explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1595: 30 Days Hath September

2026-04-01T09:43:25Z

Maur11cio: Signature

THIS RHYME IS TERRIBLE. You can slot the months into it in nearly any order and it will still scan. The knuckle trick is far superior. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_days_hath_September#Knuckle_Mnemonic
[[User:CLAVDIVS|CLAVDIVS]] ([[User talk:CLAVDIVS|talk]]) 06:00, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

:I use the knuckle trick too. And I am Dutch, so not only the "German, French, Swiss, Romanians and Belgians" use that trick. I count from the index finger and reverse on the little finger for July and August. Might not be representative for all Dutch, I've heard the rhyme too. (suitably translated) -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.196|141.101.104.196]] 09:36, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
:I'm floored by the claim that the 'knuckle trick' is mostly used in Europe. I learned it from my grandmother, who never lived outside the state of Texas in over 90 years, and she was a third-generation American, ultimately of Irish/Scottish/Welsh descent. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.16|108.162.221.16]] 12:00, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

:From Jan to Jul(1~7) its odd numbers 31 days, while from Aug to Dec(8~12) its even numbers 31. Feb is 28 or 29. Much shorter. - MythSearcher {{unsigned ip|162.158.176.35}}
::Or (in other words) subtract 7 if number of month is above 7. Then odd always means 31 and even 30 or February. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.159|162.158.91.159]] 07:39, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
::: Or, in yet other words, if (number of month) mod 7 is odd. But the knuckle trick is so much easier to teach to young children... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.192.35|162.158.192.35]] 08:34, 3 November 2015 (UTC)
:As above, except that I use Hallowe'en and New Year as checks! {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.61}}
:I come from the UK. I have never heard the rhyme and everyone I know uses the knuckle trick. Though London is not exactly representative of the whole country... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.165|162.158.90.165]] 09:51, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
:I've been taught the knuckle mnemonic as a child; it went index finger to little finger, then to other hand starting from index finger again. Incidentally, I'm Russian (as opposed to German, French, Swiss, Romanian, Belgian, or Dutch). --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.77|141.101.81.77]] 10:00, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
Datum point: British, was taught the rhyme ('alone'-rhyming version) when young but then learnt the (apparently widespread) 'knuckle-trick' from I-don't-know-where. Little-finger knuckle is January, index-finger knuckle is July, then right-hand in reverse, for me, until out of months... So I tend to use the latter more, now. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.39.224|162.158.39.224]] 17:23, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
:I'm American and I also recall hearing the finger trick in school. I don't recall which ones I used though. At some point I just remembered that they alternate long/short but July and August are both long (I think my dad telling me the story of how Julius Caesar and Caesar Agustus both wanted a long month named after them was the reason) and just counted mentally, and at this point I just have each one memorized that way. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.34|173.245.54.34]] 05:28, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

I always heard "30 days hath september, april june and november, all the rest have 31, except february alone. And that has 28 days clear, with 29 in each leap year."
How do people remember it if it doesn't rhyme?- madness! {{unsigned ip|162.158.38.218}}
:Personally I could swear I heard "except for February which has none" as a child, and recall thinking as a child that made no sense. However, literally none of the other variants work- "alone" doesn't rhyme with "one" (...even though they should; are there any accents that pronounce those the same?), and it also doesn't scan; this comic actually sent me to Wikipedia to look; turns out they have a massive list of variants but the lack of rhyming there is painful. The only ones that work are those that give up on describing February (ex. "Except for February—and that's no fun!"). I strongly suspect based on the lack of rhyming that the rhyme originated with something like "which has none" and was modified to make sense at the expense of rhyming. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.34|173.245.54.34]] 05:28, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
::While, in my normal inflection of speech, "wonn" certainly doesn't rhyme with "al-own", I find it quite easy to go for a nearly-but-not-quite rhyme by extnding the first and shortening the second. There's worse 'rhymes' out there. Traditional local accents also vary a lot in my area, between towns a few mere miles apart (e.g. "book" => "buk" or "bewk") and I'm sure I could find some old person who still spoke a pure enough form of their own local dialect to effortlessly pull this trick off, without even trying, even if it doesn't match in the modern 'smeared-English'. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 14:07, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
:No no no, its "30 days hath November, August, March and December..." --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 11:31, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

::Pudder, No no no no no no, March and August and December have 31 days! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.163|108.162.249.163]] 23:30, 27 October 2015 (UTC)
:::"Twenty days have October,
:::January, March and July.
:::Also June, May, November,
:::February, August and April.
:::Also also December and September,
:::But they also have.
:::Between eight and eleven additional days for which this mnemonic is insufficiently detailed about;
:::Nor does it even rhyme or scan and its punction is! Terrible?"
:::HTH, HAND. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.109|141.101.99.109]] 14:37, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

In Spain both rhyme and knuckle are well-known, and usually taught to children (the rhyme suitably [https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendario_gregoriano#Duraci.C3.B3n_del_a.C3.B1o_gregoriano translated], of course). For some reason, I've always found it easier to just remember the number of days by memory than resorting to any mnemonic trick. I tend to use the known numbers to check if I remember the mnemonic correctly, and not vice versa. Also, it's usual to see people wondering which number corresponds to which month (e.g. October is month 10), which I also remember no problem since I have memory. [[User:Jojonete|Jojonete]] ([[User talk:Jojonete|talk]]) 12:37, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
::Of course if we hadn't moved the start of the year from March to January, September, October, November and December would make much more sense as months 7, 8, 9 and 10! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.204|162.158.34.204]] 15:30, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
:I'm from Denmark and here I have heard of the knuckle method, but we do not have a rhyme that is so well know that I have heard of it (but I'm sure someone has.) But as the Jojonete wrote I also just know which month have how many days by memory etc. But I have told my six year old daughter about the knuckle method. I think it is great that it works. And everyone knows that February is the one with 28 days, so that is not the difficult part to remember... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:50, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

I tried the mouseover text trick and got "7" for October. Someone help! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.119|162.158.255.119]] 17:10, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

:You are very funny. The mouseover text trick works great when your app is set to "month" view, but fails if set to "week" view. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.163|108.162.249.163]] 23:30, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

October of all months seems like a pretty easy one to keep track of, simply because October 31st is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween pretty popular holiday.] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.11|108.162.220.11]] 18:48, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
: A holiday where? Why would it be a holiday? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.33|198.41.238.33]] 03:00, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

Slightly less trivial live hack is that if you want to know how many work days a month has, check dates 29, 30 and 31 for work days and add 20. For example, at the time of writing, in April 2026, days 29.4. and 30.4. are both work days, so April has 2 + 20 = 22 work days. (You have to subtract work holidays, i.e. Christmas, manually.) [[User:Maur11cio|Maur11cio]] ([[User talk:Maur11cio|talk]]) 09:43, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

;brain adaptation ridicule…celebration
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.5|141.101.66.5]] 09:44, 27 October 2015 (UTC) me thinks that while the absurdity of these life hacks has been explained well the deeper issue might yet be missed here: the cultural shift from relying on mental recall and concentration to adapting your brain to rely on technology more than before, reduced attention span and reduced factual memory (better childhood telephone number recall than children's mobile numbers recall) and optimized lookup routines {{unsigned ip|141.101.66.5}}

<big>digital amnesia!</big> --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.5|141.101.66.5]] 10:02, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-34454264 --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.5|141.101.66.5]] 10:38, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

+ http://www.business2community.com/brandviews/wyzowl/its-official-we-have-shorter-attention-spans-than-goldfish-infographic-01353885#w1RCPWdWy1LoDlvI.97 --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.5|141.101.66.5]] 10:48, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

My uncle had a nonsense rhyme based on this: 
Thirty days hath September, 
April, June, and no wonder 
All the rest ate peanut butter, 
Except Grandma, who rode a tricycle 
about this color. (holds hand 3 feet above ground) 
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.26|108.162.216.26]] 13:19, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Yay! I came here specifically to post this version, but was beaten to it. It's from the Napolean XIV album from 1966: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvABMymQz_k {{unsigned ip|108.162.218.142}}

[[File:pianomonths.png]] --[[User:Zom-B|Zom-B]] ([[User talk:Zom-B|talk]]) 08:09, 30 October 2015 (UTC)

Actually you just have to remeber August. Start with January, 31 days. Now it alternates between less-than 31 days and 31 days until July. August does not fit in with 31 days. Start alternating again until december. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.239|198.41.242.239]] 14:38, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

Alternate calendar system that would make remembering month lengths easier:

Jan 31
Feb 30
Mar 31
Apr 30
May 31
Jun 30
Jul 31
Aug 30
Sep 31
Oct 30
Nov 30/leap year 31
Dec 30

To convert back to Gregorian calendar:
Jan 1 - Feb 28 same as Gregorian.
Feb 29 - Aug 30 add two to the day to get back to the Gregorian calendar.
Sep 1 - Dec 30 add one to the day

Please correct the conversion factors if they are incorrect![[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.30|141.101.104.30]]

Talk:1595: 30 Days Hath September

2026-04-01T09:42:01Z

Maur11cio: Life hack: How many work days in a month

THIS RHYME IS TERRIBLE. You can slot the months into it in nearly any order and it will still scan. The knuckle trick is far superior. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_days_hath_September#Knuckle_Mnemonic
[[User:CLAVDIVS|CLAVDIVS]] ([[User talk:CLAVDIVS|talk]]) 06:00, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

:I use the knuckle trick too. And I am Dutch, so not only the "German, French, Swiss, Romanians and Belgians" use that trick. I count from the index finger and reverse on the little finger for July and August. Might not be representative for all Dutch, I've heard the rhyme too. (suitably translated) -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.196|141.101.104.196]] 09:36, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
:I'm floored by the claim that the 'knuckle trick' is mostly used in Europe. I learned it from my grandmother, who never lived outside the state of Texas in over 90 years, and she was a third-generation American, ultimately of Irish/Scottish/Welsh descent. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.16|108.162.221.16]] 12:00, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

:From Jan to Jul(1~7) its odd numbers 31 days, while from Aug to Dec(8~12) its even numbers 31. Feb is 28 or 29. Much shorter. - MythSearcher {{unsigned ip|162.158.176.35}}
::Or (in other words) subtract 7 if number of month is above 7. Then odd always means 31 and even 30 or February. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.159|162.158.91.159]] 07:39, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
::: Or, in yet other words, if (number of month) mod 7 is odd. But the knuckle trick is so much easier to teach to young children... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.192.35|162.158.192.35]] 08:34, 3 November 2015 (UTC)
:As above, except that I use Hallowe'en and New Year as checks! {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.61}}
:I come from the UK. I have never heard the rhyme and everyone I know uses the knuckle trick. Though London is not exactly representative of the whole country... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.165|162.158.90.165]] 09:51, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
:I've been taught the knuckle mnemonic as a child; it went index finger to little finger, then to other hand starting from index finger again. Incidentally, I'm Russian (as opposed to German, French, Swiss, Romanian, Belgian, or Dutch). --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.81.77|141.101.81.77]] 10:00, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
Datum point: British, was taught the rhyme ('alone'-rhyming version) when young but then learnt the (apparently widespread) 'knuckle-trick' from I-don't-know-where. Little-finger knuckle is January, index-finger knuckle is July, then right-hand in reverse, for me, until out of months... So I tend to use the latter more, now. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.39.224|162.158.39.224]] 17:23, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
:I'm American and I also recall hearing the finger trick in school. I don't recall which ones I used though. At some point I just remembered that they alternate long/short but July and August are both long (I think my dad telling me the story of how Julius Caesar and Caesar Agustus both wanted a long month named after them was the reason) and just counted mentally, and at this point I just have each one memorized that way. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.34|173.245.54.34]] 05:28, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

I always heard "30 days hath september, april june and november, all the rest have 31, except february alone. And that has 28 days clear, with 29 in each leap year."
How do people remember it if it doesn't rhyme?- madness! {{unsigned ip|162.158.38.218}}
:Personally I could swear I heard "except for February which has none" as a child, and recall thinking as a child that made no sense. However, literally none of the other variants work- "alone" doesn't rhyme with "one" (...even though they should; are there any accents that pronounce those the same?), and it also doesn't scan; this comic actually sent me to Wikipedia to look; turns out they have a massive list of variants but the lack of rhyming there is painful. The only ones that work are those that give up on describing February (ex. "Except for February—and that's no fun!"). I strongly suspect based on the lack of rhyming that the rhyme originated with something like "which has none" and was modified to make sense at the expense of rhyming. --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.34|173.245.54.34]] 05:28, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
::While, in my normal inflection of speech, "wonn" certainly doesn't rhyme with "al-own", I find it quite easy to go for a nearly-but-not-quite rhyme by extnding the first and shortening the second. There's worse 'rhymes' out there. Traditional local accents also vary a lot in my area, between towns a few mere miles apart (e.g. "book" => "buk" or "bewk") and I'm sure I could find some old person who still spoke a pure enough form of their own local dialect to effortlessly pull this trick off, without even trying, even if it doesn't match in the modern 'smeared-English'. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 14:07, 28 October 2015 (UTC)
:No no no, its "30 days hath November, August, March and December..." --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 11:31, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

::Pudder, No no no no no no, March and August and December have 31 days! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.163|108.162.249.163]] 23:30, 27 October 2015 (UTC)
:::"Twenty days have October,
:::January, March and July.
:::Also June, May, November,
:::February, August and April.
:::Also also December and September,
:::But they also have.
:::Between eight and eleven additional days for which this mnemonic is insufficiently detailed about;
:::Nor does it even rhyme or scan and its punction is! Terrible?"
:::HTH, HAND. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.109|141.101.99.109]] 14:37, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

In Spain both rhyme and knuckle are well-known, and usually taught to children (the rhyme suitably [https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendario_gregoriano#Duraci.C3.B3n_del_a.C3.B1o_gregoriano translated], of course). For some reason, I've always found it easier to just remember the number of days by memory than resorting to any mnemonic trick. I tend to use the known numbers to check if I remember the mnemonic correctly, and not vice versa. Also, it's usual to see people wondering which number corresponds to which month (e.g. October is month 10), which I also remember no problem since I have memory. [[User:Jojonete|Jojonete]] ([[User talk:Jojonete|talk]]) 12:37, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
::Of course if we hadn't moved the start of the year from March to January, September, October, November and December would make much more sense as months 7, 8, 9 and 10! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.204|162.158.34.204]] 15:30, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
:I'm from Denmark and here I have heard of the knuckle method, but we do not have a rhyme that is so well know that I have heard of it (but I'm sure someone has.) But as the Jojonete wrote I also just know which month have how many days by memory etc. But I have told my six year old daughter about the knuckle method. I think it is great that it works. And everyone knows that February is the one with 28 days, so that is not the difficult part to remember... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:50, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

I tried the mouseover text trick and got "7" for October. Someone help! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.119|162.158.255.119]] 17:10, 26 October 2015 (UTC)

:You are very funny. The mouseover text trick works great when your app is set to "month" view, but fails if set to "week" view. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.163|108.162.249.163]] 23:30, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

October of all months seems like a pretty easy one to keep track of, simply because October 31st is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween pretty popular holiday.] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.11|108.162.220.11]] 18:48, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
: A holiday where? Why would it be a holiday? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.33|198.41.238.33]] 03:00, 28 October 2015 (UTC)

Slightly less trivial live hack is that if you want to know how many work days a month has, check dates 29, 30 and 31 for work days and add 20. For example, at the time of writing, in April 2026, days 29.4. and 30.4. are both work days, so April has 2 + 20 = 22 work days. (You have to subtract work holidays, i.e. Christmas, manually.)

;brain adaptation ridicule…celebration
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.5|141.101.66.5]] 09:44, 27 October 2015 (UTC) me thinks that while the absurdity of these life hacks has been explained well the deeper issue might yet be missed here: the cultural shift from relying on mental recall and concentration to adapting your brain to rely on technology more than before, reduced attention span and reduced factual memory (better childhood telephone number recall than children's mobile numbers recall) and optimized lookup routines {{unsigned ip|141.101.66.5}}

<big>digital amnesia!</big> --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.5|141.101.66.5]] 10:02, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-34454264 --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.5|141.101.66.5]] 10:38, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

+ http://www.business2community.com/brandviews/wyzowl/its-official-we-have-shorter-attention-spans-than-goldfish-infographic-01353885#w1RCPWdWy1LoDlvI.97 --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.5|141.101.66.5]] 10:48, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

My uncle had a nonsense rhyme based on this: 
Thirty days hath September, 
April, June, and no wonder 
All the rest ate peanut butter, 
Except Grandma, who rode a tricycle 
about this color. (holds hand 3 feet above ground) 
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.26|108.162.216.26]] 13:19, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Yay! I came here specifically to post this version, but was beaten to it. It's from the Napolean XIV album from 1966: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvABMymQz_k {{unsigned ip|108.162.218.142}}

[[File:pianomonths.png]] --[[User:Zom-B|Zom-B]] ([[User talk:Zom-B|talk]]) 08:09, 30 October 2015 (UTC)

Actually you just have to remeber August. Start with January, 31 days. Now it alternates between less-than 31 days and 31 days until July. August does not fit in with 31 days. Start alternating again until december. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.239|198.41.242.239]] 14:38, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

Alternate calendar system that would make remembering month lengths easier:

Jan 31
Feb 30
Mar 31
Apr 30
May 31
Jun 30
Jul 31
Aug 30
Sep 31
Oct 30
Nov 30/leap year 31
Dec 30

To convert back to Gregorian calendar:
Jan 1 - Feb 28 same as Gregorian.
Feb 29 - Aug 30 add two to the day to get back to the Gregorian calendar.
Sep 1 - Dec 30 add one to the day

Please correct the conversion factors if they are incorrect![[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.30|141.101.104.30]]

Talk:646: Conversations

2026-03-17T11:07:00Z

Maur11cio: Your graph does not need to be labeled

I thought we, xkcd readers, deserve better than someone who doesn't label his axis ;) --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.222|141.101.98.222]] 09:18, 7 February 2015 (UTC)
:In this particular case, the lines are labelled due to being separate things, so it doesn't count. I also know that this comment is now over five years old, but I don't care. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.58|172.69.34.58]] 21:19, 21 February 2020 (UTC)
:Graphs don't need to be labeled. People that want to lie can do that with labeled graphs. The comic itself stated, that the data for the graph is dubious - by omitting labels, the graph says "I know there was a decline followed by increase, but have no specific numbers". If the axis were labeled, the graph would, incorrectly, suggest the creator had much better data than he did.
:: (graphs don't need to be labeled, if the context is sufficient. Of course, omitting labels is popular way to suggest interpretations that would be disproven by better graph) [[User:Maur11cio|Maur11cio]] ([[User talk:Maur11cio|talk]]) 11:07, 17 March 2026 (UTC)
I'm disappointed that there isn't a spike labeled "Lyndon Johnson's Presidency"
With smartphones, they’re even more frequent now. [[Special:Contributions/2001:240:2470:143E:0:4:DA53:B801|2001:240:2470:143E:0:4:DA53:B801]] 06:59, 22 September 2025 (UTC)

Talk:607: 2038

2026-03-17T08:58:21Z

Maur11cio: Reply, why Y2K was a big deal even though nothing happened

:Can anyone explain the mouse-over text? [[User:Saibot84|Saibot84]] ([[User talk:Saibot84|talk]]) 23:02, 7 May 2013 (UTC)
::Good thing it's explained now, because I was relating 1944 and apocalypse with WW2. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.196|108.162.212.196]] 21:57, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

"calculating dates beyond '''2032''' is still not solved on many 32-bit UNIX based systems today". Is the year 2032 a typo, should be 2038? If not, what is the relevance of 2032, should be explained. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 07:30, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Woah, I learned about the 2038 problem yesterday, and I clicked "Random page" today and got this comic! Anyone remember what that phenomenon is called? [[User:LuigiBrick|LuigiBrick]] ([[User talk:LuigiBrick|talk]]) 13:57, 6 January 2017 (UTC)
:The phenomenon might be called apopheny. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.213.181|172.68.213.181]] 07:59, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

It's the Baader-Meinhoff Phenomenon [[Special:Contributions/162.158.78.22|162.158.78.22]] 14:39, 28 August 2018 (UTC)

The phenomenon is called "coincidence." {{unsigned|Davidh}}

This wiki will have it's own 2038 problem, as when we get the 2038th comic (assuming both explain xkcd and the comic itself are still ongoing), http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2038 will have to be shared by two pages (currently, this link redirects to this comic, as does [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2038 this one]) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.10|172.68.54.10]] 17:03, 1 September 2017 (UTC)
:Writing to you from the day of [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2038 comic no. 2038], I can reassure you that our admins solved the problem. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.64|172.68.150.64]] 19:55, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
::Thanks. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 22:36, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

Maybe the "even WORSE" part was a pun because things will roll over 136 years instead of 100 as Y2K did. I don't want to add it without discussion first [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.136|162.158.75.136]] 16:32, 25 March 2019 (UTC)
:it's possible, but I think it's mostly in reference to how much more we use computers now than we did then.--[[User:Twisted Code|Twisted Code]] ([[User talk:Twisted Code|talk]]) 15:59, 24 November 2022 (UTC)

I never really understood why people were worried about the Y2K bug. At worst, surely it would just interpret it as 1900 instead of 2000? [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 13:58, 19 April 2021 (UTC)
:despite its simplicity, don't think you want to have a bill that the computer system thinks is overdue by 100 years. Same problem here.--[[User:Twisted Code|Twisted Code]] ([[User talk:Twisted Code|talk]]) 15:59, 24 November 2022 (UTC)
:Y2K was understood to be a big issue, so a lot of work was done to prevent it. So "normal" people might think that the "Y2K prophecy" turned out to be about nothing. Which is what can make 2038 worse, as people won't understand it as an issue, won't do work to prevent it, so Y2K might happen with delay but in full force. [[User:Maur11cio|Maur11cio]] ([[User talk:Maur11cio|talk]]) 08:58, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Talk:183: Snacktime Rules

2026-03-13T12:22:29Z

Maur11cio: Formatting my comment

Hm, how can we know, really, if it's Randall or Cueball speaking? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:19, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

It's Randall. I was there. [[User:Spotlouise|Spotlouise]] ([[User talk:Spotlouise|talk]]) 16:13, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

:I'm pretty sure that Cueball is basically just an abstraction of Randall. Black Hat, too, at times. Odd that no one seems to notice. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 15:43, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
:: Everyone knows it; it'd be impossible for Randall to not put himself in the comic. However, the ''title text'' is '''always''' Randalll, so that implies that the stick figure is definitely Randall. [[Special:Contributions/75.185.176.214|75.185.176.214]] 00:07, 16 August 2013 (UTC) I should probably join... I'd be able to stop displaying my IP
::: The title text is not always Randall.{{unsigned|Flewk}}

:: I feel like most of the characters are at least sometimes abstractions of Randall. I mean almost always Cueball is. But I think the other characters can be aspects of him sometimes. Black Hat, Beret Guy, he'll sometimes even White Hat and Megan. Although they usually represent other things, if anything at all. But sometimes. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.64}}

Based on the title text Randall had probably just turned 6, so there would be two years until he next could have a snack - and the mother probably believed that he would have forgotten such a rule by then (alas that was clearly not the case... :-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:27, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

: Or is it ( :-))? [[541: TED Talk]] {{unsigned|Aronurr}}

As I read it, it isn't that he gets no snacks, it is that he gets no snacks in his rom. {{unsigned ip|162.158.252.185}}
:Yes, people here keep talking like it's that he doesn't get snacks, but all we know for certain is that he can't have snacks in his rom, before beed. We don't know if this rule applied to other locations or times.— [[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 20:15, 6 October 2019 (UTC)

Just a thought, but maybe this rule is based on a measurement of Randall's age in terms of some unit other than years, which would be ''really'' nerdy. —[[User:CsBlastoise|CsBlastoise]] ([[User talk:CsBlastoise|talk]]) 18:28, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

Is it possible the obscure logic is related to school exams - perhaps he is 12 and starting Junior High, the previous year having sat an SSAT exam to get. He turned 12 in the October, so would have been studying aged 11 and perhaps allowed to snack in his room as a result. His mum observed that he'll next sit exams for senior high aged 14 and then for undergrad at 17... so can only snack in years he is prepping for exams. (Unlikely that this is the ACTUAL reason for the pattern, but I'll bet it was something of similar spirit, she'd allowed it age 11 and was post-associating it to some other life event so he can do it at 14 and 17 as well).{{unsigned ip|141.101.99.53 }}

I asked Randall about this on the How To book tour. He said it's real. The first two times he wore his mom down on this topic, he was 2 and 5. The first time was an exception, the second time she made a rule. [[User:Tbodt|Tbodt]] ([[User talk:Tbodt|talk]]) 03:00, 13 September 2019 (UTC)

I read it as if this privilige is ''given'' on a multiple of three minus one (i.e. at age 2 at first), but it doesn't mean the privilege is taken away at the next year (i.e. age 3, 4, 6,..). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.95|172.71.102.95]] 19:18, 17 September 2022 (UTC)

"It's difficult to defend this policy with a reasonable argument." Is it? Perhaps his mom was saying 'you can have a snack when you're old enough to learn arithmetic'. Or perhaps the snack is just a reward for learning. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.131|162.158.63.131]] 11:58, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

Alternative snacktime ages desmos: [https://www.desmos.com/calculator/ghj7zrsyll snack time] [[Special:Contributions/172.71.195.19|172.71.195.19]] 12:21, 14 March 2025 (UTC)

An explanation to the Rule - an educated guess based on how parents create rules:

Child wants to bring snacks to bed. This could create mess that is both hard to clean and would spread far from just bed. It is also unlikely that a young child would be able to clean the mess, leaving it as work for Mom.

So Child's/Randall's Mom wants to ban bringing edibles to bed. When you ban a child from any action, you can expect two results: 1) Child breaks the ban or finds loopholes, and/or 2) child argues with Mom about fairness of the ban or argues for possible alternatives. Neither are good "Mom result", as the child either does it anyway or at least takes parent's time/energy by arguing endless scenarios.

For a presumably analytical child like we could expect Cueball/Randall to be, giving the Rule in the comic creates an inherent loophole, that the child will then use instead of coming up with new loopholes. The child knows just waiting will allow him to bring food to bed eventually, so he doesn't try to break or circumvent the Rule in other ways.

Mom then presumably hopes, that in one/two years (depending on "current" age) the child will either no longer want to bring stuff to bed, forget about the Rule and simply think doing it is still banned, or in worse case, Mom will "remind him" of another rule, thus preventing eating in bed forever - or at least until the child can face consequences himself.
(Perhaps a key question here is, was Cueball/Randall ever allowed to bring food to bed, or has he only wanted to do it few times and "by chance", the rule always prevented him?) [[User:Maur11cio|Maur11cio]] ([[User talk:Maur11cio|talk]]) 12:22, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Talk:183: Snacktime Rules

2026-03-13T12:18:40Z

Maur11cio: Attempt at explaining how the Rule makes perfect sense

Hm, how can we know, really, if it's Randall or Cueball speaking? –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 20:19, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

It's Randall. I was there. [[User:Spotlouise|Spotlouise]] ([[User talk:Spotlouise|talk]]) 16:13, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

:I'm pretty sure that Cueball is basically just an abstraction of Randall. Black Hat, too, at times. Odd that no one seems to notice. [[User:Daddy|Daddy]] ([[User talk:Daddy|talk]]) 15:43, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
:: Everyone knows it; it'd be impossible for Randall to not put himself in the comic. However, the ''title text'' is '''always''' Randalll, so that implies that the stick figure is definitely Randall. [[Special:Contributions/75.185.176.214|75.185.176.214]] 00:07, 16 August 2013 (UTC) I should probably join... I'd be able to stop displaying my IP
::: The title text is not always Randall.{{unsigned|Flewk}}

:: I feel like most of the characters are at least sometimes abstractions of Randall. I mean almost always Cueball is. But I think the other characters can be aspects of him sometimes. Black Hat, Beret Guy, he'll sometimes even White Hat and Megan. Although they usually represent other things, if anything at all. But sometimes. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.64}}

Based on the title text Randall had probably just turned 6, so there would be two years until he next could have a snack - and the mother probably believed that he would have forgotten such a rule by then (alas that was clearly not the case... :-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:27, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

: Or is it ( :-))? [[541: TED Talk]] {{unsigned|Aronurr}}

As I read it, it isn't that he gets no snacks, it is that he gets no snacks in his rom. {{unsigned ip|162.158.252.185}}
:Yes, people here keep talking like it's that he doesn't get snacks, but all we know for certain is that he can't have snacks in his rom, before beed. We don't know if this rule applied to other locations or times.— [[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 20:15, 6 October 2019 (UTC)

Just a thought, but maybe this rule is based on a measurement of Randall's age in terms of some unit other than years, which would be ''really'' nerdy. —[[User:CsBlastoise|CsBlastoise]] ([[User talk:CsBlastoise|talk]]) 18:28, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

Is it possible the obscure logic is related to school exams - perhaps he is 12 and starting Junior High, the previous year having sat an SSAT exam to get. He turned 12 in the October, so would have been studying aged 11 and perhaps allowed to snack in his room as a result. His mum observed that he'll next sit exams for senior high aged 14 and then for undergrad at 17... so can only snack in years he is prepping for exams. (Unlikely that this is the ACTUAL reason for the pattern, but I'll bet it was something of similar spirit, she'd allowed it age 11 and was post-associating it to some other life event so he can do it at 14 and 17 as well).{{unsigned ip|141.101.99.53 }}

I asked Randall about this on the How To book tour. He said it's real. The first two times he wore his mom down on this topic, he was 2 and 5. The first time was an exception, the second time she made a rule. [[User:Tbodt|Tbodt]] ([[User talk:Tbodt|talk]]) 03:00, 13 September 2019 (UTC)

I read it as if this privilige is ''given'' on a multiple of three minus one (i.e. at age 2 at first), but it doesn't mean the privilege is taken away at the next year (i.e. age 3, 4, 6,..). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.95|172.71.102.95]] 19:18, 17 September 2022 (UTC)

"It's difficult to defend this policy with a reasonable argument." Is it? Perhaps his mom was saying 'you can have a snack when you're old enough to learn arithmetic'. Or perhaps the snack is just a reward for learning. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.131|162.158.63.131]] 11:58, 1 May 2024 (UTC)

Alternative snacktime ages desmos: [https://www.desmos.com/calculator/ghj7zrsyll snack time] [[Special:Contributions/172.71.195.19|172.71.195.19]] 12:21, 14 March 2025 (UTC)

An explanation to the Rule - an educated guess based on how parents create rules:
Child wants to bring snacks to bed. This could create mess that is both hard to clean and would spread far from just bed. It is also unlikely that a young child would be able to clean the mess, leaving it as work for Mom.
So Child's/Randall's Mom wants to ban bringing edibles to bed. When you ban a child from any action, you can expect two results: 1) Child breaks the ban or finds loopholes, and/or 2) child argues with Mom about fairness of the ban or argues for possible alternatives. Neither are good "Mom result", as the child either does it anyway or at least takes parent's time/energy by arguing endless scenarios.
For a presumably analytical child like we could expect Cueball/Randall to be, giving the Rule in the comic creates an inherent loophole, that the child will then use instead of coming up with new loopholes. The child knows just waiting will allow him to bring food to bed eventually, so he doesn't try to break or circumvent the Rule in other ways.
Mom then presumably hopes, that in one/two years (depending on "current" age) the child will either no longer want to bring stuff to bed, forget about the Rule and simply think doing it is still banned, or in worse case, Mom will "remind him" of another rule, thus preventing eating in bed forever - or at least until the child can face consequences himself.
(Perhaps a key question here is, was Cueball/Randall ever allowed to bring food to bed, or has he only wanted to do it few times and "by chance", the rule always prevented him?) [[User:Maur11cio|Maur11cio]] ([[User talk:Maur11cio|talk]]) 12:18, 13 March 2026 (UTC)