explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1507: Metaball

2015-04-06T20:20:53Z

199.27.133.75:

This... looks amazing! I wonder if this is going to be a case of xkcd influencing real life, like geohashing, the "citation needed" on speeches or cory doctorow cosplaying... cory doctorow. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.29|173.245.48.29]] 08:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

Perhaps this is how you play [https://xkcd.com/1480/ sportsball]? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.11|141.101.64.11]] 11:19, 5 April 2015 (UTC)Indigofenix

Over here in Rightpondia (UK), "Hockey" means "Field Hockey" (I'm sure I've never actually heard "ball hockey" as a term before, ''ever'', although must be the same)... although it's mostly popularised as a (often very vicious!) girl's sport; see the St. Trinians cartoons/films. Although we understand Leftpondians (and especially Upper-Leftpondians) mean Ice Hockey when they miss off the qualifier. Just as vicious, of course (except now that everyone wears armour... also c.f. usual comments regarding Rugby League/Union vs 'American Football'/Gridiron). But none of these have anything on the near-variant of these games (mainly in Ireland) that is Hurling..! (As to Field Hockey as Aussie Rules Football is to Association Football?)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 16:25, 3 April 2015 (UTC)
:Some Canadian input: ball hockey /= field hockey. Field hockey is played on a field and has stick that looks like a 'J'. Ball hockey on the other hand is played on a hard surface (with an ice hockey stick). In organized leagues the arena is often just like an ice hockey rink without the ice; boards and all. Ball hockey can be played on foot or on roller-blades. Often when kids play street hockey it will be ball hockey, though just as likely to be with a specific street hockey puck that is designed to slide on pavement. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.75|199.27.133.75]] 20:20, 6 April 2015 (UTC) ce_nedra32

Suspiciously similar to Calvinball. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.100|108.162.221.100]] 21:18, 3 April 2015 (UTC)A Martin
: I agree, but there seem to be preset rules (the sheet that Ponytail is holding), suggesting that it isn't made up as they go along [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.33|141.101.98.33]] 09:01, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
Indeed, my first thought on seeing this was this is exactly the opposite of CalvinBall. Which may well be thr point.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.40|141.101.99.40]] 12:27, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
I see influences of Hofstadter's ''Godel,Escher,Bach'', which has
1) the idea of how the play-by-play of a football game would be altered if it were baseball (among other counterfactuals), and
2) the idea of a boardgame whose rules change according to where pieces are on the board. [[User:Fewmet|Fewmet]] ([[User talk:Fewmet|talk]]) 22:26, 3 April 2015 (UTC)

I wonder how the concept of 'out' (as opposed to 'in') would be dealt with as the ball passes into (and eventually out of) the volleyball zone.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.216|173.245.54.216]] 05:58, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:Baseball zone... ;-) Although I'm sure there is a volleyball zone somewhere... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

OK I guess this is not a complaint since the explanation seems to make sense. But I'm still confused about something. In the third panel the invocation of the infield fly rule is entirely wrong, The infielder must either catch and drop the ball or appear to deliberately refuse to catch the ball. The panel shows the ball still in the air when the call is made. As an athletophobe I just spent 20 minutes of my life researching the infield fly rule (http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5322&context=penn_law_review) (!!!) so... well... I get it but how do you make the leap?[[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 09:01, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:The comic explanation had it wrong. It is Megan (the batter/kicker) who is Out when Ponytail yells. A high ball in Baseball can be called infield fly before anyone even tries to catch it. So it is of no consequence weather Cueball tries to catch it, or actually tries to dunk the ball. I have corrected the explanation acordingly. And also added the fact that the rule is hard to understand to outsiders of baseball. {{unsigned|Kynde}}
::TY! I've done some thinking and it's starting to dawn on me that the strategy the runners take interacts with the infielders actions. On the plus side this has prompted me to make a new life rule: You should always distinguish between strategy and cheating, but you should never be too picky about it! :¬D
::[[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 21:59, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

A quick comment about hockey: there a variation, hockey cosom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_field_hockey). It is played normally indoor and with a ball. But it is also a cheap variant that school in Quebec use in winter in PE, as skating equipment with proper gears for rink hockey is both expensive and require skill that kids might not have. It would better fit with the Metaball title.--[[User:Labreck|Labreck]] ([[User talk:Labreck|talk]]) 10:03, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:No problem playing golf with a football? Then why anyproblem playing Ice hockey with such a ball? It is easier to get a foot ball into a ice hockey goal than to it into a golf hole. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

The title reminds me of J H Conway's paradoxical "Metagame", whose rules are: the first player (L) names a finite game (e.g. Nim), and then the two players (L and R) play that game. Is Metagame a finite game? If it is, then each player in turn can name Metagame, and the process never ends, so it isn't finite. But if it isn't finite, L must name another finite game, so the game does end. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.216|141.101.98.216]] 10:04, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Reminds me of Hich-Hiker's "Brockian_Ultra-Cricket" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Brockian_Ultra-Cricket|title=Brockian Ultra-Cricket - Hitchhikers|accessdate=2015-04-04}}</ref> :

''"Rule Four: Throw lots of assorted items of sporting equipment over the wall for the players. Anything will do – cricket bats, basecube bats, tennis guns, skis, anything you can get a good swing with.

Rule Five: The players should now lay about themselves for all they are worth with whatever they find to hand. Whenever a player scores a “hit” on another player, he should immediately run away as fast as he can and apologize from a safe distance. Apologies should be concise, sincere, and, for maximum clarity and points, delivered through a megaphone.

Rule Six: The winning team shall be the first team that wins."'' [[User:Briantist|Briantist]] ([[User talk:Briantist|talk]]) 13:57, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

<references/>
Who is the female with her hair in a bun?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 14:17, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:Not anyone in particular but she was also in [[1504]] and I have found 7 appereance of [[Hair Bun Girl]] with hair in a bun. So I have added her as a minor character. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:46, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Not sure where to post this but paragraphs following an external links are in separate boxes to the rest of the text. I looked at a few other comics and it's the same. It had better not be deliberate as it really breaks the flow of the explanation when it is cut off mid sentence--[[User:Figvh|Figvh]] ([[User talk:Figvh|talk]]) 03:25, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
nevermind it's fixed now--[[User:Figvh|Figvh]] ([[User talk:Figvh|talk]]) 03:48, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned actual [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaballs Metaballs] yet. [[User:Daedalus|Daedalus]] ([[User talk:Daedalus|talk]]) 20:19, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1035: Cadbury Eggs

2015-01-06T01:48:43Z

199.27.133.75:

They can't *all* be like that. I'm pretty sure the ones with caramel fillings have waay more calories than the average egg, and coke zero probably amounts to less than one egg. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:34, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
:true, but it's worse for you for completely different reasons. [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 10:07, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
:surely coke zero isn't technically food. why not replace it with hummingbird urine? naturally sweet! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 01:33, 22 January 2014 (UTC)
Packaging colours, filling colour, and title-text indicate that it's about the cream eggs, not caramel. Is it more common in America to call them Cadbury eggs and not cream eggs? Seems weird to this Brit, Cadbury's is the brand, they do more than just eggs, and we typically say Cadbury's with the possessive apostrophe-s. Also of note is the year-round thing. Cream eggs are sold year-round, but are stocked in higher quantities over Easter (and green-yolked ones for Halloween), but their advertising campaign here tends to suggest that they are available exclusively in those two seasons (worse, Halloween is actually very rare to see in televised advertising, as by then the larger shops are decorated for Christmas. I don't recall ever seeing Halloween egg adverts, somebody scour YouTube?)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.130|141.101.99.130]] 01:56, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

Unfortunately, unlike in Britain, the cream eggs are all that can be found in the US from Cadbury. So naturally they became "the" Cadbury product. Some import stores have chocolate bars, but they're hard to find. And in either case they're actually manufactured by Hershey under license (although they're still better than normal Hershey chocolate). And for the most part, while they can easily be found here year-round, in Easter most stores will put them by the registers and in general this is the only time they're really brought to social awareness. Also, I've found that, at least in American English, whether we use the possessive for brand names is entirely dependent on the brand (and rather random in my opinion), but both tend to sound right. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.75|199.27.133.75]] 01:48, 6 January 2015 (UTC)

Anyone saw snapple? It is a reference to a previous "Snapple" xkcd comic and I believe it is worth noting [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.212|173.245.48.212]] 09:14, 20 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1035: Cadbury Eggs

2015-01-06T01:47:36Z

199.27.133.75:

They can't *all* be like that. I'm pretty sure the ones with caramel fillings have waay more calories than the average egg, and coke zero probably amounts to less than one egg. '''[[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:34, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
:true, but it's worse for you for completely different reasons. [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 10:07, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
:surely coke zero isn't technically food. why not replace it with hummingbird urine? naturally sweet! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 01:33, 22 January 2014 (UTC)
Packaging colours, filling colour, and title-text indicate that it's about the cream eggs, not caramel. Is it more common in America to call them Cadbury eggs and not cream eggs? Seems weird to this Brit, Cadbury's is the brand, they do more than just eggs, and we typically say Cadbury's with the possessive apostrophe-s. Also of note is the year-round thing. Cream eggs are sold year-round, but are stocked in higher quantities over Easter (and green-yolked ones for Halloween), but their advertising campaign here tends to suggest that they are available exclusively in those two seasons (worse, Halloween is actually very rare to see in televised advertising, as by then the larger shops are decorated for Christmas. I don't recall ever seeing Halloween egg adverts, somebody scour YouTube?)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.130|141.101.99.130]] 01:56, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
Unfortunately, unlike in Britain, the cream eggs are all that can be found in the US from Cadbury. So naturally they became "the" Cadbury product. Some import stores have chocolate bars, but they're hard to find. And in either case they're actually manufactured by Hershey under license (although they're still better than normal Hershey chocolate). And for the most part, while they can easily be found here year-round, in Easter most stores will put them by the registers and in general this is the only time they're really brought to social awareness. Also, I've found that, at least in American English, whether we use the possessive for brand names is entirely dependent on the brand (and rather random in my opinion), but both tend to sound right.

Anyone saw snapple? It is a reference to a previous "Snapple" xkcd comic and I believe it is worth noting [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.212|173.245.48.212]] 09:14, 20 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:645: RPS

2014-11-26T18:18:36Z

199.27.133.75:

I know exactly what RPN is but I have no idea what a Polish Sausage is, nor what the "postfixins" joke is about (is a fixin a thing? I've never heard of them). If someone could explain these presumably American terms I'd appreciate it. [[Special:Contributions/82.6.250.231|82.6.250.231]] 14:34, 17 September 2013 (UTC)
:Read the explanation, everything is there.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:45, 17 September 2013 (UTC)
:No it isn't. Anon, the US refers to Kielbasa as Polish Sausage, and "fixins" are condiments such as mustard and chopped onions. I'll update the explanation. [[User:Yomikoma|Yomikoma]] ([[User talk:Yomikoma|talk]]) 17:55, 17 September 2013 (UTC)
::I didn't know that. Thanks for your help. Further investigations at [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fixins&defid=5919829 urbandictionary] gave me this: "A Southern (USA) word for the supplemental food...". It does belong only to the south of the US.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:13, 17 September 2013 (UTC)

I think we should explain the "comic today's you confuses here click if" thing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.79|108.162.215.79]] 12:27, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

The phrase "fixins" may originate in the South, but I would not say that it "belongs" to them, as I have heard it used by people from several Western states. I cannot say how prevalent it is outside of there, but I would venture to say that it is a common American colloquialism used by at least the South and West. {{unsigned|Highlander}}
:I don't know about like the Great Plains region, If that's what you mean by West, but up here in the Pacific Northwest, I've never heard fixins. Only ever in connection with the Southern dialect.[[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.75|199.27.133.75]] 18:18, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

There is also a level of amusement for the American English speaker owing to confusion on first reading, because "postfix" has its stress (vocal emphasis) on the first syllable, as does "fixins". So when combined, it's not clear how to parse the whole "word". --[[User:Bedunkel|BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 04:24, 21 November 2014 (UTC)
:I personally read it along the lines of 'post ,fix ins; that is, with strong emphasis on post and a minor emphasis on fix. Dunno about anyone else. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.75|199.27.133.75]] 18:18, 26 November 2014 (UTC)