explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3260: Messi

2026-06-18T15:29:29Z

24.123.140.66:

Does Randall support Messi? [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:26, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:Who doesn't support Messi? :D [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.46|130.76.187.46]] 18:00, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
::He's [https://mrmen.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Messy one of my favourites]. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:29, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
::Ronaldo. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:22, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
:::And that's why I asked. [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 12:27, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

New football/soccer terms for me! 2 goals scored in one game = Brace, 3 goals = Hat-trick, 4 goals = Haul, 5 goals = Glut [[User:BorQhue del Sol|BorQhue del Sol]] ([[User talk:BorQhue del Sol|talk]]) 16:58, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:"Brace" is a general form for a 'two-fer' of something ("I shot a brace of pheasant, the other day!").
:"Hat-Trick" originally came from cricket; as a feat that earnt you a prized 'bragging rights' cap, from your team-mates, but possibly reinterpreted as you performing a magical feat (like pulling a rabbit from a hat).
:"Haul" isn't, as far as I know, specific to four things, though you may praise a "four-goal haul" (better than the already named hat-trick, but getting a "five-goal haul" would be better yet). If it's been appropriated for four-specifically, it might just be like the extension of birdie to eagle to albatross to condor in golf (seeking a new word for such a feat).
:"Glut" is a slightly derogatory everyday term, really. A "more than sufficiency". So, in a football context, either a direct complaint that someone scored far more goals against your side than was ''strictly'' necessary (in a case of being outclassed), or a tongue-in-cheek complaint that ''your'' player was now just showing off (supremacy in sport is one thing, but its rarely as much fun as barely scraping a 1-1 draw when anything but an actual loss (or goalless stalemate) isn't a threat to you comfortably staying at (or going up from) your current tier of competition, based upon prior performance and expectations. (A five-nil result, or more, doesn't usually do more to help your cause than a one-nil one, and the risks of trying too hard to get beyond three or four goals for an outclassing team (or just for a given player) are that you'll over-exert yourself, and/or use up 'all your luck'... [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:29, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
::Soccer fans are just too used to it being a low-scoring game. You could also win a basketball game 2-1, but I'm pretty sure viewership would drop precipitously if this became normal. Maybe all these sports should switch to a virctory point system rather than just win/loss, so players don't get complacent. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:42, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
::There is no official term for 7 (SEVEN) goals or more - you just spell it out in parentheses after the numeral(s). [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:12, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

I think the explanation on the hover text is missing the point that, at 38 years old, this is likely to be Messi's last world cup, which is another way in which the statement "last world cup in which he faces serious opposition" is technically true. {{unsigned ip|218.102.149.116|17:08, 17 June 2026 (UTC)}}

I think the curve might be exponential, referencing the "predictions" of AI future capabilities [[Special:Contributions/93.36.179.126|93.36.179.126]] 17:15, 17 June 2026 (UTC)

We should explain how there can data points in the graph with y-values between zero and one. I assume it's because a team might well play multiple games during a single tournament. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 18:10, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:That's obviously true. In the current format, each team plays between 3 and 8 games. During the initial group stage there are groups of 4 where each team plays the other 3. Then there are 5 single-elimination knockout rounds plus a playoff for third place between the semi-final losers. So if Messi makes it to the finals and scores 1 goal in every other game, the y-value will be 0.5. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:03, 17 June 2026 (UTC)

'''Messi'''est graph ever. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 18:34, 17 June 2026 (UTC)

I was going to update the transcript with estimated Y values of each data point. But maybe someone with a little more time and tooling could actually measure them and produce reasonably precise values. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:57, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:Couldn't you just use a pixel ruler? [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 00:24, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Updated the transcript with the goals per game values for each world cup. {{unsigned|Jhamination|19:13, 17 June 2026 (UTC)}}

Do we need a new category for improbable extrapolations? I remember one about a woman having multiple husbands because she just got married and that would mean she gets a new husband every day, and I swear there were more. [[Special:Contributions/8.53.15.117|8.53.15.117]] 20:55, 17 June 2026 (UTC)
:[[:Category:Extrapolation]] is already (as I write this, haven't checked chronology against your suggestion) given to this comic. While it ''needn't'' also be used to improbable degrees, I think that this is always an implicit possibility for those comics it is used for. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 23:46, 17 June 2026 (UTC)

Yes! I was hoping we'd get a comic about the world cup, with some sorta XKCD twist [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 00:18, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Error? FIFA article today says 4 goals for Messi in the 2014 World Cup!
[https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/articles/fifa-world-cup-all-time-leading-scorers FIFA World Cup all-time leading scorers]
Lionel Messi - Argentina
Goals: 16
World Cups: Six - 2006 (one goal), 2010 (no goals), 2014 (four goals), 2018 (one goal), 2022 (seven goals), 2026 (three goals to date)
Matches played: 27 [[Special:Contributions/81.106.93.247|81.106.93.247]] 06:31, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
:4 goals; 7 appearances = 0.57 goals per game - looks about right to me [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:28, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
argentina mentioned in xkcd [[Special:Contributions/186.157.103.100|186.157.103.100]] 12:12, 18 June 2026 (UTC)
:Was not on my bingo card. [[Special:Contributions/24.123.140.66|24.123.140.66]] 15:29, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

From what I calculated, the best fit exponential graph (which looks close to what was drawn on) is Goals per Game = .00397 * exp(.2546*(Years since 2000)) [[Special:Contributions/8.17.60.118|8.17.60.118]] 15:07, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3247: Particle Census

2026-05-19T13:16:33Z

24.123.140.66: They might be giants?

The 'standard' and '2x' sized images had unexpected sizes, so an imagesize parameter has been added to render the image consistently with other comics on this website. See the web [https://web.archive.org/web/*/particle_census.png archive] for more details. --[[User:TheusafBOT|TheusafBOT]] ([[User talk:TheusafBOT|talk]]) 18:54, 18 May 2026 (UTC)
:should've been bigger 😒 [[User:CalibansCreations|'''<span style="color:#ff0000;">Caliban</span>''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 22:01, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

GRAMMATICAL ERROR! Should there be a category for grammar mistakes (Example [[1662: Jack and Jill]], where there was a grammar mistake.)? [[User:YZ100|YZ100]] 22:20, 18 May 2026 (UTC)
: Indeterminite? Location (singular)? [[Special:Contributions/197.185.221.9|197.185.221.9]] 04:20, 19 May 2026 (UTC)
:: 'Indeterminite' isn't a grammatical error - it's a spilling error. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:47, 19 May 2026 (UTC)
::: Oh, the irony. He means 'spelling error.' Was that intentional? [[User:SomebodyElse|SomebodyElse]] ([[User talk:SomebodyElse|talk]]) 11:06, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

In most civilized countries the census process is historically used to plan the sizing of public infrastructures (schools, hospitals, water and electricity infrastructures, waste disposal facilities, used water treatment, and all that sort of seemingly unimportant things). It does not surprise me that in the US it is primarily used as a political instrument, however. [[Special:Contributions/2001:861:3F07:A020:CBE1:3BDB:88F9:709A|2001:861:3F07:A020:CBE1:3BDB:88F9:709A]] 23:28, 18 May 2026 (UTC)
: "sizing of public infrastructures (schools, hospitals, water and electricity infrastructures, waste disposal facilities, used water treatment, and all that sort of seemingly unimportant things). […] primarily used as a political instrument" – i agree with the sentiment (not just for the US) but/and that is pretty much a definition of what politics is (should be) by a list of examples. [[Special:Contributions/2A00:20:6346:8265:F4E8:8C7:66E:1D5|2A00:20:6346:8265:F4E8:8C7:66E:1D5]] 08:21, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

"if physicists want to do this, it's their own decision." Not if the universe is deterministic. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]]

Can someone find all the other comics where quantum principles are mentioned? I am fairly sure the Foxtrot one during Guest Week was one of those. [[User:SomebodyElse|SomebodyElse]] ([[User talk:SomebodyElse|talk]]) 11:06, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

Particle Man, Particle Man, Particle Man, Particle Man, Particle Man... [[Special:Contributions/24.123.140.66|24.123.140.66]] 13:16, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3205: Carbon Dating

2026-02-10T13:52:23Z

24.123.140.66:

F10st p0st! [[Special:Contributions/185.36.194.156|185.36.194.156]] 04:45, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

:First explanation! Hopefully it's fine... (also, nice TCMP reference.)--[[User:Utdtutyabthsc|Utdtutyabthsc]] ([[User talk:Utdtutyabthsc|talk]]) 06:00, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
::Oh, was that a deliberate reference? Why isn't it [[269|spelled the same way]]? What does "F10st" even mean? [[User:Elizium23|Elizium23]] ([[User talk:Elizium23|talk]]) 06:58, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
:::Semi-deliberate, but more spirit of the law than letter of the law since early internet trolling is (was?) a common theme here anyways lol; the 0 was a typo [[Special:Contributions/185.36.194.156|185.36.194.156]] 10:04, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
::::It is though getting a little tiresome and repeatable that someone has begun writing first post on all talk pages... Please stop it ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:19, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

I'm all for carbon dating, but I wouldn't want one to marry my sister. [[Special:Contributions/24.123.140.66|24.123.140.66]] 13:52, 10 February 2026 (UTC)