explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1615: Red Car

2015-12-12T18:48:58Z

Paw 42: A challenge to the existing explanation of the title text. Surely it's litmus)

Penises: They're about ''this'' red. Now can we <u>please</u>, as a culture, move on? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.206|108.162.210.206]] 08:40, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

I would also like to point out that if your penis is any kind of blue color, you are probably having a medical emergency, in which case you should be taking much more serious steps than purchasing a particular kind of car to compensate. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.236.151|108.162.236.151]] 21:55, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

Is this the first time, color is used in the comics? --[[User:Widescape|Robert]] ([[User talk:Widescape|talk]]) 09:43, 11 December 2015 (UTC)
:No, there are a lot more [[:Category:Comics with color|comics with color]] {{User:17jiangz1/signature|09:56, 11 December 2015}}

I think the joke is that red has a longer wavelength than cyan (nanometers of difference). Not anything to do with colour theory. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.133.96|162.158.133.96]] 10:06, 11 December 2015 (UTC)
:I'll have you know that a few nanometres make ''all'' the difference, for some people. <u>Click here</u> for the miracle pill you must have!
:(Seriously, as stated elsewhere, it's opposites. Big car, small equipment; RGB(100%,0%,0%) car, RGB(0%,100%,100%) equipment; pH>7 car, pH<7 equipment. Perhaps an annotated colour-wheel picture in the explanation, as a visual guide?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 12:10, 11 December 2015 (UTC)
:It seems to me it could also be a reference Anaglyph 3D red-cyan glasses. Bigger color difference makes things look closer to the viewer and thus larger. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaglyph_3D#Interference_filter_systems Wikipedia] {{unsigned ip|108.162.218.47}}

The mouse over text makes it fairly clear that it's a joke about opposites. If anything could be added to the explanation as it stands, I might clarify that red and cyan are specifically colors of light. When shone on a single area (and therefor mixed) these two colors will create white light. When these colors of light are represented on a color wheel, they are placed opposite each other. So cyan and red in this sense fit as opposites, like big and small, alkaline and acidic. {{unsigned ip|108.162.227.125}}

For some reason, this made me laugh extremely hard. I've been up all night and maybe it's sleep deprivation, as it makes me do weird things, like bingewatch on several ISS videos simultaneously. [[User:International Space Station|International Space Station]] ([[User talk:International Space Station|talk]]) 10:56, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

There is also a common stereotype that a car's color reveals something about its owner's psychology (e.g. [https://www.thecaretrust.ie/colour-of-car-personality here]). So, I think Megan is not only generalizing one stereotype but rather mixing two stereotypes, as in other comics. Zetfr 11:41, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

Is this the shortest complete explanation on this site? {{unsigned|B0xertw1n}}
:[[3: Island (sketch)]] and [[28: Elefino]] are shorter. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.17|108.162.221.17]] 12:53, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

[[Wikipedia:Litmus|Litmus]] anyone? --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.233|141.101.106.233]] 13:40, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

Alternative interpretation of the alt-text: the alkaline car could additionally refer to an electric car powered by an alkaline battery [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.163|141.101.91.163]] 22:55, 11 December 2015 (UTC)
:Yeah I also felt that there had to be some more to the alt-text than just another random opposite. Maybe that's it. Or some wordplay that I don't see? -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.192|162.158.91.192]] 01:40, 12 December 2015 (UTC) A hydrogen powered car would then have a low pH due to high amounts of hydrogen... and thus be highly acidic?

I think that the contributor two items up has the right idea about the title text. Litmus is an indicator of an acidic or alkaline solution. An acidic solution turns litmus paper red, an alkaline solution turns it blue.
The current explanation of the title text " An alkaline solutions is a basic solution. Thus, men that drive basic cars are compensating for their acidic penises." Does not make any sense to me. ([[User:Paw 42|Paw 42]] ([[User talk:Paw 42|talk]]) 18:48, 12 December 2015 (UTC))

Talk:1610: Fire Ants

2015-11-30T13:47:44Z

Paw 42:

misinterpreting a question as an invitation to talk about one's pet obsession is symptomatic of autistic spectrum disorder. although not necessarily so. as, i suppose, is wanting to do science in academe. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.223|108.162.210.223]] 13:12, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

i don't think she was misinterpreting the question,she probably is so obsessed about ants that she tries to talk about them every chance she gets.

Theoretically, there's a hidden analogy in that a colony of rather simplistic and specialist individuals can ensure their own survival in the face of adverse environmental conditions by keeping themselves all in one location so that they can continue to perpetuate themselves in the future. And as it is with those heading off to Grad School, so it may also be with ants. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 13:29, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

I've just joined, so please forgive the new boy. Perhaps the joke is really to do with biblical references and metaphors, as I have suggested in my contribution to the main article. (User:Paw 42)

Talk:1610: Fire Ants

2015-11-30T13:43:53Z

Paw 42:

misinterpreting a question as an invitation to talk about one's pet obsession is symptomatic of autistic spectrum disorder. although not necessarily so. as, i suppose, is wanting to do science in academe. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.223|108.162.210.223]] 13:12, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

i don't think she was misinterpreting the question,she probably is so obsessed about ants that she tries to talk about them every chance she gets.

Theoretically, there's a hidden analogy in that a colony of rather simplistic and specialist individuals can ensure their own survival in the face of adverse environmental conditions by keeping themselves all in one location so that they can continue to perpetuate themselves in the future. And as it is with those heading off to Grad School, so it may also be with ants. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 13:29, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

I've just joined, so please forgive the new boy. Perhaps the joke is to do with biblical references and metphors, as I have suggested in my contribution to the main article.

1610: Fire Ants

2015-11-30T13:39:19Z

Paw 42: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1610
| date = November 30, 2015
| title = Fire Ants
| image = fire_ants.png
| titletext = Here in the entomology department, we have a simple two-step formula for answering any question: (1) ants are cool, and (2) we forgot the question because we were thinking about ants.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

A university student (Cueball) goes to his advisor. However she doesn't advise him about academic matters, but talks about ants instead. In the title text we learn she is an entomologist(someone who studies insects).

The advisor appears to offer a quasi biblical metaphor. Her use of the word "consider" referencea;
"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:"
(Matthew 6:28 KJV)

and

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." (Proverbs 6:6 King James Version)

So perhaps she is going to offer some moral advice in the way that Jesus or the Old Testament did, this time based on fireants and their reaction to being flooded out of their habitat. But no. she's just obsessed with ants.

==Transcript==

[Cueball is talking to an advisor,the advisor is sitting at a desk]
:Cueball: I'm having second thoughts about grad school and could use some advice.

:Advisor: Consider the fire ant.
:Advisor: When there's a flood, fire ants survive by joining together into giant floating rafts.

[Cueball is standing in the panel]
:- No Text -

:Cueball: Wait, what lesson am I supposed to take from that?
:Advisor: Ants are '''so cool!'''
:Cueball: ... You're not big on metaphors, are you.
:Advisor: I am big on ants.

{{comic discussion}}

1610: Fire Ants

2015-11-30T13:36:02Z

Paw 42: /* Explanation */ Added biblical references and full quotations

{{comic
| number = 1610
| date = November 30, 2015
| title = Fire Ants
| image = fire_ants.png
| titletext = Here in the entomology department, we have a simple two-step formula for answering any question: (1) ants are cool, and (2) we forgot the question because we were thinking about ants.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

A university student (Cueball) goes to his advisor. However she doesn't advise him about academic matters, but talks about ants instead. In the title text we learn she is an entomologist(someone who studies insects).

The advisor appears to offer a quasi biblical metaphor. She appears to reference;
"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:"
(Matthew 6:28 KJV)

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." (Proverbs 6:6 King James Version)

So perhaps she is going to offer some moral advice in the way that Jesus or the Old Testament did, this time based on fireants and their reaction to being flooded out of their habitat. But no. she's just obsessed with ants.

==Transcript==

[Cueball is talking to an advisor,the advisor is sitting at a desk]
:Cueball: I'm having second thoughts about grad school and could use some advice.

:Advisor: Consider the fire ant.
:Advisor: When there's a flood, fire ants survive by joining together into giant floating rafts.

[Cueball is standing in the panel]
:- No Text -

:Cueball: Wait, what lesson am I supposed to take from that?
:Advisor: Ants are '''so cool!'''
:Cueball: ... You're not big on metaphors, are you.
:Advisor: I am big on ants.

{{comic discussion}}

1610: Fire Ants

2015-11-30T13:25:55Z

Paw 42: /* Explanation */ References to teaching of Jesus

{{comic
| number = 1610
| date = November 30, 2015
| title = Fire Ants
| image = fire_ants.png
| titletext = Here in the entomology department, we have a simple two-step formula for answering any question: (1) ants are cool, and (2) we forgot the question because we were thinking about ants.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

A university student (Cueball) goes to his advisor. However she doesn't advise him about academic matters, but talks about ants instead. In the title text we learn she is an entomologist(someone who studies insects).

The advisor appears to offer a quasi biblical metaphor. She appears to reference;
"Consider the lilies of the field, they do not toil...."
"Go to the ant thou sluggard ......"

So perhaps she is going to offer some advice in the way that Jesus did, this time based on fireants and their reaction to being flooded out of their habitat. but no she's just obsessed with ants.

==Transcript==

[Cueball is talking to an advisor,the advisor is sitting at a desk]
:Cueball: I'm having second thoughts about grad school and could use some advice.

:Advisor: Consider the fire ant.
:Advisor: When there's a flood, fire ants survive by joining together into giant floating rafts.

[Cueball is standing in the panel]
:- No Text -

:Cueball: Wait, what lesson am I supposed to take from that?
:Advisor: Ants are '''so cool!'''
:Cueball: ... You're not big on metaphors, are you.
:Advisor: I am big on ants.

{{comic discussion}}