explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3264: 720 Ollie

2026-06-27T11:55:32Z

82.132.238.177: Stupid on-screen-keyboard. No usable tactility to it.

Never really understood skateboards myself [[Special:Contributions/216.25.182.141|216.25.182.141]] 03:00, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
:That's okay. I never really understood human-scale spin-½ fermions. [[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:9700:1224:0:0:0:2|2603:8081:9700:1224:0:0:0:2]] 03:18, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
Early footage of Tony exploring rotational symmetries: The Loop (2001) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLC1V22Y7iY
Note that he needs to go around the loop twice before he can return to his original orientation and land the trick. [[Special:Contributions/86.23.176.63|86.23.176.63]] 03:39, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Riding "regular" vs "goofy" just means which foot is placed at the front, it has no real effect on what you can or can't do so you could describe it as a "symmetry" similar to symmetries in physics. Discovering a way to break that symmetry would, in theory, be an important discovery to people who cared about theoretical skateboarding. [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 04:37, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
:I think the parallel is to the way that total 'spins' and other things are (or perhaps notably aren't) conserved across various feynman diagrams, and your footedness is a state of the system (you can change it, mid-trick, but then the switch becomes ''part'' of thst trick) like the charge is a part of any given interaction/combination/decomposition of particles. Obviously any southpaw (south''pad''?) skater may bias towards or away from certain normal/goofy stances that a standard contrmporary may bias oppositely to, but it sounds like the comic is suggesting something even more fundemental about differences in that (e.g.) left-turns in both modes (by all types of rider) are statistically tighter than right-turns by exactly flip-matched individuals. Or something like that. (Taking this complete hypothetical further, the studies regarding this need to be done in both north and south hemispheres, to rule out it simply being a skateboard-detected consequence of the Coriolis force! While a single X Games is not enough to check this, I believe subsequent events have been held in opposing hemispheres. ;p )
:Of course it's analogy-stretching (both the comic and myself), but this is xkcd. Stretching of analogies (both within the range of Hooke's law and even beyond the elastic limit, whether under tension, compression, torsion, etc) is what both Randall and ourselves do. ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.177|82.132.238.177]] 11:10, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

"Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle {{citation needed}}" XD [[Special:Contributions/2401:4900:ADC9:33ED:3028:A249:ED24:CD91|2401:4900:ADC9:33ED:3028:A249:ED24:CD91]] 07:00, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Nevertheless Tony Hawk is awesome and can do anything a subatomic particle can do. Alas, the description (why a fermion differs from a boson) is not dumb enough for me to understand, tho. [[User:Dúthomhas|Dúthomhas]] ([[User talk:Dúthomhas|talk]]) 07:46, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
:I think we need to properly investigate the abilities of the {{w|Tony Hawks|supersymmetric version}} of Tony Hawk. We do know that he's capable of walking long distances with fridges, can play tennis, etc, but we're still some way from a direct comparison under a Grand Unified Theory. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.177|82.132.238.177]] 11:52, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

I must admit, when I started reading the comic I was initially thinkingnit was going to be something to do with the tendency of objects spun around a minor axis to also flip (unbidden) around their major axis. Remote controls, table-tennis bats, anything where a 360° flip is obviously happening but lands back in your hand 180° rotated, longitudinally (buttons now faced down, red/black paddle surfaces inverted, etc), regardless(/specificallly) of how carefully you try to do a perfect one-axis spin of tbis manner. — So, now I'm wondering, is ''that'' the underlying reason for the quantum-mechanical 'half-spins'? Whereby an unrelated (and not understood/hidden-variable) long-axis spin exhibits an apparent half-spin as a precessionary artefact? Or it's 'just' a more standard topological rotational symmetry of ½ made 'real'. (Of ''course'' I know that 'spin' isn't anything much like classical physics spinning, like quarks don't have colours, just [[2734: Electron Color|everything else]].) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.177|82.132.238.177]] 11:52, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3264: 720 Ollie

2026-06-27T11:54:07Z

82.132.238.177: Obvious typos

Never really understood skateboards myself [[Special:Contributions/216.25.182.141|216.25.182.141]] 03:00, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
:That's okay. I never really understood human-scale spin-½ fermions. [[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:9700:1224:0:0:0:2|2603:8081:9700:1224:0:0:0:2]] 03:18, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
Early footage of Tony exploring rotational symmetries: The Loop (2001) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLC1V22Y7iY
Note that he needs to go around the loop twice before he can return to his original orientation and land the trick. [[Special:Contributions/86.23.176.63|86.23.176.63]] 03:39, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Riding "regular" vs "goofy" just means which foot is placed at the front, it has no real effect on what you can or can't do so you could describe it as a "symmetry" similar to symmetries in physics. Discovering a way to break that symmetry would, in theory, be an important discovery to people who cared about theoretical skateboarding. [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 04:37, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
:I think the parallel is to the way that total 'spins' and other things are (or perhaps notably aren't) conserved across various feynman diagrams, and your footedness is a state of the system (you can change it, mid-trick, but then the switch becomes ''part'' of thst trick) like the charge is a part of any given interaction/combination/decomposition of particles. Obviously any southpaw (south''pad''?) skater may bias towards or away from certain normal/goofy stances that a standard contrmporary may bias oppositely to, but it sounds like the comic is suggesting something even more fundemental about differences in that (e.g.) left-turns in both modes (by all types of rider) are statistically tighter than right-turns by exactly flip-matched individuals. Or something like that. (Taking this complete hypothetical further, the studies regarding this need to be done in both north and south hemispheres, to rule out it simply being a skateboard-detected consequence of the Coriolis force! While a single X Games is not enough to check this, I believe subsequent events have been held in opposing hemispheres. ;p )
:Of course it's analogy-stretching (both the comic and myself), but this is xkcd. Stretching of analogies (both within the range of Hooke's law and even beyond the elastic limit, whether under tension, compression, torsion, etc) is what both Randall and ourselves do. ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.177|82.132.238.177]] 11:10, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

"Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle {{citation needed}}" XD [[Special:Contributions/2401:4900:ADC9:33ED:3028:A249:ED24:CD91|2401:4900:ADC9:33ED:3028:A249:ED24:CD91]] 07:00, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Nevertheless Tony Hawk is awesome and can do anything a subatomic particle can do. Alas, the description (why a fermion differs from a boson) is not dumb enough for me to understand, tho. [[User:Dúthomhas|Dúthomhas]] ([[User talk:Dúthomhas|talk]]) 07:46, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
:I think we need to properly investigate the abilities of the {{w|Tony Hawks|supersymmetric version}} of Tony Hawk. We do know that he's capable of walking long distances with fridges, can play tennis, etc, but we're still some way from a direct comparison under a Grand Unified Theory. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.177|82.132.238.177]] 11:52, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

I must admit, when I started reading the comic I was initially thinkingnit was going to be something to do with the tendency of objects spun around a minor axis to also flip (unbidden) around their major axis. Remote controls, table-tennis bats, anything where a 360° flip is obviously happening but lands back in your hand 180° rotated, longitudinally (buttons now faced down, red/black paddle surfaces inverted, etc), regardless(/specificallly) of how carefully you try to do a perfect one-a is spin of tbis manner. — So, now I'm wondering, is ''that'' the underlying reason for the quantum-mechanical 'half-spins'? Whereby an unrelated (and not understood/hidden-variable) long-axis spin exhibits an apparent half-spin as a precessionary artefact? Or it's 'just' a more standard topological rotational symmetry of ½ made 'real'. (Of ''course'' I know that 'spin' isn't anything much like classical physics spinning, like quarks don't have colours, just [[2734: Electron Color|everything else]].) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.177|82.132.238.177]] 11:52, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3264: 720 Ollie

2026-06-27T11:52:58Z

82.132.238.177:

Never really understood skateboards myself [[Special:Contributions/216.25.182.141|216.25.182.141]] 03:00, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
:That's okay. I never really understood human-scale spin-½ fermions. [[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:9700:1224:0:0:0:2|2603:8081:9700:1224:0:0:0:2]] 03:18, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
Early footage of Tony exploring rotational symmetries: The Loop (2001) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLC1V22Y7iY
Note that he needs to go around the loop twice before he can return to his original orientation and land the trick. [[Special:Contributions/86.23.176.63|86.23.176.63]] 03:39, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Riding "regular" vs "goofy" just means which foot is placed at the front, it has no real effect on what you can or can't do so you could describe it as a "symmetry" similar to symmetries in physics. Discovering a way to break that symmetry would, in theory, be an important discovery to people who cared about theoretical skateboarding. [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 04:37, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
:I think the parallel is to the way that total 'spins' and other things are (or perhaps notably aren't) conserved across various feynman diagrams, and your footedness is a state of the system (you can change it, mid-trick, but then the switch becomes ''part'' of thst trick) like the charge is a part of any given interaction/combination/decomposition of particles. Obviously any southpaw (south''pad''?) skater may bias towards or away from certain normal/goofy stances that a standard contrmporary may bias oppositely to, but it sounds like the comic is suggesting something even more fundemental about differences in that (e.g.) left-turns in both modes (by all types of rider) are statistically tighter than right-turns by exactly flip-matched individuals. Or something like that. (Taking this complete hypothetical further, the studies regarding this need to be done in both north and south hemispheres, to rule out it simply being a skateboard-detected consequence of the Coriolis force! While a single X Games is not enough to check this, I believe subsequent events have been held in opposing hemispheres. ;p )
:Of course it's analogy-stretching (both the comic and myself), but this is xkcd. Stretching of analogies (both within the range of Hooke's law and even beyond the elastic limit, whether under tension, compression, torsion, etc) is what both Randall and ourselves do. ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.177|82.132.238.177]] 11:10, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

"Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle {{citation needed}}" XD [[Special:Contributions/2401:4900:ADC9:33ED:3028:A249:ED24:CD91|2401:4900:ADC9:33ED:3028:A249:ED24:CD91]] 07:00, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Nevertheless Tony Hawk is awesome and can do anything a subatomic particle can do. Alas, the description (why a fermion differs from a boson) is not dumb enough for me to understand, tho. [[User:Dúthomhas|Dúthomhas]] ([[User talk:Dúthomhas|talk]]) 07:46, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
:I think we need to properly investigate the abilities of the {{w|Tony Hawks|supersymmetric version}} of Tony Hawk. We do know that he's capable of walking long distances with fridges, can play tennis, etc, but we're still some way from a direct comparison under a Gdand Unified Theory. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.177|82.132.238.177]] 11:52, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

I must admit, when J started reading the comic I was initially thinkingnit was going to be something to do with the tendency of objects spun around a minor axis to also flip (unbidden) around their major axis. Remote controls, table-tennis bats, anything where a 360° flip is obviously happening but lands back in your hand 180° rotated, longitudinally (buttons now faced down, red/black paddle surfaces inverted, etc), regardless(/specificallly) of how carefully you try to do a perfect one-a is spin of tbis manner. — So, now I'm wondering, is ''that'' the underlying reason for the quantum-mechanical 'half-spins'? Whereby an unrelated (and not understood/hidden-variable) long-axis spin exhibits an apparent half-spin as a precessionary artefact? Or it's 'just' a more standard topological rotational symmetry of ½ made 'real'. (Of ''course'' I know that 'spin' isn't anything much like classical physics spinning, like quarks don't have colours, just [[2734: Electron Color|everything else]].) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.177|82.132.238.177]] 11:52, 27 June 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3264: 720 Ollie

2026-06-27T11:10:04Z

82.132.238.177:

3264: 720 Ollie

2026-06-27T10:45:24Z

82.132.238.177: /* Explanation */ Title text explained. Included a couple of perhaps unnecessary jokes (only one labeled) that might be better cutting back out again. But they tickled me enough to be still there by the time of the Save Changes.

{{comic
| number = 3264
| date = June 26, 2026
| title = 720 Ollie
| image = 720_ollie_2x.png
| imagesize = 257x325px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This discovery was key to his demonstration of regular/goofy symmetry violation, which won him gold in the theory portion of the X Games.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bunch of baryons. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{w|Tony Hawk}} tells Cueball that doing a single 360° spin causes him to land backward rather than forward. This is unexpected, since a 360° turn in the xy plane is a full revolution, meaning that it should normally return Tony Hawk to his original position rather than perform a half-rotation (normally the result of a 180° spin). As repeating this would reverse his reverse, doubling this to a 720° spin is what finally allows him to land forward. Normally, revolving 360*n degrees, for any whole number (n=0, n=±1, n=±2, etc) should leave him pointing the same range as before, but for him he returns to the same orientation if n is even, but he lands with the opposite orientation if n is odd.

The caption reveals that this is because Tony Hawk is a spin-½ fermion. This explains the paradox, but is unusual because spin-½ particles are normally very small, only occurring in quantum physics rather than Newtonian physics. Since Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle,{{Citation needed}} it is unclear how his skateboard tricks could be described only by quantum physics.

A '''{{w|fermion}}''' is a classification of particles (or groups of particles) whose intrinsic angular momentum (aka "spin") is half-integer multiple of the ''reduced Planck constant'', the behavior of these object's spin is described via spinors, a type of complex vector. This is in contrast to '''bosons''', whose spin is an integer multiple of the reduced Planck constant, and described by the normal Euclidean vectors you know and love. {{Citation needed}}

Tony Hawk is an American skateboarder credited with inventing the 720, a trick (under normal circumstances) involving two full mid-air rotations. Since Hawk invented it in 1985, larger {{w|Aerial (skateboarding)|mid-air rotations}} have been invented (up to 1260, three and a half rotations), and according to the comic they can have even stranger quantum properties.

The title text is a riff on the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of {{w|CP violation}}, (something that may have been on [[Randall]]'s mind, recently, due to the [[3263: Baryon Asymmetry|prior comic]]'s subject matter/anti-matter). The {{w|Footedness#Goofy stance vs. regular stance|regular/goofy styles of riding a skateboard}} could be considered as a physical quality of the "skateboarder particle", as values of charge and parity are of subatomic ones. The {{w|X Games}} are a prestigious 'street-sport' event that includes competitions in skateboarding as well as other related board- and bike-disciplines. The parallel is made between being able to win a gold medal for impressive skateboarding skills (and demonstrating new tricks, in the process, as Tony Hawk has been known to do) and earning the gold Nobel Prize medal for a scientific achievements in Physics or one of the other established prize categories. So far, nobody has done both of these. But, if this comic is entirely true, perhaps Tony Hawk could be the first to do so.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:Tony Hawk [holding a skateboard]: Something weird I've noticed is that if I do a 360 ollie, I land backward. I have to do a 720 to land going forward.

:[An illustration, above the heads of Tony Hawk and Cueball, depicts Tony Hawk doing two 360-degree turns on a skateboard]

:Caption: Tony Hawk discovers that he's a spin-½ fermion.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3264: 720 Ollie

2026-06-27T10:15:50Z

82.132.238.177: /* Explanation */ The 'claim' that a 720 lands him forward is not unbelievable. Either IRL or even given his prior revelation. So reworded that to avoid astonishhment, and other minor exits along the way.

{{comic
| number = 3264
| date = June 26, 2026
| title = 720 Ollie
| image = 720_ollie_2x.png
| imagesize = 257x325px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This discovery was key to his demonstration of regular/goofy symmetry violation, which won him gold in the theory portion of the X Games.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bunch of baryons. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{w|Tony Hawk}} tells Cueball that doing a single 360° spin causes him to land backward rather than forward. This is unexpected, since a 360° turn in the xy plane is a full revolution, meaning that it should normally return Tony Hawk to his original position rather than perform a half-rotation (normally the result of a 180° spin). As repeating this would reverse his reverse, doubling this to a 720° spin is what finally allows him to land forward. Normally, revolving 360*n degrees, for any whole number (n=0, n=±1, n=±2, etc) should leave him pointing the same range as before, but for him he returns to the same orientation if n is even, but he lands with the opposite orientation if n is odd.

The caption reveals that this is because Tony Hawk is a spin-½ fermion. This explains the paradox, but is unusual because spin-½ particles are normally very small, only occurring in quantum physics rather than Newtonian physics. Since Tony Hawk is not a subatomic particle,{{Citation needed}} it is unclear how his skateboard tricks could be described only by quantum physics.

A '''{{w|fermion}}''' is a classification of particles (or groups of particles) whose intrinsic angular momentum (aka "spin") is half-integer multiple of the ''reduced Planck constant'', the behavior of these object's spin is described via spinors, a type of complex vector. This is in contrast to '''bosons''', whose spin is an integer multiple of the reduced Planck constant, and described by the normal Euclidean vectors you know and love. {{Citation needed}}

Tony Hawk is an American skateboarder credited with inventing the 720, a trick (under normal circumstances) involving two full mid-air rotations. Since Hawk invented it in 1985, larger {{w|Aerial (skateboarding)|mid-air rotations}} have been invented (up to 1260, three and a half rotations), and according to the comic they can have even stranger quantum properties.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:Tony Hawk [holding a skateboard]: Something weird I've noticed is that if I do a 360 ollie, I land backward. I have to do a 720 to land going forward.

:[An illustration, above the heads of Tony Hawk and Cueball, depicts Tony Hawk doing two 360-degree turns on a skateboard]

:Caption: Tony Hawk discovers that he's a spin-½ fermion.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

Category:Dynamic comics

2026-06-27T10:00:30Z

82.132.238.177: FTFY

There are various types of dynamic xkcd comics, including animated ones, interactive ones, and ones that modify their content based on specific factors. There are several potential reasons why a comic can have been made dynamic, such as:

;[[April Fools' Day comics]]

:[[unixkcd]], [[880: Headache]], [[1037: Umwelt]], [[1193: Externalities]], [[1350: Lorenz]], [[1506: xkcloud]], [[1663: Garden]], [[1975: Right Click]], [[2131: Emojidome]], [[2288: Collector's Edition]], [[2445: Checkbox]], [[2601: Instructions]], [[2765: Escape Speed]], [[2916: Machine]], [[3074: Push Notifications]], [[3227: Creation]]

;Simple cyclic animations

:[[961: Eternal Flame]], [[1116: Traffic Lights]], [[1264: Slideshow]], [[1331: Frequency]], [[1335: Now]], [[2293: RIP John Conway]], [[dot]].

;Progressively revealing frames of a storyboard

:[[Countdown in header text]], [[1190: Time]], [[1446: Landing]]

;Extensive explorable environments, such as: [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]], [[1110: Click and Drag]], [[1608: Hoverboard]], [[1416: Pixels]], [[2067: Challengers]], [[2712: Gravity]], [[980: Money]].

;Other (miscellaneously) interactive comics

:[[1525: Emojic 8 Ball]], [[2198: Throw]], [[Simple Writer]]

[[Category:Distinctive comics]]

1689: My Friend Catherine

2026-06-27T09:54:57Z

82.132.238.177: /* Explanation */ Link to the better terminology. Keeping the more everyday word for it. Yes, I know of wikipedia:Cat (nickname), but I don't have to like the usage of that word. Note to self: stop spelling sobriquet how you pronounce it.

{{comic
| number = 1689
| date = June 3, 2016
| title = My Friend Catherine
| image = my_friend_catherine.png
| titletext = I can't get any work done because my friend Catherine is sitting on my keyboard.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic using [[:Category:Substitutions|substitutions]] to create the joke by replacing words or phrases, in this case "My cat", with a different word or phrase, in this case "My friend Catherine" (hence the title). The choice of the name is probably because "Cat" is one of the common {{w|hypocorism|shortenings}} of "Catherine".

By doing so in a list of [[#The original posts|people discussing things their cat did]], it makes it seem like they are discussing things their female human friend did. What is cute (sitting on keyboards), impressive (doing backflips to eat bugs), or at least normal behavior for a cat (vomiting hairballs) would be weird, disgusting or disturbing if an adult human were to do it, which is what makes the substitution humorous.

The comic depicts a feed on a page for people discussing their cat, similar to Twitter or Facebook, which would be the only kind of place where the substitution is really funny. Apart from known characters like two looking like [[Cueball]], [[Megan]] and [[Ponytail]], there is also a person with black hair, not looking particularly like any standard characters, and then a person with a [[1350:_Lorenz#Knit_Cap_Girl|knit cap]], which could be the same knit cap wearing user that was also used in [[1506: xkcloud]] (see the [[1506:_xkcloud/Transcript#User_pictures| pictures of the users]]).

===The original posts===
*My cat just did a backflip and then ate a bug!
*I wish my cat wouldn't wake me up by chewing on my hair.
*Oh no, my cat has learned to open the refrigerator.
*My cat just walked in, threw up on the rug, and walked out.
*My cat is looking out the window making weird noises at the birds.
*I wish my cat wouldn't make eye contact with me while pooping.
*I can't get any work done because my cat is sitting on my keyboard. (title text)
<small>Why are cats so *restrains to say stupid* interesting and silly?</small>

==Transcript==
:[Captions above the frame:]
:New favorite substitution:
:<big>My Cat→My Friend Catherine</big>

:[A news feed with comments by six different people discussing their cat, but after the above substitution. Next to each post is a user image, and above the clear text of the substituted comment is a unreadable line of wiggles probably with information about the post time stamp.]

:[A head shot of a person seen straight on with black hair:]
:My friend Catherine just did a backflip and then ate a bug!

:[A full view of Cueball:]
:I wish my friend Catherine wouldn't wake me up by chewing on my hair.

:[A head shot of Megan with unreadable text below the image:]
:Oh no, my friend Catherine has learned to open the refrigerator.

:[A head shot seen from the front of Knit Cap:]
:My friend Catherine just walked in, threw up on the rug, and walked out.

:[A head shot of Ponytail:]
:My friend Catherine is looking out the window making weird noises at the birds.

:[Cueball seen from the torso and up:]
:I wish my friend Catherine wouldn't make eye contact with me while pooping.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Substitutions]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Cats]]

1689: My Friend Catherine

2026-06-27T09:44:12Z

82.132.238.177: Undoing the 'substitutions' punning (yeah, we know it's peak-xkcd humour, but not really suitable here). Additionally, always was bothered by "Cat" described as a "nickname", when nicknaming encompasses all non-abbreviating soubriquets too.

{{comic
| number = 1689
| date = June 3, 2016
| title = My Friend Catherine
| image = my_friend_catherine.png
| titletext = I can't get any work done because my friend Catherine is sitting on my keyboard.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic using [[:Category:Substitutions|substitutions]] to create the joke by replacing words or phrases, in this case "My cat", with a different word or phrase, in this case "My friend Catherine" (hence the title). The choice of the name is probably because "Cat" is one of the common shortenings of "Catherine".

By doing so in a list of [[#The original posts|people discussing things their cat did]], it makes it seem like they are discussing things their female human friend did. What is cute (sitting on keyboards), impressive (doing backflips to eat bugs), or at least normal behavior for a cat (vomiting hairballs) would be weird, disgusting or disturbing if an adult human were to do it, which is what makes the substitution humorous.

The comic depicts a feed on a page for people discussing their cat, similar to Twitter or Facebook, which would be the only kind of place where the substitution is really funny. Apart from known characters like two looking like [[Cueball]], [[Megan]] and [[Ponytail]], there is also a person with black hair, not looking particularly like any standard characters, and then a person with a [[1350:_Lorenz#Knit_Cap_Girl|knit cap]], which could be the same knit cap wearing user that was also used in [[1506: xkcloud]] (see the [[1506:_xkcloud/Transcript#User_pictures| pictures of the users]]).

===The original posts===
*My cat just did a backflip and then ate a bug!
*I wish my cat wouldn't wake me up by chewing on my hair.
*Oh no, my cat has learned to open the refrigerator.
*My cat just walked in, threw up on the rug, and walked out.
*My cat is looking out the window making weird noises at the birds.
*I wish my cat wouldn't make eye contact with me while pooping.
*I can't get any work done because my cat is sitting on my keyboard. (title text)
<small>Why are cats so *restrains to say stupid* interesting and silly?</small>

==Transcript==
:[Captions above the frame:]
:New favorite substitution:
:<big>My Cat→My Friend Catherine</big>

:[A news feed with comments by six different people discussing their cat, but after the above substitution. Next to each post is a user image, and above the clear text of the substituted comment is a unreadable line of wiggles probably with information about the post time stamp.]

:[A head shot of a person seen straight on with black hair:]
:My friend Catherine just did a backflip and then ate a bug!

:[A full view of Cueball:]
:I wish my friend Catherine wouldn't wake me up by chewing on my hair.

:[A head shot of Megan with unreadable text below the image:]
:Oh no, my friend Catherine has learned to open the refrigerator.

:[A head shot seen from the front of Knit Cap:]
:My friend Catherine just walked in, threw up on the rug, and walked out.

:[A head shot of Ponytail:]
:My friend Catherine is looking out the window making weird noises at the birds.

:[Cueball seen from the torso and up:]
:I wish my friend Catherine wouldn't make eye contact with me while pooping.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Substitutions]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Cats]]