explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3097: Bridge Types

2025-08-08T13:06:32Z

82.132.246.173:

For budget overrun, see olympic stadium of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.202|162.158.126.202]] 01:23, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Very disappointed there's no bridge card game reference, but I guess that's not one of Randall's types of nerdiness :( [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.203|172.71.254.203]] 01:45, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

I would like to note that cable stayed bridges, budget overrun here, are much cheaper than equivalent suspension bridges. It because they use less materials and can be built faster meaning less labor. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.58.51|172.69.58.51]] 01:50, 3 June 2025‎
:Tru dat in general, but I think that this is a reference to the {{w|Leonard_P._Zakim_Bunker_Hill_Memorial_Bridge|Zakim Bridge}} in downtown Boston, part of the {{w|Big_Dig|"Big Dig"}} project that became notorious for its budget overruns and related shenanigans. Given that Randall M. lives in Boston, that makes this panel something of an inside joke. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.224|172.71.147.224]] 03:15, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

The [[wikipedia:St. Louis Arch|St. Louis Arch]] is a repurposed-elevator-suspended-arch-but-without-the-base-and-wires bridge if you squint hard enough. The elevator is also fun. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.67.214|172.69.67.214]] 01:57, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Nothing about a a [[wikipedia:Bridge circuit|bridge circuit]] or these [[Wikipedia:Bridges (disambiguation)|many]] [[wikipedia:other|other]] bridges either. Sigh. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.67.214|172.69.67.214]] 01:57, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
:And where, oh where, are Lloyd, Beau, Jeff, and Jordan? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.41.84|162.158.41.84]] 03:19, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

The L'Engle is a take off on a Wrinkle in time? But this one is in space? -- [[User:162.158.91.124|162.158.91.124]] ([[User talk:162.158.91.124|talk]]) 02:26, 3 June 2025‎ ''(please sign your comments with <nowiki>~~</nowiki>~~)''
:There's some space-warping in L'Engle's books. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.174.63|162.158.174.63]] 02:44, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

The "budget overrun" bridge doesn't really look like the Zakim bridge to me. It looks a lot like the Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin. I don't know what the budget of that bridge was, but according to wiki it cost 60 million euros, which sounds like a lot given that the bridge isn't all that long or wide. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.87|172.70.126.87]] 03:24, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
: Perhaps if Randall M. drew too close a likeness to the Zakim Bridge, he feared a visit from officials with lawyers and/or cement shoes. ("Only the paranoid survive ...") It seems, from a quick tour of the Internet, that words like "grandiose and overblown" are easily applied to cable-stayed bridge designs/aesthetics. I wasn't easily able to find information on budget overruns for these bridges, and see the commentator above who pointed out the lower costs overall of cable-stayed ''vs'' suspension bridges. But as a former resident of Greater Boston, I can report the pervasiveness of the Big Dig and its challenges, budgetary and otherwise, in local life and lore. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.108|172.68.22.108]] 04:32, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
::The cable-stayed bridge is the current darling of artists that accidentally went to engineering school, who are notorious for running over budget and behind schedule. [[User:RegularSizedGuy|RegularSizedGuy]] ([[User talk:RegularSizedGuy|talk]]) 04:40, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
: I can see the suggestion of the Beckett bridge, but in my eyes the obvious template would be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmusbrug Rotterdam's Erasmus Bridge] [[User:Nachtvogel|Nachtvogel]] ([[User talk:Nachtvogel|talk]]) 06:00, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
: Could "budget overrun" be a reference to Polybridge and other similar "Bridge Architect" games where player has a very limited budget for building materials? [[Special:Contributions/37.47.135.196|37.47.135.196]] 02:58, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

I think the repurposed elevator should be considered a dig at Elon Musks The Boring Company, even though they tunnel rather then bridge
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.182.138|162.158.182.138]] 04:37, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Added a bunch of explanations [[Special:Contributions/162.158.8.132|162.158.8.132]] 07:31, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

The Repurposed Elevator is actually a real thing! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmid_Peoplemover It's not as strange as you think. It's a space effective, but too expensive solution to the problem of not making cramped railway crossroads more cramped. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.172.112|162.158.172.112]] 07:39, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
: I've added it to the list. Feel free to do such changes yourself if you know something that can contribute. --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.183.12|172.71.183.12]] 08:07, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
:: The Vizcaya Bridge in Bilbao (Spain) is a good example of elevator bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizcaya_Bridge [[Special:Contributions/90.173.49.42|90.173.49.42]] 15:23, 5 June 2025 (UTC)
::: That's a Transporter Bridge, which (as someone mentioned below) is a separate thing that's surprisingly not really covered in the comic. It bears some operational similarities to a sideways-elevator, arguably more so than the Peoplemover that combines directions of travel rather than just changes that travel, but the hanging (suspension) element from the (truss-)supported carriage adds in other things that surely could have attracted parody (as a 'real type of bridge, possibly abnormally named) if it was within Randall's radar. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.235.191|82.132.235.191]] 17:51, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

For the "Google Earth Bridge" remark, [https://www.fastcompany.com/90186315/the-strange-art-of-the-melting-bridges-of-google-earth this article] might work as a citation. [[User:Conster|Conster]] ([[User talk:Conster|talk]]) 07:57, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
: Do we have to single out Google for this? Apple maps did a fantastic job of melting bridges as well... :D [[Special:Contributions/162.158.42.38|162.158.42.38]] 19:47, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

There seem to be stick figures on each bridge, except for the Arch. Is that on phone? Maybe he's saying nobody uses arch (Linux)? Or does anyone has any other idea as to why? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.128.184|172.69.128.184]] 08:21, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Is there a reason for the trestle bridge to have a raised deck? They were iconically used for railways, where that would not work. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.110.59|162.158.110.59]] 09:56, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

The jump in particular feels a lot like polybridge and I love it [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.160|172.71.167.160]] 11:27, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

Alas, no love (or even any acknowlegement) for the {{w|Transporter bridge}}, it seams... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.165|172.69.79.165]] 16:11, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

I live in Montreal, and the "budget overrun" immediately made me think of our Olympic Stadium, which we affectionately call "The Big Owe".
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.10|162.158.126.10]] 20:38, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

The closest thing to a "repurposed elevator" I know is a bus in Tirana in Albania, which accidentaly crashed off the road and over a river, and served as ab impromptu bridge for a while.

Suspended arch - tied-arch vs. through arch: The "suspended arch" bridge may or may not be a tied-arch bridge. Something has to stop the ends of the arch sliding outwards when there's a large load in the middle, but you can't tell what that something is from the image.

If that something is the bridge deck, being connected to the ends of the arch and under tension, than it's a tied-arch bridge (the deck ties the ends of the arch together). If that something is the arch foundations, and the deck is not under tension, then it's not a tied-arch bridge; it's just a simple through-arch bridge.

For more info on (real) bridges, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX_zkaK5PaI| Practical Engineering] --DW [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.69|162.158.187.69]] 13:24, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

'Drawbridge' to me means a defensive bridge that crosses the moat of a castle, and can be pulled up when defending it. See, eg., my favourite castle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodiam_Castle [[Special:Contributions/172.69.224.115|172.69.224.115]] 15:05, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
:Agreed. What they have there is a lift bridge. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 15:55, 3 June 2025 (UTC)
::Well, as an abbreviated version of the {{w|vertical-lift bridge}}, I might quibble about even ''that'' descriptor. (But "bascule" became current, in-description, for which the main complaint might be only that it's a less known and more obscure name.) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.234.190|82.132.234.190]] 13:18, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

This is great timing, I was just today made aware of what I initially assumed to be a poor translation of "draw bridge", before realizing it was indeed its own distinct thing! It was [https://www.leonardodavincisinventions.com/civil-engineering-inventions/leonardo-da-vinci-swing-bridge/ Leonardo Da Vinci's Pivot Bridge] [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 19:04, 5 June 2025 (UTC)

I think "budget overrun" is a reference to [[w: Santiago Calatrava]] a starchitect who has a singular style and whose stuff is known for ridiculously high costs {{unsigned ip|2001:a62:1448:d002:f1c9:dbd4:e909:c67e|10:59, 27 July 2025}}
:(The link doesn't work, how you wrote it. I know how you should have written it, that way, but can I introduce you to using the template {{template|w}}? That would display as {{w|Santiago Calatrava}} and is the dominant local method of wikipedia linking.)
:I'm not sure that Santiago Calatrava is particularly unique (or outstandingly notable, in Randall's world) to make it an actual reference specifically to them. However, still nice to know about something new and random (yet relevant, of course), so I think we should thank you for your information in a more general way. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 19:54, 27 July 2025 (UTC)

I think that "Repurposed Elevator" is a reference to Wellington Station on the Boston Subway, where there was a vertical people mover ("elevator") over the yard but was later repurposed into a walkway (bridge). [[Special:Contributions/173.48.115.181|173.48.115.181]] 11:09, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
:Added--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 12:55, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
::Though, really, it's the exact ''opposite'' of this illustrated case. But I don't feel like going into that in a practical edit. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.173|82.132.246.173]] 13:06, 8 August 2025 (UTC)

3124: Grounded

2025-08-08T12:54:17Z

82.132.246.173: /* Explanation */ I was going to say "east coast", instead (its origins in and remaining proximity the Carolinas seem more important than, say, its influence on Maine), but I can't find a "disruption map" to confirm no strange area-of-effect occurred.

{{comic
| number = 3124
| date = August 4, 2025
| title = Grounded
| image = grounded_2x.png
| imagesize = 294x335px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We should have you at the gate in just under two hours--two and a half if we get pulled over.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a COP ASKING IF THE PILOT KNOWS WHY THEY WERE PULLED OVER. Copy-pasted from the talk page: (--[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 13:23, 7 August 2025 (UTC))

The whole bullet list under "motives and feasibility" seems very out of place, and the sentence preceding it is completely vacuous. I mean, "a number of factors contribute to the dilemma"? Which dilemma? There's no dilemma here, only a joke. And what dilemma does ''not'' have more than one contributing factor? This communicates nothing and just takes up space. The items in the bullet list itself just seem off topic; a comparison between on-plane and off-plane ground transport does not belong in a section titled "motives and feasibility". That belongs in a table, with rows for every aspect impacted by each choice and columns for every mode of transport. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:A466:A997:0:74BA:2E0:D85C:CED1|2A02:A466:A997:0:74BA:2E0:D85C:CED1]] 17:36, 6 August 2025 (UTC)}}

In certain situations, such as extreme weather, airplanes may be "grounded", meaning that they are not permitted to fly, and scheduled flights have to be delayed or cancelled. This is often frustrating for passengers, especially if the airplane has already been loaded and is otherwise ready to fly. In this strip, a pilot in such a situation reports that they "have an idea", involving bridge clearance and top taxiing speed. "Taxiing" refers to the movement of airplanes while on the ground, such as when they're moving to and from their gate, and getting into position on the runway. The implication is they've given up on taking off, and are considering moving the entire airplane to their destination by ground.

The joke is that such a plan would be ludicrous. There are situations in which flights between relatively nearby airports are delayed for long enough that driving between them would be faster, but airplanes were clearly never intended to travel significant distances by ground. Putting aside the fact that neither the engines nor the wheels were ever designed for long-term ground travel, it would likely be impossible. This comic was published during {{w|2025 Atlantic hurricane season#Tropical Storm Dexter|a storm}} which affected a significant part of the Northeast United States. This storm caused many flights to be heavily delayed or cancelled, which may be the inspiration for this comic.

The reference to "bridge clearance" suggests that the airplane could fit under all the bridges they'd need to pass during their trip, but that doesn't consider the aircraft's wingspan, which would be unlikely to fit on all the roads they'd need to use. At the very least, it would block multiple lanes of traffic (likely in both directions) for the entire trip and, since jetliners usually don't taxi faster than 25-35 mph, even a relatively short trip would block roads for a significant amount of time. Moreover, it's generally illegal for any vehicle to travel on public roads unless it meets specific standards (which an aircraft almost certainly wouldn't) and is properly licensed and registered (which an aircraft wouldn't be). Long delays in air travel may lead to people fantasizing about this kind of extreme solution, but it clearly wouldn't be feasible in real life.

The title text intensifies the humor, saying that driving will probably result in a traffic enforcement stop, and further extend the travel time. The "drive time" would probably be extended by more than the 30 minutes they have estimated, especially if the flight crew is required to stop, or disembark from the aircraft, or they could be entirely prevented from continuing onward.

===Motives and feasibility===

A number of factors contribute to the dilemma and increase the switching cost of using traditional ground transportation:

* If the plane continues to wait, it may need to do so for several hours.
* Allowing passengers to leave a sealed plane is typically a long process and may (depending on the situation and airport) involve the cancellation of the flight (which airlines are financially incentivized to avoid) or the plane losing its place in the increasingly long line of flights waiting to depart.
* Passengers often have checked luggage that takes a long time to unload and be delivered (a notoriously slow process).
* When a full flight's worth of passengers suddenly need ground transportation to the same place, there is sometimes not enough ground transportation readily available to transport them and their luggage.
* Passengers arriving at another airport via ground transportation and wishing to board a connecting flight would need to pass through security checkpoints and hand over their luggage again, further delaying the process.

The plane appears to have 14 passenger windows on one side, a moderate number associated with a narrow-body / single-aisle commercial aircraft (likely with 4 seats per row - seating around 56 passengers and around 4 crew). A plane of this size is more likely to fit on a wide road or under any overpass built for large trucks, compared to a large airliner with possibly hundreds of passengers. Smaller planes are also more commonly used for local flights with fewer passengers. It is possible that the destination is only 70 miles away by road (likely a nearby city of at least moderate size or else the plane would be smaller). Roads around airports are often crowded, but the poor weather may have reduced traffic to and from the airport, or the pilots may be counting on smaller vehicles staying out of their way. If the public roads are viable and local law enforcement does not interfere (or allows the plane to proceed due to jurisdictional confusion), then the largest practical obstacles may be exiting the first airport and entering the second. Large airports restrict access to the tarmac, and since the pilots intend to respect air traffic control's decision to prohibit flight, they would either need several people on the ground to open major gates, or would need to ram at least one sufficiently weak gate or fence at each end.

It is possible that this comic is depicting a heavily simplified {{w|Embraer E-Jet family | Embraer E-170}}, which has 19 windows on each side.

==Transcript==
:[A plane is at an airport gate, connected to the jet bridge going into an extensive building with many dark windows facing out towards the plane. There are several other ground vehicles nearby, one towing two empty wagons for luggage, and related equipment that includes several small traffic cones placed strategically around the plane. In the space behind the plane there is another, unoccupied, gate with a jet bridge extending from the building.]
:[A voice emanates from the plane, with a speech line starting at a star burst on top of the plane's cabin. The voice makes it clear that this is the captain speaking through the internal public address system:]
:Captain's voice: This is your captain speaking. As you've probably noticed, we're still grounded due to weather
:Captain's voice: But the first officer and I have been looking at bridge clearance maps and our top taxiing speed, and we have an idea.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Aviation]]

Category:Comics edited after their publication

2025-08-08T12:42:27Z

82.132.246.173: Slightly better term? Probably not worth the toss, but certainly feels more relevent.

[[Randall]] occasionally updates comics after they are published, often to fix unintentional errors or appease fan complaints. This category lists all comics whose image, title, or title text have been edited after release. (Excluding those that were intended to be updated, such as some [[:Category:Interactive comics|interactive comics]].) The comic [[851: Na]] is a special case, as Randall created an "improved" version and linked to it, but kept the original image in place.

[[Category:Distinctive comics]]

2591: Qua

2025-08-08T12:32:05Z

82.132.246.173: /* Explanation */ Making it clear it's a quote (though a link would be good... presume it's like one editor complains about "is" being changed into "was", and another editor explains that this is how it had originally been?)

{{comic
| number = 2591
| date = March 9, 2022
| title = Qua
| image = qua.png
| titletext = Qua qua qua is the sine qua non of sine qua non qua sine qua non.
}}

==Explanation==
[[wikt:qua|Qua]] is a relatively rare, formal word, from Latin, roughly meaning "in the capacity of". For instance "In essence, military regimes are autocracies in which the military qua organization performs many of the functions performed by the ruling party in single-party regimes".

Saying something is "X qua X" (e.g. "entertainment qua entertainment") means when X is being viewed in its most typical capacity (eg, entertainment as something that entertains, rather than as a business, a form of propaganda, or whatever).


For example, "A copy, qua copy, can never be the equal of the exemplar, and it may be much its inferior." [https://www.yourdictionary.com/qua]

[[Cueball]] claims that people only use ''qua'' to "sound pretentious" without properly understanding its meaning. Thus, people do not use "qua ''qua'' qua", or "qua for the sake of qua". However, [[Megan]] one-ups this with a series of seven ''qua''s: she compliments Cueball's successful use of "qua qua qua ''qua'' qua qua qua", or "the phrase 'qua qua qua' for its correct meaning".

The joke is that, for the reader, the conversation has likely dissolved into gibberish because of unfamiliar terminology and {{w|semantic satiation}}. This is similar to other complex sentences such as {{w|Buffalo buffalo|"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo"}}, "was was was before is", {{w|That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is|"That that is is that that is not is not is that it it is"}}, and {{w|Had had had|"James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher"}}. Following this trend, you can create a grammatically correct sentence that includes 'qua' a consecutive number of times equal to (2n-1), where n is a natural number.

The title text goes further with this, using a Latin phrase {{w|sine qua non}} (meaning literally "without which not"), commonly rendered as "that which is absolutely necessary" or "essential". Thus, the title text says that "the word 'qua' in its real meaning is essential to the phrase 'sine qua non' used correctly".

However, the "qua" in "sine qua non" is a demonstrative pronoun ("which"), unlike the other "qua" which is an adverb, so the similarity is only coincidental.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are speaking to each other.]
:Cueball: People mostly use "qua" to sound pretentious. You rarely hear qua ''qua'' qua.
:Megan: Nice use of qua qua qua ''qua'' qua qua qua.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Language]]