d-111.4413578!2d47.3557881!1m5!1m1!1s0x4d50e1468af1ce9b:0xb02e7ce99f9e641a!2m2!1d-88.3092692!2d46.8784933!1m5!1m1!1s0x8844b40da22762bf:0xee4cd8dba67a2afa!2m2!1d-83.3269444!2d37.1766667!1m5!1m1!1s0x884943786da899b1:0x5eb17b45f77f3480!2m2!1d-81.0533854!2d38.5410076!1m5!1m1!1s0x88ffff04df8a3dc1:0x2e50cd1fdf10df52!2m2!1d-79.4353317!2d34.0168293!1m5!1m1!1s0x864043e6372e0009:0x1372621459655543!2m2!1d-95.4597276!2d29.0382495!3e0 list of map destinations], Truly, Saari, Toulouse, A, {{w|Friendship,_South_Carolina|Friendship}}, This Way is a way of saying, "Truly sorry to lose a friendship this way".
The [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Hope,+NY+12134/Yoe,+PA/Fallin+Lake,+Magnolia+Township,+AR/@38.214792,-88.0772473,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x89df00206dc519a7:0x8c095186fc80dee1!2m2!1d-74.2431907!2d43.3036812!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c8886da851113b:0x96fa3e47edbd1953!2m2!1d-76.6369116!2d39.9089887!1m5!1m1!1s0x8633c43fa49e5997:0x864650e233fea97b!2m2!1d-93.3167015!2d33.2840166!3e0 list of map destinations], {{w|Hope, New York|Hope}}, {{w|Yoe, Pennsylvania|Yoe}}, Fallin Lake is a way of saying, "Hope you fall in [a] lake".

"A" is [https://goo.gl/maps/sUm6MtwEvpsBbfLX8 one of the three districts] in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_County,_West_Virginia#Geography] Clay County WV. The others are "B" and "C".

In the title text, [[Randall]] offers a different option if "A" is removed from Google Maps, {{w|Ina, Illinois|Ina (IL)}}, to make [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Jump,+McDonald+Township,+Ohio,+USA/Ina,+IL,+USA/Big+Hole,+Texas,+USA/@35.8263797,-93.8102845,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x883edadb5282cd7d:0xbd26e9e97ce76762!2m2!1d-83.79438!2d40.6158849!1m5!1m1!1s0x8876cfd2b9f24b79:0xa00498b7be5e90c4!2m2!1d-88.9039554!2d38.1511606!1m5!1m1!1s0x863813224a969417:0x61e1c3c664eadc63!2m2!1d-94.8453391!2d31.1918015!3e0 this response]: Jump, {{w|Ina, Illinois|Ina}}, Big Hole ("Jump in a big hole".)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Caption to the left of the comic:]

:Texting Tip

:Is your reaction too intense to be expressed in an emoji or gif?
:Try using driving directions!
:The extra research it requires shows how strongly you feel.

:[A split panel, showing Ponytail texting Cueball with her text messages shown above in gray and Cueball reading the texts angrily below]

:Ponytail: You should name your new Honda Civic ''The Treaty of Edinburgh''
:Ponytail: Because it's a Tudor compact
:Ponytail: Get it

:[Cueball replies to Ponytail, with his text messages shown above him. Ponytail's last text ("Get it") is shown. Cueball sends Ponytail a screenshot of driving directions that go through Truly, Saari, Toulouse, A, Friendship, and This Way]

:[Cueball continues to text Ponytail, with his text messages shown above him. He sends Ponytail a screenshot of driving directions that go through Hope, Yoe, and Fallin Lake]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Tips]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Smartphones]]
[[Category:Puns]]

Talk:2256: Bad Map Projection: South America

2020-01-18T17:05:31Z

141.101.99.221:

I overlaid this map on all the projections in https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/977:_Map_Projections to show the difference. Is that something this wiki wants? [[User:EmuSam|EmuSam]] ([[User talk:EmuSam|talk]]) 05:54, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:I don't know about the rest of the wiki, but I certainly do! --[[User:T0]] ([[User talk:T0|talk]]) 10:40, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:Heck yeah that's awesome! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.222|108.162.210.222]] 13:48, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
: I'm gonna venture out on a limb here in my toe-shoes and say that those of us reading the comments on the explain-XKCD wiki will geek our Azimov socks off over that. [[User:Iggynelix|Iggynelix]] ([[User talk:Iggynelix|talk]]) 13:59, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
: Huwah, want? I clicked the link above with high hopes :x How did you not upload it yet :D [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.110|162.158.155.110]] 15:40, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:yes, please! [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 22:05, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:What amuses me: Since you have the first comment, the wiki doesn't know how to show your picture on my iPad's Safari, so the bottom lines up with your comment and extends UP into the explanation, overlaid by the links for adding a comment etc. LOL! And I agree, totally fitting to include here. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 08:08, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

How many different kinds of transformation have been applied to South America? I can see resize, rotation, and skew (shear). Can't see any reflections or anything that looks obviously non linear. Anyone care enough to check? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.119.83|162.158.119.83]] 08:02, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:Not an expert on the terminologies used, especially in English. Does what has been done to the south America that is where Australia should be qualify as resize? It is not maintaining the aspect ratios, and is much "shorter" in the direction that used to be north-south (the way chile is "long") (and is now east west) and much wider in the other one. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:17, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Note: 358 is country code for finland, which is completely missing in the projection. {{unsigned ip|162.158.238.216| 08:11, 17 January 2020}}
:Finland is part of Europe and Asia continent, which is now South America. It is thus not more missing thatn any country not in South America. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:43, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Something something a Brazilian South Americas how many is that [[User:Cellocgw|Cellocgw]] ([[User talk:Cellocgw|talk]]) 12:19, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

It's also similar to [[1653: United States Map]], isn't it? [[User:Nedlum|Nedlum]] ([[User talk:Nedlum|talk]]) 15:47, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:No it is not similar but it is somewhat related. But there is all the states that are moved around, not one state that makes up all of USA. But take Collorado and make it small enough and you can build anything with that square state. :-) I think this one is closer related: [[1500: Upside-Down Map]]. But I have added both to the explanation for reference. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:38, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

I wonder what projection the South America is pulled from. I also wonder whether that projection has the rest of the world laid out similar to this arraignment, or if they are the same projection used for layout as for the shape. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.176|162.158.146.176]] 17:39, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Wait a minute. If Tierra del Fuego is replaced by the whole of South America, does this include a tiny Tierra? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.205|162.158.111.205]] 20:42, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:Yes, there is clearly a small bend in the "tip" of the SA replacing Tierra. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 20:56, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
::So many layers :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 23:38, 17 January 2020 (UTC)
:"{{w|The Last Battle|Further <s>up</s>''south'' and further in!}}" [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.221|141.101.99.221]] 17:05, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2250: OK/okay/ok

2020-01-05T20:17:56Z

141.101.99.221: Corrected wrong wikimarkup! And missing word.

He forgot the eternal joke - 0K
Come on Randall, you're a person of science[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.40|141.101.98.40]] 11:25, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
I think this should have been a table. Put spellings down the side (I've seen a lot of "oki" online; maybe "A-OK" too, or some humorous misspelling) and possible permutations of punctuations and capitalisation across the top. I want to know how "o.k.ay." makes you sound :p
[[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 17:41, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:But when you do a single word response, it should just be, "k".
:[[User:Hax|Hax]] ([[User talk:Hax|talk]])
:: "'kay" is better, but I've also seen "'k" -- highlighting, perhaps, that the "o" is supposed to be there even if people are lazy and cut off too much when speaking and writing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.100|108.162.237.100]] 06:43, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
:If it's not capitalized, I'm definitely imagining the person making clucking noises, even if I ''know'' that's not what they meant... Doesn't ''everybody'' read "ok" phonetically, as "ock", as in grok? ;S
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:42, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

As of this writing, the title text is wrong. I don't know how to edit it. The current explainXKCD version ends with ("oK".). But the xkcd website ends with ("oK.") The location of the period within the quote changes the meaning of this comment. [[User:Agrasin|Agrasin]] ([[User talk:Agrasin|talk]]) 20:43, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:Good catch! I edited it. I was the one who put it in wrong in the first place as well. I had to insert the quotes manually, when I copy-pasted the title text from the inspect tool of xkcd.com and made this error. Things like the title text or the date can be edited easily when you use the edit button on top of the page instead of the small one at the explanation/transcript. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 21:13, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:The period's placement does not necessarily change the meaning of the sentence as its inclusion within the quotation marks does not imply it is part of the quote. Punctuation immediately following a quote goes inside the quotation marks under English grammar. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.112|172.68.174.112]] 21:23, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
::That's a ridiculously bad rule & I'd hope nobody actually does that. Punctuation should only go inside the quotation marks if it's part of the quote. To put punctuation in where it wasn't used muddles whether the punctuation is part of the quote or part of the sentence containing the quote, & offers no possible benefit to comprehension. Bad rule: Don't do that.
::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:37, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:::Totally agree although I suspect that english grammar is not supposed to be logical. Also, I think using "oK" would be good idea. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:03, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:::However, it looks much nicer and mimics proper handwriting, where the comma sign is directly underneath the quotation mark. It's considered proper form for American English, whereas Brits put it outside.
:::[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.142|162.158.134.142]] 23:06, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
::No, that's only for comma signs. Periods go inside if it's a part of the quote, outside if it isn't, and in both places if you end your sentence with a quote. "This quoted sentence ends with a period.".
::[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.142|162.158.134.142]] 23:06, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:::I have never seen a double period like that anywhere. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 05:15, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
:In SWE (Standard Written (American) English), commas and ending punctuation go inside closing quotation marks (probably originating from typewriters allowing a comma and a period to be put _under_ the closing quotation marks). This rule holds true in American English unless there's a very good reason to leave the punctuation on the outside.
:There is a difference between the two following sentences:
: * The teacher said, "There is no test!" (the exclamation point belongs to the teacher's statement)
: * The teacher said, "There is no test"! (the exclamation point belongs to the narrator's statement)
: For cases where there would be ambiguity or a presumed reason to use both external and internal punctuation, writers are advised to rewrite the sentence. There is no grammatical/conventional basis for the following:
: * Did the teacher ask, "Who's there?"?
: Do note that other than commas, punctuation that is not ending punctuation (commonly dashes, colons, semicolons) or containers (parens, brackets, etc) -- depending on how they're used -- belong outside the quotation marks.
: Perhaps the British standard of putting all punctuation on the outside unless it explicitly belongs to the quoted material is more logical, but until some major style manuals in the USA adopt it, it won't be legit in SWE.
: Circling back to the original point (ending with '"oK."' vs '"oK".'), that's one of those situations where the sentence should be reworded to avoid the ambiguity on whether the period belongs to the quoted abbreviation or not.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.100|108.162.237.100]] 18:01, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
This is kind of like the LEGO bridge question in What If. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.120|172.69.34.120]] 18:32, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

I just added the bit about the readers' narrative voices (see [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2250:_OK/okay/ok&diff=185524&oldid=185508|edit comments] for additional thoughts), but my parenthsisised justification for the 'quoting' looks a bit clunky even to me. Further changes (or at least partial reversion) are welcome, and in fact invited... Fill your boots! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.221|141.101.99.221]] 20:15, 5 January 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2250: OK/okay/ok

2020-01-05T20:15:55Z

141.101.99.221:

He forgot the eternal joke - 0K
Come on Randall, you're a person of science[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.40|141.101.98.40]] 11:25, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
I think this should have been a table. Put spellings down the side (I've seen a lot of "oki" online; maybe "A-OK" too, or some humorous misspelling) and possible permutations of punctuations and capitalisation across the top. I want to know how "o.k.ay." makes you sound :p
[[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 17:41, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:But when you do a single word response, it should just be, "k".
:[[User:Hax|Hax]] ([[User talk:Hax|talk]])
:: "'kay" is better, but I've also seen "'k" -- highlighting, perhaps, that the "o" is supposed to be there even if people are lazy and cut off too much when speaking and writing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.100|108.162.237.100]] 06:43, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
:If it's not capitalized, I'm definitely imagining the person making clucking noises, even if I ''know'' that's not what they meant... Doesn't ''everybody'' read "ok" phonetically, as "ock", as in grok? ;S
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:42, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

As of this writing, the title text is wrong. I don't know how to edit it. The current explainXKCD version ends with ("oK".). But the xkcd website ends with ("oK.") The location of the period within the quote changes the meaning of this comment. [[User:Agrasin|Agrasin]] ([[User talk:Agrasin|talk]]) 20:43, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:Good catch! I edited it. I was the one who put it in wrong in the first place as well. I had to insert the quotes manually, when I copy-pasted the title text from the inspect tool of xkcd.com and made this error. Things like the title text or the date can be edited easily when you use the edit button on top of the page instead of the small one at the explanation/transcript. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 21:13, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:The period's placement does not necessarily change the meaning of the sentence as its inclusion within the quotation marks does not imply it is part of the quote. Punctuation immediately following a quote goes inside the quotation marks under English grammar. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.112|172.68.174.112]] 21:23, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
::That's a ridiculously bad rule & I'd hope nobody actually does that. Punctuation should only go inside the quotation marks if it's part of the quote. To put punctuation in where it wasn't used muddles whether the punctuation is part of the quote or part of the sentence containing the quote, & offers no possible benefit to comprehension. Bad rule: Don't do that.
::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:37, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:::Totally agree although I suspect that english grammar is not supposed to be logical. Also, I think using "oK" would be good idea. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:03, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:::However, it looks much nicer and mimics proper handwriting, where the comma sign is directly underneath the quotation mark. It's considered proper form for American English, whereas Brits put it outside.
:::[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.142|162.158.134.142]] 23:06, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
::No, that's only for comma signs. Periods go inside if it's a part of the quote, outside if it isn't, and in both places if you end your sentence with a quote. "This quoted sentence ends with a period.".
::[[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.142|162.158.134.142]] 23:06, 3 January 2020 (UTC)
:::I have never seen a double period like that anywhere. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 05:15, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
:In SWE (Standard Written (American) English), commas and ending punctuation go inside closing quotation marks (probably originating from typewriters allowing a comma and a period to be put _under_ the closing quotation marks). This rule holds true in American English unless there's a very good reason to leave the punctuation on the outside.
:There is a difference between the two following sentences:
: * The teacher said, "There is no test!" (the exclamation point belongs to the teacher's statement)
: * The teacher said, "There is no test"! (the exclamation point belongs to the narrator's statement)
: For cases where there would be ambiguity or a presumed reason to use both external and internal punctuation, writers are advised to rewrite the sentence. There is no grammatical/conventional basis for the following:
: * Did the teacher ask, "Who's there?"?
: Do note that other than commas, punctuation that is not ending punctuation (commonly dashes, colons, semicolons) or containers (parens, brackets, etc) -- depending on how they're used -- belong outside the quotation marks.
: Perhaps the British standard of putting all punctuation on the outside unless it explicitly belongs to the quoted material is more logical, but until some major style manuals in the USA adopt it, it won't be legit in SWE.
: Circling back to the original point (ending with '"oK."' vs '"oK".'), that's one of those situations where the sentence should be reworded to avoid the ambiguity on whether the period belongs to the quoted abbreviation or not.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.100|108.162.237.100]] 18:01, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
This is kind of like the LEGO bridge question in What If. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.120|172.69.34.120]] 18:32, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

I just added the bit about the readers' narrative voices (see {{https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2250:_OK/okay/ok&diff=185524&oldid=185508|edit comments}} for additional), but my parenthsisised justification for the 'quoting' looks a bit clunky even to me. Further changes (or at least partial reversion) are welcome, and in fact invited... Fill your boots! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.221|141.101.99.221]] 20:15, 5 January 2020 (UTC)

2250: OK/okay/ok

2020-01-05T20:07:48Z

141.101.99.221: /* Explanation */ Barring screenreading software, which may add its own figurative 'flavour', it's not actually changing how you sound in a real sense, 'kay?

{{comic
| number = 2250
| date = January 03, 2020
| title = {{{1|OK/okay/ok}}}
| image = {{{2|ok okay ok.png}}}
| titletext = {{{3|After changing it back and forth several times and consulting with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch, I settled on "ok" in my book How To, but I'm still on the fence. Maybe I should just switch to "oK."}}}
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an O.K.A.Y. user}}
This comic states how you 'sound' (as the typical narrative voice in your readers' collective heads) based on how you spell the word "OK" in your text.

The word "{{w|OK}}", per Wikipedia, "is an American English word denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, acknowledgment, or a sign of indifference."

The Oxford English Dictionary says that it began in 1839 as "O.K.", a fanciful abbreviation for "oll korrect" (all correct), but there is {{w|List of proposed etymologies of OK|no consensus}} about where and how the word originated.

According to [[Randall]], modern usage of the word is with both letters in lowercase "ok", or fully spelled out as "okay". Using OK with both capital letters is kind of old, as that is not something younger people would ever do. The original spelling of the word as "O.K." with periods after the letters is less commonly used in modern times, so Randall equates this usage to "an alien impersonating a human". (See for instance the last picture in this comic, [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] for who might use that spelling).

In the title text {{w|Gretchen McCulloch}}, a Canadian Internet linguist, is mentioned. She focuses on trends in use of English words in online communications. Randall claims that he consulted with her on the use of "ok" in his book ''[[How To]]'' and after changing back and forth between different options he settles for "ok". But he is still unsure which version to use, and claims he is now considering switching to "oK.", a strange spelling that "compromises" between the three abbreviations, having one lowercase letter, one capital letter, and only one period. And ending the sentence with a abbreviation with a period inside the quotation marks also makes it uncertain if he means "oK" or "oK." as that can be debated. This was most likely on purpose knowing Randall's love for grammar rule and spelling. It is of course debated in this explanations discussion.

Wikipedia says, "Whether this word is printed as OK, Ok, ok, okay, or O.K. is a matter normally resolved in the style manual for the publication involved." So luckily Randall did not settle for "oK." or "oK" in his book, which is not one of the mentioned versions.

==Transcript==
:[Four different ways to write the word "okay" are presented with a caption below each version.]
:okay
:Normal

:ok
:Normal

:OK
:Kind of old

:O.K.
:Like an alien impersonating a human

:[Caption below the panel:]
:How your spelling of "okay" makes you sound

{{comic discussion}}


[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Compromise]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:How To]]

2239: Data Error

2019-12-09T19:04:12Z

141.101.99.221: Undo revision 184368 by 141.101.99.221 (talk) Someone got in there already, somehow not triggering efit-conflict. Self redacting my input.

2239: Data Error

2019-12-09T19:01:37Z

141.101.99.221: /* Explanation */ Well, needs loads of links, but while I'm looking them up I imagine others will be along to make my research refundant.

{{comic
| number = 2239
| date = December 9, 2019
| title = Data Error
| image = data_error.png
| titletext = Cyanobacteria wiped out nearly all life on Earth once before, and they can do it again!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by some <s>anomolous</s> ''perfectly normal'' algae. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Megan]] claims that an data error invalidates her research. [[Black Hat]] suggests two options: redo her research and share the previous analysis, trying to extract some value out of it, or, as our classic [[classhole]], says she should destroy the evidence, build a superweapon and dominate the world. She seems excited about this idea, and proclaims that people should fear her algae, which would probably be her superweapon, then she remembers that the algae she was studying was a normal algae, since her first research was incorrect because of the data error, thus it is a normal algae.

Mouse-over text is about the {{w|Great Oxidation Event}} when prokaryotic photosynthetic organisms built up oxygen in Earth atmosphere for the first time and most organisms, which weren't adapted to oxygen, went extinct. That suggests that algae may be somehow dangerous - although {{w|Cyanobacteria}} are no longer considered {{w|algae}}.

Research papers require actual research, and sometimes when answering the planned question the resulting answer is not what might have been expected and may even make the question look misplaced and the paper superfluous or uninformative (at least in the opinion of the researcher at the time).

There is thus a bias to papers in that null or negative results tend to be left unpublished/unpublicised while any result that strongly supports the original idea or concept being sought gets revealed to the world with far less concern about systematic errors or innacuracies.

In this comic, Megan finds herself with the dilemma of havingconducted research and reached a conclusion incompatible with the purpose behind that research. Black Hat suggests that as well as "publish and be damned" in documenting the counterintuitive and unconstructive actual result, after double-checking the anomoly, there's always the option to keep quiet. But, being Black Hat, this does not just mean leaving the 'bad' result fall below the radar but also somehow using this secret information for some form or other of World Domination.

Megan then reveals that the problematic target of study is not something of a traditional method of Evil Overlordship (lasers, control of energies, mind control, etc) but involves presumably small samples of algae not behaving as expected.

The title-text does go on to record, however, that in the early stages of life on this planet there ''were'' huge environmental changes wrought by such humble (but numerous) organisms, leading to the conclusion that 'perhaps' this weaponised weirdness could do so again. Which is either overstating their capabilities or close to an actual worst-case scenario closely related to that of a Gray Goo scenario from the field of nanotechnology but in a more biological form.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Black Hat and Megan stand facing each other.]
:Megan: I can't believe this data error invalidates a year and a half of my research.
:Megan: I was about to publish.

:Black Hat: Don't panic. You have two options.
:Megan: Yeah?

:[Closeup shot of Black Hat holding one hand up.
:Black Hat: 1) Redo your analysis and share whatever results you can, whether positive or negative. It's disappointing, but these things happen.

:[Black Hat has closed his fist. Megan holds her hands up.]
:Black Hat: 2) Destroy the evidence. Use your materials and research methods to build a superweapon. Conquer Earth and rule with an iron fist.
:Megan: '''''Tremble before my anomalously productive algae!'''''
:Megan: Except the anomaly was an artifact.
:Megan: '''''Tremble before my normal algae!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

2239: Data Error

2019-12-09T18:31:20Z

141.101.99.221: /* Explanation */ Setting it up, BRB if I'm not edit-conflicting...

2140: Reinvent the Wheel

2019-04-22T18:05:44Z

141.101.99.221:

{{comic
| number = 2140
| date = April 22, 2019
| title = Reinvent the Wheel
| image = reinvent_the_wheel.png
| titletext = Right now it's a bicycle wheel, so we've had to move to lighter vehicles, but the reduced overhead is worth it. There was one week when a wheel of cheese got dangerously close to the first page, though

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Beret Guy is talking to Ponytail.]
:Beret Guy: We don't want to reinvent the wheel, so every day we Google image search "wheel", and whatever object comes up, that's what we attach to our vehicles.
:Beret Guy: Sure, external dependencies carry risks, but so far they've all been pretty good wheels.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]

2129: 1921 Fact Checker

2019-03-27T13:44:12Z

141.101.99.221: Add transcript

{{comic
| number = 2129
| date = March 27, 2019
| title = 1921 Fact Checker
| image = 1921_fact_checker.png
| titletext = POLITIFACT SAYS: MOSTLY WHATEVER
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a NON IMPORTANT SOMETHING. Explain the title text and pilgrims. Add a link if the newspaper is real. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A 1921 newspaper article shows new information about pilgrims coming to America which is so unimportant the newspaper notes that no fact checking has been done.
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[Block of text from a newspaper]
An investigator claims to have discovered in some dusty archives that back in the days when the pilgrims landed each person coming to America from England was required to bring with them eight bushels of corn meal, two bushels of oatmeal, two gallons of vinegar and a gallon each of oil and brandy.

In view of the fact that nothing of importance hinges on the truth or falsity of this statement, not much time need be consumed to ascertain whether this is truth or fiction.

-Kansas City Sun
Friday, May 6th, 1921

[Caption]
I have a grudging respect for this 1921 newspaper fact-checker

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2122: Size Venn Diagram

2019-03-11T14:31:01Z

141.101.99.221:

I think Randall kind of missed an opportunity with the title text: he should have used the new terms as a way to fill the blank areas in the diagram, for instance 'Great Emerald' for the currently empty set Great+Small+Little+Large.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.221|141.101.99.221]] 14:31, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

1283: Headlines

2013-11-03T01:41:38Z

141.101.99.221: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1283
| date = October 28, 2013
| title = Headlines
| image = headlines.png
| titletext = 1916: 'PHYSICIST DAD' TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO GRAVITY, AND YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HE FINDS. [PICS] [NSFW]
}}

==Explanation==

This comic satirizes the sensationalist language used in Internet headlines. Many websites generate ad revenue for getting visitors ("getting more clicks"), so some unscrupulous editors seek to manipulate their readers using tantalizing yet formulaic and crass headlines, designed to attract readers rather than summarize the article's contents. You might recognize this technique from those ridiculous text advertisements — "local mom discovers 1 weird tip to reduce belly fat." The practice is nothing new: {{w|tabloid journalism}} has been doing this for many years (e.g. ''{{w|National Enquirer}}''). The numbers shown at the headline are also often wrong and not covered by the article.

Signs of a dishonest headline include giving undue weight to trivial topics, or appealing to readers' emotions or needs (fear, outrage, pity, lust, laziness) instead of offering serious information. In severe cases, it may be a {{w|bait-and-switch}}, claiming to offer something it isn't. By failing to give a useful summary of the story, whilst attempting to force the reader to click on every story on the off-chance that it's interesting, they are intentionally deceptive and can be viewed as a form of spam.

Randall parodies the formula in this comic with such trivializing headlines for important historical events:

*1905 - How a shocking new theory, discovered by a dad, proves scientists are wrong about ''everything!''
:{{w|Albert Einstein}} published his {{w|Annus Mirabilis papers}}, which changed views on space, time, mass, and energy, and laid the groundwork for much of modern physics. They included his papers on {{w|special relativity}} and on {{w|mass–energy equivalence}} ("E = mc2"). He had an infant son in 1905 (born May 1904).
:The use of the term "dad" helps readers tune in emotionally. "Proving scientists wrong about everything" is obviously an inflation of Einstein's achievements. Einstein was awarded the {{w|Nobel Prize}} in 1921 for his work on the {{w|photoelectric effect}}, his work on relativity was still not accepted by many physicists at that tme.
*1912 - 6 ''Titanic'' survivors who should have died
:{{w|Sinking of the RMS Titanic}}. "should have died" seems to be referring to six passengers whose survival was downright miraculous, though the wording is (deliberately) ambiguous to imply the six passengers ''deserved'' to have died.
*1916: 'Physicist dad' turns his attention to gravity, and you won't believe what he finds. [PICS] [NSFW]
:Einstein published his theory of {{w|General relativity}}, which is a vast generalization of the theory of {{w|Special relativity}} from 1905 and provides a model for gravity. In 1916 Einstein had two sons who lived in Zurich while he lived in Berlin.
:[NSFW] is "Not Safe for Work" - a tag to identify explicit images. Here it is used to trick readers hoping to find pornography.
:[PICS] tells the potential viewer that there are images embedded
*1920 - 17 things that will be outlawed now that women can vote
:The {{w|Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution}} was passed, guaranteeing voting rights for women in all US states. The prediction of new prohibitions is a reference to alcohol prohibition under the authority granted to the federal government by the {{w|Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution}}. While the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified before women's suffrage was guaranteed by the Nineteeth, alcohol prohibition was widely seen as an issue driven by women's opinions (hence the suggestion that more things would be prohibited now that women had the vote).
*1928 - This one weird mold kills all germs
:{{w|Penicillin}} was discovered.
*1929 - Most embarrassing reactions to the stock market crash [GIFS]
:This is a reference to the {{w|Wall Street Crash of 1929}}, the most devastating stock market crash in history and the beginning of the Great Depression.
:[GIFS] indicates that the post will contain an animated GIF image - a crude form of short video
*1945 - These 9 Nazi atrocities will make you lose faith in humanity
:1945 is the year that World War 2 ended. It's also the year that many war crimes committed by Nazi Germany were discovered or declassified.
*1948 - 5 insane plans for feeding West Berlin you won't believe are real
:1948 is when the Soviet Union established the {{w|Berlin Blockade}}, preventing food and other critical supplies from reaching occupied Berlin. In response, Western forces organized the {{w|Berlin Airlift}}.
*1955 - Avoid polio with this one weird trick
:The {{w|polio vaccine}} was developed. See [http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/07/how_one_weird_trick_conquered_the_internet_what_happens_when_you_click_on.html ''Prepare to Be Shocked! What happens when you actually click on one of those “One Weird Trick” ads?'']
*1957 - 12 nip slips potentially visible to Sputnik
:The Soviet Union launched {{w|Sputnik 1}}, the world's first artificial satellite. A ''nip slip'' is when a woman unintentionally exposes all or part of one or both of her nipples; in the context of the internet, it generally refers to a photograph capturing such a moment.
*1968 - This year's assassinations ranked from most to least tragic
:{{w|Martin Luther King Jr.}} and {{w|Robert F. Kennedy}} were both assassinated in 1968.
:Assassinations are rare and tragic, so "ranking" them trivializes the political and emotional depth of the events.
*1969 - This is the most important photo of an astronaut you'll see all day
:{{w|Apollo 11}} performed the first manned lunar landing. During this historic trip newspapers printed as many pictures of astronauts as they could.
*1986 - This video of a terminally ill child watching the ''Challenger'' launch will break your heart
:Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight. See {{w|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster}} for details. This was the first shuttle mission that included a teacher on board as part of the crew ({{w|Christa McAuliffe}}, ''{{w|Teacher in Space Project}}''), so there were many children -- a New York Times poll put the number at 48% of 9-13 year olds in the US -- watching this particular launch live as teachers around the country had TV sets in their classrooms showing the fated launch in real time. The launch was not shown on most mainstream TV stations; only {{w|CNN}} broadcast it live.
*1989 - You won't ''believe'' what these people did to the Berlin wall! [video]
:{{w|Fall of the Berlin Wall}}.
:[video] indicates a link to a video
*Jan 1, 1990 - 500 signs you're a 90s kid
:A 90s kid is someone born in the late 80s or early 90s (and spent most their childhood in the 1990s). Headlines like [http://www.buzzfeed.com/melismashable/25-ways-to-tell-youre-a-kid-of-the-9 this one from BuzzFeed] toy with their readers' sense of nostalgia. The parody headline is funny because it starts precisely on the first day of the 1990s, appealing to the nostalgia of...newborns?

==Transcript==
:20th Century Headlines
:Rewritten to get more clicks

:1905 - How a shocking new theory, discovered by a dad, proves scientists are wrong about ''everything!''
:1912 - 6 ''Titanic'' survivors who should have died
:1920 - 17 things that will be outlawed now that women can vote
:1928 - This one weird mold kills all germs
:1929 - Most embarrassing reactions to the stock market crash [GIFS]
:1945 - These 9 Nazi atrocities will make you lose faith in humanity
:1948 - 5 insane plans for feeding West Berlin you won't believe are real
:1955 - Avoid Polio with this one weird trick
:1957 - 12 nip slips potentially visible to Sputnik
:1968 - This year's assassinations ranked from most to least tragic
:1969 - This is the most important photo of an astronaut you'll see all day
:1986 - This video of a terminally ill child watching the ''Challenger'' launch will break your heart
:1989 - You won't ''believe'' what these people did to the Berlin wall! [video]
:Jan 1, 1990 - 500 signs you're a 90s kid

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