https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Spufidoo 2026-05-03T21:11:03Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1388:_Subduction_License&diff=70600 2014-06-30T09:14:19Z

<p>Spufidoo: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1388<br /> | date = June 30, 2014<br /> | title = Subduction License<br /> | image = subduction_license.png<br /> | titletext = 'Dude, why can't you just be a normal roommate?' 'Because I'm coming TOWARD you!'<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}<br /> <br /> In {{w|structural geology}}, {{w|subduction}} is the mechanism by which one {{w|tectonic plate}} disappears under another, usually creating an {{w|island arc}}, a {{w|volcanic arc}} or a {{w|mountain range}} on the second one.<br /> <br /> In this comic, the beret guy pretends to have a &quot;''subduction licence''&quot;, something that which would enable him to start a subduction: he enters his room-mate's space, slowly disappears under the plate of his room-mate, and in the process creates mountain ranges on the floor, disrupting his roommate's work.<br /> <br /> Xkcd has previously mentioned atypical licenses in [[410|comic 410]].<br /> <br /> The mouseover text plays on the double-meaning of the word &quot;normal,&quot; which in {{w|structural geology}} refers specifically to mountainbuilding faults that form when plates or other crustal blocks relax away from one another (e.g., the {{w|Tetons}}). However, since in {{w|subduction}} the plates are necessarily moving toward one another (as noted in the roommate's response in the mouseover text), the mountainbuilding is not due to normal (i.e., extensional) faults, but rather to compressional faults.<br /> <br /> &quot;{{w|Thrust fault}}&quot; is a type of compressional fault that is itself part of the extended geologic play on words that drives [[1082: Geology]]. In this comic, &quot;''I'm coming toward you''&quot; may reflect a confusion, in beret guy's mind, between ''subduction'' and ''seduction''.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Beret Guy is showing some cards to Cueball, who is at his computer desk.]<br /> :Beret Guy: Sweet! I finally got my subduction license!<br /> :Cueball: Your what?<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy starts sinking into the ground, causing it to ripple.]<br /> :Cueball: ...What are you doing?<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy sinks further, forming a miniature mountain range in front of him. Cueball is frantically trying to keep his computer steady as his desk tilts.]<br /> :Cueball: ''Stop it! Stop it!''<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy is waist-deep, and snow caps have formed on the mountains. Cueball is falling backwards from his desk, and the monitor unplugs itself from his computer.]<br /> :Cueball: '''AUGH!'''<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}</div>

Spufidoo https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1388:_Subduction_License&diff=70599 2014-06-30T09:13:25Z

<p>Spufidoo: Changed spelling mistake</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1388<br /> | date = June 30, 2014<br /> | title = Subduction License<br /> | image = subduction_license.png<br /> | titletext = 'Dude, why can't you just be a normal roommate?' 'Because I'm coming TOWARD you!'<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}<br /> <br /> In {{w|structural geology}}, {{w|subduction}} is the mechanism by which a {{w|tectonic plate}} disapears under another, usually creating an {{w|island arc}}, a {{w|volcanic arc}} or a {{w|mountain range}} on the second one.<br /> <br /> In this comic, the beret guy pretends to have a &quot;''subduction licence''&quot;, something that which would enable him to start a subduction: he enters his room-mate's space, slowly disappears under the plate of his room-mate, and in the process creates mountain ranges on the floor, disrupting his roommate's work.<br /> <br /> Xkcd has previously mentioned atypical licenses in [[410|comic 410]].<br /> <br /> The mouseover text plays on the double-meaning of the word &quot;normal,&quot; which in {{w|structural geology}} refers specifically to mountainbuilding faults that form when plates or other crustal blocks relax away from one another (e.g., the {{w|Tetons}}). However, since in {{w|subduction}} the plates are necessarily moving toward one another (as noted in the roommate's response in the mouseover text), the mountainbuilding is not due to normal (i.e., extensional) faults, but rather to compressional faults.<br /> <br /> &quot;{{w|Thrust fault}}&quot; is a type of compressional fault that is itself part of the extended geologic play on words that drives [[1082: Geology]]. In this comic, &quot;''I'm coming toward you''&quot; may reflect a confusion, in beret guy's mind, between ''subduction'' and ''seduction''.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Beret Guy is showing some cards to Cueball, who is at his computer desk.]<br /> :Beret Guy: Sweet! I finally got my subduction license!<br /> :Cueball: Your what?<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy starts sinking into the ground, causing it to ripple.]<br /> :Cueball: ...What are you doing?<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy sinks further, forming a miniature mountain range in front of him. Cueball is frantically trying to keep his computer steady as his desk tilts.]<br /> :Cueball: ''Stop it! Stop it!''<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy is waist-deep, and snow caps have formed on the mountains. Cueball is falling backwards from his desk, and the monitor unplugs itself from his computer.]<br /> :Cueball: '''AUGH!'''<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}</div>

Spufidoo