explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3131: Cesium

2026-04-04T20:41:04Z

Bautistaarian:

I think that's called a recipe for disaster. NOTE: I am also 104.225.172.143. [[Special:Contributions/138.43.101.123|138.43.101.123]] 14:36, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
: No, ''I'' am 104.225.172.143! [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:09, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
:: I'm 104.225.172.143, and so's my wife! [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:42, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
:::I also chose this guy's wife. [[Special:Contributions/2600:1014:B130:F85B:54C8:CB88:DB33:11D0|2600:1014:B130:F85B:54C8:CB88:DB33:11D0]]
::::I'm also. --[[User:Utdtutyabthsc|Utdtutyabthsc]] ([[User talk:Utdtutyabthsc|talk]]) 09:45, 21 January 2026 (UTC)

My best recipe comes with a Notice to Mariners [[User:Hcs|Hcs]] ([[User talk:Hcs|talk]]) 14:45, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

I added a transcript. Hopefully it's okay. [[Special:Contributions/104.225.172.143|104.225.172.143]] 14:54, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

A gram of gold runs on the order of ~$100 USD as of writing; a gram of cs-137 looks to be in the millions~billions range. --[[Special:Contributions/158.91.163.9|158.91.163.9]] 14:55, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

: Nope. [https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2024/mcs2024-cesium.pdf It's 99 dollars]. [[Special:Contributions/191.57.16.100|191.57.16.100]] 20:40, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
:: I think you're quoting the price for Caesium metal in general, which is probably almost entirely Caesium 133; Caesium 137 is a synthetic isotope which could easily be a million times more expensive than the natural stuff, gram for gram. [[Special:Contributions/80.41.70.128|80.41.70.128]] 22:37, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
::: You're right, my bad. I couldn't find a quote for Cs137, but considering it's produced from uranium, it probably is very expensive. As for the shrimp thing, I doubt anything close to a gram of Cesium ended up in the shipment. It's probably a component from a measuring device. [[Special:Contributions/177.12.48.45|177.12.48.45]] 09:57, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
:Caesium contamination usually is caused by nuclear accidents (or atmospheric nuclear weapon tests) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesium-137#Environmental_contamination. It is unlikely that someone acquired pure Cs-137 and then "accidentally" contaminated the shrimp with that. --[[Special:Contributions/134.102.219.31|134.102.219.31]] 15:31, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
: Cs137 can be found for approximately 20 USD per µCi, which equals 0.0000000115g. That means 1g would cost 1,739,130,435 USD. The good news is that same gram would be worth 20 USD in another 795.7 years. Although it wouldn't be all Cs-137 anymore, nor exactly a gram. [[Special:Contributions/77.173.137.243|77.173.137.243]] 21:19, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
::So, what you're saying is... not a good investment for the future, with a 99.99999885ish% depreciation (''before'' any effects of monetary inflation), on top of me also having to become somewhere roughly around 8.5 centuries old. I suppose the latter ''might'' be a plus, if you can guarantee it, but it's not exactly a ringing endorsement for your scheme. ;) [[Special:Contributions/84.43.20.118|84.43.20.118]] 22:04, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

Bothering the NSA shouldn't be hard, just write some of their secrets on a cake (with frosting is optional) and post it online. [[Special:Contributions/212.101.26.209|212.101.26.209]] 14:57, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
: I feel like the writing on the cake is not part of its recipe. I think a more fitting way to get their attention would be "accidentally" poisoning the president with your cooking. --
[[Special:Contributions/128.31.34.92|128.31.34.92]] 22:09, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
:If it gets worse, simply expressing disagreement with a certain person could get the NSA on your case. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 02:10, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

What would IMO do, revoke your math license? [[Special:Contributions/216.73.162.10|216.73.162.10]] 15:22, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
: They have numerous penalties at their disposal. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:27, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
: I imagined the reason the IMO would get involved would be because the recipe created some interesting mathematical problem that could be used for the next competition. For example, something like [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct3lCfgJV_A this video], where a grocery order taken too literally creates a seemingly harmless Diophantine equation whose smallest positive solutions are on the order of 10^80. [[Special:Contributions/137.25.230.78|137.25.230.78]] 15:56, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
: A cook on Air Force 1 "accidentally" contaminates Trump's fast food with cesium. The assassination attempt fails and US retaliates by invading Canada/Panama/Greenland (roll 1d3). IMO bans the US team, like they banned Russia in 2022. Thus a single cooking "accident" can get the attention of IAEA, IATA, IMO, and NSA. --[[Special:Contributions/128.31.34.92|128.31.34.92]] 22:21, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

Maybe The IATA could get involved if your ruined recipe caused food poisoning on a commercial airliner that then resulted in an in-air emergency (whole flight deck passed out). {{unsigned ip|170.85.70.249|17:32, 20 August 2025 (UTC)}}
:Or if you create a column of dense toxic fumes that spreads over a wide area (on the level of a volcano eruption). On the other hand, I wonder what could bring the attention of the IMO when Terryology seemingly couldn't.--[[Special:Contributions/94.73.52.245|94.73.52.245]] 18:56, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

The criticality accident in 1999 at the Tokaimura nuclear facility seems like a good example of messing up a recipe in a way that draws considerable attention. {{w|Tokaimura nuclear accidents}} [[Special:Contributions/2600:387:4:803:0:0:0:1B|2600:387:4:803:0:0:0:1B]] 19:11, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

1. Randall creates a new way to cook airplane food that is either cheap enough or expensive enough to significantly affect airline ticket pricing. 2. Randall's recipe poisons a Math Olympiad team. 3. The coach of the team turns out to be an undercover spy. [[Special:Contributions/24.53.184.90|24.53.184.90]] 23:47, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

{{w|IATA}} is an international trade association for airlines. It's not particularly involved in air safety, except as a sideline; the {{w|International Civil Aviation Organization}} is much more involved that way. However, IATA used to be directly concerned with recipes. In the 1950s, the IATA airlines agreed on international standards for meals, under which economy class passengers would only be provided with sandwiches. However, airlines such as SAS and Swissair provided their passengers with more and better sandwiches than U.S. airlines such as Pan Am and TWA were willing to provide. Eventually IATA issued a rule that sandwiches were to be cold, simple, unadorned, and inexpensive, feature “a substantial and visible” chunk of bread, and could not include materials normally regarded as expensive or luxurious, such as smoked salmon, oysters, caviar, lobster, game, asparagus, or pate de foie gras. Providing better sandwiches than those IATA allowed could result in a fine. (The rule was later revoked to allow economy class passengers to receive hot meals.) So at one point, it was possible to mess up a sandwich recipe by adding expensive ingredients that would incur the wrath of IATA. --[[Special:Contributions/208.59.176.206|208.59.176.206]] 00:43, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

The explanation "... if the recipe is used in major airports, and the recipe is contaminated with a drug, the pilots that eat could experience vision loss or other problems, and if this recipe is widely used and normal people won't notice much besides minor side effects, then this could attract the attention of of the IATA" does not make sense. If a recipe caused vision loss when pilots ate the food, it would also cause vision loss for non-pilots. --[[Special:Contributions/208.59.176.206|208.59.176.206]] 00:49, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

The phrase "messing up a recipe" means whatever Randall intended it to mean. The fact that some people may use the phrase to mean to make something at home does not mean that such a definition was intended by Randall. I don't think I have ever heard "messing up a recipe" mean anything other than ruining the preparation of the food. [[User:Inquirer|Inquirer]] ([[User talk:Inquirer|talk]]) 02:55, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
:Someone who ''creates'' recipes could make a mistake, publish a bad recipe, and cause problems. If a recipe left food unsafe, for example: not cooked enough to kill bacteria, left at room temperature for an unsafe time, etc. Tell people to find wild mushrooms, and that the red mushrooms with white spots are extra tasty. :-) [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:37, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

:If Randall ever made a recipe for lava cake, one of the problems would how you keep it from melting the plate. [[Special:Contributions/107.77.205.64|107.77.205.64]] 18:23, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

Is it possible this comic was inspired by the [https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/fda-advises-public-not-eat-sell-or-serve-certain-imported-frozen-shrimp-indonesian-firm recent FDA recall on certain Indonesian frozen shrimp]? [[Special:Contributions/174.21.93.112|174.21.93.112]] 03:33, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
:That's noted, with that specific link, in the second sentence of the Explanation here. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:41, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
::Ack, apologies. I may be a little stupid. [[Special:Contributions/174.21.93.112|174.21.93.112]]

68 Bq/kg of Cs-137 is about 93 billions Cs-137 atoms in 1 kg of shrimp, that is about 1,5 picomole or 213 picograms. On the other hand one BED (banana equivalent dose) is ~15 Bq per piece, so eating a half pound package of this shrimp will irradiate you in the same amount as eating one banana, in terms of number of decays, but much less in terms of biological dose: potassium-40 in bananas emit beta radiation which is much more harmful when coming from ingested material than beta and gamma, roughly equally emitted by Cs-137. So this recall is on the level of emptying a reservoir after two guys pissed into it. Security theater. -- [[Special:Contributions/2620:1F7:2C04:7C44:0:0:31:3A|2620:1F7:2C04:7C44:0:0:31:3A]] 14:12, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
: Or the Dutch boy at the [deleted] dike. With the assault by Our ([https://www.dude-n-dude.com/2025/08/06/amoebas-lorica-meme-ories-68-introducing-humility/ USNA]) Government on such business-insensitive excesses as food safety, we should be grateful that the FDA is, at least for now, still capable of functioning at this level. [[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:160:DB08:5C9D:407E:3E50:C822|2605:59C8:160:DB08:5C9D:407E:3E50:C822]] 15:08, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
:The advisory does say that the danger is very low. I think this is one of those "abundance of caution" things. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:35, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
:: I mean, you can't assume each individual shrimp was mixed with the same amount of cesium. Maybe some of it got a super dose and is actually harmful. Since the general public doesn't carry around geiger counters to restaurants, I say the recall is warranted.
::: Reminds me of the tale of [https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/n3sfi6/til_in_1911_physicist_george_de_hevesy_suspected/ George de Hevesy] who effectively ''did'' take a geiger counter to the (boarding house) dining table... But, then, he was suspecting that something would be found. Different times! [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.60|82.132.236.60]] 15:40, 23 August 2025 (UTC)
:: I think the fact that there is any cs137 in the shrimp at all is concerning. Where is it coming from? Did someone dump spent nuclear fuel near a fishery? How much and for how long? [[Special:Contributions/177.12.48.45|177.12.48.45]] 14:45, 23 August 2025 (UTC)
::: Not read the incident report, maybe it says there. But it's quite possible that some stage of processing uses a radiation source to scan the load of shrimp for unwanted debris (pass it under the emitter, if any significant bits of metal/dirt is in the supply, it'll cause a notable fluctuation in the detector beneath), ''or'' perhaps to asses the mass distribution (if the water content is enough to moderate the source-to-detector signal in a relatable manner, it could accurately estimate the quantity of shrimp passing by continuously, where weighing is less practical/accurate given the volume and continuous movement; ''or'' it might even track the average ''size'' of shrimp, for grading purposes). They do use small amounts of isotopes for that kind of thing. Amerecium is famouspy used in smoke-detectors/alarms, and other radionuclides (chosen for their particular mix of alpha/beta/gamma radiation, availability and sufficient half-life to match the product use-span.
::: Now imagine what if, perhaps ironically, the emitter capsule vibrated loose (or was dropped, in the midst of a swap-out of an 'old' one, and for some reason the person wldoing it didn't feel the need to emergency-stop the line) and got into the supply chain, either fragmenting or leaching out (as heat and cold, and perhaps mechanical pressures, further prepared the shrimp-load, now with added debris). [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.60|82.132.236.60]] 15:40, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

Mooseberry fudge cake batter could very easily get the attention of the International Air Transport Association and possibly the NSA. As well as the Pottsylvania espionage community. [[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 06:27, 23 August 2025 (UTC)

Currently the explanation seems kind of centered on the idea that recipe only means a cooking recipe. "Recipe" used to mean to take, as in a prescription - a physician's instructions to a pharmacist/chemist. (This wiki entry recently said that recipe outside of cookery was a metaphor/extension - it isn't.) Recipe as cookery came later. If you look up recipe in the dictionary, cookery is just a special case.[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recipe Merriam Webster - recipe]

"Recipe - 1580s, "medical prescription, a formula for the composing of a remedy written by a physician," from French récipé (15c.), from Latin recipe "take!" (this or that ingredient), ... It was the word written by physicians at the head of prescriptions. Figurative meaning "a prescribed formula" is from 1640s. Meaning "instructions for preparing a particular food" is recorded by 1716." Rx is a holdover from Recipe.
[https://www.etymonline.com/word/recipe etymonline - recipe]

Cookery is only some of the every-day chemistry we do. Mixing chlorine bleach and various substances (ammonia, acids like vinegar, alcohol) can have nasty results.

Messing up a prescription, a chemical formula or chemical/nuclear ingredients is well within the literal definition of messing up a recipe, and gives more latitude for coming up with things that might draw attention from those organizations. [[Special:Contributions/2600:387:4:803:0:0:0:98|2600:387:4:803:0:0:0:98]] 18:10, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

Sqround or tricylinder-shaped cakes or bread can attract the IMO's attention. [[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:34F9:178:1B57:97B3|2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:34F9:178:1B57:97B3]] 08:26, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

Manajd 2 d̊ ꝥ, vïə putiŋ pqsən & ẗ epstän fïls ĩ ẗ cikn ꝥ a flït fild wiþ IMO kontestants.
[[Special:Contributions/Bautistaarian|Bautistaarian]] 20:40, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3131: Cesium

2026-04-04T20:39:53Z

Bautistaarian:

Talk:1564: Every Seven Seconds

2025-03-07T20:39:39Z

Bautistaarian:

Not true, but where did it come from? http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/thinksex.asp [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.155|108.162.249.155]] 11:55, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Sorry SteveMB, but I don't think we need to tell the joke again in order to explain it. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1564%3A_Every_Seven_Seconds&diff=99634&oldid=99632]. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 12:58, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
:While this may be true, I actually found the first explanation to be much more valuable and insightful than this two mini-paragraph drab. The author of this new version doesn't even make the distinction between thinking about sex every seven seconds and thinking about having sex every seven seconds. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:04, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
::Agreed. Although the first explanation wasn't perfect, it was better than the replacement. The title text explanation in this version is missing the point. We should look to re-incorporate some/most of the original explanation. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 13:08, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
:::The first explanation says nothing about sociologists. I added that when I realized I had missed it, and Pudder realized it was missing when he read my terse explanation, but not when he read the verbose explanation that SteveMB wrote. Note also that we always explain the difficult terms first ''(seven seconds'' in this case). The original "explanation" actually is a retelling of the joke. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 13:29, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
:::: The sociologist joke explanation was missing, I noted that when I added the incomplete tag, not because of your comment. In adding your explanation you wiped a lot of existing explanation, perhaps you believe it isn't necessary, but its frustrating because your explanation is frankly no better. In particular, your version of the title text explanation is simply missing the point. (The point that was previously explained!) --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 13:34, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

The title text is misunderstood. It's about <<sex in every 7 seconds>> he thinks, how unplausible ''that'' would be. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.97.202|141.101.97.202]] 13:39, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

You all may be right about the title text. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 13:44, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Please compare
{|class=wikitable
!Verbose!!Terse
|-
|Cueball is raising skeptical objections to something, first dismissing the notion out of hand ("There's no way that's true."), then noting that it would cause obvious and unmistakable effects that are not, in fact, observed ("It would interfere with basic cognition."), then deciding that the idea is tied to an absurd worldview ("Such a ridiculous view of masculinity."), then raising the question of how anyone would even know whether or not the claim is true ("How would you even ''study'' that?"). These objections, particularly the second and third one, and the title "Every Seven Seconds" suggest that the statement Cueball is dismissing is the oft-stated assertion that men think about sex every seven seconds.
 
The title text confirms this inference...
|In this joke Cueball seems to be raising skeptical objections to this myth ''[the seven-seconds myth]''. The title of the comic (Every seven seconds) hints strongly about it, and all comments lead us to believe that Cueball wants to debunk the myth. However in the punchline we learn that Cueball is a sociologist who disbelieves in a team of his colleagues actually studying such a difficult subject (the same objection raised in BBC's reference).
|-
|}
The first explanation says nothing about sociologists, and falls into the trap of believing that the joke is simply about debunking an urban myth. I fell into that trap myself, but soon I realized my mistake. [[User:Xhfz|Xhfz]] ([[User talk:Xhfz|talk]]) 13:51, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

I think the Explanation is missing the obvious connotations to this joke. For example, ''"Cueball is a sociologist who disbelieves in a team of his colleagues actually studying such a difficult subject"'' what does this even mean? The explanation is that sociologists (implied: all sociologists) think about the urban myth every seven seconds and the thought bubbles in the comic are their possible thoughts. Each thought bubble would take place predictably every seven seconds. The setup is that thinking about sex every seven seconds would be dysfunctional and unproductive in addition to making working, social interactions, etc... nearly impossible as explained by the sociologists thoughts. The punch line is that thinking about how ridiculous it is to think about sex every seven seconds is just as dysfunctional and unproductive even if the thought time is spent refuting the original notion as understood in third person.--[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 16:27, 14 August 2015 (UTC)
:Agreed, nowhere does the comic imply that Cueball is thinking about any "team". His thoughts are about how ridiculous the fact is. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.156|162.158.255.156]] 04:54, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

;Plausibility of every seven seconds

Cueball is thinking about it from a statician's standpoint (units have a tendency to be within a couple orders of magnitude at furthest). However, it should be pointed out that from a math & physics perspective, there's nothing irrational about the comment at all. Afterall, a person can assume that it's an average. (Afterall, it would be difficult for a counterpoint of un-concious un-dreaming men to be thinking about sex every seven seconds.) "Once" leaves a lot of wiggle room as "once" is not coupled with any particular unit of measurement. Once could be one second, it could be seven seconds, it could be a millionth of a second.

All a man (or woman) would have to do is think about sex once in their entire lifespan, and that moment would just have to be divided by 1/7th of all of the seconds in their life combined, and you have your average figure.

So, considering that interpretation, I would like to present my mathmatical observation to provide a more complete picture of men thinking of sex every seven seconds...

Women think about sex once every 3 seconds.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.191|108.162.237.191]] 07:10, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

:If you think about it from a math & physics perspective, you are actually showing how ridiculously unsubstantial that "once per 7 seconds per average" statement is. Puting aside the "how do you count that" problem, the BBC approach of counting how many times per day people think about sex makes more sense. For example, if you are actually HAVING sex, you are likely to think about it for (significantly) longer than 7 seconds without interruption. (Jokes about premature ejaculation and about women thinking what to make for dinner while having sex notwithstanding.) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:01, 15 August 2015 (UTC)
Having sex an average of an hour each day and defining "thinking about" as to cover each moment would give a rate of once every twenty-four seconds. Note that if ones definition of "thinking about" allows for multiple thoughts in parallel (e.g. while dancing at a concert, think of the beat, the melody, your partners, the crowd, your current/anticipated dance moves, the lyrics, sex AND drugs) would increase the feasibility of such high ratios.

Measuring frequency of sexual thoughts by giving a click counter for subjects to press when for each direct and indirect thought about sex can approach 100%, if the subject thinks about sex by considering whether to push the button, because each button press would correspond to another thought to be tallied.
[[User:Comet|Comet]] ([[User talk:Comet|talk]]) 20:27, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

You are standing on a garden path. To the left, the complex houses married and single soldiers and their families. To the right, the horse raced past the barn fell. The old man the boat. The government plans to raise taxes were defeated. [[User:Aasasd|Aasasd]] ([[User talk:Aasasd|talk]]) 08:01, 18 August 2015 (UTC)

I think about sex WAY more than I'd like to admit, and involving a thing I'd rather not admit either, and I'm a girl. Given that I spend about minimum 3-4 hours per day either masturbating or drawing porn or in general thinking sexy thoughts, yes. On average, I personally think of sex every 7ish seconds. Yes, I realize this is an issue. No, it's not interfering with the important, college-related things in my life. No I don't care to "fix" my "problem" Hahaha! [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 04:53, 7 October 2015 (UTC)

The statistic is true, but beacause Glenn Quagmire thinks about sex every few microseconds the average is skewed. [[User:Bautistaarian|Bautistaarian]] ([[User talk:Bautistaarian|talk]]) 20:39, 7 March 2025 (UTC)

1060: Crowdsourcing

2025-02-20T20:45:48Z

Bautistaarian:

{{comic
| number = 1060
| date = May 25, 2012
| title = Crowdsourcing
| image = crowdsourcing.png
| titletext = We don't sell products; we sell the marketplace. And by 'sell the marketplace' we mean 'play shooters, sometimes for upwards of 20 hours straight.'
}}
==Explanation==
{{w|Crowdsourcing}} is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers. In the new Internet economy, it is not uncommon for companies to rely on crowdsourced designs or ideas, to contract the marketing to another firm, or to interact with customers through social networks established by other companies.

[[Cueball]], however, is describing a business strategy which manages to do all three by "crowdsourcing" the process of getting a company and a prospective employee together. Cueball describes it as helping people with ideas find funding, similar to Kickstarter or Indiegogo, but rather than setting up a system to facilitate the process, he plans to use already-existing social networks (such as Facebook and Twitter). Effectively, by relying on outside support for all steps of the business plan, his company does nothing; however, because the parts of his strategy are all feasible separately, and because he describes them with a barrage of trendy buzzwords, his audience is impressed and fails to notice the company's essential pointlessness.

In the title text Cueball claims that "we don't sell a product, we sell the marketplace," a phrase that typically describes a company whose business model is to facilitate the business of other companies, and would be a plausible reason for a company to not make products. However, this is revealed to be yet more empty buzzwords when Cueball clarifies that they don't actually do any work and instead play video games ("shooters" refer to shooter games, a genre of video game).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing in front of a flowchart on a wall, indicating with a pointer. A man and two women are looking on with interest. One woman holds a briefcase.]
:Cueball: We crowdsource the design process, allowing those with the best designs to connect—
:Cueball: via already-in-place social networking infrastructure—
:Cueball: with interested manufacturers, distributors, and marketers.
:[Caption below the panel:]
:Nobody caught on that our business plan didn't involve ''us'' in any way— it was just a description of other people making and selling products.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

1034: Share Buttons

2025-02-20T16:41:17Z

Bautistaarian:

{{comic
| number = 1034
| date = March 26, 2012
| title = Share Buttons
| image = share_buttons.png
| titletext = The only post to achieve perfect balance between the four was a hilarious joke about Mark Zuckerberg getting caught using a pseudonym to sneak past the TSA.
}}

{{incomplete|This article needs to be rewritten to be more timely. Things like Google+, Twitter, and the "large and loud atheist community on Reddit" should not be referenced in the present tense. Share buttons like this are also not seen very often anymore, particularly with these share counters. This should be rewritten to provide some historical context for these buttons, as it may be confusing to younger readers.}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a commentary on what sort of articles would have attracted the most attention on different {{w|social networking services}} at the time of the publication of this comic, through share buttons showing the amount of interactions on the website they were shared to. This practice became outdated, in favor of using a single share button, without a share counter. From left to right the share buttons are: {{w|Facebook}}, {{w|Twitter}}, {{w|Reddit}}, and the now-defunct {{w|Google plus|Google+}}.

*Twitterers were often stereotyped as constantly trying to be funny; hence, the article on stand-up comedy was shared most on Twitter.

*{{w|Conspiracy theory}} articles played well on Reddit, especially if they were against the {{w|Christian Right}} and for {{w|Wikipedia}}, as there was a very prominent atheist community on Reddit.

*"Boycott Facebook" articles were ironically popular on Facebook. Google+, being semantically akin to Facebook, also had a significant anti-Facebook community. One of the punchlines is that Google+ wasn't being used often, before being closed down in 2019.

*The last article got almost no shares at all — not many would want to admit they are reading an article about a {{w|RealDoll}}, a type of sex doll. (Also mentioned in [[Game AIs]] and [[Flying Cars]].) A custom ROM is an aftermarket distribution of the {{w|Android (operating system)|Android}} operating system and are often targeted toward enthusiasts. This community existed primarily on Google+ (as Google is the main developer of Android), and was one of the few active communities on that social network. As Android is an operating system primarily aimed at {{w|smartphones}} and {{w|tablet computers}}, installing it on a RealDoll, whilst possible due to Android's {{w|open source}} nature, would be a very niche activity, and the low number of shares indicates that it only interested a small portion of the already-small (relative to other social networks) Google+ community.

The title text humorously combines appealing subjects for all four networks:

*''a hilarious joke'' – Twitter, same as above.
*''about {{w|Mark Zuckerberg}}'' – founder of Facebook.
*''using a {{w|pseudonym}}'' – referencing a [http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218649/Google_works_to_soothe_users_over_real_name_controversyremember controversy] about real names on Google+.
*''to sneak past the {{w|Transportation Security Administration|TSA}}'' – Reddit, a conspiracy theory as above.

==Transcript==
:[A series of article titles with four share buttons underneath each: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and Google+]

:Breaking Into Stand-up Comedy
:FB: 3, Twitter: 1,781, Reddit: 2, G+: 0

:How the Christian Right Threatens Wikipedia
:FB: 1, Twitter: 0, Reddit: 2,241, G+: 3

:Boycott Facebook Today!
:FB: 248k, Twitter: 0, Reddit: 0, G+: 74

:DIY: Installing a Custom ROM on a Realdoll
:FB: 0, Twitter: 0, Reddit: 0, G+: 2

:[Caption Below the comic]
:Sometimes the most interesting part of an article is the share button vote breakdown

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Google Plus]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Sex]]

1034: Share Buttons

2025-02-20T16:39:04Z

Bautistaarian:

{{comic
| number = 1034
| date = March 26, 2012
| title = Share Buttons
| image = share_buttons.png
| titletext = The only post to achieve perfect balance between the four was a hilarious joke about Mark Zuckerberg getting caught using a pseudonym to sneak past the TSA.
}}

{{incomplete|This article needs to be rewritten to be more timely. Things like Google+, Twitter, and the "large and loud atheist community on Reddit" should not be referenced in the present tense. Share buttons like this are also not seen very often anymore, particularly with these share counters. This should be rewritten to provide some historical context for these buttons, as it may be confusing to younger readers.}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a commentary on what sort of articles would have attracted the most attention on different {{w|social networking services}} at the time of the publication of this comic, through share buttons showing the amount of interactions on the website they were shared to. This practice became outdated, in favor of using a single share button, without a share counter. From left to right the share buttons are: {{w|Facebook}}, {{w|Twitter}}, {{w|Reddit}}, and the now-defunct {{w|Google plus|Google+}}.

*Twitterers were often stereotyped as constantly trying to be funny; hence, the article on stand-up comedy was shared most on Twitter.

*{{w|Conspiracy theory}} articles played well on Reddit, especially if they were against the {{w|Christian Right}} and for {{w|Wikipedia}}, as there was a very prominent atheist community on Reddit.

*"Boycott Facebook" articles were ironically popular on Facebook. Google+, being semantically akin to Facebook, also had a significant anti-Facebook community. One of the punchlines is that Google+ wasn't being used often, before being closed down in 2019.

*The last article got almost no shares at all — not many would want to admit they are reading an article about a {{w|RealDoll}}, a type of sex doll. (Also mentioned in [[Game AIs]] and [[Flying Cars]].) A custom ROM is an aftermarket distribution of the {{w|Android (operating system)|Android}} operating system and are often targeted toward enthusiasts. This community existed primarily on Google+ (as Google is the main developer of Android), and was one of the few active communities on that social network. As Android is an operating system primarily aimed at {{w|smartphones}} and {{w|tablet computers}}, installing it on a RealDoll, whilst possible due to Android's {{w|open source}} nature, would be a very niche activity, and the low number of shares indicates that it only interested a small portion of the already-small (relative to other social networks) Google+ community.

The title text humorously combines appealing subjects for all four networks:

*''a hilarious joke'' – Twitter, same as above.
*''about {{w|Mark Zuckerberg}}'' – founder of Facebook.
*''using a {{w|pseudonym}}'' – referencing a [http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218649/Google_works_to_soothe_users_over_real_name_controversyremember controversy] about real names on Google+.
*''to sneak past the {{w|Transportation Security Administration|TSA}}'' – Reddit, a conspiracy theory as above.

==Transcript==
:[A series of article titles with four share buttons underneath each: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and Google+]

:Breaking Into Stand-up Comedy
:FB: 3, Twitter: 1,781, Reddit: 2, G+: 0

:How the Christian Right Threatens Wikipedia
:FB: 1, Twitter: 0, Reddit: 2,241, G+: 3

:Boycott Facebook Today!
:FB: 248k, Twitter: 0, Reddit: 0, G+: 74

:DIY: Installing a Custom ROM on a Realdoll
:FB: 0, Twitter: 0, Reddit: 0, G+: 2

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Social networking]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Google Plus]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Sex]]

1033: Formal Logic

2025-02-20T16:33:05Z

Bautistaarian:

{{comic
| number = 1033
| date = March 23, 2012
| title = Formal Logic
| image = formal_logic.png
| titletext = Note that this implies you should NOT honk solely because I stopped for a pedestrian and you're behind me.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a riff on bumper stickers that say "honk if you love ____". Here, the subject is {{w|Mathematical logic|formal logic}}, but the word "if" is replaced with a formal logic term "{{w|If and only if|iff}}," which means "if and only if".

The term "If and only if" sets two separate requirements, both of which must be met. In this case, you must love formal logic in order to be allowed to honk, and you must honk if you love formal logic. (Conversely, someone who does not love formal logic is prohibited from honking, and someone who loves formal logic cannot refuse to honk.) The title text further elaborates on this, saying in essence: "Don't honk at me just because you're impatient that I stopped for a pedestrian."

The joke is the contained self-reference: you have to love formal logic to take the sticker seriously and honk for exclusively that reason. The title text reveals the sticker is actually there to stop people from honking at him altogether, because Randall understandably hates it when he yields for pedestrians only to get honked at by some impatient driver behind him; the ONLY reason you're allowed to honk is to declare your love for formal logic. So by extension, if someone DOES honk while he is stopped for a pedestrian, he can simply enjoy the idea that the other driver loves formal logic rather than being impatient, transforming what might otherwise be an irritant into pleasure.

==Transcript==
:[The rear end of a car (with an unreadable license plate), with a bumper sticker above the tailpipe to the right:]
:Honk iff you love
:<big>formal logic</big>

==Trivia==
This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20211215032158/https://store.xkcd.com/products/formal-logic-bumper-sticker available as a sticker] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Bumper Stickers]]
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]

775: Savannah Ancestry

2025-02-09T21:30:35Z

Bautistaarian:

{{comic
| number = 775
| date = August 4, 2010
| title = Savannah Ancestry
| image = savannah_ancestry.png
| titletext = She's a perfectly nice lady from a beautiful city, and there's no reason to be mean just because she thinks a quarterback is a river in Egypt.
}}

==Explanation==
First, some quick definitions: Savanna ancestry usually means our ancestors in the {{w|Human evolution|African savanna}}, millions of years ago; {{w|Savannah, Georgia|Savannah, Georgia, USA}} is a city in the United States; Evo-psych means {{w|evolutionary psychology}}

[[Cueball]] is apparently trying to teach [[Megan]] something mathematical, feels frustrated at his lack of success, blames that lack of success entirely on his student, and appears to use evolutionary psychology, specifically a popular trope/myth about women being bad at abstract thinking, as an excuse. Evolutionary excuses in this context are trying to lay blame somewhere other than either participant, and so can be seen as comforting, but of course they falsely place all women in an inferior position to all men, at least when it comes to "abstract math". She naturally objects to the excuse, rightly calls it bullshit sexism, and, depending on how you interpret it, may indicate this isn't the first time she's heard him say something similar.

But the twist is that he turns out not to be talking about her lower-case savanna (which may also be spelled with "h" like the city) ancestors, the ones in the African savanna of millenia ago, but rather of her very recent "Savannah ancestors", better called parents, who live in the city of Savannah. They apparently know each other well. The implication is now much more personal: that her mother didn't prepare her. Of course, Randall uses only upper case everywhere, so he has avoided giving the reader a clue about the misdirect-joke he is working toward.

Teasing people about their mothers in the USA — specifically that their mothers' are particularly stupid, fat or promiscuous — is a common enough theme in popular culture that there is a series of jokes that start with the words "Yo mama" that exemplify the genre. There is also an extremely common theme that the South's education system is failing; the comic combines the two.

The title text is apparently Megan starting to defend her mother, but then lapsing into a Yo Mama joke without the introducing words, showing that her mother is stupid enough to think that a quarterback (one of the positions played in American football) would be a river in Egypt. This is a conflation of the Yo Mama joke "Yo mama so stupid she thinks a quarterback is a refund!" and the common pun, "Denial (sounds like "The Nile") is not just a river in Egypt".

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are at a blackboard with equations and graphs on it.]
:Cueball: Look, I'm doing my best, but the fact is your savannah ancestors just didn't prepare you for doing abstract math.
:Megan: See, that's just the kind of bullshit sexism that discredits evo-psych. Your "evolutionary histories" always seem tuned to produce 1950's gender roles.
:Cueball: Evolutionary? What? I meant Savannah, ''Georgia.''
:Megan: ...Hey! Let's leave my mom out of this.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Your Mom]]
[[Category:Puns]]

561: Well

2025-02-02T20:48:11Z

Bautistaarian:

{{comic
| number = 561
| date = March 27, 2009
| title = Well
| image = well.png
| titletext = I'll concede ergonomics anecdotally, but none of the studies of Dvorak were at all rigorous (the most-cited Navy study was overseen by Dvorak himself). And the 'slow typists down' thing is a myth. Also EMACS RULES VI DROOLS WOOOOOOO!
}}

==Explanation==
This is the first comic in the [[:Category:Well|Well]] series. It was followed by [[568: Well 2]].

Uncomfortable truths are truths that exist, but no one wants to have to think about them.

The first is about ''{{w|Firefly (TV Series)|Firefly}}'', the TV series created by {{w|Joss Whedon}} and canceled by {{w|FOX}}, due to poor ratings performance, after {{tvtropes|OutOfOrder|airing the first 13 episodes out-of-order}}. In ''Firefly'', the main languages spoken are English and Chinese (supposedly in equal measure), because China was the only other world power besides America to go to space (Joss Whedon's own explanation on the DVDs). However, there are {{tvtropes|HumansAreWhite|very few actual Asians}} on-screen.

The second is about two different keyboard layouts, QWERTY and Dvorak. Early {{w|typewriter}}s used to jam easily if two nearby keys were struck at about the same time. To work around this, the {{w|QWERTY}} layout, named after the first six letters on its keys, scattered common letter combinations around the keyboard, thus greatly avoiding the problem. Later typewriter mechanisms were less prone to jamming, which prompted a few people to try to create alternative layouts, such as {{w|Blickensderfer typewriter|Blickensderfer's DHIATENSOR layout}} in 1892, or the {{w|Dvorak Simplified Keyboard}} in 1932. Such layouts never really caught on; by then, typists were all very used to the QWERTY layout, and were unwilling to take the time and effort to learn a new one.

In the Dvorak layout, {{w|August Dvorak}} placed the most frequently used keys at the most easily accessible places; Dvorak's advocates claim this reduces typing effort and repetitive strain (as mentioned in the title text) while increasing typing speed and accuracy. However, rigorous, unbiased studies have yet to clearly show significant superiority. (As the title text mentions, the most commonly cited study in Dvorak's favor was overseen by Dvorak himself during his US Navy service in World War II.)

This was the second comic to refer to Dvorak after [[554: Not Enough Work]], and since then it has become a [[:Category:Dvorak|recurrent theme]] on xkcd.

The third and fourth truths are connected: they involve the two people receiving them and (presumably) their relationship with each other. Every time [[Cueball]] said "I love you" he never really meant it; whereas [[Megan]] meant it every time she said "I love you". This is very uncomfortable for both! This could also be intentional, since in [[568: Well 2]], a person called Mike (who happens to be a friend of [[Megan]]), is actually hiding inside the well and tells these uncomfortable "truths", he would have intentionally broken Cueball and Megan up to be able to manipulate Megan in the next installment.

The title text perpetuates the {{w|Editor war|Emacs vs. vi debate}}. Both {{w|Emacs}} and {{w|Vim (text editor)|Vim}} are text editors that are frequently used as general-language editors of source code. The issue is that, while Emacs is more user-friendly and customizable, vim is more lightweight while needing few keystrokes in text editing. Because of this balance, fans of Emacs and fans of vim end up fighting each other.

==Transcript==
:[A sign sits by a well.]
:The Uncomfortable Truths Well

:[A Cueball-like guy and Ponytail are lined up for the well; the guy throws a coin in.]
:Well: For a universe that's supposed to be half Chinese, Firefly sure doesn't have any Asians.

:[The guy is gone, Cueball and Megan arrives as a couple lining up behind Ponytail; Ponytail throws a coin in.]
:Well: There's no solid evidence DVORAK's better than QWERTY. The standard histories are urban legends.

:[Just the couple remain; Cueball throws another coin in.]
:Well: You've never said "I love you" and meant it. It was always just words.

:[Megan has presumably also thrown a coin in the well. This is not shown as for the first three. Cueball waits for her on the other side of the well.]
:Well: You meant it every time.

==Trivia==
*In the comic game [[1608: Hoverboard]] there is also a well in the left part of the world. This well has the same type of covered top and at the bottom (it is very deep) there is a girl and above her a coin, like the one thrown into a wishing well. On these links, to images on {{xkcd}}; used in the game, the [http://xkcd.com/1608/980:-1077+s.png top] and the [http://xkcd.com/1608/980:-1073+s.png bottom] of the well can be seen.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Well]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|Well]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Dvorak]]
[[Category:Sarcasm]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Firefly]]
[[Category:Emacs]]

179: e to the pi times i

2025-01-12T18:23:52Z

Bautistaarian:

{{comic
| number = 179
| date = November 3, 2006
| title = e to the pi times i
| image = e_to_the_pi_times_i.png
| titletext = I have never been totally satisfied by the explanations for why e to the ix gives a sinusoidal wave.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic largely references {{w|Euler's identity}}. This identity states that eiπ + 1 = 0. Therefore, eiπ = −1.
The humor from this comic is because of the seemingly arbitrary relationship between e, π, and the identity of i (the square root of −1). e is the mathematical identity of which the derivative of ex with respect to x is still ex, while π is the relationship between the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. Taking these two values and applying them to the value of i in such a manner makes it seem counter-intuitive that it would yield −1 from basic analysis. The above linked Wikipedia page goes into good detail of how to derive this identity, as does [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dhHrg-KbJ0 this YouTube video].

The title text refers to how Euler's identity is called upon in complex form (separating real and imaginary numbers): eix = cos(x) + i sin(x).

From ''[[xkcd: volume 0]]'':
{{quote|I initially got the sign wrong here, and got 40 emails in 3 hours.}}

==Transcript==
:[Two Cueballs are standing at a board with writing on. One Cueball is pointing at the board.]
:Cueball: Numbers of the form n√-1 are "imaginary," but can still be used in equations.
:Friend: Okay.
:Cueball: And e^(π√-1)=-1.
:Friend: Now you're just fucking with me.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

Talk:1307: Buzzfeed Christmas

2024-12-08T14:21:59Z

Bautistaarian:

Randall seems somewhat obsessed with buzzfeed titles lately. I suggest whoever takes this explanation upon themselves to refer to [[1283:_Headlines]], as the two comics circle pretty much the same subject. I've got a feeling he made at least one more comic on this matter, but Headlines is the only one that popped to my head. Maybe you could refer Headlines to this comic because they share the same concept? [[User:Dulcis|Dulcis]] ([[User talk:Dulcis|talk]]) 06:43, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

I have added the link from [[1283:_Headlines]] to this comic. I also think there is at least one other comic that thouches on this, but it has slipped my mind at the moment. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:36, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

5 Gold iPhones!!! --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 14:44, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

I don't like how Buzzfeed is taking over the Internet either, so kudos to it and get off my lawn. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.66|108.162.215.66]] 20:03, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

Weird. I only just learned what Buzzfeed was the other day (and in the comments came across this link: http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=buzzfeed )
Additionally, the Reading Every Book What-If was published the day after I had that same conversation with someone. 2Spooky.
:Doesn't hurt that I have that conversation a couple times each year. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 03:24, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

Wait a minute... following the pattern of the first three lines, the Buzzfeed writers are apparently throwing ''swans'' at the carolers. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.214|108.162.219.214]] 07:28, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

In the explanation, shouldn't it be 4 colly birds? {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.128}}

: @108.162.219.214 - Six ''geese'', according to the version I know (also listed above). Although I've heard all kinds of mix-ups (12..9 Lords/Ladies/Pipers/Drummers, for example, rather than P/D/Lo/La), it seems to be pretty universally swans for the seventh multiple. It's been prone to change in the days of yore, of course, oral memory and localism.
: @unsigned "colly birds" commenter - Likewise, "calling" is well established variant (easier for city-folks who are used to caged songbirds, perhaps), I'm sure the following covers this... https://www.google.co.uk/#q=colly+birds+or+calling+birds (Although I haven't looked at any of what's said there, myself. It'd take the mystery out of Christmas. Merry Christmas, BTW, to one and all. And Randall, especially, if you're actually likely to read this in time, or at all. Happy (next) Birthday or Future Christmas or Labor Day or whatever else is imminent, if otherwise! ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.249|141.101.99.249]] 14:53, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

Did anyone ever go try doing this at BuzzFeed? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.75|108.162.216.75]] 14:05, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

Why would Randall let this comic out on a Sunday. The first entry in the explain history is from the Monday after - the 22th of December. Anyone who can find out if this is the correct date, or just a mistake from when the page was created? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:12, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Well, I know what I'm doing next December. [[User:Danish|Danish]] ([[User talk:Danish|talk]]) 21:28, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Here, I completed it:
9 Ladies whose dancing will make you go nuts,
8 Maids whose milking leaves the cows bananas,
7 Swans that swim in the most spectacularly way possible,
here's the 6 Geese that lay the MOST gourmet eggs EVER,
the 5 most luxurious Golden rings EVER,
the 4 most annoying Calling birds EVER,
the 3 most best-looking French hens,
the 2 LAST Turtle doves in the world.
the secrets of why there's a partridge on a pear tree. 2:21 8 december 2024 (UTC)

Talk:1307: Buzzfeed Christmas

2024-12-08T14:21:44Z

Bautistaarian:

Talk:1307: Buzzfeed Christmas

2024-12-08T14:21:24Z

Bautistaarian:

Talk:1307: Buzzfeed Christmas

2024-12-08T14:20:39Z

Bautistaarian:

Randall seems somewhat obsessed with buzzfeed titles lately. I suggest whoever takes this explanation upon themselves to refer to [[1283:_Headlines]], as the two comics circle pretty much the same subject. I've got a feeling he made at least one more comic on this matter, but Headlines is the only one that popped to my head. Maybe you could refer Headlines to this comic because they share the same concept? [[User:Dulcis|Dulcis]] ([[User talk:Dulcis|talk]]) 06:43, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

I have added the link from [[1283:_Headlines]] to this comic. I also think there is at least one other comic that thouches on this, but it has slipped my mind at the moment. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:36, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

5 Gold iPhones!!! --[[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 14:44, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

I don't like how Buzzfeed is taking over the Internet either, so kudos to it and get off my lawn. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.66|108.162.215.66]] 20:03, 23 December 2013 (UTC)

Weird. I only just learned what Buzzfeed was the other day (and in the comments came across this link: http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=buzzfeed )
Additionally, the Reading Every Book What-If was published the day after I had that same conversation with someone. 2Spooky.
:Doesn't hurt that I have that conversation a couple times each year. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.117|108.162.238.117]] 03:24, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

Wait a minute... following the pattern of the first three lines, the Buzzfeed writers are apparently throwing ''swans'' at the carolers. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.214|108.162.219.214]] 07:28, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

In the explanation, shouldn't it be 4 colly birds? {{unsigned ip|199.27.128.128}}

: @108.162.219.214 - Six ''geese'', according to the version I know (also listed above). Although I've heard all kinds of mix-ups (12..9 Lords/Ladies/Pipers/Drummers, for example, rather than P/D/Lo/La), it seems to be pretty universally swans for the seventh multiple. It's been prone to change in the days of yore, of course, oral memory and localism.
: @unsigned "colly birds" commenter - Likewise, "calling" is well established variant (easier for city-folks who are used to caged songbirds, perhaps), I'm sure the following covers this... https://www.google.co.uk/#q=colly+birds+or+calling+birds (Although I haven't looked at any of what's said there, myself. It'd take the mystery out of Christmas. Merry Christmas, BTW, to one and all. And Randall, especially, if you're actually likely to read this in time, or at all. Happy (next) Birthday or Future Christmas or Labor Day or whatever else is imminent, if otherwise! ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.249|141.101.99.249]] 14:53, 24 December 2013 (UTC)

Did anyone ever go try doing this at BuzzFeed? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.75|108.162.216.75]] 14:05, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

Why would Randall let this comic out on a Sunday. The first entry in the explain history is from the Monday after - the 22th of December. Anyone who can find out if this is the correct date, or just a mistake from when the page was created? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:12, 20 April 2015 (UTC)

Well, I know what I'm doing next December. [[User:Danish|Danish]] ([[User talk:Danish|talk]]) 21:28, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Here, I completed it:
9 Ladies whose dancing will make you go nuts
8 Maids whose milking leaves the cows bananas
7 Swans that swim in the most spectacularly way possible
here's the 6 Geese that lay the MOST gourmet eggs EVER
the 5 most luxurious Golden rings EVER
the 4 most annoying Calling birds EVER
the 3 most best-looking French hens
the 2 LAST Turtle doves in the world
the secrets of why there's a partridge on a pear tree. 2:20 8 december 2024

Category:My Hobby

2024-11-27T14:48:35Z

Bautistaarian:

"My Hobby" is a series of [[xkcd]] comics in which [[Randall]] suggests (hopefully fictional) hobbies he has. The hobbies tend to be clever or smart-aleck things to do. They do not always fall under the type of activity that would generally be described as a "hobby", but often are merely things Randall (or [[Cueball]]) does when certain situations arise. "My Hobby" comics are not presented regularly, but there have been a number such strips throughout the course of ''xkcd''.

'''Click''' to expand for a more detailed explanation:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
There is a clear relation to the much smaller collection of [[:Category:Pet Peeves|Pet Peeves]]. See also [[:Category:Protip|Protip]], [[:Category:Tips|Tips]], [[:Category:How to annoy|How to annoy]], [[:Category:Fun fact|Fun fact]] and [[:Category:Facts|Facts]].

Randall's hobbies are many, and there have usually been regular returns to them, but after the February 6th 2017 comic, [[1795: All You Can Eat]], it took 165 comics and more than a year before the series returned with [[1960: Code Golf]], on 26th February 2018. This may also be related to the fun fact that the previous comic was from the ''Fun fact'' series, and was the second of those released in that same month, after several years without one. See more on the page for [[:Category:Fun fact|Fun fact]]. To be included the two words ''My Hobby'' has to be part of the comic. So this comic, [[615: Avoidance]], with the word ''Hobby'' included in the title text is not a ''My Hobby'' comic, since it does not specify that it would be Randall's hobby.

Also there are several comics that describes what could be called a hobby without the H word being mentioned. For instance Randall seems to be interested in looking like he can predict something, by guessing, and then looking cool or the like when he guesses correctly, see for instance [[2203: Prescience|this comic]] and its [[2203: Prescience#Trivia|trivia]], with three more examples of such comics.
</div>
 
[[Category:Comics by topic]]
[[Category:Comic series]]

Category:My Hobby

2024-11-27T14:47:52Z

Bautistaarian:

1003: Adam and Eve

2024-11-22T21:20:54Z

Bautistaarian:

{{comic
| number = 1003
| date = January 13, 2012
| title = Adam and Eve
| image = adam_and_eve.png
| titletext = Abel and Steve would've been fine! I like Steve!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a take on the anti-homosexual refrain, used often at those sorts of rallies "It was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve". This refrain is used to support the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman because in the {{w|Old Testament}} God created a man and a woman to start the human race. {{w|Adam and Eve}} are in the story in the Bible of the creation ({{w|Book of Genesis}}), and are the first pair of humans, created by God.

Adam walks in on Eve having sexual relations with {{w|Cain and Abel|Abel}}, who is Adam's son, which turns the joke from a homosexual one into an incest one.

In the title text, Adam continues that he would have preferred walking in on Abel and Steve. As well as probably no longer needing to be irked at the surprise involvement of his presumed spouse, and mother to his son, Adam seems not to have a homophobic prejudice (or less of one). Unlike those who use the contemporary version of the phrase. What's more, he doesn't personally dislike Steve in general and possibly considers him one of the better partners available at this time.

==Transcript==
:[Adam, portrayed as Cueball, has his palms out.]
:Adam: It's '''''Adam''''' and '''''Eve''''', not '''''Abel''''' and '''''Eve!!'''''

:[Caption below panel:]
:Adam was freaked out by what he'd just walked in on.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Religion]]

Category:Penis

2024-11-22T21:17:21Z

Bautistaarian: Since penises are associated with sex, it makes sense for this category to be in sex.

Many jokes in this category refer simply to the word penis while others are related to penis size. See also [[:Category:Sex]].

[[Category:Comics by topic]]
[[Category:Sex]]