explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1776: Reindeer

2016-12-24T01:49:14Z

Count Schlick:

Captcha does not work on mobile browser. (Android Firefox) Had to switch over to laptop to make edit. Also, it's two words, not one as the thing above implies ("To help protect against automated edit spam, please type the word you see in the box below:") ~Dartania [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.141|162.158.74.141]] 14:03, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

: This post was made with Firefox on Android. Are you sure you didn’t just get a difficult CAPTCHA? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.214|108.162.216.214]] 14:32, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
Title text could be a parody of "When what to my wondering eyes should appear/but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer" from "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ('Twas the Night Before Christmas) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus's_reindeer#Eight_reindeer
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.10|172.68.78.10]] 14:42, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
: Seems more likely to be a few lines later, “And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof / The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.” [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.249|162.158.62.249]] 15:19, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

To pick nits, an octopus has eight arms and no tentacles. A squid has eight arms plus two tentacles. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.94|162.158.34.94]] 15:21, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Is the octopus tentacle comment adding anything? I believe octopodophobia is substantially rarer than arachnophobia (to the extent that it doesn't seem to have an official name); Cthulhu aside, I suspect a deer with octopus tentacles would mostly look weird (or comical) rather than scary. To most, I suspect octopus tentacles are only scary if you're on a ship being attacked by a kraken or if you're a diver and one is playfully tugging on your respirator. Of course, I speak as an arachnophobe who cringed when I saw this comic... [[User:Fluppeteer|Fluppeteer]] ([[User talk:Fluppeteer|talk]]) 15:39, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Fun bit of trivia: Loki is Sleipnir's ''mom.''[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.47|108.162.246.47]] 19:23, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Does Randall's repeating interest in spiders have any relevance here? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.53|108.162.250.53]] 21:32, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

I think Randall screwed up with the title text. Spiders only have two (or, rarely, three) tarsal claws (See last line here: https://www.amnh.org/learn/biodiversity_counts/ident_help/Parts_Arthropods/male_spider.htm). So either BlackHat has been doing more agressive genetic engineering than you'd think or Randall screwed up! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.39|162.158.69.39]] 21:44, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
:Maybe he's keeping it simple for people who ''didn't'' know that. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 00:32, 24 December 2016 (UTC)
:I think the link provided above says that spiders have only two (or, rarely, three) tarsal claws ''per leg''. This site (http://www.findaspider.org.au/info/glossary.htm) mentions that each leg has these claws, and some spiders have a median claw behind their main pair. This refers to the third claw spiders sometimes have, mentioned in the previous link. 01:37, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[[User:Count Schlick|Count Schlick]] ([[User talk:Count Schlick|talk]])

Talk:1776: Reindeer

2016-12-24T01:48:39Z

Count Schlick:

Captcha does not work on mobile browser. (Android Firefox) Had to switch over to laptop to make edit. Also, it's two words, not one as the thing above implies ("To help protect against automated edit spam, please type the word you see in the box below:") ~Dartania [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.141|162.158.74.141]] 14:03, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

: This post was made with Firefox on Android. Are you sure you didn’t just get a difficult CAPTCHA? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.214|108.162.216.214]] 14:32, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
Title text could be a parody of "When what to my wondering eyes should appear/but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer" from "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ('Twas the Night Before Christmas) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus's_reindeer#Eight_reindeer
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.10|172.68.78.10]] 14:42, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
: Seems more likely to be a few lines later, “And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof / The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.” [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.249|162.158.62.249]] 15:19, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

To pick nits, an octopus has eight arms and no tentacles. A squid has eight arms plus two tentacles. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.94|162.158.34.94]] 15:21, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Is the octopus tentacle comment adding anything? I believe octopodophobia is substantially rarer than arachnophobia (to the extent that it doesn't seem to have an official name); Cthulhu aside, I suspect a deer with octopus tentacles would mostly look weird (or comical) rather than scary. To most, I suspect octopus tentacles are only scary if you're on a ship being attacked by a kraken or if you're a diver and one is playfully tugging on your respirator. Of course, I speak as an arachnophobe who cringed when I saw this comic... [[User:Fluppeteer|Fluppeteer]] ([[User talk:Fluppeteer|talk]]) 15:39, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Fun bit of trivia: Loki is Sleipnir's ''mom.''[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.47|108.162.246.47]] 19:23, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Does Randall's repeating interest in spiders have any relevance here? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.53|108.162.250.53]] 21:32, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

I think Randall screwed up with the title text. Spiders only have two (or, rarely, three) tarsal claws (See last line here: https://www.amnh.org/learn/biodiversity_counts/ident_help/Parts_Arthropods/male_spider.htm). So either BlackHat has been doing more agressive genetic engineering than you'd think or Randall screwed up! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.39|162.158.69.39]] 21:44, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
:Maybe he's keeping it simple for people who ''didn't'' know that. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 00:32, 24 December 2016 (UTC)
:I think the link provided above says that spiders have only two (or, rarely, three) tarsal claws ''per leg''. This site (http://www.findaspider.org.au/info/glossary.htm) mentions that each leg has these claws, and some spiders have a median claw behind their main pair. This refers to the third claw spiders sometimes have mentioned in the previous link. 01:37, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[[User:Count Schlick|Count Schlick]] ([[User talk:Count Schlick|talk]])

1776: Reindeer

2016-12-24T01:47:47Z

Count Schlick:

{{comic
| number = 1776
| date = December 23, 2016
| title = Reindeer
| image = reindeer.png
| titletext = And then in a twinkling, a sound gave me pause / From the roof came the scratching of eight tarsal claws.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs lots more stuff.}}
[[Black Hat]] is at it again, by replacing the eight reindeer of {{w|Santa Claus|Santa's}} sleigh with a single spider-legged reindeer. He considers this "more authentic" because Santa Claus is based on Odin (among ''many'' other things), the chief god of Norse mythology. On the pagan holiday of Yule, Odin was said to ride his eight-legged horse, {{w|Sleipnir}}, across the land. Children would leave one of their boots out and fill it with hay for Sleipnir to eat, then Odin would refill the boot with gifts. This presages the Christmas tradition of hanging stockings by the chimney.

The intuitive interpretation of a horse with eight legs is probably making the body longer to make an additional set of normal equine legs fit in. Such a creature could be made to look natural. Black Hat's interpretation is to change the type of legs in order to fit all eight legs in there. Many people do think of spiders when they think of "eight legs." But the result of this is to make a chimaera (Greek word for any animal with body parts from two or more different animals), and a terrifying one at that. Black Hat also thus plays upon arachnophobia, or the quite common fear of spiders.

The title text is a parody of two lines from the poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", "And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof / The prancing and pawing of each little hoof." The lines are changed to what they could have been if Santa had a spider-legged reindeer.

The title text refers to the sound of "eight tarsal claws", referring to the small pair (or triplet) of claws at the end of each of a spider's eight legs. These claws allow them to hold onto objects, including their own web.

==Transcript==
Black Hat: In earlier Norse myths, the eight reindeer were actually one steed with eight ''legs''.

Black Hat: So I think this is more authentic.

Boy: AAAAAA!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Christmas]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]

Talk:1776: Reindeer

2016-12-24T01:37:29Z

Count Schlick:

Captcha does not work on mobile browser. (Android Firefox) Had to switch over to laptop to make edit. Also, it's two words, not one as the thing above implies ("To help protect against automated edit spam, please type the word you see in the box below:") ~Dartania [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.141|162.158.74.141]] 14:03, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

: This post was made with Firefox on Android. Are you sure you didn’t just get a difficult CAPTCHA? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.214|108.162.216.214]] 14:32, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
Title text could be a parody of "When what to my wondering eyes should appear/but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer" from "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ('Twas the Night Before Christmas) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus's_reindeer#Eight_reindeer
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.78.10|172.68.78.10]] 14:42, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
: Seems more likely to be a few lines later, “And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof / The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.” [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.249|162.158.62.249]] 15:19, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

To pick nits, an octopus has eight arms and no tentacles. A squid has eight arms plus two tentacles. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.94|162.158.34.94]] 15:21, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Is the octopus tentacle comment adding anything? I believe octopodophobia is substantially rarer than arachnophobia (to the extent that it doesn't seem to have an official name); Cthulhu aside, I suspect a deer with octopus tentacles would mostly look weird (or comical) rather than scary. To most, I suspect octopus tentacles are only scary if you're on a ship being attacked by a kraken or if you're a diver and one is playfully tugging on your respirator. Of course, I speak as an arachnophobe who cringed when I saw this comic... [[User:Fluppeteer|Fluppeteer]] ([[User talk:Fluppeteer|talk]]) 15:39, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Fun bit of trivia: Loki is Sleipnir's ''mom.''[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.47|108.162.246.47]] 19:23, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Does Randall's repeating interest in spiders have any relevance here? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.53|108.162.250.53]] 21:32, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

I think Randall screwed up with the title text. Spiders only have two (or, rarely, three) tarsal claws (See last line here: https://www.amnh.org/learn/biodiversity_counts/ident_help/Parts_Arthropods/male_spider.htm). So either BlackHat has been doing more agressive genetic engineering than you'd think or Randall screwed up! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.69.39|162.158.69.39]] 21:44, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
:Maybe he's keeping it simple for people who ''didn't'' know that. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 00:32, 24 December 2016 (UTC)
:I think the link provided above says that spiders have only two (or, rarely, three) tarsal claws ''per leg''. This site (http://www.findaspider.org.au/info/glossary.htm) mentions that each leg has these claws, and some spiders have a median claw behind their main pair. This refers to the third claw spiders sometimes have in the previous link. 01:37, 24 December 2016 (UTC)[[User:Count Schlick|Count Schlick]] ([[User talk:Count Schlick|talk]])