explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2858: Thanksgiving Arguments

2023-11-27T09:19:33Z

172.70.90.231:

I know it isn't important but im dying to know whether the titletext is from Cueball's or Randall's perspective - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 22:11, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

: Right, was Randall's mom mad at him for making fun of The Core in [[673: The Sun]]? [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:22, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
: I think title text is often considered to be Randall's own viewpoint, unless it's an obvious continuation of the comic. And since Cueball has already indicated that Rise of Skywalker is his family's point of contention, I think this is Randall's mother. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:34, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
:: We should just make a category for The Core (2003) at this point?--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.182|172.69.79.182]] 07:59, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

: This being at least the 5th comic with a reference to The Core (2003), it indeed looks like someone in Randall's life keeps bringing that movie up. We have: [[673: The Sun]], [[2011: Newton's Trajectories]], [[2074: Airplanes and Spaceships]], and earlier this year, [[2765: Escape Speed]] where you can find "a DVD of The Core (2003)". [[Special:Contributions/172.70.174.136|172.70.174.136]] 23:19, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

I have my doubts about the referenced Huffington Post article- in my experience it is readers of the Huffington Post who are both most likely to bring up politics at family get togethers AND most likely to deny it, thus leading to skewed statistics.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 00:06, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

: I would not be surprised if that is part of the joke. ;) also merry turkey day. SDT[[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.95|172.70.114.95]] 02:48, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
:: ermmm acktuuallyyy it's "happy thanksgiving" 🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓 [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 03:47, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

The best way to win an argument about The Rise of Skywalker is to fervently insist the Star Wars franchise ceased operations after 2013 and reject any evidence to the contrary. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.237|162.158.62.237]] 09:51, 24 November 2023 (UTC)
:Well, as there was nothing after the 1980 sequel, I don't know why you say the above... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.213|172.71.242.213]] 11:54, 24 November 2023 (UTC)
::Touché, good sir. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.237|162.158.62.237]] 04:29, 25 November 2023 (UTC)
:Or just point out that the whole thing was little more than a series of B-movies, and therefore not worth debating.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.231|172.70.90.231]] 09:19, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2851: Messier Objects

2023-11-07T09:02:06Z

172.70.90.231:

addededededded transcript [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]][[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]][[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]] 17:34, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
: meow [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 17:54, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
Is M30712050 that specific squirrel, or just the general category of squirrels? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.56|172.69.247.56]] 17:57, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
:The debate about the Ship of Theseus suggests that every ship gets its own number, so why not every squirrel? Although then the numbers would be much larger. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:04, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
::...and the list would be much messier. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 18:32, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
:::*fwap* [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.143|172.69.43.143]] 00:47, 7 November 2023 (UTC)
:It can't be all squirrels, CM could not have seen *all* squirrels. In fact, he would have been dead long before *that* squirrel was born. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 21:20, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
::Presuming that Messier is alive in this panel, then this panel isn't the present, and the squirrel was alive when Messier was alive. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.162|162.158.155.162]] 21:58, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

could the numbers have been picked to represent something rather than be entirely random? like 41592 coming from pi and 137 being FSC... idk maybe i'm just reading too much into it... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.11|162.158.186.11]] 18:09, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

Between the Messier catalog and the Marvel multiverse, we've got a well-defined numbering system that indexes all objects in all universes. (Or, I guess at least those universes with Messier catalogs. Damn.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.58.18|172.69.58.18]] 19:03, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
:You should also number all Messier catalogues (and intermediate versions of them), then, to make sure we know which ones we're talking about. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.143|172.69.43.143]] 00:47, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

Wait a minute... this is just the wikidata QID system again[[User:AtaraxianAscendant|ataraxianAscendant]] ([[User talk:AtaraxianAscendant|talk]]) 19:34, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
:Yes, it's like Wikidata. Not sure if it's worth mentioning. Unfortunately, the numbers don't match those Wikidata for equivalent objects.
:Furtermore, Wikimedia Commons ID use an M and a number. For example, https://commons.wikimedia.org/entity/M205.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 19:39, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

The existence of a Messier catalog implies the existence of a Neater catalog. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.130|172.69.134.130]] 19:42, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

The explanation suggests that we might number every grain of sand. But the comic just has a single number for "Earth". Would the catalog have separate entries for an object and all its constituents? It doesn't seem like it, since Randall didn't label the wings of the butterfly, limbs of the squirrel or human, or branches and leaves of the tree. Of course, how we distinguish distinct objects in the world is an even thornier philosophical problem than the Ship of Theseus. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:36, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
:I deleted that portion as non-explanatory wild speculation. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.159.64|172.71.159.64]] 21:03, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

Shouldn't Earth (or Messier) be object #0? [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 21:20, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

How messy are they? 🥁 [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.211|172.70.100.211]] 22:00, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

Earth number might be influenced by [https://rickandmorty.fandom.com/wiki/Dimension_C-137 Dimension C-137] from Rick and Morty, which often is used to refer to the "Earth" location from early easons. --
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.200.145|172.70.200.145]] 22:27, 6 November 2023 (UTC) (edit [[Special:Contributions/172.68.146.17|172.68.146.17]] 22:33, 6 November 2023 (UTC))

For the numbering of the ships of Theseuses, why not just use the numbers from a particular type of prime number? ----

In the UK, the Ship of Theseus problem is sometimes referred to as Trigger's Broom, after a character from one of our most popular sitcoms ("Only Fools And Horses"). Trigger is a mentally-deficient road sweeper who is proud of the fact that he's still got his original broom that he was given when he started work 20 years ago. He's looked after it in that time: it's had 17 new heads and 14 new handles...
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.189|172.70.86.189]] 06:21, 7 November 2023 (UTC)
:To be fair (and, unfortunately, historically unfair to the Irish), that's just a transplant of the older "Irishman's Broom". And it's just one of many variations like "grandfather's axe", etc. Depends on whether you're going for fairly recent pop-culture (lovely-jubbley!), falling back on old stereotypes (to be sure, to be sure) or whatever else you have in mind. (I'm sure I actually heard "Ship of Theseus" said on the street, just the other day, by a conversing couple. And this wasn't even an Oxbridge street!)
:To be fair ''to Trigger'', the council for whom the character worked was also as blind/far-sighted regarding the philosophical (dis)continuity of existence, given the award in which they were citing the broom as one of the outstanding features... Much as the US Government treats the 'modern' USS Constitution as the same as the 'original', maybe? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.231|172.70.90.231]] 09:02, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

2794: Alphabet Notes

2023-06-26T22:32:52Z

172.70.90.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2794
| date = June 26, 2023
| title = Alphabet Notes
| image = alphabet notes.png
| titletext = Listen, you're very cute, but if you rearrange the alphabet to put U and I together it will RUIN the spacing!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BAD U&I JOKE. Do NOT rearrange the alphabet too soon.}}
This comic is a joke about the alphabet.

#At the top, the vowels are listed. Randall apparently likes how these are spaced.
#"A" is described favorably as the start.
#Randall considers the early consonants other than "D" to be rather weak.
#The words "hi" and "no" are highlighted.
#That "ij" (in lowercase) are considered friends might relate to the {{w|IJ (digraph)|Dutch digraph}} or else just the appearance that somewhat resembles two people in a close proximity (at least one figurative limb crossing over to hug or caress the other).
#"Jk" is an abbreviation for "Just kidding" originating from instant messaging.
#In the standard "alphabet song" for the US (to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), most letters occur upon the beat of an easy and sedate tempo. But to scan ''and'' rhyme, the letters L-O are run through at double the tempo, with perhaps P best considered to cross two of the quick beats that end this musical phrase.
#Randall considers the placement of "Q" strange.
#Randall seems to be confused about "VW", it could refer to Volkswagen, or he might wonder why "W" is called "double U" rather than "double V".
#Randall questions whether "X" is even a letter. It is the Roman numeral for 10, though he does not complain about C, D, I, L or V in the same way so he is most likely talking of ''x'' as used in algebraic contexts.

The title text makes a joke about the pick-up line "If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put 'U' and 'I' together.", where the letters "U" and "I" are pronounced like the pronouns "you" and "I".

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[A list of the letters of the alphabet, from A to Z, with red annotations above and below the letters]
:ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

A E I O U Y
|---|---|-----|-----|---?
:Love the spacing between vowels!

:A: Strong start!
:BCD, FG: Decent consonants but no real heavy hitters here in the first third ("D" is solid, at least)
:HI: Hi!
::ij: The dotted letters are friends!
:JK: Jk (lol)
:LMNOP: Part that's fun to sing
::Weird how the line between "M" and "N" is the halfway mark.
::They're similar, but "MN" only shows up in fancy words like "mnemonic", "column", "amnesty", and "hymn", significance??
:NO: No
:Q: Why is this ''here?''
:RST: Strong cluster!
:U: Weirdest of the main 5 vowels by far
:VWXYZ: Haunted letters (keep out!!)
:VW: ??
:X: Not sure this is even a letter. Did you include a number by mistake?
::...Listen.
::Maybe we should've stopped at "T".

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Design notes on the alphabet

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with red corrections]]