explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1849: Decades

2025-09-30T02:34:37Z

2607:F140:400:AF:D5A5:D8E4:47BF:7DAD: /* Explanation */ It's well into the 2020s now, so there is something to add.

{{comic
| number = 1849
| date = June 12, 2017
| title = Decades
| image = decades.png
| titletext = In the 90s, our variety radio station used the tagline "the best music of the 70s, 80s, and 90s." After 2000, they switched to "the best music of the 80s, 90s, and today." I figured they'd change again in 2010, but it's 2017 and they're still saying "80s, 90s, and today." I hope radio survives long enough for us to find out how they deal with the 2020s.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Figure out what radio station Randall was talking about in the title text and mention what it does now.}}
From the 1960s to the 1990s, it was common to group eras by decades. Fashion, music, and other cultural trends that changed relatively quickly were often defined by those decades. People casually and commonly referred to "the sixties", and so on, to separate these periods.

This pattern broke down after 1999, because it didn't naturally lend itself to an analogous phrase for the year from 2000-2009. A number of different terms have been proposed and used: "the {{w|Aughts}}", and "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-66199129 the noughties]" had been used for 1900-1909, but have an archaic flavor that may not work for everyone. "The "{{w|2000s}}" and "the millenium" are ambiguous and clunky. None of these terms ever became popular enough to become a consensus term. Similarly for the period from 2010-2019, terms like "the 2010s" and "the teens" have been used, but not widely accepted.

The practical upshot of all of this is that verbally splitting time periods into clear decades simply became less obvious for the periods since 2000. While people still refer to earlier time periods by decades, it is far less common to do so when referring to recent years. The roll-over text gives the example that we still refer to "music of the '80s and '90s" (although the comic omits the apostrophes that might normally indicate the missing century digits), but rarely refer to "music of the 2000s" or something similar.

The time-line in the comic stretches into the future (as of the time of publication), and uses question marks to present uncertainty over whether the decade-grouping trend will return in the 2020s. On the one hand, such was a well-established custom, and we once again have clear language for it. On the other hand, after largely abandoning the custom for 20 years, it is far from certain that people will adopt it again.

What isn't mentioned in the comic, but may be relevant, is that, in the absence of those decade categories, it has become more common to refer to time periods and the people who grew up in them by somewhat arbitrary generational categories: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millenials, Gen Z, and so on. This has provided an adequate substitute, since youth culture in the 2000s and 2010s has been more commonly defined as {{w|Millennials#Cultural_identity|millennial culture}}". There are drawbacks to this (both because the terms are more loosely defined, and because they often come with negative connotations), but these trends may have become sufficiently ingrained that they could displace the older decade-based divisions.

The title text gives the specific example of [[Randall]]'s local radio station dividing music by decades, and points out they simply started talking around the decades from 2000 to 2019. He implies that whether they resume this pattern in the 2020s will be a good indicator of whether this speech pattern will resume, but expressed doubt whether radio will last long enough to find out. This is a jab at the radio industry, which has been in decline for a long time as it has faced increasing competition from other communications technologies. While it is unlikely that the radio industry will cease to exist in the near future, further decline seems probable.

Twenties were discussed again later in [[2249: I Love the 20s]].

==Transcript==
:[A timeline across the top of the box marks decades from 1960 to 2030, the labels are above the line and the ticks marking each decade are below.]

:[Label: 1960]
:60s Music; 60s Fashion; 60s Movies; 60s Culture

:[Label: 1970]
:70s Music; 70s Fashion; 70s Movies; 70s Culture

:[Label: 1980]
:80s Music; 80s Fashion; 80s Movies; 80s Culture

:[Label: 1990]
:90s Music; 90s Fashion; 90s Movies; 90s Culture

:[Label: 2000 and 2010]
:[Items grouped over two decades.]
:Fashion; Culture; Music; Movies

:[Label: 2020]
:[The text is in light grey font.]
:<font color="grey">20s Music?; 20s Fashion?; 20s Movies?; 20s Culture?</font>

:[Label: 2030]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:It's weird how for 20 years we stopped grouping our cultural memories by decade because "2000s" is ambiguous and and "Aughts" and "Teens" never really stuck.

==Trivia==
*Randall has by mistake, written "and and aughts" in the caption for this comic, instead of "and aughts".

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Language]]

3098: Trojan Horse

2025-09-30T02:21:16Z

2607:F140:400:AF:D5A5:D8E4:47BF:7DAD: /* Explanation */ Specified who Pandarus was further

{{comic
| number = 3098
| date = June 4, 2025
| title = Trojan Horse
| image = trojan_horse_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x196px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Ultimately, history would imperfectly record the story of the Foal of Troy.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic presents a brief retelling of the {{w|Trojan Horse}} story, the climactic event of the legendary {{w|Trojan War}}, one of the best-known epics of ancient Greece and Rome. The retelling is a {{w|feghoot}}, set up to deliver the pun in the title text as well as a deconstruction of the story, replacing the epic elements with far more ordinary ones while keeping the tone of the tale the same.

The premise is that the Trojan Horse story's origin is mundane. The gift to the Trojans by the (supposedly) departing Greek army, we are told, was a normal-sized, living mare, which promptly and unexpectedly dropped (i.e. gave birth to) a foal. According to the title text, this is the story of the "Foal of Troy", which "history imperfectly recorded". In the "imperfect record" (i.e. the {{w|Epic Cycle}} and later works based on it which tell the story of the entire Trojan War), the normal-sized live horse became a colossal wooden statue that "dropped" a commando unit of some 40 Greek soldiers, who opened the gates of Troy to the main Greek force (who had sailed back under the cover of darkness), resulting in the "''Fall'' of Troy". The pun is implicit, as "Fall of Troy" does not appear in the comic. "Fall" and "foal" share the initial consonant and stem vowel in Ancient Greek (''πτῶσις'' vs. ''πῶλος''), whilst spelled even more similarly in English as well as being nearly {{w|homophone}}s.

It is not made clear whether the gifter of the horse knew of/suspected the pregnancy or whether they would have even chosen to hand it over under different circumstances. However, it is consistent with the story, and with the "{{w|Beware of Greeks bearing gifts}}" trope that originated with it, that the Greeks intentionally gifted a pregnant mare to annoy the Trojans. Surprise foals, where a mare is purchased with a hitherto unknown pregnancy, actually occur. The pregnancy is typically excused as weight gain, up until the point where a foal is discovered with its mother in the morning. Horses with rounder builds, like some pony breeds, are known for maintaining undetected pregnancies. The reason a surprise foal might be salient for the comic, beyond the "Foal of Troy" pun, is the non-trivial costs of horse ownership, which can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars per month. Food costs are part of (but not all of) this, as the comic touches on.

The humor in the joke comes from an anachronistic assumption — that a pregnant mare would be seen as a costly burden rather than a generous gift. In reality, during the time period referenced, horses (particularly one as large as the mare depicted in the comic) were highly valued for labor, transport, and even as a food source if necessary. Far from being an unwelcome expense, such a gift would have been considered a significant and practical boon. The joke plays on the incongruity of projecting modern attitudes backward, pretending that horses were once the kind of liability they are now. Furthermore, based on how Cueball calls the offspring an "inner horse" instead of a foal (the term for a child horse), the fact that he interprets the foal's interest in oats (even though foals suckle their mother's milk for the first 8-10 months before weaning to solid food) as an attack upon Troy's food supply even though all horses need to eat but are nonetheless considered useful by humans, and his overall surprise that the mare gave birth, it seems that he does not know very much about horses. Calling a foal an "inner horse" would be analogous to calling a baby an "inner human", thus reflecting a lack of knowledge of placental mammalian reproduction similar to [[441: Babies]].

Though unlikely to be the source of inspiration for the comic, the Iliad does mention a (perceived) shortage of Troy's fodder, as Pandarus (a Lycian archer coming to the aid of Troy) indicated to Aeneas (a prince of Troy): “And twice ten coursers wait their lord’s command. / ... / And thought the steeds (your large supplies unknown) / Might fail of forage in the straiten’d town;” (Il. V. 194-203). However, the conversation happened while Troy was actively attacked, rather than after the Greeks retreated when this comic takes place.

Archaeological evidence of a military conquest of {{w|Troy}} during the Bronze Age, or even of a major war centered on the city, is lacking. Far better evidence exists for the destruction of several iterations of the city by earthquakes. Possibly, the Trojan War legend arose as visitors attempted to explain the ruins of an earthquake-ravaged, deserted city. The "Foal of Troy" story, therefore, need not include a Greek conquest of Troy, or even a major military conflict with the Greeks.

==Transcript==
:[A horse is facing Cueball and Ponytail, who are standing in front of an entrance below a tower.]
:[In an inset panel, Cueball is talking to Megan and Hairy.]
:Cueball: When the Greeks departed, they left behind a horse as a gift.

:[Hairbun is standing behind a horse, with Cueball standing in front.]
:We took it as a gesture of peace, but it carried a secret payload.

:[A smaller horse is standing behind the horse from previous panel, which is looking behind at it.]
:One night, from within the horse, '''''another, smaller horse emerged!'''''

:[Close-up on Cueball.]
:Cueball: Our guards have been unable to determine the inner horse's objective, but it has begun to show an interest in our oats.
:Off-panel voice 1: An attack on Troy's food supply!
:Off-panel voice 2: How ''dare'' they!?

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Mythology]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]