https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.216.62&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T01:36:19ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2465:_Dimensional_Chess&diff=212353Talk:2465: Dimensional Chess2021-05-22T18:04:41Z<p>108.162.216.62: Queening pawns</p>
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How best to describe the addition of dimensions? The admirable first author goes as far as the second row, but there appear to be more... ahem... 'depths'. The first is 'sideways', though from this non-playing angle it's depthways; the second adds verticality; the third initially looks to be '4d represented in 3d' perspective (now further represented in 2d, by perspective method), but the sole cube atop confuses me; the fourth is... busy... and seems to go with a hyper(hyper)cubic continuation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.161|141.101.99.161]] 18:05, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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not quite what is demonstrated in the comic but there is a game called 5 dimensional chess with multiverse time travel --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.189|172.68.57.189]] 19:00, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:I don't like that game, entirely because it's called 5-dimensional but actually only has four dimensions. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.94|141.101.98.94]] 06:20, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I think this would require 5 dimensions rather than 4 as the middle rows are 4d slices of a 5d space just as the second row is a 2d slice of a 3d space<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.193|172.69.35.193]] 20:23, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:I see it as there being a basic 1D between the opponents. On the Nth row away from you (on your half of the board) there's an additional N lateral dimensions. Row 1, sideways (8 columns). Row 2, sideways and up/down (7 levels). Row 3, those plus some form of superimposition indicated by scale/perhaps a sub-gridlevel elevation (6 of these?). Row 4, all those plus ??? (gonna assume 5). (...Row 5=Profit?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.131|162.158.158.131]] 22:25, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Is there an error on the top board of this image? If I look at the sequence of squares on the vertical, they alternate black/white except for the top board. Even if I were missing some aspect of the logic, I feel like there should be some symmetry between top and bottom. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.70|108.162.221.70]] 20:52, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Agreed, there appears to be an error.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.220|162.158.75.220]] 17:18, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Note that white made a horse move on the left side of the board, forward one and up two [[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.189|172.68.57.189]] 21:11, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:LOL it's called a knight. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.221|162.158.75.221]] 06:08, 21 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:There's at least one black piece on (its) row 3, possibly a knight, and both players have at least one of their pieces on (their) row 4. There are four obvious white pieces forward of the two starting ranks (with no obvious sign that these are established starting positions in this esoteric board*) so there may be a third black piece out there, obscured from clear view. Or more likely that black Knight's movement (two squares forward, three up, one sideways and 0+ squares in the fourth-way direction) is multiple moves (2f1u then 2u1s would be the most simple projected moves).<br />
:(* - The starting ranks appear to be as per 2D chess, with white's far bishop no longer in starting position, but if that's the one now in the nearest start-level 4th rank then it must not have made just one single 2D-like bishop's move to get there, nor is it obviously a pawn brought forward (2f starter then 1f second move, with or without an en-passant), so it may not be quite so simple, or else we've seen more than 4 white moves (and 3/4 black ones). Or both plus some possible exchange of pieces already.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.131|162.158.158.131]] 22:25, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I interpreted the comic as the first row is normal chess- 2 dimensional. The second row starts the boards above and below- 3d. The third row would be 4d, and the 4th row would be 5d. ----<br />
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Pretty sure this is just funny commentary on people making more and more complex variations of chess, Quantum Chess, 4D Chess, 5D chess with time travel etc... but part of me looks at this and goes "that could be a real game... that could actually be a good game." just me? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.20|108.162.221.20]] 21:35, 19 May 2021 (UTC) Sam<br />
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Looking at this, I note that there seems to be an assumption in the explanation that n-dimensional chess means chess with an unlimited number of dimensions. I believe that what Randall was actually saying with the "N" was "any number N", not "all numbers N together", i.e. "The problem with 3, 4, 5, 6, ... , N dimensional chess is", and that his objection is that you always only get one number for N. His board, of course, is designed to give you as few as two dimensions up to five dimensions available for any particular piece depending upon the row.<br />
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True n-dimensional chess, where there are an unlimited number of dimensions, would probably be unplayable by any Turing machine, including, of course, humans. [[User:Geek Prophet|Geek Prophet]] ([[User talk:Geek Prophet|talk]]) 23:58, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:If you have an infinite number of dimensions to work with, there is a straightforward means for a king to escape forever - just alternate linear moves with diagonal moves, always away from the opposing pieces, and always along a dimension not previously traversed (there are an infinite number of these, so always one more). Any opposing piece will be one dimension behind, at the very least. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 01:45, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
::That surely only works if you don't end up stuck in an infinitely-dimensioned corner (infinite dimensions but still finite+nonwrapping extent in each dimension).<br />
::I'm not sure if there's a foolproof way not to find yourself in that corner, by evading through heretofor unused dimensions strictly around the centre of the board (where a finite number of pieces may not be able to coordinate an all-sides trap) but once there a single infinitely-dimensional queen moved one square away from all the relevent edges, protected by some handy rearward piece, could force the endgame.<br />
::If the king itself is in that one-space-out position (not yet immediately restricted by the edge, ''any'' edge) I ''think'' it can still be considered corralled by a suitably-placed finite smattering of sufficiently-positioned (for their respective powers of projection) pieces, so even if the centre squares are freely dodgable round (which they might not be, if the opposing king is already safely stationed there, denying 3x3x3x...3 spots to the victimised king) there's a potential to be tactically/psychologically forced towards a definitely entrapping position the moment you stray towards any edge.<br />
::(If the queen/etc is '≤2D in movement, like a 2D queen except throughout the ∞D of choice' (i.e. confined to a planar diagonal), then it may be less potent for a given distance and not be able to project a no-king-may-pass barrier even without confounding pieces, so might not be the key to the corner-shoving tactic. But then the king would surely be 'choose your single plane' too, in the moves available in its attempt to escape.)<br />
::Boundaryless arenas (including wrap-around finite boards, or at least 'only' 8<sup>∞</sup> in their infiniteness) might well be trivially always in an escapable position. But I have my doubts even about the fully-wrapping version, as the attacker's 'left behind' pieces may be considered significant danger again as they are then actually ''ahead'' of any king's fleeing move, and the question now is whether the king can still dodge ever-'sideways' against a concerted and sufficiently analytic opponent still with enough (2? 16? However-many-you-can-initially-start-with-on-such-a-board?) pieces of the right kinds.<br />
::That said, whatever my proficiency with dimensional projections, I'm definitelt rubbish at chess in its standard form. So ICBW. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.60|141.101.98.60]] 09:24, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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It looks like the 3rd row adds a cube on a stack of alternating colored squares, and then the 4th row does something similar with a tesseract. It gets a little crowded, so hard to be sure. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 01:36, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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It might make sense to just add a link to chessvariants.com, since there are a surprising number of multidimensional chess variants in existence besides the aforementioned 5D chess with time travel. [[User:JakobWulfkind|JakobWulfkind]] ([[User talk:JakobWulfkind|talk]]) 02:38, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
: That site's pretty hard to navigate. Do you know how to enumerate all existing variants of chess that are infinitely dimensioned, or at least >3 dimensioned? Additionally, this is a pretty exciting topic, is there any capacity for the wiki to dedicate additional pages to it? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.78|162.158.63.78]] 20:15, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Ah yes, the Ra̷s̵̡̡̛͍̖̗͖̟̞͊̀̓̉͂̈́̇̉p̵̛̤̔̂͐͗̄̿̋͛̿͗͒͒̚͘̚̚͝u̵̞̿̒̃̾̑͒̎ṱ̶̨̧̡͍̜̙͖̣̗͙̥͈̳̱̼̫͗͊̌͑̇̆͝i̵n opening. A good choice!<br />
Also, when is someone going to make a playable version of this??? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.74|108.162.249.74]] 04:58, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I don't think the explanation really needs anything to do with intelligence. "Fourth-dimensional chess" is lingo for complexity or cunning, so I think the comic is a joke based on that phrase. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.142.50|172.69.142.50]] 05:36, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I was disappointed that Randall did not include two odd squares - one on either side of the board - for the one-dimensional chess starting point. Of course since he does things by rows, this would necessarily limit the number of 1D starting points to one per player - and it would break the symmetry of an 8x8x? board and make it tough to pick which piece starts on the 1D row. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 13:14, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:My (nearly) initial thoughts, too. Row0: Square; Row1: Lateral line of squares (7 or 9 wide, to centre?); Row2: Stacked array of squares (7||9 x 5||7?); Row 3: A cube(/tesseract-slice) of oportunities; then Row4 either Row3 from the other side or a further hyper-version (singular, or doubled with anti-Row4, leading onto anti-Row3, etc...)<br />
:Another thought I had was that every enhanced-Manhattan step from the home-row should lead to additional spread into a new dimension - to keep that consistent arrange for the branches out from each side to 'kiss' exactly in (non-euclidean) perfect contact. As with 2D chess, any four moves away from the back row (not backwards, not the most basic sideways movement) puts you onto the opponent's half. Or make it Euclidean but then it'd be on one ''several'' opponents' 'halves'. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.251|141.101.99.251]] 14:54, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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::You can probably get away with the board being exactly a 8-cube of squares; row 0 will be one square, row 1 will be 8 squares, row 2 will be a 2-dimensional mess (triangle?) of squares where each square connects to exactly two row 1 squares, and so on until row 8, which will again be a square. 9-cube works too, though rows 1 and 8 will have to consist of 9 squares instead of 8. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.78|162.158.63.78]] 16:53, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Couldn't you play some of the middle parts with components from 5D chess with time traveling and multiverses or whatever it was(forgot the name)? [[User:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)]] ([[User talk:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|talk]]) 13:53, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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If a king can move to any other space that's the same or adjacent in any dimension, then a king on the fourth or fifth row would have 188 possible moves (80 in its own row, 81 in the other high-D row, and 27 in the adjacent lower-D row). This would probably make it near-impossible to get a checkmate in this situation. Getting trapped between a neighboring (protected) queen and a 2-steps-away king would do it, of course; and you could maybe replace the queen in that arrangement with a combination of pawns and/or bishops, depending on how those generalize; but it seems it would be trivially easy to foresee any of those traps and avoid it. So I think this game would be unwinnable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.95|162.158.62.95]] 18:45, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
: The king can't invent new dimensions if they're threatened, obviously! 20:15, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I'm imagining a form of chess, with computer opponents, where players can add new rules so long as the rules are consistent, and there's like a public wiki of rules to draw from. I'm thinking an infinitely large board where players can invent secret dimensions and move along them [maybe in a limited manner for chess], but if observed or if a player guesses the dimension, the pieces can be found. 20:15, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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My interpretation: the outermost rows are 1D. Within them, you can only move back and forth within the row. The next rows are 2D. Within them, you can move within the row as well as up and down. The next rows are 3D. In addition to the previous moves, you can move to different levels on each square. The innermost rows are 4D. Within each square, there are two ways to move (which level and which vertical plane). So obviously I'm not counting moving between the inner and outer rows as an extra dimension, though of course you may.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 23:09, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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The notation in the transcript is confusing: since we are looking at the board from the side, the front left square in the center plane should be h1. So white knight from g1 seems to be moved to (two above g2). There also appears to be a white piece in some dimension around h4. The knight from g7 seems to have managed to get into some dimension around (three above f3). --[[User:Icksehdi|Icksehdi]] ([[User talk:Icksehdi|talk]]) 09:26, 21 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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The rules for piece movement as I know them are rooted strongly in two dimensions. How would you state them for this version of the game? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.221|172.68.189.221]]<br />
:Two main options (before getting into silly amounts of options)...<br />
:1) 2D moves can be taken in any 2 dimensions. Bishops go equal amounts in any two possible perpendiculars (where not blocked); Knights go 1 in one axis, 2 in another; Pawns must go forward (but may take their diagonals where allowed).<br />
:2) Extend to N dimensions as completely as possible (for the starting row?). Bishops can (and must) move equal amounts in ''every'' axis that applies; Knights have 1(+1,+1,..)+2 moves (or, by 2001 Monolith rules, without the squaring, 1+2+3+...etc); Pawns must diagonalise in ''every'' non-forward axis.<br />
:Rooks, of course, likely just choose an axis (any single axis) to move along. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.152|141.101.98.152]] 00:08, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
::Or 3) Any combination of (1) and (2) above (i.e. do 2 above, but you can ignore any dimensions you don't like). But with both (2) and (3) we have an interesting issue: if white starts with B(d,2,+1)?!, (i.e. the queen's bishop moves to space d2, one floor up), then we have a bishop moving from a white square to a black square.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.152|108.162.216.152]] 17:39, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:::My best play is to try a variant of this for six white moves (which is a variant of the scholar's mate). N(c,3,0,0)?! N(d,5,0,0,0)?! B(c,4,+3,0,0)?! Q(f,3,+2,0)?! Q(f,5,0,0,0)?! Q(f,7,0)?! If black is not paying attention, and if I'm thinking about dimensions correctly, then this could result in checkmate.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.94|162.158.75.94]] 17:56, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
::::If the game progresses too far (e.g. king hiding in the middle of the board), then it appears that it will either end in a draw or never end.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.94|162.158.75.94]] 17:56, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Seemingly necessary rule clarification: if a pawn can no longer move due to dimensional limitations (not blocking pieces), then it becomes a queen (e.g. white pawn moves to a position which is 3 spaces above one of the starting positions for black pawns). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 18:04, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Question 1: how easy is it to make all your pawns into queens?--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 18:04, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Question 2: is it much easier to checkmate if you have 9 queens? As an extreme example, if white has 9 queens, black has only a king, and black's king is in the middle (high-dimensional) area of the board.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 18:04, 22 May 2021 (UTC)</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1979:_History&diff=202921Talk:1979: History2020-12-10T00:36:22Z<p>108.162.216.62: </p>
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Heh. I accidentally misread the line, so I thought it said: "I honestly have enough trouble with just the ''president''". [[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 11:48, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Same here. Then I thought "What the heck?" and read the last line again. Lol. [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 13:20, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
::And same here, lol! I was actually wondering about what the possible motivations could have been to use Megan as the character to say that. Then I read it again :D [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:26, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:::Considering Randall's opinion on Trump, it made a little sense. But he hasn't ever attacked him directly.[[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 15:22, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
::::It's a reach, but it's POSSIBLE this was the intention. Planting the seed by talking about a president, then a comment closely resembling "I honestly have enough trouble just with the president". It may have garnered the intended response. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.172|162.158.255.172]] 14:04, 12 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I only make comments, and let others figure out how to edit it into the above. I once read someplace that there is a reasonable limit to accurate historical research at about 3 centuries- events more than 300 years in the past become more mythological than factual, and events more than 500 years in the past are so remote that we can't even begin to understand the culture in which they occurred. While there are famous exceptions to this rule, they occur entirely in the realms of either archaeology or theology and religion, not in the science of history.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 13:32, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:What is "accurate historical research"? No scientist would use those words. And a historian as an expert - let's say of the Roman Empire or the medieval - would strictly disagree. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 15:12, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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:Even shorter periods of time. There were a lot of changes in the twentieth century. I was born in 1960. At that time, there were people alive before the automobile, powered airflight, the telephone. How about photocopiers which really got going in the 1970s? Can any of you younger people understand not being able to photocopy something? Then, there are the developments in computers and mobile phones.<br />
:On a USENET newgroup that I follow -- alt.talk.royalty -- there is one monarchist who posts a series of posts on Queen Elizabeth II. Sort of. He takes the current length of her reign and goes back that far before it (less a day, I think). He then describes the world at that time and finishes with "Consider all the changes, natural and manmade, visited upon the world in all the time since. And now consider this...Queen Elizabeth II has been on the Throne for MOST of that time since then." Twice her reign length from present time is now in the 1880s. A very different world.<br />
:[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.220|108.162.216.220]] 15:16, 11 April 2018 (UTC) Gene Wirchenko genew@telus.net<br />
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My maternal grandfather was born in 1873. When I was a child, he told me glorious stories about living in a log cabin in Michigan as a child, riding his penny-farthing bicycle as a teenager, and moving to a boomtown called Venice (CA) in the 1920s. He was 30 when the Wright Brothers made their first flight, and he wound up manufacturing aircraft parts during WWII. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.106|172.68.54.106]] 08:36, 12 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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The link to the actual page of the paper is fantastic - especially the ads along the right side - "Anti-Morbific, the Great Liver and Kidney Remedy" and "Trash's Magnetic Ointment". So, a question - there's no by-line. Is there any way to figure out who wrote this? I assume maybe multiple people, like and editorial board? [[User:DanB|DanB]] ([[User talk:DanB|talk]]) 13:36, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Regarding the link to the actual page of the paper, the article immediately after it talks about a discussion over the tariffs on whiskey, beer, and tobacco covering the differences of opinion within the Democrat and Republican parties and protectionism vs free trade and producers vs consumers concluding that the tax is good because it could be used to pay down the national debt and finance national education initiatives. Despite burgeoning taxes the speculated benefits never arrived. We deceive ourselves if we believe that the discussions we have today were never debated before. The debate is eternal and the promised goods are never delivered. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 21:15, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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I think this comic is referencing how so many people are commenting on how unprecedented Trump’s presidency has been, how it’ll be the sort of think future students will read about in history classes, and overall how dramatic it is, like you’d find unbelievable, even in a movie. This comic is commenting on how people in the moment often think that way, yet Trump’ll likely be a footnote in 200 years too. [[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 19:24, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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:I need to comment, but I'll do my best to temper it a bit. I think it's a stretch to think this is saying anything about Trump. It seems like this comic is just a reflection on how difficult it is to ever have a complete and thorough account of everything that happens in the history of our world. The best we can hope for is a summary of the general facts, but that will always omit important details - as it says, history is BIG! In summary, can we not make every comic about Trump, please? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 20:43, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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There is an erroneous period at the end of the first line of the last paragraph: "...the present. period may...". I added the period to the transcript, but I'm not sure if the local policy is to include "[sic]" in the transcript, to note that in an "errors" section, etc. I'd invite someone who knows the policy to edit the page accordingly. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.46|172.69.69.46]] 20:50, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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Seems to me like most of the major events in history classes (at least the events I can remember the year of) happened on even years: 1066, 1492, 1776, 1812, ...<br />
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.251|162.158.79.251]] 23:29, 11 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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;Second lesson<br />
I think, there is a second lesson in this strip: We tend to massively overestimate the importance of current events, and Americans specifically tend to overestimate the importance of their presidents. Today, Garfield is just <s>a cartoon character</s> one of many presidents, in 100 years Kennedy will also be seen as just one of even more presidents, and one day, even 9/11 will be only something that happened sometime in the distant past. <br />
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In other words: Not only is history bigger than we think, we also tend to exaggerate the importance of current events. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.170|141.101.77.170]] 12:51, 12 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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;Conkling vs Garfield<br />
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Quoting the current version of the article:<br />
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:For example, it cites the defeat of Roscoe Conkling as a serious event that would fade in importance when compared to Garfield's assassination. Conkling was a senator in Garfield's party who resigned in protest of Garfield's policies, then failed to achieve re-election; contrary to the writer's belief, both these events have faded into roughly the same level of obscurity.<br />
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I'm going to disagree that Conkling's defeat & Garfield's assassination are events at the same level of obscurity. First off, Garfield is at least mentioned on lists of U.S. presidents and lists of presidents who were assassinated. This type of material is available in, for example, pretty much every U.S. elementary school. I believe I've got a placemat with Garfield's name, face, and dates (along with those of all the other U.S. presidents) in my kitchen at this very moment. Kids love it . . .<br />
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Meanwhile, Conkling's name is not widely known at all even in the U.S. and his re-election defeat is not even mentioned in the top-line summary of his Wikipedia article (it's way down in the detail section halfway through the article, but doesn't make the article summary). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Conkling<br />
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I don't know how you objectively measure the prominence of one historical character or event over another, but just for example Garfield's wikipedia article is about 4X as long as Conkling's. And mentions the assassination in the very first sentence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Garfield<br />
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[[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.52|172.68.150.52]] 14:18, 12 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:The number of Google searches might also be a useful indicator https://trends.google.de/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F0b22w,%2Fm%2F03x0cd {{unsigned ip|162.158.88.68}}<br />
::Aha, yeah. That puts the Garfield/Conkling ratio at 34/2 over about 14 years of Google searches. So Garfield is searched for roughly 17X as often as Conkling. <br />
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::Abraham Lincoln compared with Garfield comes out as 37/1. So Garfield is indeed far more obscure than Lincoln, but Conkling is more obscure yet, according to the Google searches. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.52|172.68.150.52]] 21:54, 16 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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; Boldface?<br />
Can anyone speculate on what Randall was trying to achieve with the selective use of '''boldfaced''' text in the comic? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 16:41, 12 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
:Interesting question. I've entered it into the incomplete reason. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 17:25, 12 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
::I believe it's Randall's way of providing a "TL;DR" version, that anyone not inclined to read that entire (rather large) block of text can just read the bold parts to grasp the gist of what the article, and by extension Randall, is trying to say (I DO feel like if someone only reads the bold text, they'll get the point of the article, at least the part that's striking Randall/Megan). [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 05:16, 13 April 2018 (UTC)<br />
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To be honest, I’d definitely rather lose the odd numbered years. Usually, things are fairly balanced, as most events take more than a year. However, if an event, such as an election is held every x years, it usually corresponds to even years. Examples: US Elections, Olympics</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2287:_Pathogen_Resistance&diff=189544Talk:2287: Pathogen Resistance2020-03-31T13:08:08Z<p>108.162.216.62: why hate lungs?</p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
Note that the title text says "not not" -- meaning we're both trapped in here together [[User:John.Adriaan|John.Adriaan]] ([[User talk:John.Adriaan|talk]]) 04:38, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Do bacteriophages "afflict" humanity? To my knowledge, they only infect bacteria and are even considered a possible future alternative to antibiotics by some. What is up with them being represented here? 09:12, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: Yeah, bacteriophage is just wrong here, it's a generic virus. This type of virus is depicted on the bacteriophage wikipedia page but viruses that affect humans can have that shape also. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.51.94|172.68.51.94]]<br />
<br />
: There are no known human viruses of that shape (source: I'm a biologist), so this seems like more of a mistake on Randall's side (albeit an odd one for him to make, so perhaps somehow deliberate?). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.155|162.158.91.155]] 08:55, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
::But... if it affects bacteria and humen have many bacteria (and many/most of them useful) in them, shouldn't it affect the human then as well? indirectly? Source: I have very vague knowledge :D --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 09:06, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
::It may be deliberate in the sense that almost everyone will go "Oh, that's a virus!" when they see this shape, contrary to the other 2 which look more like big molecules or bacteria.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.7|162.158.111.7]] 09:20, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Don’t worry, pathogens! All is not lost. There will always be some humans whose brains don’t work very well, who will buy into ideas like “vaccines cause autism”, or “faith healing”, or “natural remedies”, or “Trump is always right”. You’ll still have hosts. [[User:Tualha|Tualha]] ([[User talk:Tualha|talk]]) 07:27, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Bacteriophages only infect bacteria and some kinds of Archaea, not humans, so the explanation is slightly wrong. They are probably the prettiest and easiest to recognise viral shape though, which is why they are so commonly used in cartoons and illustrations.[[User:Phil|Phil]] ([[User talk:Phil|talk]]) 08:29, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I am just as much a hobby-virologist as anybody else suddenly is, but I have no clue what you are talking about. I don't even know which of the 3 shapes you mean. So please edit the explanation yourself if you see, that it is wrong. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:37, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
:: The narrator-virus in the middle of the three, that looks somewhat like a rotation of a mosquito, with a D20 on top. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage#/media/File:PhageExterior.svg Wikipedia diagram] [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.13|141.101.69.13]] 12:17, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
"They bought lots of pasta." More like they bought lots of toilet paper! Humans, when we think rationally, can make great things happen. Humans, when we panic, can make incredibly foolish decisions. [[User:Nutster|Nutster]] ([[User talk:Nutster|talk]]) 11:32, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
:It's both. At least in the supermarkets close to my place (western Germany), pasta, toilet paper, rice, milk, flour, yeast are all common to be out of stock or almost out of stock and usually their shelfes have by now signs that they will only sell a certain amount of them to each customer. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:14, 31 March 2020 (UTC)<br />
Why does one of the voices say, "I hate lungs"? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 13:08, 31 March 2020 (UTC)</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2287:_Pathogen_Resistance&diff=1895432287: Pathogen Resistance2020-03-31T13:05:56Z<p>108.162.216.62: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2287<br />
| date = March 30, 2020<br />
| title = Pathogen Resistance<br />
| image = pathogen_resistance.png<br />
| titletext = We're not not trapped in here with the coronavirus. The coronavirus is trapped in here with us.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a WORRIED BACTERIOPHAGE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
This comic is the 13th comic in a row in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}. <br />
<br />
Rather than expressing humanity's fears and pessimism about the pandemic, this strip anthropomorphizes some of the pathogens which afflict humanity (a {{w|bacteriophage}}, a {{w|coccus}}-shaped bacterium, and a {{w|protozoan}} (a caricature of a {{w|ciliate}})) and presents ''their'' fears and pessimism about possibly going extinct. This serves as a roundabout way of expressing hope and wonder at the ingenuity and tenacity of humans in the face of diseases past (with water sanitation, mosquito netting, and condoms) and present (with the power of social distancing and {{w|Gloria Gaynor}}'s hit song ''{{w|I Will Survive}}''). Gaynor recorded [https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/entertainment/coronavirus-gloria-gaynor-i-will-survive-trnd/index.html a video of herself washing her hands] for 20 seconds to the background of her hit song.<br />
<br />
The comic humorously considers pasta as an essential part of humans' fight against coronavirus. Pasta is an example of a dried food that can last a long time, if the orders to stay indoors continue. However, not every culture consumes or likes pasta.<br />
<br />
The title text reverts to the point of view of humans and references a famous line from the graphic novel ''{{w|Watchmen}}'', where [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_(character) Rorschach], whilst in prison and surrounded by enemies who want to kill him proclaims: "I'm not locked up in here with YOU. You're locked up in here with ME."<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
[A small colony of coccus bacteria, a bacteriophage, and a protozoan are floating together.]<br />
:Bacteriophage: I'm worried about humans developing resistance to us.<br />
:Bacteriophage: Using pasta.<br />
[Cutaway to macrophages and antibodies chasing three protozoans. One protozoan is already covered in antibodies.]<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): The human immune system is a nightmare.<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): It's the worst.<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): It's the scariest thing in the universe.<br />
:Macrophage: ''Who wants a HUUGGG''<br />
:Antibody-covered protozoan: ''Nooo!''<br />
[Close-up on bacteriophage]<br />
:Bacteriophage: We can only survive by staying ahead of it. Keep jumping from person to person, keep mutating and evolving.<br />
:Bacteriophage: But now humans are adapting too fast.<br />
[Water pipes. A mosquito net with a bed under it. An unopened condom package.]<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): We spread through their water. They built pipes.<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): We used mosquitoes. They put out nets and poison everywhere.<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): We spread through sex, and suddenly they all had these plastic things.<br />
[Depictions of coronavirus with spikes. Hairbun and Cueball shaking hands, with droplets spraying from both their mouths.]<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): This time, we really thought we had them.<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): One of us got good at transmission through everyday contact.<br />
[A row of 4 sets of human lungs, the first with several black dots, the second and third with increasing black parts, the fourth completely filled with black. A graph showing exponential growth.]<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): It was great. We were tearing through lungs, spreading like wildfire.<br />
:Voice offscreen: Hooray!<br />
:Voice 2 offscreen: I ''hate'' lungs.<br />
[Close-up of bacteriophage "head".]<br />
:Bacteriophage: Then, all of a sudden, humans everywhere just...''stopped''. They stopped working, stopped seeing friends.<br />
[Megan is sitting on a couch, watching a flat screen. Cueball is at a sink with a mirror, washing his hands. They are facing away from each other.]<br />
:Voice offscreen: What are they ''doing''?<br />
:Voice 2 offscreen: Nothing!<br />
:Voice 2 offscreen: They're just sitting there in their houses washing their hands.<br />
[A single human in a empty room, surrounded by fallen droplets. Among the droplets is a coronavirus.]<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): Suddenly humans became dead ends. We tried to jump from one to the next, but there's no one to jump to.<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): We can't escape.<br />
:Coronavirus: Help!<br />
[Coronaviruses, encroached on by macrophages and streams of antibodies.]<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): We're trapped in there with those ghastly immune systems.<br />
:Antibodies: ''IT'S HUUG TIIIIIME''<br />
:Macrophage: Come here for a HUUUG<br />
:Macrophage: HUUUUGS<br />
[Coronaviruses covered in antibodies and surrounded by macrophages. Some of the macrophages are devouring viruses. Others contain broken-down remnants.]<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): Even if we win a fight, there's nowhere to go.<br />
:Macrophage: HUUUUUUUGGSS<br />
:Macrophage: HUUUUGS<br />
:Bacteriophage (narrating): By staying inside, humans have become resistant.<br />
[Back to the discussion between the coccus, the bacteriophage and the protozoan.]<br />
:Coccus bacteria: How could they evolve that fast? Humans take decades to reproduce!<br />
:Bacteriophage: It's not evolution. It's something with their brains.<br />
:Protozoan: I ''wondered'' what those were for!<br />
[Bacteriophage pointing to: Cueball and Megan looking at their phones; Megan and Cueball walking to the right; Megan and Cueball at separate sinks washing their hands.]<br />
:Bacteriophage: Humans started looking at their phones, talking, writing words, and making signs. A human named "Gloria Gaynor" filmed herself singing at her bathroom sink.<br />
:Bacteriophage: And then they bought lots of pasta.<br />
:Bacteriophage: Then, around the world, they all went home and started washing their hands.<br />
[Bacteriophage and protozoan.]<br />
:Bacteriophage: They saw what we were doing and changed their behavior to stop us.<br />
:Protozoan: Brains are the ''worst''.<br />
[Coccus, bacteriophage and protozoan.]<br />
:Coccus bacteria: It's not over, right? They can't sustain this. They must be bored and tired.<br />
:Coccus bacteria: Will they give up?<br />
:Bacteriophage: I don't know. They seem determined to protect each other.<br />
[Coccus, bacteriophage and protozoan.]<br />
:Bacteriophage: And<br />
:Bacteriophage: They have a ''lot'' of pasta.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
At the time of writing, the title text contains a typo in the form of a double negative "We're not not trapped..."<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] <!-- Gloria Gaynor --></div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1767:_US_State_Names&diff=1319471767: US State Names2016-12-02T13:48:56Z<p>108.162.216.62: Reading too far into it, it's probably not a reference to an obscure parody game.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1767<br />
| date = December 2, 2016<br />
| title = US State Names<br />
| image = us_state_names.png<br />
| titletext = Technically DC isn't a state, but no one is too pedantic about it because they don't want to disturb the snakes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This is just a silly map.<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] has taken a {{w|map}} of {{w|the United States of America}} labeled "Geography Challenge: Name all 50 States" and filled in the states with words that sound similar to the states' names. The joke is that Randall is apparently terrible at remembering states by heart, or else that he interpreted "name" as "give a name to" and is giving each state a name similar to but different from its previous name. Additionally, song such as the [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fifty+nifty+united+states+song 50 Nifty United States] that make these issues seem rarer, thus making it funnier. Below is the table.<br />
<br />
===Table of States===<br />
{{incomplete|Some states unfinished. Make wikipedia links. Please explain Verizona again, or the meaning of "Rizon".}}<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable"<br />
|-<br />
! Fictional State<br />
! Actual State<br />
! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
| Wilwheaton<br />
| {{w|Washington_State|Washington}}<br />
| {{w|Wil Wheaton}} is an actor and writer.<br />
|-<br />
| Organs<br />
| {{w|Oregon}}<br />
| A play on the actual state name. <br />
|-<br />
| Cafeteria<br />
| {{w|California}}<br />
| A cafeteria is both a kind of restaurant and a name for a lunch room that serves food.<br />
|-<br />
| Fallout New Vegas<br />
| {{w|Nevada}}<br />
| Fallout New Vegas is set in Nevada.<br />
|-<br />
| Idolatry<br />
| {{w|Idaho}}<br />
| Idolatry is the worship of a physical object as a god, forbidden in many religions.<br />
|-<br />
| mount -a<br />
| {{w|Montana}}<br />
| A command to mount all disk volumes. <br />
|-<br />
| Wysiwyg<br />
| {{w|Wyoming}}<br />
| Acronym for "What You See Is What You Get".<br />
|-<br />
| Uhaul<br />
| {{w|Utah}}<br />
| {{w|U-Haul}} is a company where you can rent vans.<br />
|-<br />
| Verizona<br />
| {{w|Arizona}}<br />
| {{w|Verizon}}, a telecommunications company, has a shared "Rizon" with Arizona. Randall presumably enjoys this.<br />
|-<br />
| Namaste<br />
| {{w|New Mexico}}<br />
| {{w|Namaste}} is a Hindu greeting.<br />
|-<br />
| Hexxus<br />
| {{w|Texas}}<br />
| The antagonist of Ferngully. {{w|FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest|FernGully}} is said to be the model for the later film "Avatar". This is the second time Hexxus was mentioned in xkcd, the first occurrence being in [[1750: Life Goals]].<br />
|-<br />
| Okay<br />
| {{w|Oklahoma}}<br />
| OK is the state's abbreviation. Okay is a spelling of another abbreviation O.K., which originally stood for "Oll Korrect [sic]".<br />
|-<br />
| Candice<br />
| {{w|Kansas}}<br />
| Candice is a girl's name of Latin origin, meaning "clarity, whiteness" ("canditia").<br />
|-<br />
| Colocated<br />
| {{w|Colorado}}<br />
| Refers to computer servers located in a {{w|Colocation Center}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Nebrunswick<br />
| {{w|Nebraska}}<br />
| {{w|New Brunswick}}, a Canadian province. People sometimes write "NB" as the postal abbreviation for Nebraska; in reality, Nebraska is "NE", and while there is no "NB" in the U.S. postal system, New Brunswick is "NB" in the Canadian postal system.<br />
|-<br />
| Dakota<br />
| {{w|South Dakota}}<br />
| Randall seems to have forgotten his directions, so he drops the normal "South" and "North". He may also be teasing that this doesn't matter.<br />
|-<br />
| More Dakota<br />
| {{w|North Dakota}}<br />
| See South Dakota<br />
|-<br />
| Minestrone<br />
| {{w|Minnesota}}<br />
| Minestrone is a thick vegetable soup, originating in Italy.<br />
|-<br />
| Wainscot<br />
| {{w|Wisconsin}}<br />
| A type of wood {{w||Wainscot_panelling|panelling}} covering only the lower half of a wall.<br />
|-<br />
| Iota<br />
| {{w|Iowa}}<br />
| Iota is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Also colloquially used to mean a very small quantity.<br />
|-<br />
| Sk8rbois<br />
| {{w|Illinois}}<br />
| "Skater Boys". {{w|Sk8er Boi}} is a song by Avril Lavigne.<br />
|-<br />
| Mossouri<br />
| {{w|Missouri}}<br />
| The single different letter represents probably a typo (O is adjacent to I in a keyboard). This typo has about 22,000 results on Google. <br />
|-<br />
| Arkanoids<br />
| {{w|Arkansas}}<br />
| An arcade game. <br />
|-<br />
| Louisa<br />
| {{w|Louisiana}}<br />
| Louisa, feminine of Louis, is an Old German name meaning "famous warrior". Louisiana was of named after King Louis XIV when it was founded as a French colony.<br />
|-<br />
| Misstate<br />
| {{w|Mississippi}} <br />
| "Mis-" is a prefix meaning "wrong," "incorrect," or simply negating. "Misstate" could be a non-state. {{w|Mississipi State University|Miss State}} is a university in Mississippi. <br />
|-<br />
| Bandana<br />
| {{w|Alabama}}<br />
| A large handkerchief cloth, worn either around the head or neck. Often used in Westerns.<br />
|-<br />
| Thennessy<br />
| {{w|Tennessee}}<br />
| {{w|Hennessy}} is a brand of cognac.<br />
|-<br />
| Kennedy<br />
| {{w|Kentucky}}<br />
| The Kennedy family is an American family that has been prominent in American politics, public service, and business during the 20th century.<br />
|-<br />
| That Other One<br />
| {{w|Indiana}}<br />
| 'That Other One' is something someone might say if they were trying to name all the states from memory, and knew where a state was but not what it was called.<br />
|-<br />
| Mishy<br />
| {{w|Michigan}}<br />
| According to the Urban Dictionary, "mishy" means "[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mishy mushy and horny at the same time]".<br />
|-<br />
| Oh Hi<br />
| {{w|Ohio}}<br />
| OH-HI-OH is a popular cheer by fans of {{w|Ohio State University}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Pencilmania<br />
| {{w|Pennsylvania}}<br />
| [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151935/ Pencil Mania] is a 1932 Tom and Jerry cartoon in which they pull out a pencil and proceed to draw figures in the air.<br />
|-<br />
| Newark<br />
| {{w|New York}}<br />
| Newark element14 or simply Newark, is the official distributor of Raspberry Pi. Possible reference to William Gibson's works. Also, many people that live in Newark commute 14 miles to work in New York. A mispronunciation of New York. <br />
|-<br />
| Vermouth<br />
| {{w|Vermont}}<br />
| {{w|Vermouth}} is an Italian alcoholic beverage.<br />
|-<br />
| New Hamper<br />
| {{w|New Hampshire}}<br />
| A hamper is a large basket, often with lid, used for laundry. Also another name for a picnic basket.<br />
|-<br />
| Spanish Maine<br />
| {{w|Maine}}<br />
| The {{w|Spanish Main}} was the mainland Spanish colonial possessions around the Gulf of Mexico.<br />
|-<br />
| Masseuses<br />
| {{w|Massachusetts}}<br />
| Women who give massages professionally.<br />
|-<br />
| Roald Dahl<br />
| {{w|Rhode Island}}<br />
| A British writer, famous for child novels such as {{w|Charlie and the Chocolate Factory}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Connectfour<br />
| {{w|Connecticut}}<br />
| Connect Four is a two-player game, in which the objective is to connect four of your checkers in a row while preventing your opponent from doing the same.<br />
|-<br />
| Nude Juggalos<br />
| {{w|New Jersey}}<br />
| {{w|Juggalo}} is a name given to fans of the group Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip hop group. <br />
|-<br />
| Delorean<br />
| {{w|Delaware}}<br />
| A {{w|DeLorean_DMC-12|car}} made famous as the {{w|DeLorean_time_machine|time machine}} in the {{w|Back to the Future}} movies.<br />
|-<br />
| Maybelline<br />
| {{w|Maryland}}<br />
| {{w|Maybelline}} is a make-up brand.<br />
|-<br />
| District of Colubrids<br />
| {{w|District of Columbia}}<br />
| The {{w|Colubridae}} are the biggest family of snakes, accounting for about two thirds of the world's species. As the title text mentions, the {{w|Washington,_D.C.|District of Columbia}}, although not part of any state, is technically not a state itself, but is usually labeled on the maps like the 50 others for practical reasons. Here, Randall humorously explains the reason as people not wanting to upset the aforementioned snakes by dismissing their district for this pedantic reason.<br />
|-<br />
| Wyvern<br />
| {{w|West Virginia}}<br />
| A {{w|Wyvern}} is a mythical creature.<br />
|-<br />
| Virjayjay<br />
| {{w|Virginia}}<br />
| Virginia is similar to vagina. Vajayjay is slang for vagina.<br />
|-<br />
| Sweet Caroline<br />
| {{w|North Carolina}}<br />
| A {{w|Sweet_Caroline|song}} by Neil Diamond.<br />
|-<br />
| South Caroline<br />
| {{w|South Carolina}}<br />
| A further reference to {{w|Sweet_Caroline|song 'Sweet Caroline'}} by Neil Diamond, similar to 'Dakota' and 'More Dakota.' Plays on similarity between the names 'Caroline' and 'Carolina'.<br />
|-<br />
| George<br />
| {{w|Georgia}}<br />
| Georgia was named for {{w|George II of Great Britain}}.<br />
|-<br />
| Fyoridor<br />
| {{w|Florida}}<br />
| Possibly derived from the Russian name Fyodor, as in Fyodor Dostoyevsky.<br />
|-<br />
| Alberta<br />
| {{w|Alaska}}<br />
| A Canadian province.<br />
|-<br />
| Kawaii<br />
| {{w|Hawaii}}<br />
| A Japanese term for cute commonly romanized similar to Hawaii. Possible reference to the 1957 war movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050212 The Bridge on the River Kwai]. Not to be confused with {{w|Kauai}}, a Hawaiian island.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
[A map of the United States, with incorrect state names. A title:]<br />
<br />
Geography challenge:<br />
<br />
'''Name all 50 States'''<br />
<br />
| Alabama => Bandana | <br />
<br />
| Alaska => Alberta |<br />
<br />
| Arizona => Verizona |<br />
<br />
| Arkansas => Arkanoids |<br />
<br />
| California => Cafeteria |<br />
<br />
| Colorado => Colocated |<br />
<br />
| Connecticut => Connect Four |<br />
<br />
| Delaware => Delorean |<br />
<br />
| District of Columbia => District of Colubrids |<br />
<br />
| Florida => Fyoridor |<br />
<br />
| Georgia => George |<br />
<br />
| Hawaii => Kawaii |<br />
<br />
| Idaho => Idolatry |<br />
<br />
| Illinois => SK8RBOIS |<br />
<br />
| Indiana => That Other One |<br />
<br />
| Iowa => Iota |<br />
<br />
| Kansas => Candice |<br />
<br />
| Kentucky => Kennedy |<br />
<br />
| Louisiana => Loisa |<br />
<br />
| Maine => Spanish Maine |<br />
<br />
| Maryland => Maybelline |<br />
<br />
| Massachusetts => Masseuses |<br />
<br />
| Michigan => Mishy |<br />
<br />
| Minnesota => Minestrone |<br />
<br />
| Mississippi => Misstate |<br />
<br />
| Missouri => Mossouri |<br />
<br />
| Montana => mount -a |<br />
<br />
| Nebraska => Nebrunswick |<br />
<br />
| Nevada => Fallout New Vegas |<br />
<br />
| New Hampshire => New Hamper |<br />
<br />
| New Jersey => Nude Juggalos |<br />
<br />
| New Mexico => Namaste |<br />
<br />
| New York => Newark |<br />
<br />
| North Carolina => Sweet Caroline |<br />
<br />
| South Carolina => South Caroline |<br />
<br />
| Ohio => Oh Hi |<br />
<br />
| Oklahoma => Okay |<br />
<br />
| Oregon => Organs |<br />
<br />
| Pennsylvania => Pencilmania |<br />
<br />
| Rhode Island => Roald Dahl |<br />
<br />
| South Dakota => Dakota |<br />
<br />
| /North Dakota => More Dakota |<br />
<br />
| Tennessee => Thennessy |<br />
<br />
| Texas => Hexxus |<br />
<br />
| Utah => Uhaul |<br />
<br />
| Vermont => Vermouth |<br />
<br />
| Virginia => Virjayjay |<br />
<br />
| Washington => Willwheaton |<br />
<br />
| West Virginia => Wyvern |<br />
<br />
| Wisconsin => Wainscot |<br />
<br />
| Wyoming => WYSIWYG |<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Maps]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=356:_Nerd_Sniping&diff=131236356: Nerd Sniping2016-11-20T01:38:27Z<p>108.162.216.62: /* Explanation */ minor: ability -> inability</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 356<br />
| date = December 12, 2007<br />
| title = Nerd Sniping<br />
| image = nerd sniping.png<br />
| titletext = I first saw this problem on the Google Labs Aptitude Test. A professor and I filled a blackboard without getting anywhere. Have fun.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Nerd}}s have a way of getting distracted easily and focusing on one thing and ignoring the rest, when they feel their specific skills are challenged by an interesting problem. [[Black Hat]] has decided to make this into a disturbing game of getting nerds, in this case a physicist, to stop in the middle of a street and get crushed by traffic by showing them an interesting problem to solve. (This may be based on a real event—see the [[#Trivia|trivia]] section). <br />
<br />
The problem Black Hat shows is an electronics engineering thought experiment to find the resistance between two points. In normal wiring, a one-ohm resistor would result in one ohm of resistance. Two resistors connected in a series, where electricity has to go through each, has two ohms of resistance. Two one-ohm resistors in parallel give the circuit only half an ohm since you average the resistance of the path (1 ohm of resistance over 2 paths). With an infinite grid of equal resistors, you have an infinite number of paths to take, and for each path an infinite number of both series and parallel paths to consider, so much more advanced methods are needed. The exact answer to the question is 4/π − 1/2 ohms, or about 0.773 ohms. See [http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath668/kmath668.htm Infinite Grid of Resistors].<br />
<br />
Black Hat explains the concept of his new sport, '''Nerd Sniping''', to [[Cueball]] while killing the physicist, but Cueball is appalled and will have no part in this sport, which doesn't make Black Hat give up on him as he suggest it would be fun if he made his own sign. Black Hat finally suggest that "physicists are two points, mathematicians three." This may indicate that he considers a mathematician to be a more difficult target for his game than a physicist would be. It is unclear whether this is meant as a dig on physicists or on mathematicians; it might be because physicists are interested in a wider range of problems, or because mathematicians require a higher-quality problem to hold their interest. Alternatively he just dislikes mathematicians more, and is thus willing to award more points for sniping one of them.<br />
<br />
In the title text [[Randall]] explains that he saw this problem in a [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2004/09/pencils-down-people.html Google Labs Aptitude Test]. This is a collection of puzzles published by {{w|Google}} as a parody of tests such as the {{w|SAT}}. Google is known for using logic & math puzzles in their job interviews. <br />
<br />
Randall explained in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24 a speech at Google] five days before this comic was released, that he was nerd sniped, in a way, by that problem in this test (see problem 10 on [https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ap14FtNN91w/Rll5oF8Px0I/AAAAAAAAAHo/cHG6a83cmlI/s1600-h/GLAT_3.jpg page 2]), and got quite irritated when he ultimately found that it was actually a modern physics research problem, requiring very advanced math, far more complicated than the other puzzles. Putting such a problem in an aptitude test, can be a way of testing if someone might realize when they cannot solve a problem and remember to move along to the other problems. If they fail to do this, they will never reach the easier problems that comes later, and will fail due to their inability to realize when they will come up short. This is also an important knowledge to have about yourself. Seen in this context it is not necessarily a bad idea to have such an impossible problem in an aptitude test, as it is not interesting to have someone who is easily nerd sniped working for you.<br />
<br />
Note that the truck should have stopped no matter what since the nerd was walking on a zebra crossing. But the driver may have seen him walking, an then estimated that he would be safe before reaching him, and then realizing too late that he stopped in the street. Alternatively the truck driver is part of Black Hat's sport.<br />
<br />
Randall has later referred back to the concept of ''Nerd Sniping'' several times in the past, such as in the title text of [[730: Circuit Diagram]], and in the [[what if?]] blog. In [http://what-if.xkcd.com/113/ Visit Every State] (7 years after this comics release) the entire comic was shown at the top and the truck again further down the post—Randall has again been nerd sniped by a paper he read. This also happens to him in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/124/ Lunar Swimming]—see the title text for the second to last picture.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Black Hat is sitting on a chair, Cueball is standing next to him. Across the street another Cueball-like guy is coming from a building walking towards the zebra crossing across from Black Hat.]<br />
:Black Hat: There's a certain type of brain that's easily disabled. <br />
:Black Hat: If you show it an interesting problem, it involuntarily drops everything else to work on it.<br />
<br />
:[The Cueball-like man across the street is about to enter a crosswalk, which is seen from right behind Black Hat in his chair, holding on to the sign which is still pointing down. Cueball is looking on.]<br />
:Black Hat: This has led me to invent a new sport: Nerd Sniping. <br />
:Black Hat: See that physicist crossing the road?<br />
<br />
:[Black Hat lifts up the sign when the physicist is in the middle of the street, halfway across the zebra crossing.]<br />
:Black Hat: Hey!<br />
<br />
:[A close up of Black Hat's sign is shown in a frame less panel. There is text above and below an image of a four by five grid of nodes with resistors (shown as wiggly lines) between every node and also continuing away from the 16 outer nodes. A total of 5 columns with 5 and 4 rows with 6 resistors for a total of 20 nodes and 49 resistors. Two nodes, a knight's move apart, are marked with red circles in the 3rd row 2nd column and the 2nd row 4th column.]<br />
:Sign: On this infinite grid of ideal one-ohm resistors, <br />
:Sign: what's the equivalent resistance between the two marked nodes?<br />
<br />
:[The Cueball-like physicist has stopped pondering the questions a hand to his chin.]<br />
:Physicist: It's... Hmm. Interesting. Maybe if you start with... No, wait. Hmm... You could—<br />
<br />
:[In another frame less panel a ten wheeled truck is zooming past from the right, apparently going through the spot where the physicist just stood.]<br />
:Truck: <big>''Foooom''</big><br />
<br />
:[Cueball looks down on Black Hat who looks back up from his chair at the curb, again holding the sign down. He lifts one hand up while replying.]<br />
:Cueball: I will have no part in this.<br />
:Black Hat: C'mon, make a sign. It's fun! Physicists are two points, mathematicians three.<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
*It could be that Randall was inspired by a story from {{w|John Horton Conway|John H. Conway}} about when he was involved in a "near" nerd snipe event that was a perfect match for this comic. <br />
**The story can be read in the book ''[https://books.google.ca/books?id=aFHyUfFUVIwC&printsec=frontcover&hl=da#v=onepage&q&f=false Candid Science Five]'' from 2005 (two years before this comics release), specifically on [https://books.google.ca/books?id=aFHyUfFUVIwC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=Coxeter+came+to+Cambridge+and+he+gave+a+lecture,+then+he+had+this+problem+...++Ileft+the+lecture+room+thinking.+As+I+was+walking+through+Cambridge,+suddenly+theidea+hit+me,++but+it+hit+me+while+I+was+in+the+middle+of+the+road.++When+the+ideahit+me+I+stopped+and+a+large+truck+ran+into+me+...++So+I+pretended+that+Coxeter+hadcalculated+the+difficulty+of+this+problem+so+precisely+that+he+knew+that+I+would+getthe+solution+just+in+the+middle+of+the+roa&source=bl&ots=CgmxTG2n0w&sig=ohqqBGtJrpuQFeiCPPusMVsQUV4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIy4KdnPakyAIV0ZeICh2OGghP#v=onepage&q=%22in%20the%20middle%20of%20the%20road%22&f=false page 22]:<br />
::"{{w|Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter|[Donald] Coxeter}} came to Cambridge and he gave a lecture, then he had this problem ... I left the lecture room thinking. As I was walking through Cambridge, suddenly the idea hit me, but it hit me while I was in the middle of the road. When the idea hit me I stopped and a large truck ran into me ... So I pretended that Coxeter had calculated the difficulty of this problem so precisely that he knew that I would get the solution just in the middle of the road ..."<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1572:_xkcd_Survey&diff=1307741572: xkcd Survey2016-11-13T05:56:26Z<p>108.162.216.62: survey still down. Updated date to reflect latest check.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1572<br />
| date = September 2, 2015<br />
| title = xkcd Survey<br />
| image = xkcd_survey.png<br />
| titletext = The xkcd Survey: Big Data for a Big Planet<br />
}}<br />
*The entire comic is a link to [http://goo.gl/forms/B5RaBeZ6nw The xkcd survey] on Google.<br />
**The survey has long since been closed.<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
As the comic image states, it links to a survey created with [https://www.google.com/forms/about/ Google Forms], containing a series of questions. The questions range from mundane typical survey questions such as “Do you have any food allergies?”, to rather strange, such as “Fill this text box with random letters by randomly mashing keys on your keyboard.” (See [[1530: Keyboard Mash]]).<br />
<br />
The stated goal of the survey is to “create an interesting and unusual data set for people to play with”. A strange data set is a ripe opportunity for a sampling of readers. It's also supposed to be “a search for weird correlations” – presumably the goal is to be able to say things like “people who have been skydiving are (more/less) likely than average to dislike cilantro”. (See also [[882: Significant]] about finding presumably-spurious correlations between unrelated data.)<br />
<br />
This explanation will undoubtedly expand when the data comes in.<br />
<br />
{{w|Image_map#Client-side_image_map|HTML image maps}} is a technique for marking up areas of an image on a web page, such that each area can be a link without the whole image being a link. [[Randall]] could have used this type of image map to make only the “Click here to take the survey” button be a link, and none of the rest of the image. But he cannot get the hang of it (or knowing his skills, does not wish to take the time to learn it). Not getting the hang of HTML image maps was also referenced on [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/tour-news.png the banner for his book tour] from [http://web.archive.org/web/20140901023821/http://xkcd.com/ September 2014]<br />
<br />
The title text is a joke off of {{w|Big Data}}, which is a name for analysis of a set of data that includes a huge amount of information. He also says "for a big planet" because the Earth is big.{{Citation needed}}<br />
<br />
The survey is closed, and the questions replaced with the text: "The xkcd survey is now closed. Thank you for all your answers! Response data is being collected and will be posted soon." As of 13 November 2016, the same caption is still there, with no indication of exactly how soon the data is intended to be posted. (Apparently, Randall crashed google forms, so the data is taking a long time to be retrieved [https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/40mhve/what_ever_happened_to_the_survey_we_took/ (see this reddit thread)] - much like his breaking of [http://what-if.xkcd.com/imgs/a/62/balloon_wolfram.png/ Wolfram Alpha]] during answering a reader's question on [[what if?]])<br />
<br />
==The Survey==<br />
The Survey started off with the following statement:<br />
<br />
<nowiki>This is an anonymous survey. After it's done, a database of everyone's responses will be posted.<br />
There's no specific reason for any of the questions. The goal is to create an interesting and unusual data set for people to play with. This is obviously not going to be a real random sample of people, but in the interest of getting cooler data, if you're sharing this with friends, try sending it to some people who wouldn't normally see this kind of thing!<br />
<br />
WARNING: This survey is anonymous, but your answers WILL BE MADE PUBLIC. Depending what you write, it's possible that someone may be able to identify you by looking at your responses. None of these questions should ask about anything too private, but don't write anything that you don't want people to see. If you're not comfortable answering a question, just skip it.</nowiki><br />
<br />
'''Note:''' The order of the possible answers (the list of possibilities) was random, and changed every time the page is reloaded. So do not try to fix the order here below...<br />
<br />
===Plane===<br />
*Have you ever been in a plane?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Skydiving===<br />
*Have you ever been {{w|Parachuting|skydiving}}?<br />
**No, but I might someday<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===The Dress===<br />
*When you first saw {{w|The dress (viral phenomenon)|The Dress}}, what color was it? — (Also see [[1492: Dress Color]] and the [[Blag]] ENTRY [http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/ Color Survey Results]).<br />
**White and gold<br />
**A color combination not listed here<br />
**I don't remember<br />
**Blue and black<br />
**What dress?<br />
<br />
===Popular food===<br />
*What's a really popular food that you don't like?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Floaters===<br />
*When you look at a blue sky, do you see those swirly {{w|floater|floaters}} in your vision?<br />
**Yes, constantly<br />
**I'm not sure what things you mean<br />
**Yes, occasionally<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Running out of gas===<br />
*Have you ever had a car run out of gas while you were driving it?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Animals===<br />
*Name the first five animals you can think of<br />
**''Multi line text box''<br />
<br />
===Weather===<br />
*What's the weather like where you are right now?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Activities===<br />
*Which of these can you do reasonably well?<br />
*(Check all that apply)<br />
**{{w|slam dunk|Dunk}} a basketball &mdash; A "slam dunk" or simply "dunk" is the act of jumping up and putting the ball through the net with a lot of force<br />
**Tie a {{w|sheet bend}} or {{w|bowline}} &mdash; A sheet bend is a knot that joins two ropes together; A bowline is a knot used to form a fixed loop at the end of a rope. Although tied differently, the resulting knots are identical.{{Citation needed}}<br />
**Roller skate<br />
**[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/high-heel-race/ Run in high heels]<br />
**Drive a stick shift — See {{w|Manual transmission}} of a car<br />
**Solve a {{w|Rubik's cube}}<br />
**Dive headfirst off a diving board &mdash; See {{w|Springboard}} and {{w|Diving platform}}<br />
**Ice skate<br />
**{{w|Skateboarding|Skateboard}}<br />
**Walk on {{w|stilts}} — Stilts are poles, posts or pillars used to allow a person to walk at a height above the ground<br />
**Ski<br />
**Cut vegetables with a knife<br />
**Swim<br />
**Ride a horse<br />
**{{w|Unicycle}}<br />
**Change the oil on a car<br />
**Do a back {{w|Handspring (gymnastics)|handspring}} &mdash; A handspring is an exercise in gymnastics in which you jump through the air landing on your hands, then again landing on your feet<br />
**Juggle — {{w|Toss juggling}} (the most recognizable form of juggling) consists in throwing objects into the air and catching them.<br />
<br />
===Spelling===<br />
*What word can you never seem to spell on the first try?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Condiments===<br />
*Do you eat {{w|condiments}} directly out of the fridge as a snack?<br />
**No <br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Thermostat===<br />
*When you adjust a thermostat that was set by someone else, it's usually because you want the room to be...<br />
**Cooler<br />
**Warmer<br />
<br />
===Clothing===<br />
*What color is the shirt/dress/upper-body-clothing you're wearing right now, if any?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Colds===<br />
*Do you get {{w|Common cold|colds}} often?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Number===<br />
*Pick a number from 1 to 100<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Spelling===<br />
*On a scale of 1 to 10, how good at spelling are you? (Note that the question does not specify which end of the scale is good or bad.)<br />
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 10.''<br />
<br />
===Myers-Briggs===<br />
*Do you know your {{w|Myers–Briggs_Type_Indicator|Myers-Briggs type}}?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Astrology===<br />
*Do you know your {{w|astrological sign}}?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Siblings===<br />
*How many older siblings do you have?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
*How many younger siblings do you have?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
*How many twin/etc siblings do you have?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Sleepiness===<br />
*Do you feel sleepy a lot?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Movie star===<br />
*Name a movie star<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Time in sun===<br />
*Do you spend a lot of time in the sun?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Broccoli===<br />
*Does {{w|broccoli}} taste bitter to you?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**I've never had it<br />
<br />
===Wakefulness===<br />
*Do you regularly stay awake much later than you meant to?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Keyboard mashing===<br />
*Fill this text box with gibberish by mashing random keyboard keys (See [[1530: Keyboard Mash]]).<br />
**''Broad multi-line text box''<br />
<br />
===Driving===<br />
*On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is terrible and 3 is average, how good a driver do you think you are?<br />
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 5.''<br />
<br />
===Allergies===<br />
*Do you have any food allergies?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes <br />
<br />
===Thunder===<br />
*Have you heard thunder or seen lightning in the past year? — (The title-text of [[831: Weather Radar]] mentions the belief that thunderstorms seemed more common when one was a kid. Since the survey also asks for age this question is likely a test of that belief.)<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Flavor preference===<br />
*Which do you prefer? (It seems to be missing the ''neither'' option...)<br />
**Chocolate<br />
**Vanilla<br />
<br />
===Number (reprise)===<br />
*Pick another number from 1 to 100 (Supposedly should not be the same as in the first pick a number box).<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Internet===<br />
*When you think about stuff on the internet, where do you picture it being physically located? Even if you know it's not really how things work, is there a place you imagine websites and social media posts sitting before you look at them? If so, where is it?<br />
**''Broad multi-line text box''<br />
<br />
===Roll tongue===<br />
*Can you {{w|Tongue rolling|roll your tongue}}?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**What?<br />
<br />
===Toes===<br />
*Can you pick things up with your toes?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Age===<br />
*How old are you?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Walls===<br />
*What color are the walls around you right now?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Cell phone===<br />
*What kind of cell phone do you have?<br />
**{{w|iPhone}}<br />
**{{w|Android (operating system)|Android}}<br />
**Other smartphone<br />
**Non-smartphone<br />
**I don't have a cell phone<br />
<br />
===Eating===<br />
*What's the last thing you ate?<br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Difficult words===<br />
*Which of these words do you know the meaning of?<br />
*Some of these words don’t appear in any of the following dictionaries: the Oxford English Dictionary, the New Oxford American Dictionary, Wiktionary, or Dictionary.com. With one exception, however, reviewers on this site have found verifiable examples of use for the words in question.<br />
*[http://dictionary.reference.com/ Dictionary.com] has an index of difficulty (measured in pixels, with class name <code>difficulty-indicator</code>). We add it at the right of the words that have it. N/A means that a word isn't present in Dictionary.com, or that it doesn't have an index.<br />
**Slickle – Not in any standard dictionary. However, it [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Slickle is in] the crowd-sourced in Urban Dictionary, as well as a suggested planet name in [[1253: Exoplanet Names]]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rife Rife] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rife 117]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/soliloquy Soliloquy] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/soliloquy 150]<br />
**Fination – not in any dictionary. Appears infrequently in Victorian texts (e.g., [http://books.google.com/books?id=ghNOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA245&dq=Fination 1889], [http://books.google.com/books?id=nwlCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA214&dq=Fination 1839])<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stipple Stipple] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stipple 144]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/peristeronic Peristeronic] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peristeronic N/A]. Randall used it and defined it for readers in [[798: Adjectives]].<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/modicum Modicum] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/modicum 120]<br />
**Trephony – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete spelling of "{{w|Trephine}}" (especially when used as a verb for the process of {{w|Trepanning|trephination}}). Initially a transliteration of Greek [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=tru/panon τρυπάω] for the same.<br />
**Tribution – A regular construction from [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tribute#Verb Tribute (verb)] using "-tion" to transform into a noun. Using this regular formation, the term would mean the act of tribute, but no examples of actual use are available. It is worth noting that the use of "tribute" as a verb is generally considered obsolete and the few forms that persist in use relate primarily to the tributary and distibutary river systems<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/phoropter Phoropter] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phoropter N/A] 1.An instrument used in eye examinations to determine an individual's prescription, the patient looking through various lenses at a chart on the other side.<br />
**Unitory – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete spelling of "Unitary," chiefly British. While long obsolete in normal usage, it persisted longer in mathematics that it did elsewhere (particularly for "Unitory Method" and "Unitory Matrices"). Example of use: [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wl1BAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA5-PA27&lpg=RA5-PA27&dq=unitory+method&source=bl&ots=rfRKJXAJqV&sig=Wsr_gV7xG6Airah9Lx1M0hi-7Zc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBmoVChMInd_R9qTbxwIVChU-Ch36IAh_#v=onepage&q=unitory%20method&f=false (1)]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amiable Amiable] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amiable 123]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/salient Salient] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/salient 69]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/regolith Regolith] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/regolith 162]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lithe Lithe] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lithe 105]<br />
**Revergent – technical word from {{w|fern}} biology, referring to the edges of fern leaves which curl back on themselves (see [http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00985044 Schölch, 2000])<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hubris Hubris] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hubris 117]<br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fleek Fleek] – [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fleek N/A]<br />
**Cadine – A rare loan-word for [https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cadine a sultan's wife or a noble ottoman woman] which comes to English through the French. Examples of Use: [https://books.google.com/books?id=4yz-Y-_OOO0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=cadine&f=false (1)]. Also the name of an [https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadine italian city]. <br />
**[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apricity Apricity] – Not available in reference dictionaries. An obsolete word for the sun's heat in winter (e.g., [http://books.google.com/books?id=CFBGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT76&dq=apricity Bailey 1775]). According to the What If? book (page 80), this is Randall's single favourite word in the English language.<br />
<br />
===cat===<br />
*Please type "cat" here: <br />
**''Text box''<br />
<br />
===Dreams===<br />
*Do you usually remember your dreams?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Text editors===<br />
*Do you have strong opinions about text editors? (See {{w|Editor war}})<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Emoji===<br />
*How do you feel about {{w|emoji}}?<br />
**Negative 😠 (Unicode 1f620 - Angry face)<br />
**Positive 😊 (Unicode 263a - Smiling face)<br />
**Neutral 😐 (Unicode 1F610 - Neutral face)<br />
<br />
===Snow===<br />
*Does it ever snow where you live?<br />
**No<br />
**Yes<br />
<br />
===Taste of food===<br />
*Do you strongly dislike the taste or texture of any of these things?<br />
**Eggs<br />
**Chocolate ice cream<br />
**Beer<br />
**White wine<br />
**{{w|Carbonation}} (or Fizz)<br />
**Red wine<br />
**{{w|Cilantro}}<br />
**Coffee<br />
**Tomatoes<br />
**Yogurt<br />
<br />
===Beverages===<br />
*Which of these do you regularly drink?<br />
**Caffeinated soda (e.g. Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper)<br />
**Noncaffeinated soda<br />
**Coffee<br />
**Fruit juice<br />
**Milk<br />
**Beer<br />
**Wine<br />
**Tea<br />
**{{w|Maple syrup}}<br />
**Water<br />
<br />
===Random words===<br />
*Type five random words<br />
**''Broad multi-line text box''<br />
<br />
===Flying===<br />
*Are you nervous about flying?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**A little<br />
<br />
===Favorite number===<br />
*On a scale of 1 to 5, which number is your favorite?<br />
**''Tick off list with numbers from 1 to 5.''<br />
<br />
===Sandwich===<br />
*Which of these would you consider a {{w|sandwich}}?<br />
*(Check all that apply)<br />
**{{w|Taco}}<br />
**{{w|Quesadilla}}<br />
**{{w|Submarine sandwich|Sub/Hoagie}}<br />
**{{w|Cheesesteak}}<br />
**{{w|Hamburger}}<br />
**{{w|Open-faced sandwich}}<br />
**{{w|Calzone}}<br />
<br />
===Animal affinity===<br />
*Which of these describes you?<br />
*(Check all that apply)<br />
**Dog person<br />
**Cat person<br />
**Half-cat half-person<br />
**Part of a subterranean race of dog people<br />
**Literally named "Catherine Person"<br />
<br />
===Sense of direction===<br />
*Would you say you have a good sense of direction?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
<br />
===Socks or underwear===<br />
*Have you ever thrown out all your different pairs of socks/underwear, bought a bunch of replacements that were all one kind, and then told all your friends how great it was and how they should do it too?<br />
**Yes<br />
**No<br />
**I did the throwing out thing, but didn't talk to everyone about it<br />
**No, but I'm totally doing that now<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A simple comic with text only. The ''click here'' part is inside a black frame.]<br />
:Introducing <br />
:'''The xkcd Survey'''<br />
:A search for weird correlations<br />
:Note: This survey is anonymous, but<br />
:<font color="red"> all responses will be posted publicly </font><br />
:so people can play with the data.<br />
:'''Click here to'''<br />
:'''take the survey'''<br />
:Or click here, or here.<br />
:The whole comic is a link,<br />
:because I still haven't gotten<br />
:the hang of HTML imagemaps.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=708:_Sex_Dice&diff=125734708: Sex Dice2016-08-24T17:33:24Z<p>108.162.216.62: This is not legitimate trivia, as it concerns a fan work.</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 708<br />
| date = March 1, 2010<br />
| title = Sex Dice<br />
| image = sex dice.png<br />
| titletext = You roll for initiative, and... [roll]... wow, do you ever take it.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Sex dice}} consist of two dice, one listing various actions, and one listing various body parts. Roll the dice, do the specified action to the specified body part, repeat as necessary.<br />
<br />
Because most games require the same dice, in many peoples' game collections, the dice get mixed around between games. Unfortunately it seems [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] have accidentally exchanged one of their sex dice (the one that contains actions) with a normal six-sided die; as a result, the people playing a {{w|role-playing game}} in the last panel find themselves doing unusual actions.<br />
<br />
Given the situation, it's likely the player who fondled the guard was supposed to roll 2 or 3 six-sided dice to determine the damage of his attack. The sex die came up as "fondle," while the other dice added up to six; hence, he fondled the guard for 6 damage.<br />
<br />
The title text is another possible situation that might arise: "rolling for {{w|Initiative (role-playing games)|initiative}}" in role-playing games is how the players determine who attacks in what order during combat. Here, the player rolled the sex die as part of his initiative roll, and therefore "took initiative" in an entirely different way. <br />
<br />
Typically the missing sex dice will show different actions like these: Blow, bite, nip, lick, pat or suck (from a set that did not include fondle). The other dice with places on the body like breasts might also have these options: Ass, thigh, ear, navel or lips. Other dices again may show positions to use, like doggy style, or places in the house on which to perform these, as in the kitchen. It is a little difficult to imagine any of the actions mentioned above resulting in the response in the title text: ''Wow, do you ever take it.'' Maybe there are other types of dice, but they are not easily found with a Google search...<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan kneel on a bed, Cueball, in the foot of the bed, is shaking a cup of dice. Behind Megan is a pillow and the bed poles.]<br />
:Cueball: All right, baby. Get ready for...<br />
:''Shake shake shake roll''<br />
<br />
:[There is no frame around the next drawing of the two dice that have been rolled. The first is a regular five (seen almost from the top, but the side with three can be seen). The second die has text written on it:]<br />
:Breasts<br />
<br />
:[Cueball and Megan is bend over the dice lying on the bed staring at them. Beat panel.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball leans back on one hand while talking the other two his chin while Megan sits straighter.]<br />
:Cueball: I really need to organize the game cupboard.<br />
:Megan: Wait, so where's the other sex die?<br />
<br />
:[A Cueball-like guy lies on his tummy, and another Cueball-like guy sits to the left with Hairbun siting and Ponytail also lying on her tummy hands beneath her chin to the right on the floor around a game board. On the board is what appears to be two dices.]<br />
:Guy lying: I... ''fondle'' the castle guard? That doesn't seem right.<br />
:Hairbun: It did 6 damage, though.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1649:_Pipelines&diff=113555Talk:1649: Pipelines2016-02-29T17:24:45Z<p>108.162.216.62: </p>
<hr />
<div>No discussion yet? Strange ...<br />
<br />
Anyway, the title text "and we'll all just show up with a bucket each day to take our share of the resulting smoothie" reminds me of this bit near the end of Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx0ME65y72E (Warning: not for the squeamish.) --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 16:21, 29 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I tried to discuss earlier but did not have permission to "create a page." Now I can comment, I assume because you created the page? Hrmm. Anyway, my comment is that the honey pipe seems so unreasonably large that I'm curious of the source and the math. I found figures for honey production in US, in pounds, did not convert it to volume or look up other values but it's hard to imagine it is correct in relation to ketchup, mustard, and mayo. Grocery stores sell honey in smaller bottles and much less often, than the others. Factory bakers and makers of cereal use a little honey but not much; it's so much more expensive than corn syrup or even sugar. Restaurants use all those other products at much higher volumes. McDonald's has honey at breakfast for biscuits but it's rarely requested, versus how many gallons per day of ketchup they must use per store, just on burgers, let alone packets given away. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 17:24, 29 February 2016 (UTC)wrybred</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Miscellaneous&diff=111587explain xkcd:Community portal/Miscellaneous2016-02-12T20:02:02Z<p>108.162.216.62: it wasnt me but i wish it was</p>
<hr />
<div><noinclude>{{Community portal}}</noinclude><br />
<br />
== The Community Portal's design ==<br />
<br />
{{tl|Community portal}} looks too Wikipedia-ish (because that's where I got it). Someone who can design things should probably fix that. It isn't protected for the time being, though it probably will be in the future (high-visibility template). --''[[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]]''&nbsp;<sup>[[User talk:Philosopher|Let us reason together.]]</sup> 00:54, 4 August 2012 (EDT)<br />
<br />
== Common mistake ==<br />
<br />
This affects all pages that ever say "alt text" in reference to the TITLE text on xkcd images. "Alt text" is incorrect; Alt text refers to the text that is shown as an alternative when images are not displayed. Title text is what xkcd uses and is shown as a tool tip-like bubble when images are hovered over.<br />
<br />
I would correct this myself but I saw no way to edit the main page. --[[User:Jillysky|Jillysky]] ([[User talk:Jillysky|talk]]) 14:21, 6 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:You actually don't need to edit the main page to fix it, as what's there is just a mirror (transclusion) of the actual content from the comic page, at [[Curiosity]], which is open for editing by anyone. Then again, the "alt-text" in that case is generated by a template, {{tl|comic}}, so that's where we should fix this. The template's code, however, is currently a terrible mess (sorry!), so I went ahead and took care of it. Thanks for catching that! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:24, 6 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Ah? So it's wrong, for instance, on http://m.xkcd.com? because of that I took it for granted that we could call it the alt-text... - [[User:Cos|Cos]] ([[User talk:Cos|talk]]) 17:38, 6 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Yes. If you look at the page's html source, you'll see:<br />
<nowiki><img<br />
id="comic"<br />
src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/curiosity.png"<br />
title="As of this writing the NASA/JPL websites are still overloaded. Trying CURIOSITY-REAR-CAM_[256px_x_256px].torrent.SwEsUb.DVDRip.XviD-aXXo.jpg instead."<br />
alt="Curiosity"></nowiki><br />
::(line breaks added for clarity) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 23:54, 6 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:::That was my error in the template. I knew "image text" that has been commonly used by Jeff was not techically correct, but I didn't actually go back and confirm it was alt text before I included that tag in the template. That's to Waldir (I believe?) for correcting the template. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:14, 7 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== When the "official" transcript is wrong? ==<br />
I did [[903: Extended Mind]]. Interestingly, the transcript on xkcd.com is missing the bottom line "When Wikipedia has a server outage, my apparent IQ drops by 30 points." I assume we want a complete transcript, rather than whatever xkcd.com says it is...? [[User:Stevage|Stevage]] ([[User talk:Stevage|talk]]) 04:10, 17 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We're focusing on the actual transcript of the comic, not the xkcd.com transcript. The official transcript is usually right, but even Randall makes mistakes sometimes. [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 04:24, 17 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Milestone: half the comics explained!! ==<br />
<br />
Hi all! I'm pleased to announce that we have just broke the 50% mark for xkcd explanations! The page that balanced the count (568 explained, 568 to go, at the time) was [[877: Beauty]], created 01:31 UTC, 21 November 2012 by [[User:Davidy22]]. Congratulations!! :D --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 03:10, 21 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:The caterer's been called! The punch will be arriving soon! Go [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]]! [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 06:53, 21 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::[[File:freedom.png]] Punch is served! [[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 07:11, 21 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
But the Main page says 407 explanations, 731 to go! What's up with that? --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 21:00, 23 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Reverse? ==<br />
<br />
Why in the Archive why are all the thing up until "Heatmap" in Reverse? Can someone please answer? [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Archive? Can you provide a link or screenshot? '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:43, 19 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
http://xkcd.com/archive/ [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Ah, that's because the comic right after that, rtl, has a right-to-left character in it that flips all the proceeding text. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 00:13, 20 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Ah, ok, i see that now. When I 1st saw that RTL I just thought that it was random letters, thankyou for explaining it for me. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:28, 20 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
It also depends on what browser you are on because on Google Chrome it was normal. [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 09:08, 20 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Do you think this question was asked by one of the xkcd people? ==<br />
<br />
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090301060752AAtYugc [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 08:38, 20 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Matthew Reilly ==<br />
<br />
I would just like to tell everyone that I asked Matthew Reilly (the author) if he is ever scared that a velociraptor is going to attack him, and he said NO! He clearly needs to start worrying about them! [[User:Tmack3|Tmack3]] ([[User talk:Tmack3|talk]]) 10:45, 22 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== What can we learn section ==<br />
First of all I love your work. I believe deeper understanding of each XKCD can make a world a better place and I thank you sincerely for starting this webpage. I wanted to ask what you think about "What can we learn?" section I've been adding to some of the pages. Thank you - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:27, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:This site is actually the work of multiple editors working slowly and steadily to fill in explanations for all the old comics. Some of the xkcd comics are incredibly deep - comic [[956]] is such a poignant comic that digs into the DRM issue on so many levels. Your reflections on many of the comics are very much warranted and you're helping us create talk pages with high-quality opening posts, which is great for future discussion on this wiki. It'd be nice if you could refrain from putting headers in talk pages, technical limitations of the wiki make long explanation pages choke when headings are in the discussion page. Other than that, keep up the good work! '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:42, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::I've put in my 2 cents to comic [[956]], and thank you for teaching me how to comment and link to other comics - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::: FYI, you can always make pseudo-headings using a horizontal rule and a bold "header", but honestly I think a simple standard opening sentence would suffice. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:14, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Oh, and the guy who draws xkcd is called {{w|Randall Munroe}}. So many glowing things to be said about him. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:44, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Yes, I can't thank him enough for simplifying complex issues to funny stories, I think it's exactly what our generation needs - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:58, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I'm in favor of a Mr. Rogers style of 'what lesson can be learned' on the talk page, but make sure your comments don't come across as sanctimonious and holier-than-thou as that can be really off-putting. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 19:06, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: You are absolutely correct, I have not thought of that, please trust me I did not do it on purpose. Thank you Mr. Lcarsos - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 19:55, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Thank you David, and I apologize that I've not made it clear that by your work, I do mean your collective work (the wiki is only as good as all the people behind it). I was trying to put the headers to allow others to find the section easier in case they start looking for it, perhaps I could make a suggestion to make it a standalone section so that others would be encouraged to contribute their own understanding of lessons they have noticed from each comic. I know the lessons I've seen, but I would love to learn from others as much as I hope they can learn from me and Mr. XKCD, thank you. - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 13:48, 28 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD ==<br />
<br />
Hello fellow editors. Do you remember the last time we were hit by a surge of automated spam? Neither do I. ConfirmEdit has really done a number on the volume of spam that we're eating - one spam account has been created since we finished configuring confirmEdit, and zero anon edits have been spam. Zero. Can you say happiness? Can you say party? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u><font color="purple" title="I want you">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><font color="indigo" size="4px">²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 14:41, 1 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Hehe, I'm glad! Thanks for being so relentless on the spam-fighting all this time! Maybe we should make up a new reason to make Jeff remove the /wiki/ in the URL? ;) –[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 18:11, 1 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: Awesome news! Finally the patrolling feature will be usable: [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideanons=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by registered users] / [{{fullurl:Special:RecentChanges|hideliu=1&hidepatrolled=1&from=20121204025000&days=365&limit=1000}} Unpatrolled changes by anonymous users] :) --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 12:27, 2 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== 1000th comic explanation!! ==<br />
<br />
Hi all! It apparently went unnoticed that '''we have recently surpassed the mark of 1000 comic explanations!''' Some calculations based on [[:Category:Comics]] and [[Special:NewPages]] led me to the conclusion that the 1000th explanation was [[681: Gravity Wells]], created by [[User:AlexRNL]] just yesterday! Yay! This calls for a celebration, no? Congrats to [[Special:ContributionScores|everyone]] who made this happen! I'll edit [[Mediawiki:Sitenotice]] with a congratulatory message. Way to go, guys! --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:04, 10 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:ps - I also took the opportunity to flesh out our [[explain xkcd|about/history page]]. Please take a look and fix/add any details I might have missed. --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 16:06, 10 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Style guide ==<br />
Is there a style guide for this wiki? --[[User:PeterMortensen|PeterMortensen]] ([[User talk:PeterMortensen|talk]]) 20:14, 10 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Oh, sorry, I did forget to answer here. A guide on this is not easy, many individual comics do need special layouts because they have content never can match to a style guide. But I will give a try [[Help:Style Guide]].--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 21:18, 15 August 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Adblock ==<br />
<br />
I've whitelisted the site in adblock, but the ads are still blocked.<br />
Anyone know what' going on here and how I can fix it?--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 04:34, 27 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Huh. I was wondering why our impression counts weren't rising. I thought it was just because this site had high turnover. I've changed the webpage that the word whitelisting links to, try the instructions there instead. Project wonderful is our ad provider, and they've been pretty good to us so far. Also, thanks for helping to support the site! '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:40, 27 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Great! I don't really mid ads as long as they aren't intrusive. Works now, Hope everyone else does it as well.--[[User:ParadoX|ParadoX]] ([[User talk:ParadoX|talk]]) 05:16, 27 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
::I saw you wrote "the webpage that the word whitelisting links to" so I went to the search box and typed whitelisting. My search didn't yield anything useful: [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?search=whitelisting&go=Go&title=Special%3ASearch]. I don't know how to create the missing page but there oughta be a link for someone like me who searches for whitelist or whitelisting, to take them to the instructions you refer to. [[User:SaxTeacher|SaxTeacher]] ([[User talk:SaxTeacher|talk]]) 10:59, 17 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::We already have this linked somewhere, but [https://www.projectwonderful.com/adblock.php this] is the link you want. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:41, 17 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I normally access this site through the android app "xkcd browser". That app only links to the content part of the site and doesn't show the side bar, so the adds aren't shown either. Might be worth discussing it with the author. [[Special:Contributions/109.158.126.139|109.158.126.139]] 08:06, 27 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:We support those avenues completely, you don't need to feel bad if you use an app to browse this site. We're only really concerned when we put up ads and our impressions are less than half our page hits, because that essentially means more than half our readers aren't contributing to server costs. That's really hard to deal with. We have enough daily page hits to qualify as web publishers at very big ad agencies, but we've had to settle for relatively low rates at the smaller Project Wonderful because 60% of our users were using adblock, so the agencies rejected us because our valuable "paying" audience was too low for them to consider us. That's been the difference between us using dedicated servers to host the site and hiring a contractor to set it up, and the (admittedly somewhat decent) shared hosting plan that we have to settle for now. We can only afford the shared hosting, because the small-scale advertisers at Project Wonderful don't even pay for full days of advertising; most of the time, we make less per day than the posted $3.90 price. That said, we're grateful that Project Wonderful would take us as a publisher when no one else would, but it really feels like the difference between being accepted to community college and being accepted to an ivy league school. For a similar reason, the Google ads route was not sufficient to satisfy our needs; not a large enough proportion of our users were looking at ads, so we either needed to spam them and degrade the site, or we needed to make them refresh, which makes pages slow and causes needlessly high traffic for a lot of users. We didn't want our ads to make the site worse, because that would drive away users and defeat the purpose of us being a public resource for xkcd readers. We actually decided to go the agency route pretty early, because adsense takes a massive cut of revenues and gives us little control over what ads or advertisers actually showed, which was not okay with us. Whoah, I wrote a lot. I hope it was coherent. Maybe someday I'll collect my thoughts and write a proper summary on how and why we advertise. Also, if you have any questions about anything ad-related, you can always ask us at [[explain xkcd talk:Advertise Here]]. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 11:15, 27 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Feynman? ==<br />
<br />
Feynman (both in [[182: Nash|living]] and [[397: Unscientific|zombie]] form) probably deserves an entry in the [[Template:Navbox characters|character navbox]] template doesn't he? [[Special:Contributions/128.250.152.198|128.250.152.198]] 02:21, 1 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:That's two comics out of 1200+. Three if you count the song. Not quite enough yet. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:27, 1 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:: If that's the criterion, then we need to get rid of [[Brown Hat]]. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:30, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Job Interview (Electric Soup) ==<br />
<br />
The soup is clearly being poured out of an electric socket. This "electric soup" is probably not a reference to the alcoholic brew favoured by Scottish tramps, but more likely to the virtual nature of the company. {{unsigned|Sulis}}<br />
:Hey, go here [[Talk:1293: Job Interview]] for discussions. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:58, 20 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Is there a similar, transcripted service for The Oatmeal? ==<br />
<br />
Hi everyone - this site is a real gem, I've sent it to a friend of mine who can't read XKCD because she's blind. The transcripts on this site are a real boon!<br />
<br />
Does anyone know if there is a similar service for The Oatmeal? I've searched and searched, but found nothing so far.<br />
<br />
Thanks :)<br />
<br />
Jeff<br />
<br />
:As far as I know we are kind of unique in the web comics world. I think we get away with it because Randall publishes all his comics as Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial. We liberally link back to xkcd, and we don't make a penny (The ads are just to cover server expenses, because wikis and the databases that support them get big when you're covering a body of work like xkcd). I haven't looked into the copyright Matt uses for the Oatmeal, but he seems like a cool enough guy to not kill a community transcripting effort of his comics. [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]<span title="I'm an admin. I can help.">_a</span> ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 20:32, 4 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== what if 103: Vanishing Water - comics ==<br />
<br />
Please explain the 2nd and the 4th comics from http://what-if.xkcd.com/103/<br />
<br />
"Just tried to sail my boat over land, because I didn't learn from that kid in the Zephyr." (who's the kid from Zephyr?)<br />
<br />
"A third time?" (maybe whales were dropped twice before in other what-ifs?) [[User:Daniel Carrero|Daniel Carrero]] ([[User talk:Daniel Carrero|talk]]) 21:57, 9 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:"A third time?" is a reference to a whale falling twice in "Hitchiker's guide to the Galaxy". Been a while, so I don't remember the details of how this fit in, but the second time it happened to the whale, he thought "Not again" or something along those lines. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Raises the question of if we should explain jokes imbedded in What If comics. [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 18:49, 11 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Discussion usage ==<br />
<br />
Am I being a killjoy in feeling that the discussion section should be mainly limited to discussion on improving the explanation, gathering consensus and that type of thing.<br />
Specifically, the discussion for [[1418: Horse]] is quickly turning into every man and his dog posting a sentence in the style of the comic, which doesn't really add anything to the page other than clutter.<br />
<br />
Personally, I'd just delete most of them, but I think I might be turning into a grumpy old bugger... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
:The discussion is also there for just talking about the comic. Those guys aren't wildly off-topic, there's no need to clamp down on what they get to talk about. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 17:44, 10 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Yep, I must just be grumpy and draconian! Lesson learned --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 20:32, 10 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== 2014 Christmas header ==<br />
<br />
Since the header for the site current contains a [http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/store_default.png graphic link to the store] that promises that Randall probably won't ship you a [[:Category:Bobcats|bobcat]], it seems to me that probably ought to be preserved and explained somewhere. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.189|173.245.56.189]] 17:45, 3 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== XKCD at LanguageLog ==<br />
<br />
Arnold Zwicky (of the well-known linguistics blog Language Log) has put together a list of linguistics-related XKCD strips, here: http://arnoldzwicky.org/the-language-of-comics/comics-lists/xkcd-cartoons/ I thought it might be appropriate for a copy of the list (maybe a category) to be created from it. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.79|199.27.133.79]] 03:48, 28 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
:[[:Category:Language]] '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 04:39, 28 December 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Bookmarklet ==<br />
<br />
Hello there, I've created a little bookmarklet (https://ginkobox.fr/shaarli/?a77vQw) and I thought it might be useful for someone out there.<br />
<br />
When launched, it adds the 'explain' before xkcd.com and the browser loads the explainxkcd page. I've tested it only on Firefox.<br />
<br />
(Contact @ https://ginkobox.fr/wiki/doku.php?id=about) {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.100}}<br />
<br />
== Is there a RSS feed for What If? ==<br />
<br />
Is there a RSS feed for What If?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 11:59, 29 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
:No, because we cover the comics. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:57, 29 March 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== My User Page ==<br />
<br />
Can someone help me with [[user:17jiangz1|my user page]]? I can't seem to remove the large space on top.--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 07:43, 9 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
: The only solution I've found is to remove the contribution scores (data6=...). Not sure what exactly is triggering this bug. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 21:02, 9 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
I am receiving "Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character ""." for <code><pre>{{#expr: {{formatnum:{{#cscore:17jiangz1|pages}}|R}}/{{formatnum:{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}|R}}*100 round 5 }}</pre></code>--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 05:46, 10 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Bump?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:48, 14 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== What-If ==<br />
<br />
It hasn't updated for 2 weeks. why?--[[User:17jiangz1|17jiangz1]] ([[User talk:17jiangz1|talk]]) 06:50, 25 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
:Looks like they're on hold for a few months (Until July 14th). Too bad, I enjoyed them. ([http://what-if.xkcd.com/ Look at the top of the What-If page]) --[[User:Zman9600|Zman9600]] ([[User talk:Zman9600|talk]]) 20:24, 6 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
:What is so special about the date and time? Seems very specific: ''July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT.'' --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.99|141.101.98.99]] 12:48, 28 May 2015 (UTC)<br />
Looks like it's set for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz mission launch. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.158}}<br />
<br />
What If updates will resume on July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT. By that time {{w|New Horizons}} will have it's closest approach to {{w|Pluto}}. See here: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:34, 5 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== thanks for having a working website ==<br />
<br />
the search function on xkcd.com was taken off, and now the random function seems to be having issues, but it's nice that here both work [[Special:Contributions/188.114.97.114|188.114.97.114]] 19:09, 9 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
:We do our best. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 22:27, 9 June 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Ada Munroe ==<br />
<br />
The latest [[what if?]] number 139 has a question by "Ada Munroe". Is she related to [[Randall]] in any way? --{{User:17jiangz1/signature|06:57, 09 August 2015}}<br />
<br />
== Out of curiosity ==<br />
<br />
I notice that whenever someone links to tvtropes.org in an explanation, someone changes the link to the matching page on allthetropes.org. I'm curious as to why that is. Is there some kind of terms of use conflict at play here that an editor should be keeping in mind? [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.156|199.27.128.156]] 06:33, 26 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:TVtropes does not restrict links to their site, and if this has been happening there are some time-outs that I need to be handing out. Can you point me to some of the edits where this is happening? '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:24, 26 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
::The specific example I had was, um, [[1468: Worrying]]. On Jan 3rd the links went to tvtropes.org, and on March 18th they were all changed over to allthetropes.orain.org. I just found it curious, I wasn't sure what the reason for it was [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.47|162.158.255.47]] 10:32, 29 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
:::Reverted. Typically, the reason people change perfectly good links to specific, obscure links in wikis is usually self-advertising. I'll be watching that guy's edits in the future. Thanks for the heads up. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 18:00, 29 October 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Sightless readers offended by the "It's 'cause you're dumb" tagline. ==<br />
<br />
I'll admit, every now and again the comic is over my head. ...because I'm dumb in that particular field. However, blind users who enjoy xkcd must do so through explainxkcd. They are NOT dumb. They are *blind*. Without explainxkcd, they would have no idea what is in the comics panels.<br />
<br />
Explainxkcd is a great site. There is no question it provides a service to the internet community.<br />
<br />
Please see this thread (last paragraph) on Userfriendly.org. Keep in mind, the end user is sightless and explainxkcd is "viewed" through a screen reader. http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/read.cgi?id=20160207&tid=3930989 (Anonymous)<br />
<br />
: The guy on that other site is complaining about that XKCD does not work well in a screen reader -- that is not our problem, but a problem for Randall to solve on his own site. We cannot be the catch all for everything on the internet that Randall broke [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:37, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:: Agreed --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Honestly, I never even noticed the tagline in question. Humorous to sighted folks, sure. ...but obviously offensive to those who have no choice but to access xkcd through explainxkcd.<br />
<br />
I'll leave it to the administrators or the community to figure something out, if anything at all. Maybe no one cares? I didn't come here to make any suggestions, only to point out how offensive those 4 words are to some users of the website. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.88}}<br />
<br />
:Alright, put a link here in the site notice. What does everyone else think? I'm open to changing it, it's something people complain about fairly periodically and our identity isn't completely tied to the tagline, I feel. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:16, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Well, we definitely shouldn't change anything because that particular guy is upset. It's one thing to be offended, but he's also attacking both this site and Randal Monroe. I don't think that sort of behavior should be rewarded. I actually have a rule online where, if someone acts like a jerk to me, I will be kind, but I won't give them what they want. I think a lot of the problems with people being jerks to others is that they still get what they want, so what reason do they have to stop? If he wants us to change it, he should address us like an adult and ask us himself.<br />
<br />
::But you claim this is a common complaint. Then I would say we need more info. My instinct would be that people don't understand that it's a joke. But then my solution would be to do what the site is designed to do and explain the joke, rather than take it down. If there's actually something about it that's offensive to an entire class of people, that's different. I am unaware of a stereotype that blind people are stupid, but I'm open to the idea that I don't know.<br />
<br />
::I'm not particularly married to the tag line. I actually didn't even notice it was there. But I'm loathe to take it down over a misunderstanding. I can't think of a similarly humorous replacement that would not be offensive, but I can at least suggest "Because nobody knows everything." --[[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 09:42, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::I've gotten these before. There's a [[Talk:Main_Page#Header_message|slowly growing]] section in the main page discussion page and a complaint buried somewhere in my talk page and they're usually quite unhappy. I pegged it up this time round because there's special needs involved, and a good part of our intended appeal is the transcripts for the blind. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 10:45, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::Is he one of those people who are so self-centered and 'entitled' that just because they have a disability they assume that everyone is constantly trying to offend them, even in the most unlikeliest of cases? Does he actually believe that the tag line was written with the intention of offending blind people? This is ridiculous. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.71|141.101.106.71]] 11:04, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
<br />
"Just in case you feel dumb"? "Some comics may be funnier than they appear"?[[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.198|199.27.130.198]] 09:55, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
How about simply removing it? At least until we find something that isn't offensive to anyone - which might be very hard to obtain. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:34, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Because you're crippled... That's worse I guess.<br><br />
But before considering the "you're dumb" tagline, one must think about the name of this wiki. It is called '''Explain''' xkcd, not read xkcd, and explaining is for dumb people, not blind people.<br><br />
Maybe one thing we can do is add a "(unless you are just here for the transcript)" subtext, with a link to the transcript section, which has the advantage of both taming offended blind readers (maybe) and provide a direct, "spoilerless" link. --[[User:GuB|GuB]] ([[User talk:GuB|talk]]) 10:40, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I need explainxkcd for two reasons: being visually impaired, although I can see most of the comics I often miss crucial details that I find only in the transcript; and as a non-American, I lack many cultural references (books, movies, songs, sayings...) that are given in the explanations.<br />
I don't think either of these reasons makes me "dumb". However, I never found the tagline offensive. It was immediately obvious to me that it was meant as humor. Who could seriously think that someone is dumb just because they haven't read the specific book that Randall is parodying in a given comic? Or because they're not familiar with a specific programming language or Unix command? IMHO the tagline *is* funny precisely because very few people can actually "get" all the comics without an explanation. Suggesting that anyone who isn't part of the 0.1% of the population who share all of Randall's abilities and references, is dumb, can't be anything but a joke. Adding to the lot those who can't get the comics because they're blind doesn't make the joke more offensive. It's a sad world where political correctness kills all forms of humor.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, the tagline is not an essential part of the site and if a significant number want it removed, so be it.<br />
Zetfr 10:46, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Well not everybody's mind works the same way, and some people legitimately cannot grasp humor very easily. They may come to read the explanations precisely because they can't recognize what about a given comic is supposed to be humorous, and they likewise may not be able to tell that the tagline is just a joke. Besides, the tagline is equating a lack of knowledge with a lack of intelligence, which also makes it inaccurate and kind of kills the humor for those who stop and think about it.<br />
<br />
:I personally agree with the above "Because nobody knows everything." approach. I would suggest something along the lines of "Because you won't always get the joke." --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.134|108.162.242.134]] 11:06, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: This sounds like a bunch of dumb people coming together and suggesting that the rest of people should be more like them (joke intended) [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:33, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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: +1 on this. '''Keep'''. --[[User:SlashMe|SlashMe]] ([[User talk:SlashMe|talk]]) 20:15, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''removal''' [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 11:01, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Mostly agree with Zetfr, it is a rather obvious joke, and this is a website about a webcomic which is mostly about fun, it would be different if this was some serious news portal, but it isn't, and in my humble opinion people who can't take a joke shouldn't even be here. There will always be ranters and people who get offended, we should not let them make decisions for us. I sincerely believe vast majority of people, blind or otherwise, understand it. [[User:Jaalenja|Jaalenja]] ([[User talk:Jaalenja|talk]])<br />
<br />
:I agree with Zetfr. If a user doesn't understand that it is a joke, then he won't understand XKCD's jokes, either, no matter how much explaination he can get.<br />
:--[[User:Lou Crazy|Lou Crazy]] ([[User talk:Lou Crazy|talk]]) 12:12, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
::I also agree with the above, and like the part of Zetfr about because you need a reader to use the page you do not need to be offended by an obvious joke --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
if i had a vote i'd say change the "because you're dumb" from text to a picture with alt text of something slightly less rude. "because you're using a screenreader," perhaps. although that would show up on mouseover. meh. whatever. --13:01, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:and someone isn't "entitled" because they get annoyed about something that doesn't annoy you. as a sighted person i don't even look at the headers on the page. i would imagine that since the text in question is at the top of the page he has to listen to it every single time the page is refreshed. which is annoying enough if it's not insulting. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 13:06, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:It is bad to have the alt-text saying something differently, but since the current tagline is not offensive to non-blind people then why would it be offensive to a blind person. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:24, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I vote '''keep''' -- Blind people do not have to come to this site, they can just use xkcd.com directly and if that is not working for blind people then that is Randall's problem not ours. The tag line has been there for years while I have noticed it before and used the site and I have never been offended, if a blind person is offended maybe they should stop using the internet. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.109|162.158.255.109]] 15:18, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
: I second that -- the tag line does not appear to offend non-blind people, it should not offend blind people either [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:24, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Voting '''KEEP''' -- the tag line is a joke, and who is to say that blind people cannot be dumb [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 15:24, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I vote '''keep''' as well. I don't see any reason to change it; it's not a jab at disabled people, blind or otherwise. The site is called '''explain'''xkcd, and everything here centers around explaining the comic, not being a transcription service. (If that's not the case, then maybe other things need changing too.) I always thought the tagline fit nicely with the "sarcasm" part of xkcd's own tagline. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.26|108.162.216.26]] 15:26, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I vote '''KEEP and satisfy both sides'''. If you examine the HTML, or use [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/fangs-screen-reader-emulator/ Fangs] (free screen reader), you may notice there is a jump-to-nav div element that lets people with screen readers jump to various parts of the page. The jump-to-nav div is only a few HTML lines below the tagline. I'd recommend:<br />
# Moving the jump-to-nav div to '''before''' the tagline<br />
# Adding a "Jump to Transcript" link in the jump-to-nav div.<br />
# Test it with [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/fangs-screen-reader-emulator/ Fangs] in Firefox to simulate a screen reader.<br />
This way, screen-reader users can jump to the transcript and don't have to hear the tagline every time they visit an explainxkcd.com page.<br />
-- [[User:Hat|Hat]] ([[User talk:Hat|talk]]) 15:44, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Consider "Do you get it now?" [[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.11|198.41.235.11]] 16:09, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I vote '''keep''': it's reasonable and no change is warranted<br />
<br />
I like the suggestion of '''keeping''' the current tagline, but changing it to an '''image with alttext''' saying something like "because you're using a screenreader". I also vote to move the link to the transcript to above the tagline. [[User:Rileysci|Rileysci]] ([[User talk:Rileysci|talk]]) 17:32, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I get the joke and I'm not offended by it, but it seems to me that it really sticks out on this site and it doesn't seem consistent with Randall's sense of humor. Everyone on this site is very inclusive and eager to share all perspectives and points of view. I come here both to see the humor that I have the knowledge to understand and to learn more about the world the way Randall sees it. In short, I come here to be one of the lucky 10,000. In fact, I would suggest that as the tag line, "Congratulations! You're one of today's lucky 10,000!". Inside joke that can link to the comic (http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1053:_Ten_Thousand) and it is welcoming. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.170|108.162.245.170]] 18:44, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
: +1 on this. '''Change''' [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 03:45, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I vote '''keep'''. In case it is not kept then it should be changed to something completely different. Te idea of making a title text to an image I really dislike, although I even more dislike adding anything to the existing one to either refer to people coming for the transcript or making excuses for the obvious joke. This has been a part of the page forever, I have seen it almost every time I come here. To begin with I did feel dumb sometimes, but I was never offended by it, just amused. But of course an explain page is for those who did not get the joke. And there are other pages that explains the comic. I do not know if they have a transcript? But I'm happy to know that some people must really enjoy the detailed transcripts that I usually try to provide. I had just not though about the blind perspective. I more use the transcript to make sure every one agrees on what is seen in the images of the comic. Having said all this, I must admit that the best suggestion for a change so far is the one posted above my post (about the lucky 10,000). :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I vote keep, for exactly the reasons explained by Zeftr above. Changing it to an image with alt text would be OK also. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 20:45, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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:I vote '''Change''' it because it is too easily mistaken as an insult instead of a joke. At least change it to ''Because you are stupid''.... Ah, maybe instead ''Because xkcd is far beyond common knowledge'' or ''Because hardly anyone gets everything'' or ''Because it is usually nerdly esoteric even for geeks''. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.46|108.162.221.46]] 21:39, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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:I vote '''Change'''. I have never been a big fan of the tagline. I don't know everything, but I am certainly not dumb. Also, I echo the reference to (http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1053:_Ten_Thousand). This comic has always been about expanding knowledge, not making you feel guilty for not knowing something.<br />
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:'''Change''': I realize the "It's because you're dumb" tagline follows the sarcastic nature of Randall's humor, but there are enough people who don't get or appreciate that sort of humor and are likely to be more offended by it, special needs or no. Here's my suggestion: "For those of us who don't get it." [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 21:59, 8 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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At what point is "enough" people offended? I've only seen evidence of several (https://xkcd.com/1070/) visually impaired users actually offended by the site, along with a couple people who didn't specify their visual ability. I don't know the traffic on this site, but I would expect it to be on the order of 10^4 or higher. So is this discussion about changing something that a handful of people find offensive? Or is there an actual problem of something inappropriate on the site. If this is all about a couple people finding something offensive, I imagine a few christians might take issue with (https://xkcd.com/709/). Should we start another discussion about accommodating them? Or add a disclaimer that the views expressed by Randall Munroe are his own and do not reflect those of this site? [[User:Beardmcbeardson|Beardmcbeardson]] ([[User talk:Beardmcbeardson|talk]]) 01:25, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
: So you vote to '''keep''' -- right? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 04:30, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Slightly Change'''-- make it more obviously tongue in cheek. "It's cause we're dumb" or "For those of us who need it" I agree with the point about not complying with people on the internet who can't behave like adults, however I've never found the line particularly funny. Also change the jump-to-nav, as that would just get annoying to hear it every time you open up the site. I am not recommending changing it based on the imagined offenses of others. I just think it could be funnier.[[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 06:29, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I like changing to "For those of us who need it"<br />
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'''Keep''' Trying to satisfy everyone is like trying to understand every comic. It probably won't happen. As an example, using the 'one of 10 000' example provided above can insult a bunch of people that are not from the States simply because the comic (and the reference to the comic for that matter) will make them feel left out. My other reasons for voting keep have all been mentioned already. People get insulted so easily, let's try not to encourage this behavior by rewarding it. [[User:Bon|Bon]] ([[User talk:Bon|talk]]) 07:16, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''Change''' because I find it slightly offensive myself. If we change it, we should replace it with something that everybody would interpret as humorous, e.g. "Because we can't all be rocket scientists". [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 08:25, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Keep'''. Next thing we know, liberal arts majors will complain about xkcd science being offensive. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.229|141.101.91.229]] 10:12, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote for '''change''' or '''remove'''. Regarding the former, while I know it's supposed to be a joke, I never found it humorous myself and, unlike others that wrote before me, I don't think it relates to the humor or sarcasm used by Randall. It being offensive is not part of my motivation for my vote. I agree with some of the suggestions written up to now. Regarding the latter, I don't really think it's existence is necessary. Regardless, changing the div things is a must. [[User:GuiRitter|GuiRitter]] ([[User talk:GuiRitter|talk]]) 16:25, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote for '''change'''. You could keep much of the humour by changing it to something like "because ignorance '''can''' be cured". [[User:Farnz|Farnz]] ([[User talk:Farnz|talk]])<br />
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If I may vote (as a happy international user of this site, but not yet a contributor), one more vote for '''Keep''' - at least as "don't change now, because of this specific request, because of perceived offensiveness". For several reasons, which have been mentioned already:<br />
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a) I think it's funny. It also fits perfectly with the overall XKCD humor. And the same line of thinking as the book "You are now less dumb" from "YouAreNotSoSmart.com".<br />
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b) It's so obviously generic (directed at everyone reading it) I fail to understand how it can be interpreted as insult instead of irony. Even worse: I fail to understand why it should be _especially_ insulting to blind people. Having a transcript for them to use is nice, but it's merely one of the aspects this site provides (and it's not even at the top nor are there pages "transcript only", so blind are no primary audience)<br />
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c) If this site decides to actually help blind people more, how about: putting the tagline in the image (so it's not "read every time"), put the transcript at the top / provide pages with only transcripts, so that the original XKCD can be consumed prior to the explanations here (just as non-blind users would see it)<br />
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d) this request follows the current Outragism trend, so I do suspect that it's not actually blind people feeling offended, but privileged SJWs thinking about who might possibly feel offended, bringing change to the world where it's not beneficial even for those they claim to support. Comparable to PETA.<br />
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While I'm at it - THANK YOU for this site. Most XKCD I mostly understand. But due to being an international reader, some aspects of American Culture I need explainXKCD to grasp, and other aspects it's just nice to see more details, cross-references with other comics, and hidden gems. <br />
[[User:Zefiro|Zefiro]] ([[User talk:Zefiro|talk]]) 18:46, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:I'm an "international user", too, and I suppose a lot of users of this site are international users who need to be explained some xkcd jokes that would be obvious to any native English speaker living in the US. I don't have an opinion about changing the tagline or keeping it, but I would like to notice that "Because you are dumb" is the kind of joke that would need an explanation - it would be hard for me to tell if it's a joke or an insult. Therefore, an easier joke could have some advantage.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 22:16, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote for '''change.''' I know it's a joke, but it's not particularly funny, and can easily be mistaken for an insult. [[User:Ekedolphin|Ekedolphin]] ([[User talk:Ekedolphin|talk]]) 20:13, 9 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I agree with Trlkly (and Isaac(https://xkcd.com/1448/)), more information is needed. The purpose of this site is to explain xkcd (obviously, from the name) so people come here primarily to seek knowledge or a better understanding about xkcd. As long as the explanations or the explainers don't act like white hat (https://xkcd.com/1386/), there should be no reason to take the tagline seriously.--[[User:Beardmcbeardson|Beardmcbeardson]] ([[User talk:Beardmcbeardson|talk]]) 01:20, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote KEEP, but I do support the idea of moving the jump-to to above the tagline. I believe that the tagline is obviously a joke, and that pleaing everyone is nigh impossible. I also strongly oppose the proposal to change it to an image with an alt-text of "because you're using a screen reader." Finally, I do not believe we should change the tagline. We should, if anything, remove it altogether. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.20|173.245.54.20]] 03:33, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Slightly Change''' - I like 199.27.130.198's idea, "Just in case you feel dumb." [[User:Mateussf|Mateussf]] ([[User talk:Mateussf|talk]]) 04:44, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''Change''', preferably to something like "The ''Anti'' Thing Explainer; Simple Stuff in Complicated Words!" Only, you know, more complicated to improve the joke. [[User:KitsunePhoenix|Amaroq (KitsunePhoenix)]] ([[User talk:KitsunePhoenix|talk]]) 05:01, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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What about: it's cause you need more context. I also don't like the current tagline, because dumbness would be more the inability to understand than a lack of knowledge.<br />
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'''Change''' - First thing first, as suggested, move the jump-to-nav div to before the tagline and add a "Jump to Transcript" link in the jump-to-nav div.<br />
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Then also change the tagline: it's not that good, and not that in line with the xkcd humor - it's actually ''directly opposed'' to the spirit of [[1053]]. Some better ones have already been suggested:<br />
*"Some comics may be funnier than they appear"<br />
*"Congratulations! You're one of today's lucky 10,000!"<br />
*"because sometimes we all need a little help"<br />
''Or'' we could even have a bunch of good ones like that out of which one is selected at random when the page is loaded --[[User:Jules.LT|Jules.LT]] ([[User talk:Jules.LT|talk]]) 09:17, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I like the joke in the tag line (some of us come here because they are to stupid or to lazy to lookup all the information xkcd is joking about)<br />
but I also find it to direct to the user. I want to add some suggestions to Jules.LT [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 10:01, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
* "Error loading tagline, click here to retry."<br />
* "Because it is Monday morning."<br />
* "Because you like explaining jokes."<br />
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I think people coming here and complaining because "dumb" appears to be aimed at insulting the blind are hilarious, because another meaning for "dumb" is "unable to speak." If people who were "dumb" in this way were complaining because we are using the other meaning of "dumb" it would be awkward, but degree of visual acuity is not open for the same misinterpretation. [[User:Swordsmith|Swordsmith]] ([[User talk:Swordsmith|talk]])<br />
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'''KEEP''' for the same reasons as [[User:Zefiro|Zefiro]]. If change is necessary, fix it so the screen reader doesnt say it aloud. (This ensures the change is propagated to those who have no other recourse for sightless XKCD enjoyment, and is not a ploy by SJWs who can't take sarcastic humor (why are they reading XKCD in the first place?) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.40|108.162.221.40]] 14:06, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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It is super obviously not intended seriously, because xkcd is a technical comic that nobody will understand entirely on the first pass. If it's true, then everybody is dumb. Boo hoo.<br />
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The guy in question is under the mistaken impression that Randall runs this site and maliciously hides his transcripts under the tagline. He's also very angry about a lot of things. Sighted people have to look at the tagline every time it loads too, it's at the top of the page.<br />
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I vote '''Keep''' because I hate negotiating with terrorists. If it has the effect of filtering out people who enjoy being outraged, then it's doing a service. Image search "stephen fry offensive".<br />
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I'd be fine with moving the jump-to-nav div. I'm absolutely against making it an image with a different tagline, because then we would be depriving blind people of the joke. I'm absolutely against changing it to something less offensive. I would settle for removing it entirely, or changing it to something more offensive, such as "It's 'cause you're dumb, and get offended over dumb shit."<br />
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Or, you know, make a transcribexkcd.com site. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.203|108.162.217.203]] 16:39, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Change''' to one of the cool new suggestions I've seen. I've always been sad about this tagline, and while I love XKCD humor, I just don't think the tagline is funny. It makes me hesitate and sometimes decide not to share this site with others who I think would love the humor, but not the tagline. The issue keeps coming up, and this is just one more way that it irritates people and causes hassle. It's obvious to me that we should find a new tagline, or just drop it for the time being. [[User:Nealmcb|Nealmcb]] ([[User talk:Nealmcb|talk]]) 17:39, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Change''' The word "dumb" used as slang for "unintelligent" or "uneducated" is offensive and many better suggestions have been proposed, which retain the wry humor without the offense. Hiding behind "it's just a joke" is beneath the standards of this site. {{unsigned ip|108.162.245.134}}<br />
:It's not hiding behind "just a joke", it IS the joke. It's tongue-in-cheek. It's so obviously false that you have to intentionally ignore the joke and manufacture offense about something benign. I'll give you that it's not that funny. It's also not that offensive. Why are we talking about something so petty. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.11|108.162.221.11]] 21:11, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Keep'''. I feel like a blind person being insulted by the implication that being sightless somehow makes them unintelligent is a pretty far leap of logic. Not being able to see has no bearing whatsoever on your actual mental acuity. How many actual complaints have there been? One, a few, lots? I don't know, but if it was a significant number I might change my mind. As it stands, though, I think it's pretty clear in the site description that this site is meant for people who don't understand the comic due to its focus on obscure topics and use of technical jargon, being written by a former NASA robot technician with a bent for Linux. Using disabilities as an insult is something I don't condone, but in this case I think it's a case of certain individuals being overly sensitive. Thinking a word as mild as "dumb" is offensive is a bit much, especially since it's often used in contexts other than "uneducated" or "stupid" - I use it to describe myself all the time when I can't word proper-like. I think of it more as "scatter-brained". --[[User:KingStarscream|KingStarscream]] ([[User talk:KingStarscream|talk]]) 18:55, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Change''' I feel like the "Because we can't all be rocket scientists" tagline suggested above is great; I always found the tagline to be a bit annoying because I often know all of a comic except a small part, and I come here for that. It's just unnecessarily confrontational and Randall himself has expressed in https://xkcd.com/1386/ and https://xkcd.com/1053/ that he doesn't agree with insulting ignorance. {{unsigned ip|198.41.235.179}}<br />
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'''Change AND Keep''' I get the original joke, but I love some of the new ones too. Randomly rotating tag line appear is my vote, BUT let's make the tag line clickable so that we can explain the tag line .... for those of us who don't get the joke! {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.10}}<br />
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'''Keep''', but change the jump-to-nav, and maybe make the tagline clickable. I like the tagline. Someone already said this, but this is explainxkcd, not readxkcd. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.63|108.162.216.63]] 19:37, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''Keep''', because it's been there for so long! I remember coming here years ago and looking for the references I didn't get, and the tagline was already there. It's a legacy thing, the one thing remaining from the old website in the new fancy wiki format. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.226.204|198.41.226.204]] 20:47, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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For all you people being offended and claiming that the tagline is contrary to the spirit of xkcd, I give you [https://xkcd.com/386/ xkcd.com/386]. This entire argument is offensive to me, can we remove it? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.11|108.162.221.11]] 21:20, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Keep''' The referenced posting is obviously a troll. And xkcd has transcripts so the story of the self proclaimed blind person with diabetes does not make sense. --23:43, 10 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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Rather than "cuz you're dumb" which both asserts a trait and uses what might not be the best word choice, why not something like "Because you might be ignorant"? Dumb, after all, isn't remediable, though ignorance is. (Also, a consideration, "dumb" can mean "mute," so if there's something with screenreading for blindness, that could be read as assuming more than one disability? ("blind and dumb" akin to "deaf and dumb"?) // Possibly do something akin to the warning on the comic's site itself: "Because you might be a liberal arts major." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.61|108.162.221.61]] 00:22, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Keep''' because risk of accidental offence is never a good reason to rewrite comedy. If community wants to change suggest "Explaining Xtremely Klever Comedic Drawings"; if only to troll those who insist that the letters XKCD must stand for something (which it doesn't) [[User:Kev|Kev]] ([[User talk:Kev|talk]]) 00:37, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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The issue seems to boil down to:<br />
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Is it funny?<br />
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Is it overly offensive?<br />
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And therefore:<br />
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Is it worth it?<br />
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Throwing in my opinion, however small:<br />
+ <br />
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It's amusing to me.<br />
The joke is clear, and universal. Offence may be taken equally by anyone reading.<br />
It fits well.<br />
Possibly have a hidden link for those offended. A rotating tag line could include more jokes, but...<br />
By all means move the navigation.<br />
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An explain explainxkcd page that is linked to might work, in the spirit of metahumour.<br />
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However, it may not be as serious an issue, as the tag line is easy to ignore. Just moving HTML a bit seems like a logical, cheap and easy solution, and then we can test it. Please note that this has no technical knowledge behind it, just a reading of the above.<br />
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So, my vote goes to '''keep''', and shuffle HTML or, in order, link, replace with rotating, modify, remove.<br />
Harmless fun. Possibly have a cookie-based option to permanently hide the tag line.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.160|108.162.250.160]] 00:56, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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Apologies, I have broken formatting in the last few edits, trying to fix it...[[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.160|108.162.250.160]] 00:57, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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: My vote is '''change''', and it's not because of blind people. Let me run you through a very common scenario for new users:<br />
:* You have a person who generally thinks of themselves as quite smart.<br />
:* They read the comics and find most of them extremely funny.<br />
:* They come across a comic they just can't understand.<br />
:* They stare at it for minutes, wondering why they just can't get the joke.<br />
:* Pride already bruised, they eventually give up and turn to Google.<br />
:* "Explain xkcd! That's exactly what I'm looking for!"<br />
:* Click the link.<br />
:* "Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb"<br />
:* Gee, what a lovely welcome. Not.<br />
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: Insulting your users the first time you meet them is '''''terrible''''' practice. You're pointing at them and laughing that they didn't understand the joke. You're kicking somebody when they're already down. OK, that is exaggeration, but when you look at the line as a new user, it's not friendly and welcoming; it doesn't encourage you to return. It's just bad UX.<br />
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: Now, we could overlook the directed insult if it was indeed funny, but it really isn't. There's nothing witty about it, nothing punny about it, no double-entendres or sly references. It's just an insult. <br />
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: Legacy is no reason to keep something that doesn't work. Just because something wasn't picked up as bad practice 5 years ago doesn't mean that it isn't bad practice. Can you imagine if Microsoft kept Clippy around for "legacy reasons"?<br />
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: It would be one thing if it were kept because there were no other options, but ''so many'' fantastic alternatives have been suggested:<br />
:* '''It's 'cause we're dumb''' -- Changes it from an insult directed at one person to a statement with an inclusive sense of community. It saying that, hey, you may not understand all the comics, but neither do we! Let's learn together!<br />
:* '''Congratulations! You're one of today's lucky 10,000!''' -- Direct reference to comic which celebrates filling gaps in one's knowledge. Also, as a comic reference, most people won't get it the first time, so make it a link and use it to draw people further in to this wiki!<br />
:* '''Some comics may be funnier than they appear''' -- Actually humorous, containing reference to a very common message we're all familiar with (objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear). Also alludes to the hidden depths to many of the comics, where additional levels of meaning are revealed the more about the subject one knows, which is what this wiki is trying to reveal.<br />
:* '''Error loading tagline, click here to retry.''' -- Looks like the kind of joke you'd actually find in the comments. Clicking the tagline should then do something completely unrelated to reloading the tagline (I dunno, set off some cool JS magic).<br />
:* '''Because it is Monday morning.''' -- Should only be shown on Mondays. Can easily be implemented with parser functions.<br />
:* '''Because sometimes we all need a little help''' -- Gives an understanding tone that's comforting to new users.<br />
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: '''TL;DR''': The current tagline is unnecessarily confrontational and projects a bad welcome to new users, and there is nothing particularly clever/funny/important about the current tag line to recommend keeping it, especially with ''so many'' better suggestions on offer. Put it this way, if you were seeing "It's 'cause you're dumb" tag as a suggestion to add to this wiki today, would you choose it over the other options? No? Then make like an old meme and "Let It Go!" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.157|108.162.249.157]] 05:49, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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: I think the above comment is a perfect example of different mindsets. I discovered this wiki in exactly the way you described. But I was not offended in anyway when seeing the tagline, which I did almost immediately. Rather, it got a little chuckle out of me along with a thought along the lines of "Haha, yeah, maybe I am dumb." If you get offended by such a tagline, it suggests to me that you are not all that certain about your own intelligence in the first place. It's a static bit of text. It was not aimed at the person reading it, it was aimed at EVERYONE reading it. EDIT-I realize this post could be seen as offensive or a personal attack, which it's not, please read the "you" not as the poster of the above mentioned comment, but as a generic for any person reading the comment. [[User:Bon|Bon]] ([[User talk:Bon|talk]]) 07:11, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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: If I remember correctly I've heard it origonally was a pic of Blackhat saying it. Would it be possible to use that on this site. It seems like a decent solution? (I haven't read all of this so I don't know if this has been suggested sorry if it has). Like people have said no one gets all of xkcd, as a nonAmerican there is also a lot of references I don't get. Getting offenend over this does seems pretty pathetic to me. I also use this site for non explanation reasons, that is it often links together comics which is handy, and people often post cool links. But as others have pointed out this site isn't transcriptxkcd or linkxkcd it's explainxkcd, so that's what it should be meant for. Claiming i's offensive o the visually impaired seems pretty silly. All in all, maybe it could do with tweaking to make it more obvious but IMO it's a solid '''keep''' [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 11:22, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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::I vote '''change''', for the reasons the Halfhat above listed. I also never thought "It's 'cause you're dumb." really fit with this wiki. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.33|141.101.104.33]] 12:57, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
:::I can't believe we've become such a limp-wristed baby society that we can't even have a joke like "It's 'cause you're dumb" as the tagline. Nobody would reasonably get offended at it. '''Keep.''' [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.33|108.162.221.33]] 13:35, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''keep'''. Blind people have to realize they're not the only ones reading this site. This site was created to explain the comic, not purely to provide a transcript of the comic - that's just icing. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:27, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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If there ever really was a single person who took the tag line seriously, then it was just telling them the truth. I vote '''keep'''. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.90|162.158.255.90]] 19:15, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''Keep, or otherwise, Change'''. My opinion: It is not offensive, and I find it humourous. As I am very interested in the maths and the sciences, and I am very nerdy, I do often understand the jokes in each comic. However, sometimes I don't quite get it. This wiki is very good for that, because it collates many people's views and expertise on the comic. If the vote is overall to change, I am a fan of "Because sometimes we all need a little help." [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.29|173.245.54.29]] 21:18, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''change''': I've always been a bit unsettled by it myself. Some deaf readers may be more insulted by it than blind ones. vote for "'''Cause you're #dumb''" (or perhaps another NOT symbol... so only people that don't understand are insulted... and the tagline can be linked to a page that explains why it isn't an insult) [[User:Edo|Edo]] ([[User talk:Edo|talk]]) 23:16, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''KEEP'''. I actually had the feeling the fellow who complained may not understand sarcasm very well. Regardless, the tagline to me is remarkably funny and one of the things I always point out to folks when I first turn them on to XKCD. I worry they will stop following XKCD if they don't understand a post, which is why I am especially glad your site exists. There are many types of humor that will be lost on folks. Myself, for example. I was just railing to my friends about how much I did not like a recent popular vine which showed a guy, allegedly the father, scaring a very young child strapped in a car seat, by yelling in horror as the cars convertible roof was closed. Because I did not grow up watching laugh-tracked America's Funniest (sic) Home Video segments, I am not conditioned for casual schadenfreude-driven videos. But I know that's just me. I don't want to limit free-speech merely because it is not for me. Regardless, I really just want you to '''KEEP''' it because to me it is darn funny and just the sort of humor most of the folks who enjoy XKCD appreciate. --[[User:Hugo|Hugo]] ([[User talk:Hugo|talk]]) 23:25, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I will also vote '''keep'''. While it ''might'' be considered offensive, it's really no more "offensive" than XKCD itself. Lest we forget the line at the bottom of every comic page:<br />
:Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and '''advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)'''.<br />
I don't see how "It's 'cause you're dumb." is any worse. [[User:Schiffy|<font color="000999">Schiffy</font>]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|<font color="FF6600">Speak to me</font>]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|<font color="FF0000">What I've done</font>]]) 23:52, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''Keep''', per the reasoning of, among other people, Zefiro. I like the tagline a lot and don't see much at all, if anything, that's wrong with it. Like Hugo, I feel like it's a bit of ''entirely'' appropriate humor. [[User:APerson|APerson]] ([[User talk:APerson|talk!]]) 00:36, 12 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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I vote '''change'''. I know it's supposed to be a joke, but it seems out of place and not particularly funny, and it could discourage potential readers. I don't have an idea for a new tagline, but plenty of good ones have been suggested here. [[User:Cheese Lord Eggplant|Cheese Lord Eggplant]] ([[User talk:Cheese Lord Eggplant|talk]]) 03:13, 12 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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'''Keep''' better sums up my vote, and I wish to explain why. I understand the views (as stated above) that it might discourage potential viewers, but I have seen enough well-put arguments that point out why it should not be removed for the arguments on the other side of the debate. However, I do understand that sightless users would get pretty pissed off at being told that they're dumb over and over. Is there perhaps a way to hide the text from programs designed to assisted the disabled? I have a couple of suggestions.<br />
<br />
Perhaps it can instead simply be an image, and can even be done in a more stylized text that hints at the humour behind it (no, I have no specific suggestions). This image should not have the words it says in the meta-text within it. I just think it's not worth removing it over, it's kind of funny (or very funny, depending who you ask), replacement suggestions kinda make it bland, and this is a way to avoid having sightless people get told they're dumb over and over. The stylization is just a suggestion, because most alternative taglines I've heard don't sound up to par compared to it. Just anything to point out the sarcastic and purely humorous intentions.<br />
<br />
I'd like to enforce my suggestion of having an image with no meta-text that can be read by bringing up that explainxkcd.com can hardly ''lose'' popularity if for the sensitive minority they don't have a tagline (especially if this tagline they are not aware of could be construed as offensive). 'Cause seriously, who's going to go tell a blind person "hey man the tagline for this site is insulting to you want to hear it?" so they'll just not learn of its existence and go on peacefully. So: Image, stylized to clearly express humour, with no program-interpretable meta-text for the blind to hear. I'd like this opinion to be closely considered, and I'd love to hear intelligent replies. ''For all intents and purposes,'' I vote '''Keep''', but to address the issue proactively and adaptively to get the best for both worlds.<br />
<br />
I would like to point out one change I would definitely agree with, however. The commenter at 108.162.249.157 not far up suggests "It's 'cause we're dumb", and I would totally back that. That one change could make a world of difference for some people. --[[User:Znayx|Znayx]] ([[User talk:Znayx|talk]]) 09:15, 12 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
: "It's cause we're dumb" is actually a pretty acceptable change in my opinion. I still vote keep, but wouldn't mind seeing that one. Right now the no tagline version looks lonely. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.40|108.162.221.40]] 14:56, 12 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
::For the record, I would oppose a change of "It's cause we're dumb" because it's simply not as funny (the joke benefits from it sounding like it's a mock insult) and for the reasons in my main post right below this one that I see no reason to change the tagline which should not offend or be taken personally by someone who has enough sense of humour and intelligence to enjoy xkcd. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 17:25, 12 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I would vote '''keep''' as it is. I am mindful of offensive content, but context is key. This is a website whose primary purpose is explaining a humour-based webcomic that touches on topics that require some intelligence to really enjoy. The tagline is obviously (I hope) tongue-in-cheek. "if you need explanation of this sometimes very technical and specialized and sometimes ambiguous webcomic, you're clearly a moron". I think that most people on this site and elsewhere would consider those who enjoy xkcd (a webcomic that often concerns itself with science, history, technology, etc.) to be relatively intelligent. Just perhaps not in every particular area (as noted right at the top of this discussion). I also think it is clear that this is a wiki an thus the tagline is directed to everyone, even the people who wrote the tagline. We're all here because we're "dumb" in the sense of occasionally needing (or at least enjoying) a deeper explanation for the comics. If someone who is blind is using the site other than for its originally intended purpose, and it helps them, that's awesome. But that doesn't mean the tagline must acknowledge all possible uses of the site. Just the thesis statement of the site, which is "this site is for explaining something you might not understand". If there are blind people who use this site just to read the comic and never to need or enjoy the explanations, then I guess they are smarter than me. I do not personally believe in changing the tagline of the entire community because it doesn't apply to one small group that is using the site for a different purpose than its intentions (again, not knocking them for using the site at all, but seriously, don't walk into McDonalds and go "''I eat here because my doctor says I need more sodium, and I actually hate the food. I'm offended by your "I'm loving it" tagline. Change it!''". Or complain about Disneyland's slogan because you suffer from depression.). I would also have expected anyone who reads xkcd often enough to bother coming to this site just to do so because of their blindness would have a sense of humour and would understand the context in which the tagline was intended, and not take it personally. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 17:25, 12 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Concerning recent spam ==<br />
<br />
In light of the recent and large amount of spam that we've been seeing, I've revoked new users of the right to create and move pages, as well as access to the write api. If your account is three days old and has 10 or more edits under it, you will still be allowed to create and move pages. This will end when the spambots decide to leave. To the person who's doing this, don't ruin this for the other people who use this site. '''[[User:Davidy22|<u>{{Color|#707|David}}<font color=#070 size=3>y</font></u><font color=#508 size=4>²²</font>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 19:36, 11 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
aw man. tfw another troll already beat me to the punch</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1602:_Linguistics_Club&diff=1050361602: Linguistics Club2015-11-13T16:22:56Z<p>108.162.216.62: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1602<br />
| date = November 11, 2015<br />
| title = Linguistics Club<br />
| image = linguistics_club.png<br />
| titletext = If that's too easy, you could try joining Tautology Club, which meets on the date of the Tautology Club meeting.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A "[[wiktionary:sesquiannual|sesquiannual]]" meeting is one that occurs one and a half times every year; equivalently, 3 times every 2 years, or once every 8 months. It comes from the Latin prefix "[[wiktionary:sesqui|sesqui-]]", which directly means "a half and…", and "[[wiktionary:annual|annual]]", which equates to "…one (per) year".<br />
<br />
The joke suggests that only a competent linguist could understand the word “sesquiannual”. One reason for this is that the prefix “sesqui-” is rare, so those who know its meaning are likely to be linguists. Another is that a competent linguist should be able to distinguish between “sesquiannual” and “sesquiennial”.<br />
<br />
If you understands this then you can join the '''Linguistics Club'''. Once the applicant correctly understands the frequency of meetings, presumably they are told at least one meeting date in the cycle so that an attendance can be made. <br />
<br />
Another possibility is that there are literally one and a half meetings per year, because every third meeting spans midnight on December 31/January 1.<br />
<br />
“Sesquiannual” is not to be confused with “[[wiktionary:sesquiennial|sesquiennial]]”, meaning "a half and one years (per…)" or every one and a half years (18 months). Note that the Wiktionary entry on sesquiannual has both meanings listed – both 8 month and 18 months intervals. This is an extension of the common confusion between "biannual," meaning "twice a year", and "biennial", meaning "once every two years". Compare with the {{w|Sesquicentennial Exposition}} celebrating the first 1&frac12; centuries of the United States, and "sesqui''bi''centennial", being 'half and two' hundred years, i.e. 250.<br />
<br />
This confusion is related to the distinction between 'biweekly' and 'semiweekly'. In the absence of an equivalent "-ennial"/"-annial" distinction, 'biweekly' ''might'' mean either twice per week or once every two weeks, whilst semiweekly is strictly maintained as once every half-week, i.e., the former. There's a similar problem with bimonthly (possibly twice a month, but nominally every two months) and semimonthly (always twice per month).<br />
<br />
However, even the very slight difference in spelling and pronunciation of 'biannual' and 'biennial' doesn't help. 'Biannual' is not the same as 'biennial'/'semiannual', but is all too easily used in this way. It is normally advised that an alternate term such as 'fortnightly' (once every two weeks) or a direct statement such as 'twice a year' should be used, to remove ambiguity in normal communication.<br />
<br />
A common method of having meetings "on the first and third Monday of every month" is strictly twice-monthly but also mostly, and ironically, once every two weeks; though three-week gaps occur when 'five Monday' month rolls over to the next, four or five times a year. But everyone should at least be able to understand the schedule, just from a cursory glance at a calendar.<br />
<br />
The society in the comic, however, deliberately instills an ambiguity for those outside their target demographic. Their membership will thus swell with the desired cognoscenti who remain unconfused, and maybe also a few lucky guessers.<br />
<br />
Regarding the title text, a {{w|tautology (rhetoric)|tautology}} is a statement that is true (or self-evident) because of its logical form, such as "all birds are birds" or "A = A." As such, the statement "the Tautology Club meets on the date of the Tautology Club's meeting" is itself tautological.<br />
<br />
While the membership requirement for the Linguistics Club is merely to know the intended frequency, the Tautology Club's stipulation appears to require an eligible member to derive a valid meeting date from thin air without any clue at all (and no indication that there is even a regular cycle of any kind). This would definitely be more of a challenge.<br />
<br />
The title text has a connection to [[703: Honor Societies]] in which Cueball announces that “the first rule of Tautology Club is the first rule of Tautology Club.”<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan talks to Ponytail.]<br />
:Megan: You should come to our Linguistics Club's sesquiannual meeting.<br />
:Megan: Membership is open to anyone who can figure out how often we meet.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1602:_Linguistics_Club&diff=1050351602: Linguistics Club2015-11-13T16:21:10Z<p>108.162.216.62: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1602<br />
| date = November 11, 2015<br />
| title = Linguistics Club<br />
| image = linguistics_club.png<br />
| titletext = If that's too easy, you could try joining Tautology Club, which meets on the date of the Tautology Club meeting.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A "[[wiktionary:sesquiannual|sesquiannual]]" meeting is one that occurs one and a half times every year; equivalently, 3 times every 2 years, or once every 18 months. It comes from the Latin prefix "[[wiktionary:sesqui|sesqui-]]", which directly means "a half and…", and "[[wiktionary:annual|annual]]", which equates to "…one (per) year".<br />
<br />
The joke suggests that only a competent linguist could understand the word “sesquiannual”. One reason for this is that the prefix “sesqui-” is rare, so those who know its meaning are likely to be linguists. Another is that a competent linguist should be able to distinguish between “sesquiannual” and “sesquiennial”.<br />
<br />
If you understands this then you can join the '''Linguistics Club'''. Once the applicant correctly understands the frequency of meetings, presumably they are told at least one meeting date in the cycle so that an attendance can be made. <br />
<br />
Another possibility is that there are literally one and a half meetings per year, because every third meeting spans midnight on December 31/January 1.<br />
<br />
“Sesquiannual” is not to be confused with “[[wiktionary:sesquiennial|sesquiennial]]”, meaning "a half and one years (per…)" or every one and a half years (18 months). Note that the Wiktionary entry on sesquiannual has both meanings listed – both 8 month and 18 months intervals. This is an extension of the common confusion between "biannual," meaning "twice a year", and "biennial", meaning "once every two years". Compare with the {{w|Sesquicentennial Exposition}} celebrating the first 1&frac12; centuries of the United States, and "sesqui''bi''centennial", being 'half and two' hundred years, i.e. 250.<br />
<br />
This confusion is related to the distinction between 'biweekly' and 'semiweekly'. In the absence of an equivalent "-ennial"/"-annial" distinction, 'biweekly' ''might'' mean either twice per week or once every two weeks, whilst semiweekly is strictly maintained as once every half-week, i.e., the former. There's a similar problem with bimonthly (possibly twice a month, but nominally every two months) and semimonthly (always twice per month).<br />
<br />
However, even the very slight difference in spelling and pronunciation of 'biannual' and 'biennial' doesn't help. 'Biannual' is not the same as 'biennial'/'semiannual', but is all too easily used in this way. It is normally advised that an alternate term such as 'fortnightly' (once every two weeks) or a direct statement such as 'twice a year' should be used, to remove ambiguity in normal communication.<br />
<br />
A common method of having meetings "on the first and third Monday of every month" is strictly twice-monthly but also mostly, and ironically, once every two weeks; though three-week gaps occur when 'five Monday' month rolls over to the next, four or five times a year. But everyone should at least be able to understand the schedule, just from a cursory glance at a calendar.<br />
<br />
The society in the comic, however, deliberately instills an ambiguity for those outside their target demographic. Their membership will thus swell with the desired cognoscenti who remain unconfused, and maybe also a few lucky guessers.<br />
<br />
Regarding the title text, a {{w|tautology (rhetoric)|tautology}} is a statement that is true (or self-evident) because of its logical form, such as "all birds are birds" or "A = A." As such, the statement "the Tautology Club meets on the date of the Tautology Club's meeting" is itself tautological.<br />
<br />
While the membership requirement for the Linguistics Club is merely to know the intended frequency, the Tautology Club's stipulation appears to require an eligible member to derive a valid meeting date from thin air without any clue at all (and no indication that there is even a regular cycle of any kind). This would definitely be more of a challenge.<br />
<br />
The title text has a connection to [[703: Honor Societies]] in which Cueball announces that “the first rule of Tautology Club is the first rule of Tautology Club.”<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan talks to Ponytail.]<br />
:Megan: You should come to our Linguistics Club's sesquiannual meeting.<br />
:Megan: Membership is open to anyone who can figure out how often we meet.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1555:_Exoplanet_Names_2&diff=98405Talk:1555: Exoplanet Names 22015-07-25T01:31:02Z<p>108.162.216.62: Definition of planet</p>
<hr />
<div>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znxFrgql5dc "This Land"] is a ''Firefly'' reference. [[User:Keavon|Keavon]] ([[User talk:Keavon|talk]]) 05:11, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
: This land is also track n6 of The Lion King, I think Randall is also a fan of this.--[[User:NeoRaist|NeoRaist]] ([[User talk:NeoRaist|talk]]) 14:54, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
.. I almost feel like that titletext gives enough reason for there to be (some) pages about the [[what_if?|''What If?'']] series, but ehhhh... [[User:Pixali|<font color="008000">Pixali</font>]] ([[User talk:Pixali|<font color="004b00">talk</font>]]|[[Special:Contributions/Pixali|<font color="004b00">contribs</font>]]) 05:02, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
What is with Kepler-283? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.137|108.162.214.137]] 05:09, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
:283b is the phonetic spelling for Uranus (your-a-nus) and 283c is the phonetic spelling for Uranus (your-ay-nus) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.77|141.101.104.77]] 05:33, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Kostner<br />
Is there a pun I'm missing by spelling Kevin Costner as "Kostner"? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.241.7|198.41.241.7]]<br />
:[http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/exoplanet_names_2.png Randall fixed it.] I don't know how to update the file here, though. [[User:P1h3r1e3d13|P1h3r1e3d13]] ([[User talk:P1h3r1e3d13|talk]]) 20:15, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
::I got it - the file's been updated, but I had to go all the way to the image and force a refresh on my browser for it to appear correctly. :P [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 00:34, 25 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Novella<br />
<br />
I'm not 100% sure what "Novella" refers to, aside from the dictionary definition of the word (and if that's the case I'm unsure of the context), but in case it's not widely-known on this wiki, I want to suggest the possibility that it's a tribute to the Novella brothers, who are among the co-hosts of the popular science podcast The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.175|108.162.241.175]] 04:43, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Seems like a cool podcast, sadly I don't have time to listen to 10 years Witt of podcasts. Any specific ones I should listen to and where should I start for new ones? {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.63}}<br />
:: The podcast is very topical, often talking about current news items. It is OK to start with new ones, and back-fill as desired. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 18:57, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
: Considering the sex-themed names Novella it is grouped with. I will assume it is a joke on 60/70's exploitation/B-movies, some of which had names or leadcharacters named something..-ella. In this case the prefix is just particularly confusing ;) [[Special:Contributions/188.114.110.47|188.114.110.47]] 08:51, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;A$aplanet<br />
<br />
Is a pun on the rap group {{w|A$AP Mob}} and their most prominient member {{w|A$AP Rocky}}.<br />
: Included that possibility. Thanks. Didn't know of A$AP, before. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:21, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Somehow I just read this as "a dollar a planet", maybe refering to a donating scheme ("a dollar donated for every planet found" or even more along the lines of "a dollar a day", meaning: donate 1 dollar to save this planet) or a sale advertisement ("just $1 to buy a planet", which is very likely to be a scam as it would not be possible with current technology to visit another planet outside of our solar system) [[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.253|198.41.242.253]] 15:15, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Planet of the Apes (disambiguation)<br />
I think the suggestion here is to actually put the "(disambiguation)" in the name of the planet, thereby creating a problem in the wikipedia entry, since [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes_%28disambiguation%29 there's already a wikipedia page with that title]. They would have to create a meta-disambiguation page, which is why this is funny. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.235|141.101.98.235]] 13:39, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
;Kepler-438b<br />
In the previous comic, Kepler-438 was named Kepler-1686 (which does not seem to exist...) and was updated to the current [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-438b Kepler-438b]. It even is colored red to show the update. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.23.198|162.158.23.198]] 16:34, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
== Hot Mess ==<br />
<br />
Why is Hot Mess an Arrested Development thing? The phrase is in general use, not just limited to viewers of that show.<br />
<br />
== Air Bud Pluto #9 Reference ==<br />
A few strips back, in ''Rulebook'', we were debating whether the "9" on the dog's jersey may have been a subtle jab at the Pluto debate. I argued that there was a strong possibility of that, given the timing of that comic immediately after the New Horizons flyby, the strong relationship between dogs and the name Pluto, and Pluto's former status as the 9th planet. There was no way to prove that that was what Randall had in mind (short of him personally confirming it), but I think this strip could lend some credence to it. What do you think? [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 17:50, 24 July 2015 (UTC)<br />
== Definition of Planet ==<br />
What about the fact that the new definition of planet made by the IAU says it has to be around the sun. None of these would fit the definition of planet then and the answer to "is Pluto a planet" would still be no.[[User:Agent0013|Agent0013]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1268:_Alternate_Universe&diff=82753Talk:1268: Alternate Universe2015-01-15T17:53:52Z<p>108.162.216.62: </p>
<hr />
<div>This reminds me of that conspiracy theorist thing where a bunch of people thought that New Zealand was, like, to the west or north of Australia (I can't quite remember), only to check on a map and see it was definitely to the east... And as such convinced themselves that they somehow travelled to an alternate version of Earth were everything was basically the same except NZ was in a new place. Anyone else remember/know about those guys? <br />
EDIT: Found one of 'em, so hopefully I sound less crazy (than them): [http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread543455/pg1 NZ conspiracy nut in action]<br />
[[Special:Contributions/67.71.33.122|67.71.33.122]] 01:29, 24 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I thought Earth Prime was a reference to Sliders... but Wikipedia says it's been used much more widely. [[User:Saibot84|Saibot84]] ([[User talk:Saibot84|talk]]) 04:40, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Wait, wait ... only "some of you" change your clocks? In the universe I just came from, MOST of them changed their clocks at un-synchronized times for no good reason anyone has ever been able to demonstrate. Only the Third World along with Hawaii and Saskatchewan were holdouts where I came from.{{unsigned ip|72.68.9.56}}<br />
<br />
Neither India nor China are having this obscure idea of occasionally changing their clocks for no obvious reasons. So even "most" might be a bit of a stretch. [[User:Pmakholm|Pmakholm]] ([[User talk:Pmakholm|talk]])<br />
<br />
:Sure they do -- they're just more occasional about it than others! China last did it in 1991, and India in 1945.{{unsigned ip|72.68.9.56}}<br />
<br />
:Neither does Indonesia. Apparently, according to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DaylightSaving-World-Subdivisions.png this map], neither does a good deal of the world (particularly those near equator) as well. [[User:Goldstein-Izayoi|Goldstein-Izayoi]] ([[User talk:Goldstein-Izayoi|talk]]) 13:57, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Iceland (definitely NOT Third World) does not changes its clocks. It remains on GMT throughout the year, despite being way west of the Greenwich Meridian [[Special:Contributions/95.131.110.106|95.131.110.106]] 09:53, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:In my universe, Iceland was a small, inbred fishing community -- prone to collapsing the world's economies with banking phishing scams {{unsigned ip|72.68.9.56}}<br />
<br />
Yeah I think it's a Sliders reference. Randall says he was transported in the late 1990s and Sliders aired from 1995-2000. [[Special:Contributions/184.56.86.168|184.56.86.168]] 06:02, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Didn't we already had discussion about Earth Prime on [[1184:_Circumference_Formula]]? Hmmm ... should we prepare category for comics mentioning Earth Prime? :-) -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:02, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
They eat spiders in some parts of this world, e.g. Cambodia. [[User:Geevade|Geevade]] ([[User talk:Geevade|talk]]) 06:54, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Reminds me a little bit of this Married to the Sea strip: http://www.marriedtothesea.com/index.php?date=111008 [[Special:Contributions/213.86.4.78|213.86.4.78]] 10:38, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Reminds me of this bit from [http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/27/1680102/the-lobster-rebellion.html a Dave Barry column]: "I personally see no significant difference between a lobster and, say, a giant Madagascar hissing cockroach, which is a type of cockroach that grows to approximately the size of William Howard Taft (1857-1930). If a group of diners were sitting in a nice restaurant, and the waiter were to bring them each a freshly killed, steaming-hot Madagascar hissing cockroach, they would not put on silly bibs and eat it with butter. No, they would run, retching, directly from the restaurant to the All-Nite Drive-Thru Lawsuit Center." [[User:SteveMB|SteveMB]] ([[User talk:SteveMB|talk]]) 10:46, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Has this guy never heard of Bear Grylls? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WVcSufp3Fw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJRpXYs1pQA (Just occasionally!) [[Special:Contributions/121.74.169.237|121.74.169.237]] 11:01, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I wonder how amount of meat compares, and meat-to-shell ration, and taste of meat. BTW Wikipedia says that {{w|Spider#Benefits_to_humans|''Cooked tarantula spiders are considered a delicacy in Cambodia''}}. --[[User:JakubNarebski|JakubNarebski]] ([[User talk:JakubNarebski|talk]]) 11:56, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Personally, I don't think spiders to lobsters is a good comparison. Spiders are carnivores, while lobsters are carrion eaters. Personally, I would never want to eat a carrion eater. (Of course, I would never want to eat a spider either, but that's different...) --[[User:Divad27182|Divad27182]] ([[User talk:Divad27182|talk]]) 13:53, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I always compared lobsters to cockroaches, but maybe calling them "the cockroaches of the sea" was just me. --[[User:Jeff|<b><font color="orange">Jeff</font></b>]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 16:22, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
So, this alternate universe has a restaurant chain called "Red Spider"? [[User:SteveMB|SteveMB]] ([[User talk:SteveMB|talk]]) 21:28, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:Brilliant. [[Special:Contributions/192.249.1.163|192.249.1.163]] 02:45, 9 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
:eek! [[http://xkcd.com/8/|Red Spider]] [[User:Orazor|Orazor]] ([[User talk:Orazor|talk]]) 13:48, 30 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
On this one episode of Game Grumps on of the guys on that show mentioned some comedian or something making a comment along the lines of "Realizing you really are getting old is like seeing a teenager eat a spider like it's nothing. You can't explain to him why it's wrong, you just know it is, but his generation doesn't get why it isn't okay." That was the first thing I thought of when I saw read this, does anyone know who said this? [[Special:Contributions/74.110.143.25|74.110.143.25]] 21:42, 23 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I read: "where people occasionally '''are''' spiders" and thought Megan was about to kiss her spider boyfriend. [[Special:Contributions/205.151.118.100|205.151.118.100]] 00:41, 24 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Can someone explain why occasionally eating spiders is weird? The universe that I come from has people eating on average 8 spiders a year while sleeping, though I can't seem to find a source of that information on this universe's Internet. Spiders being not okay to eat occasionally and the Internet failing me must surely be signs I'm in a parallel universe. --[[Special:Contributions/68.97.21.122|68.97.21.122]] 03:32, 24 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
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:Somewhere I saw that the 8 spiders a year is probably low estimate :-). (Other sites insists its urban legend, but seriously, how would you prove this?) But no matter what you think about spiders opinion on mouth as possible home, I would say it only counts when you eat spider deliberately. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:28, 25 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
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::CP Grey tackles the spider myth in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCzXZfNIu3A {{unsigned|Rael}}<br />
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The 8 spiders a year is false. Here's a link: http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/spiders.asp<br />
:Note that this only proves that the statistics is urban legend and doesn't say anything about how high the actual consumption is. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:06, 16 October 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Indeed "8 spiders" is probably a very low estimate of annual consumption. In the universe where I originally came from, insect parts (and presumably spiders) provide a nutritional boost to many industrially-processed foods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels [[Special:Contributions/108.160.230.100|108.160.230.100]] 17:23, 30 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
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HaHaHa I'm from Israel, and this comic is about us! According to Jewish dietary rules, spiders and lobsters are both forbidden (only one Arthropod is allowed - Locust). We also had a mix-up with our clock because we changed the date without telling Apple and Google, so the smartphones had to be switched manually. {{unsigned ip|84.229.22.212}}<br />
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:Really? I'm not sure it's about Israel. I think it's about the ridiculousness of eating lobsters, as they are similar to spiders, and eating spiders is "disgusting", while eating lobsters is "normal". I'm a vegetarian, so I don't eat any arthropods. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 17:53, 15 January 2015 (UTC)<br />
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(CTU) 3102 rebmevoN 1 ,92:30 [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|711.642.261.801]] ?sdrawkcab gnitirw lla uoy era yhW {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.117}}</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1443:_Language_Nerd&diff=78510Talk:1443: Language Nerd2014-11-08T03:46:26Z<p>108.162.216.62: Anachronism question</p>
<hr />
<div>I got edit-conflicted (not a problem), but if someone wants to consider canibalising/correcting my own intended contribution, and then completely delete this comment (please!), here's what it was:<br />
:The English language (and others) can be, and often is, treated quite fluidly with regard to certain word forms. For example "medalled" <!-- really need a link for this other than http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=medalled&title=Special%3ASearch --> has been coined as the act of "having gained a medal" in a sporting competition. (Not to be confused with "meddled".) "Verbed" (i.e. to have made a non-verb form into a verb form) is a more long-standing example which is used in this comic without any form of meta-reference <!-- Future editor: Link to something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_(word_formation) perhaps? --> and has perhaps gained greater acceptance, already, even amongst those who might decry the other neologism.<br />
:In the comic, "legit" has been newly created as an adverb, possibly from the adjective "legitimate" (confusingly, since "legitimately" already exists as a usable adverb), "adverb" has been 'verbed' into "adverbed" and it is also pointed out that the noun clause "language nerd" has been used in an adjectival context, i.e. "adjectived".<br />
And I had also made the edit summary say "It's probably infinitely improvable, but I've stop-gapped an initial explanation and commentified some additionalifications you might have some usiness for.", but that's probably no use to anyone. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.112|141.101.99.112]] 08:53, 5 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Indubitably. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:17, 5 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder if this is also an homage to the [http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2013/01/28 Calvin and Hobbes] comic where Calvin likes to "verb" words.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.55|108.162.216.55]] 14:28, 5 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
:"Verbing words weirds language" came to mind when I read today's comic, but I'd forgotten the source - thanks for that! [[User:DivePeak|DivePeak]] ([[User talk:DivePeak|talk]]) 01:58, 6 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
:This is definitely a reference to the Calvin and Hobbes strip. "Verbing weirds language" is a famous phrase among linguists. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.200|173.245.56.200]] 03:08, 6 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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What group who "might decry the other neologism[s]" accepts "verbed"? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 17:17, 5 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I'm slightly confused about the "adjectived language nerd" claim - can someone clarify or chime in with their opinion? If "language nerd" is describing "go," (i.e. describing the way in which he/she "[went] on you," wouldn't you say that it was actually being adverbed (as with legit)? Or should at be interpreted as describing he/she themself, in which case I guess adjectived is correct? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.157|173.245.56.157]] 18:38, 5 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:"Go (adjective)" is a modular expression that does turn adjectives into adverbs, but by using "language nerd" in that spot, it implies the phrase has been "adjectived" more than it has been "adverbed" [ex grat. "go yellow", "go bad", "go rogue", etc]. [[User:ArtDuck|ArtDuck]] ([[User talk:ArtDuck|talk]]) 04:03, 6 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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If you are confused about the "adjectived language nerd", I would like to point you to the discussion of this comic by linguist Geoffrey K Pullum (http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=15576) xkcd gets Pullum's stamp of approval and that is high praise indeed for linguistic matters. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.32|108.162.216.32]] 23:28, 5 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:Pullum is being rather lax here, probably because he likes the strip so much, and even he just says that it's "arguably accurate," which I wouldn't characterize as high praise. "Language nerd" here is functioning as a predicate noun, which Pullum calls a predicative complement and Wikipedia calls a predicative nominal or predicate nominal. So "language nerd" here isn't really an adjective, any more than "language" is an adjective, notwithstanding that it modifies "nerd." [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.200|173.245.56.200]] 03:18, 6 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Megan didn't verb "verb". As with the comments pointing to the Calvin and Hobbes strip, "verbing" is already a thing. [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 07:06, 6 November 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I don't mean to go all anchronic nazi on XKCD, but when Megan says "I just", The meaning of the word 'just' in this sentence is "very recently; in the immediate past." However at the point of saying the word 'just', she actually hasn't yet done the thing which she is about to describe., hence it would be more correct to say "I am legit adverbing 'legit', I just verbed adverb, etc..". Unless a sentence is like a database transaction and the period at the end is the COMMIT statement, in which case you can only evaluate the sentence once you reach the end. Is it possible to overthink things in XKCD? <br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 03:46, 8 November 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1383:_Magic_Words&diff=698371383: Magic Words2014-06-18T16:39:48Z<p>108.162.216.62: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1383<br />
| date = June 18, 2014<br />
| title = Magic Words<br />
| image = magic_words.png<br />
| titletext = 'And then whisper 'anapest' in my ear as you hold me?'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
Typically the term "{{w|Foot fetishism|foot fetish}}" refers to a sexual attraction to people's feet. Here, though, [[Megan]] is a linguist, so for her the term "foot" refers not to the body part but to the term's meaning in {{w|Prosody (linguistics)|prosody}}. In this context, {{w|Foot (prosody)|"foot"}} means, per Wikipedia, "the basic metrical unit that generates a line of verse in most Western traditions of poetry," and thus "foot fetish" means an attraction to words that follow such a format.<br />
<br />
Common types of feet (which are all referenced in this comic) include:<br />
*"{{w|trochee}}" &ndash; is a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (demonstrated in the first set of words: "'''sto'''-ry", "'''wa'''-ter", "'''pa'''-per", "'''door'''-way") (see also [[856: Trochee Fixation]]).<br />
*"{{w|iamb (poetry)|iamb}}" &ndash; is a short syllable followed by a long syllable '''or''' it is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (as seen in the second set: "dis-'''arm'''", "A-'''dele's'''", "gi-'''raffe'''", "gre-'''nade'''") (perhaps the best-known foot, due to {{w|iambic pentameter|its use}} by {{w|William Shakespeare}}) (see also [[79: Iambic Pentameter]]).<br />
*"{{w|dactyl (poetry)|dactyl}}" &ndash; is a long syllable followed by two short syllables '''or''' it is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (used in the third set: "'''straw'''-ber-ry", "'''scor'''-pi-on", "'''po'''-et-ry").<br />
*"{{w|anapest}}" &ndash; (referenced in the title text) consist of two short syllables followed by a long syllable '''or''' it consists of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable - it is thus the reverse of a dactyl; (note that the word - according to the [http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/anapaest pronunciation] from [http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/ Oxford Dictionaries]: "a-na-'''pest'''" - is itself an anapest according to both definitions on Wikipedia. So it is an instance of an {{w|autological word}}).<br />
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So Megan wished that [[Cueball]] first uses a "trochee" during foreplay, then switch to an "iamb" during her main stimulation phase (intercourse or some other type that still enables Cueball to speak freely), and finally switching to a "dactyl" as she orgasms. According to the title text, after sex she wishes for him to hold her while he whispers an anapest (by whispering ''anapest''), in her ear. But for a linguist like Megan, this is just four different types of foot "stimulation" - thus she can be called a girl with a foot fetish.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan are in a bed.]<br />
:Megan: Can you repeat "Story Water Paper Doorway" at the start, then switch to "Disarm Adele's Giraffe Grenade" as we get going, and finally "Strawberry Scorpion Poetry" as I finish?<br />
:[Below the frame]<br />
:Linguist with a foot fetish<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1047:_Approximations&diff=634631047: Approximations2014-03-27T21:45:43Z<p>108.162.216.62: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1047<br />
| date = April 25, 2012<br />
| title = Approximations<br />
| image = approximations.png<br />
| titletext = Two tips: 1) 8675309 is not just prime, it's a twin prime, and 2) if you ever find yourself raising log(anything)^e or taking the pi-th root of anything, set down the marker and back away from the whiteboard; something has gone horribly wrong.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|see discussion}}<br />
This comic lists some approximations for numbers, most of them mathematical and physical constants. All of them work astonishingly well. There are reoccurring math jokes along the lines of, “3/5 + π/(7 – π) – √2 = 0, but your calculator is probably not good enough to compute this correctly”, which are mainly used to troll geeks.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, there are some useful approximations (which were even more useful in times before calculators) such as “pi is approximately equal to 22/7”.<br />
<br />
[[Randall]] makes fun of both of these, using rather strange approximations (honestly: you may handle 22/7, but who can calculate in a sensible way with 99^8, let alone 30^(pi^e)?) to calculate some constants that are easy enough to handle in the decimal system, and stating such “slightly wrong” trick equations, one of which ''is'' actually correct (which may astonish only those who are not familiar with cosines).<br />
<br />
There are a few cultural references in this comic:<br />
<br />
*99<sup>8</sup> and 69<sup>8</sup> are sexual references.<br />
*“Rent Method” refers to the song “Seasons of Love” from the musical “{{w|Rent (musical)|Rent}}.” The song asks, “How do you measure a year?” One line says “525,600 minutes” while most of the rest of the song suggests the best way to measure a year is moments shared with a loved one.<br />
*(202) 456-1414 is the phone number for the White House switchboard. Truncated, Randall's formula yields 0.2024561414.<br />
*Jenny's constant comes from Tommy Tutone's tune {{w|867-5309/Jenny}}. Randall's formula gives approximately 867.530901981685.<br />
*{{w|42 (number)|42}} is, according to Douglas Adams' ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.<br />
<br />
And here are some of the mathematical and physical ones, with Wikipedia links.<br />
<br />
*Informally, the {{w|Planck constant}} is the smallest action possible in quantum mechanics.<br />
*The {{w|fine structure constant}} indicates the strength of electromagnetism. It is unitless and around 0.007297, close to 1/137. At one point it was believed to be exactly the reciprocal of 137, and many people have tried to find a simple formula explaining this (with a pinch of {{w|numerology}} thrown in at times), including the infamous {{w|Arthur Eddington|Sir Arthur Adding-One}}.<br />
*In {{w|mathematics}}, the {{w|Euler-Mascheroni constant}} (Euler gamma constant) is a mysterious number describing the relationship between the {{w|Harmonic series (mathematics)|harmonic series}} and the {{w|natural logarithm}}.<br />
*The {{w|gravitational constant}} relates to, uh, gravity.<br />
*The {{w|gas constant}} relates energy to temperature in physics, as well as a gas's volume, pressure, temperature and {{w|mole (unit)|molar amount}} (hence the name).<br />
*ϕ is the {{w|golden ratio}}, or (1 + √5)/2. It has many interesting geometrical properties.<br />
*The ruby laser wavelength varies because “ruby” is not clearly defined.<br />
*The {{w|Earth radios#mean radii|mean earth radius}} varies because there is not one single way to make a sphere out of the earth. Randall's value lies within the actual variation of Earth's radius.<br />
<br />
The correct equation in the "Pro tip - Not all of these are wrong" section is cos(pi/7) + cos(3pi/7) + cos(5pi/7) = 1/2 as [http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/140388/how-can-one-prove-cos-pi-7-cos3-pi-7-cos5-pi-7-1-2 shown here]. If you're still confused, the functions use {{w|radians}}, not {{w|degrees (angle)|degrees}}.<br />
<br />
The number 8675309 at the title text refers to the song 867-5309/Jenny as mentioned above, causing a fad of people dialing this number and asking for "Jenny". The number is in fact a {{w|twin prime}} because 8675311 is also a prime. Twin primes have always been a subject of interest, because they are comparatively rare, and because it is not yet known whether there are infinitely many of them.<br />
<br />
{{w|Pi}} is a natural constant that arises in describing circles or ellipses. As such, useful as it may be, it doesn't usually occur anywhere in an exponent. When it does, such as with complex numbers, taking the pi-th root is rarely helpful. For example, if we try to derive:<br />
<br />
''e''<sup>π''i''</sup> + 1 = 0<br />
<br />
''e''<sup>π''i''</sup> = -1<br />
<br />
(''e''<sup>''i''</sup>)<sup>π</sup> = -1<br />
<br />
''e''<sup>''i''</sup> = <sup>π</sup>√(-1)<br />
<br />
We get nowhere.<br />
<br />
Same goes for the e-th power: e typically appears in the basis of a power (forming the {{w|exponential function}}), not in the exponent. (This is later referenced in [http://what-if.xkcd.com/73/ Lethal Neutrinos]).<br />
<br />
The software referred to in the comic is [http://mrob.com/pub/ries/ ries], a 'reverse calculator' which forms equations matching a given number.<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
|colspan="2" align="center"|Actual<br />
|colspan="2" align="center"|Approximation<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|One light year(m)<br />
|align="center"|9.46x10<sup>15</sup><br />
|align="center"|99<sup>8</sup><br />
|align="center"|9.23x10<sup>15</sup><br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Earth Surface(m<sup>2</sup>)<br />
|align="center"|<br />
|align="center"|69<sup>8</sup><br />
|align="center"|<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Ocean's volume(m<sup>3</sup>)<br />
|align="center"|<br />
|align="center"|9<sup>19</sup><br />
|align="center"|<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Seconds in a year<br />
|align="center"|31557600<br />
|align="center"|75<sup>4</sup><br />
|align="center"|34640625<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Seconds in a year (rent method)<br />
|align="center"|31557600<br />
|align="center"|525,600 x 60<br />
|align="center"|31536000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Age of the universe (seconds)<br />
|align="center"|<br />
|align="center"|15<sup>15</sup><br />
|align="center"|4.379x10<sup>17</sup><br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Planck's constant<br />
|align="center"|6.626x10<sup>-34</sup><br />
|align="center"|1/(30<sup>π<sup>e</sup></sup>)<br />
|align="center"|6.685x10<sup>-34</sup><br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Fine structure constant<br />
|align="center"|7.297x10<sup>-3</sup><br />
|align="center"|1/140<br />
|align="center"|7.143x10<sup>-3</sup><br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Fundamental charge<br />
|align="center"|1.602x10<sup>-19</sup><br />
|align="center"|3/(14π<sup>π<sup>π</sup></sup>)<br />
|align="center"|1.599x10<sup>-19</sup><br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|this still needs some polishing}}<br />
:'''A table of slightly wrong equations and identities useful for approximations and/or trolling teachers.'''<br />
:(Found using a mix of trial-and-error, ''Mathematica'', and Robert Munafo's ''Ries'' tool.)<br />
: All units are SI MKS unless otherwise noted.<br />
<br />
:{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
|colspan="2" align="center" | Relation:<br />
|align="center" | Accurate to within:<br />
|-<br />
|align="center" | One light year(m)<br />
|align="center" | 99<sup>8</sup><br />
|align="center" | one part in 40<br />
|-<br />
|align="center" | Earth Surface(m<sup>2</sup>)<br />
|align="center" | 69<sup>8</sup><br />
|align="center" | one part in 130<br />
|-<br />
|align="center" | Ocean's volume(m<sup>3</sup>)<br />
|align="center" | 9<sup>19</sup><br />
|align="center" | one part in 70<br />
|-<br />
|align="center" | Seconds in a year<br />
|align="center" | 75<sup>4</sup><br />
|align="center" | one part in 400<br />
|-<br />
|align="center" | Seconds in a year (rent method)<br />
|align="center" | 525,600 x 60<br />
|align="center" | one part in 1400<br />
|-<br />
|align="center" | Age of the universe (seconds)<br />
|align="center" | 15<sup>15</sup><br />
|align="center" | one part in 70<br />
|-<br />
|align="center" | Planck's constant<br />
|align="center" | 1/(30<sup>π<sup>e</sup></sup>)<br />
|align="center" | one part in 110<br />
|-<br />
|align="center" | Fine structure constant<br />
|align="center" | 1/140<br />
|align="center" | [I've had enough of this 137 crap]<br />
|-<br />
|align="center" | Fundamental charge<br />
|align="center" | 3/(14 * π<sup>π<sup>π</sup></sup>)<br />
|align="center" | one part in 500<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|White House Switchboard<br />
|colspan="2" align="center"|1/<br /><br />
<sup>π</sup>√(e<sup>(1 + <sup>(e-1)</sup>√8</sup>)<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Jenny's Constant<br />
|colspan="2" align="center"|(7<sup>(e/1 - 1/e)</sup> - 9) * π<sup>2</sup><br />
|-<br />
|colspan="3" align="center"|Intermission:<br /> World Population Estimate<br /> which should stay current<br /> for a decade or two:<br /><br />
Take the last two digits of the current year<br />
<br />
Example: 20[14] <br />
<br />
Subtract the number of leap years since hurricane Katrina<br />
<br />
Example:14 (minus 2008 and 2012) is 12<br />
<br />
Add a decimal point<br />
<br />
Example: 1.2<br />
<br />
Add 6<br />
<br />
Example: 6 + 1.2<br />
<br />
7.2 = World population in billions.<br />
<br />
Version for US population:<br />
<br />
Example: 20[14]<br />
<br />
Subtract 10<br />
<br />
Example: 4<br />
<br />
Multiply by 3<br />
<br />
Example: 12<br />
<br />
Add 10<br />
<br />
Example: 3[22] million<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Electron rest energy<br />
|align="center"|e/7<sup>16</sup> Joules<br />
|align="center"|one part in 1000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Light-year(miles)<br />
|align="center"|2<sup>(42.42)</sup><br />
|align="center"|one part in 1000<br />
|-<br />
|colspan="2" align="center"|sin(60°) = <sup>3</sup>√/2 = e/π<br />
|align="center"|one part in 1000<br />
|-<br />
|colspan="2" align="center"|√3 = 2e/π<br />
|align="center"|one part in 1000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|gamma(Euler's gamma constant)<br />
|align="center"|1/√3<br />
|align="center"|One part in 4000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Feet in a meter<br />
|align="center"|5/(<sup>e</sup>√π)<br />
|align="center"|one part in 4000<br />
|-<br />
|colspan="2" align="center"|√5 = 2/e + 3/2<br />
|align="center"|one part in 7000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Avogadro's number<br />
|align="center"|69<sup>π<sup>√5</sup></sup><br />
|align="center"|one part in 25,000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Gravitational constant G<br />
|align="center"|1 / e<sup>(pi - 1)<sup>(pi + 1)</sup></sup><br />
|align="center"|one part in 25,000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|R(gas constant)<br />
|align="center"|(e+1) √5<br />
|align="center"|one part in 50,000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Proton-electron mass ratio<br />
|align="center"|6*π<sup>5</sup><br />
|align="center"|one part in 50,000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Liters in a gallon<br />
|align="center"|3 + π/4<br />
|align="center"|one part in 500,000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|g<br />
|align="center"|6 + ln(45)<br />
|align="center"|one part in 750,000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Proton-electron mass ratio<br />
|align="center"|e<sup>8</sup> - 10 / ϕ<br />
|align="center"|one part in 5,000,000<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Ruby laser wavelength<br />
|align="center"|1 / (1200<sup>2</sup>)<br />
|align="center"|[within actual variation]<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|Mean Earth Radius<br />
|align="center"|(5<sup>8</sup>)*6e<br />
|align="center"|[within actual variation]<br />
|-<br />
|colspan="3" align="center"|Protip - not all of these are wrong:<br />
|-<br />
|colspan="2" align="center"|√2 = 3/5 + π/(7-π)<br />
|align="center"|cos(π/7) + cos(3π/7) + cos(5π/7) = 1/2<br />
|-<br />
|align="center"|γ(Euler's gamma constant) = e/3<sup>4</sup> + e/5<br />
|align="center"|√5 = 13 + 4π / 24 - 4π<br />
|align="center"|Σ 1/n<sup>n</sup> = ln(3)<sup>e</sup><br />
|}<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Math]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]<br />
[[Category:Protip]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:824:_Guest_Week:_Bill_Amend_(FoxTrot)&diff=62413Talk:824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)2014-03-10T23:29:34Z<p>108.162.216.62: Created page with "isn't sudo used in any Unix system? so linux and mac~~~~"</p>
<hr />
<div>isn't sudo used in any Unix system? so linux and mac[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 23:29, 10 March 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1311:_2014&diff=566691311: 20142014-01-05T00:20:08Z<p>108.162.216.62: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1311<br />
| date = January 1, 2014<br />
| title = 2014<br />
| image = 2014.png<br />
| titletext = Some future reader, who may see the term, without knowing the history of it, may imagine that it had reference to some antiquated bridge of the immortal Poet, thrown across the silver Avon, to facilitate his escape after some marauding excursion in a neighbouring park; and in some Gentleman&#39;s Magazine of the next century, it is not impossible, but that future antiquaries may occupy page after page in discussing so interesting a matter. We think it right, therefore, to put it on record in the Oriental Herald that the &#39;Shakesperian Rope Bridges&#39; are of much less classic origin; that Mr Colin Shakespear, who, besides his dignity as Postmaster, now signs himself &#39;Superintendent General of Shakesperian Rope Bridges&#39;, is a person of much less genius than the Bard of Avon. --The Oriental Herald, 1825<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Needs information on how much has come true, also information in general. This is also the longest title text?|1311: 2014}}<br />
The comic includes many predictions from the 1800s and early 1900s. Many of them are for the twenty-first century in general, and only three specifically mention 2014 (two of them as in "a century from now").<br />
<br />
*It's desirable '''every thing printed should be preserved,''' for we '''cannot now tell how useful it may become''' two centuries hence.<br />
:A good idea. Now, with Google Books, this can be done in an easier manner.<br />
<br />
*I predict that a century hence the '''Canadian people''' will be '''the noblest specimens of humanity on the face of the earth''' (1863)<br />
:Notably, there is a common joke nowadays that Canadians are always calm, mellow, polite peoples, even when insulting others.<br />
The rest of the quote goes as follows: all that was good in the Celt, the Saxon, the Gaul and other races, combining to form neither English, Irish, nor Welsh, but Canadians, who would take their place among the churches of Christendom and the nations of the earth.<br />
:This religious prediction probably wasn't believed even by its author. It's only a harangue.<br />
<br />
*In the twenty-first century '''mankind will subsist entirely upon jellies.'''<br />
:Concentrates, which are gelatine like, form a large part of our food sources. <br />
:Absurd if taken literally, but if he's talking about processed foods in general then he's not too far from the mark.<br />
<br />
*The twenty-first century baby is destined to be rocked and cradled by electricity, warmed and coddled by electricity, perhaps fathered and mothered by electricity. '''Probably the only thing he will be left to do unaided will be to make love.'''<br />
:Probably an exaggeration even in its time<br />
:But still valid to some degree, as many electronics are used in rearing children today. From incubators, warming blankets, walkie-talkies, etc to the TV.<br />
:On the same coin, however, these are merely tools of assistance; the process of child-''rearing'' is still a human task by and large.<br />
:Of course, with Viagra, Cialis, vibrators, and other kinkier toys, we don't even have to make love unaided.<br />
<br />
*To-day, in the city of New York, sixty-six different tongues are spoken. '''A century hence, there will probably be only one.''' (1907)<br />
:False. The number of languages spoken in New York City is believed to be greater than 100; some estimate as many as 800 languages are spoken there. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in the greater New York metropolitan area, almost 7 million people speak a language other than English at home, including over 3.5 million who speak Spanish, 2 million who speak other Indo-European languages, 1 million who speak Asian or Pacific Island languages, and 300,000 who speak other languages.<br />
<br />
*I often think '''what interesting history we are making for the student of the twenty-first century.''' (William Carey Jones, 1908)<br />
:Referring to {{w|World War I}}. In 1908, {{w|Bosnian crisis|Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina}}. This led to the {{w|Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria|Sarajevo Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria}} in 1914 that is considered the starting event of the World War.<br />
<br />
*China may be a '''great shoe market''' a decade or a century from now. (1914)<br />
:While it is true in 2013/14, the context behind it was false, as the premise originally was that the business in the western world could export shoes to China, when currently, most of the shoes are actually manufactured in China itself and exported to western world.<br />
Ironically though, the profits from the shoe selling go to overseas companies.<br />
<br />
*'''We cannot settle the problem,''' and I venture the prophecy that perhaps '''a century from now this same question may be brought before some future society and discussed very much as it is tonight.''' (1914, on abortion)<br />
:True - it is still heavily debated.<br />
<br />
*By the twenty-first century I believe '''we shall all be telepaths.''' ''(A character in Aldous Huxley's novel "Antic Hay"''<br />
:Absurd if taken literally... However if we disregard the actual meaning of ''telepath'' there is another point of view (we also must ignore the fact that in the novel they are talking about natural telepathy, like the one birds might have):<br />
:Came true, in a way. Mobile phones allow near-instant communication over voice, text or even the internet. While we do not technically communicate through thought directly, in some way this technology can be considered telepathy.<br />
<br />
More context for this prediction:<br />
:‘And it’s my firm belief,’ said Gumbril Senior, adding notes to his epic, ‘that they [the birds] make use of some sort of telepathy, some kind of direct mind-to-mind communication between themselves. You can’t watch them without coming to that conclusion.’ [...] ‘It’s a faculty,’ Gumbril Senior went on, ‘we all possess, I believe. All we animals.’ [...] ‘Why don’t we use it more? You may well ask. For the simple reason, my dear young lady, that half our existence is spent dealing with things that have no mind – things with which it is impossible to hold telepathetic communication. Hence the development of the five senses. I have eyes that preserve me from running into the lamppost, ears that warn me I’m in the neighbourhood of Niagara. And having made these instruments very efficient, I use them in holding converse with other beings having a mind. I let my telepathetic faculty lie idle, preferring to employ an elaborate and cumbrous arrangement of symbols in order to make my thought known to you through your senses. In certain individuals, however, the faculty is naturally so well-developed – like the musical, or the mathematical, or the chess-playing faculties in other people – that they cannot help entering into direct communication with other minds<br />
<br />
*The physician of the twenty-first century… may even criticize the language of the times, and may find that '''some of our words have become as offensive to him as the term “lunatic” has become offensive to us.'''<br />
:Just look at the word "gay"; in his time it's completely harmless, even a positive word, while today it's a moderate slur.<br />
:And indeed, the word "lunatic" isn't considered offensive anymore, but merely derogatory.<br />
:He correctly predicts the trajectory of terms like "{{w|mentally retarded}}", itself adopted by his day to replace earlier terms for the intellectually disabled, such as "moron" and "imbecile", which had become pejorative. Soon enough the word "retard" joined them in that regard, and it now has largely been abandoned as a medical term.<br />
<br />
*Historians of the twenty-first century will look back with well-placed scorn on the '''shallow-minded days''' of the early twentieth century '''when football games and petting parties were considered the most important elements of a college education.'''<br />
:While media still encourages such images, colleges start to be much more career oriented. Also, due to incidents involving sex-themed frosh weeks, there was actually a greater emphasis to condemn sexual activities among college students<br />
<br />
*'''In the year A.D. 2014''' journalists will be writing on the centenary of the great war - '''that is, if there has not been a greater war.'''<br />
:2014 marks 100 years since the beginning of {{w|World War I}} (popularly called "The Great War" at the time), thus journalists will definitely write articles of this war. More than 9&nbsp;million combatants were killed. However, unfortunately, there was a greater war, {{w|World War II}}, which killed around 25 million soldiers and an even greater number of civilians.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to a certain British officer, Mr. Colin Shakespeare, who experimented and promoted the use of rope suspension bridges in India, apparently for the ease of colonization and military operations.[http://books.google.com/books?id=aZRPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA367] The reference to "River Avon" is about the river of Avon in Warwickshire, Stratford upon Avon being the town where Shakespeare (the playwright) was born and where he lived until his early twenties.{{w|River Avon (Warwickshire)}}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:'''Notes from the past'''<br />
:It's desirable '''every thing printed should be preserved,''' for we '''cannot now tell how useful it may become''' two centuries hence.<br />
::Christopher Baldwin<br />
:::1834<br />
<br />
:I predict that a century hence the '''Canadian people''' will be '''the noblest specimens of humanity on the face of the earth'''<br />
::Rev. John Bredin<br />
:::1863<br />
<br />
:In the twenty-first century '''mankind will subsist entirely upon jellies.'''<br />
::''The Booklover''<br />
:::1903<br />
<br />
:The twenty-first century baby is destined to be rocked and cradled by electricity, warmed and coddled by electricity, perhaps fathered and mothered by electricity. '''Probably the only thing he will be left to do unaided will be to make love.'''<br />
::Mrs. John Lane, ''The fortnightly''<br />
:::1905<br />
<br />
:To-day, in the city of New York, sixty-six different tongues are spoken. '''A century hence, there will probably be only one.'''<br />
::''The American Historical Magazine''<br />
:::1907<br />
<br />
:I often think '''what interesting history we are making for the student of the twenty-first century.'''<br />
::Willian Carey Jones<br />
:::1908<br />
<br />
:China may be a '''great shoe market''' a decade or a century from now.<br />
::''Boot and Shoe Recorder''<br />
:::1914<br />
<br />
:'''We cannot settle the problem,''' and I venture the prophecy that perhaps '''a century from now this same question may be brought before some future society and discussed very much as it is tonight.'''<br />
::Dr. Barton C. Hirst on the subject of '''abortion'''<br />
:::1914<br />
<br />
:By the twenty-first century I believe '''we shall all be telepaths.'''<br />
::Gumbriel, character in ''Antic Hay''<br />
:::1923<br />
<br />
:The physician of the twenty-first century… may even criticize the language of the times, and may find that '''some of our words have become as offensive to him as the term “lunatic” has become offensive to us.'''<br />
::Dr. C. Macae Campbell<br />
:::1924<br />
<br />
:Historians of the twenty-first century will look back with well-placed scorn on the '''shallow-minded days''' of the early twentieth century '''when football games and petting parties were considered the most important elements of a college education.'''<br />
::Mary Eileen Ahern, ''Library Bureau''<br />
:::1926<br />
<br />
:'''In the year A.D. 2014''' journalists will be writing on the centenary of the great war - '''that is, if there has not been a greater war.'''<br />
::F.J.M, ''The Journalist''<br />
:::1934<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]</div>108.162.216.62https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1311:_2014&diff=566681311: 20142014-01-05T00:19:21Z<p>108.162.216.62: /* Explanation */ linguistic diversity in NYC has not shrunk</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1311<br />
| date = January 1, 2014<br />
| title = 2014<br />
| image = 2014.png<br />
| titletext = Some future reader, who may see the term, without knowing the history of it, may imagine that it had reference to some antiquated bridge of the immortal Poet, thrown across the silver Avon, to facilitate his escape after some marauding excursion in a neighbouring park; and in some Gentleman&#39;s Magazine of the next century, it is not impossible, but that future antiquaries may occupy page after page in discussing so interesting a matter. We think it right, therefore, to put it on record in the Oriental Herald that the &#39;Shakesperian Rope Bridges&#39; are of much less classic origin; that Mr Colin Shakespear, who, besides his dignity as Postmaster, now signs himself &#39;Superintendent General of Shakesperian Rope Bridges&#39;, is a person of much less genius than the Bard of Avon. --The Oriental Herald, 1825<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Needs information on how much has come true, also information in general. This is also the longest title text?|1311: 2014}}<br />
The comic includes many predictions from the 1800s and early 1900s. Many of them are for the twenty-first century in general, and only three specifically mention 2014 (two of them as in "a century from now").<br />
<br />
*It's desirable '''every thing printed should be preserved,''' for we '''cannot now tell how useful it may become''' two centuries hence.<br />
:A good idea. Now, with Google Books, this can be done in an easier manner.<br />
<br />
*I predict that a century hence the '''Canadian people''' will be '''the noblest specimens of humanity on the face of the earth''' (1863)<br />
:Notably, there is a common joke nowadays that Canadians are always calm, mellow, polite peoples, even when insulting others.<br />
The rest of the quote goes as follows: all that was good in the Celt, the Saxon, the Gaul and other races, combining to form neither English, Irish, nor Welsh, but Canadians, who would take their place among the churches of Christendom and the nations of the earth.<br />
:This religious prediction probably wasn't believed even by its author. It's only a harangue.<br />
<br />
*In the twenty-first century '''mankind will subsist entirely upon jellies.'''<br />
:Concentrates, which are gelatine like, form a large part of our food sources. <br />
:Absurd if taken literally, but if he's talking about processed foods in general then he's not too far from the mark.<br />
<br />
*The twenty-first century baby is destined to be rocked and cradled by electricity, warmed and coddled by electricity, perhaps fathered and mothered by electricity. '''Probably the only thing he will be left to do unaided will be to make love.'''<br />
:Probably an exaggeration even in its time<br />
:But still valid to some degree, as many electronics are used in rearing children today. From incubators, warming blankets, walkie-talkies, etc to the TV.<br />
:On the same coin, however, these are merely tools of assistance; the process of child-''rearing'' is still a human task by and large.<br />
:Of course, with Viagra, Cialis, vibrators, and other kinkier toys, we don't even have to make love unaided.<br />
<br />
*To-day, in the city of New York, sixty-six different tongues are spoken. '''A century hence, there will probably be only one.''' (1907)<br />
:False. The number of languages spoken in New York City is believed to be greater than 100; some estimate as many as 800 languages are spoken there. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in the greater New York metropolitan area, almost 7 million people speak a language other than English at home, including over 3.5 million who speak Spanish, 2 million who speak other Indo-European languages, 1 million who speak Asian or Pacific Island languages, and 300,000 who speak other languages.<br />
<br />
*I often think '''what interesting history we are making for the student of the twenty-first century.''' (William Carey Jones, 1908)<br />
:Referring to {{w|World War I}}. In 1908, {{w|Bosnian crisis|Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina}}. This led to the {{w|Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria|Sarajevo Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria}} in 1914 that is considered the starting event of the World War.<br />
<br />
*China may be a '''great shoe market''' a decade or a century from now (1914)<br />
:While it is true in 2013/14, the context behind it was false, as the premise originally was that the business in the western world could export shoes to China, when currently, most of the shoes are actually manufactured in China itself and exported to western world.<br />
Ironically though, the profits from the shoe selling go to overseas companies.<br />
<br />
*'''We cannot settle the problem,''' and I venture the prophecy that perhaps '''a century from now this same question may be brought before some future society and discussed very much as it is tonight.''' (1914, on abortion)<br />
:True - it is still heavily debated.<br />
<br />
*By the twenty-first century I believe '''we shall all be telepaths.''' ''(A character in Aldous Huxley's novel "Antic Hay"''<br />
:Absurd if taken literally... However if we disregard the actual meaning of ''telepath'' there is another point of view (we also must ignore the fact that in the novel they are talking about natural telepathy, like the one birds might have):<br />
:Came true, in a way. Mobile phones allow near-instant communication over voice, text or even the internet. While we do not technically communicate through thought directly, in some way this technology can be considered telepathy.<br />
<br />
More context for this prediction:<br />
:‘And it’s my firm belief,’ said Gumbril Senior, adding notes to his epic, ‘that they [the birds] make use of some sort of telepathy, some kind of direct mind-to-mind communication between themselves. You can’t watch them without coming to that conclusion.’ [...] ‘It’s a faculty,’ Gumbril Senior went on, ‘we all possess, I believe. All we animals.’ [...] ‘Why don’t we use it more? You may well ask. For the simple reason, my dear young lady, that half our existence is spent dealing with things that have no mind – things with which it is impossible to hold telepathetic communication. Hence the development of the five senses. I have eyes that preserve me from running into the lamppost, ears that warn me I’m in the neighbourhood of Niagara. And having made these instruments very efficient, I use them in holding converse with other beings having a mind. I let my telepathetic faculty lie idle, preferring to employ an elaborate and cumbrous arrangement of symbols in order to make my thought known to you through your senses. In certain individuals, however, the faculty is naturally so well-developed – like the musical, or the mathematical, or the chess-playing faculties in other people – that they cannot help entering into direct communication with other minds<br />
<br />
*The physician of the twenty-first century… may even criticize the language of the times, and may find that '''some of our words have become as offensive to him as the term “lunatic” has become offensive to us.'''<br />
:Just look at the word "gay"; in his time it's completely harmless, even a positive word, while today it's a moderate slur.<br />
:And indeed, the word "lunatic" isn't considered offensive anymore, but merely derogatory.<br />
:He correctly predicts the trajectory of terms like "{{w|mentally retarded}}", itself adopted by his day to replace earlier terms for the intellectually disabled, such as "moron" and "imbecile", which had become pejorative. Soon enough the word "retard" joined them in that regard, and it now has largely been abandoned as a medical term.<br />
<br />
*Historians of the twenty-first century will look back with well-placed scorn on the '''shallow-minded days''' of the early twentieth century '''when football games and petting parties were considered the most important elements of a college education.'''<br />
:While media still encourages such images, colleges start to be much more career oriented. Also, due to incidents involving sex-themed frosh weeks, there was actually a greater emphasis to condemn sexual activities among college students<br />
<br />
*'''In the year A.D. 2014''' journalists will be writing on the centenary of the great war - '''that is, if there has not been a greater war.'''<br />
:2014 marks 100 years since the beginning of {{w|World War I}} (popularly called "The Great War" at the time), thus journalists will definitely write articles of this war. More than 9&nbsp;million combatants were killed. However, unfortunately, there was a greater war, {{w|World War II}}, which killed around 25 million soldiers and an even greater number of civilians.<br />
<br />
The title text refers to a certain British officer, Mr. Colin Shakespeare, who experimented and promoted the use of rope suspension bridges in India, apparently for the ease of colonization and military operations.[http://books.google.com/books?id=aZRPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA367] The reference to "River Avon" is about the river of Avon in Warwickshire, Stratford upon Avon being the town where Shakespeare (the playwright) was born and where he lived until his early twenties.{{w|River Avon (Warwickshire)}}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:'''Notes from the past'''<br />
:It's desirable '''every thing printed should be preserved,''' for we '''cannot now tell how useful it may become''' two centuries hence.<br />
::Christopher Baldwin<br />
:::1834<br />
<br />
:I predict that a century hence the '''Canadian people''' will be '''the noblest specimens of humanity on the face of the earth'''<br />
::Rev. John Bredin<br />
:::1863<br />
<br />
:In the twenty-first century '''mankind will subsist entirely upon jellies.'''<br />
::''The Booklover''<br />
:::1903<br />
<br />
:The twenty-first century baby is destined to be rocked and cradled by electricity, warmed and coddled by electricity, perhaps fathered and mothered by electricity. '''Probably the only thing he will be left to do unaided will be to make love.'''<br />
::Mrs. John Lane, ''The fortnightly''<br />
:::1905<br />
<br />
:To-day, in the city of New York, sixty-six different tongues are spoken. '''A century hence, there will probably be only one.'''<br />
::''The American Historical Magazine''<br />
:::1907<br />
<br />
:I often think '''what interesting history we are making for the student of the twenty-first century.'''<br />
::Willian Carey Jones<br />
:::1908<br />
<br />
:China may be a '''great shoe market''' a decade or a century from now.<br />
::''Boot and Shoe Recorder''<br />
:::1914<br />
<br />
:'''We cannot settle the problem,''' and I venture the prophecy that perhaps '''a century from now this same question may be brought before some future society and discussed very much as it is tonight.'''<br />
::Dr. Barton C. Hirst on the subject of '''abortion'''<br />
:::1914<br />
<br />
:By the twenty-first century I believe '''we shall all be telepaths.'''<br />
::Gumbriel, character in ''Antic Hay''<br />
:::1923<br />
<br />
:The physician of the twenty-first century… may even criticize the language of the times, and may find that '''some of our words have become as offensive to him as the term “lunatic” has become offensive to us.'''<br />
::Dr. C. Macae Campbell<br />
:::1924<br />
<br />
:Historians of the twenty-first century will look back with well-placed scorn on the '''shallow-minded days''' of the early twentieth century '''when football games and petting parties were considered the most important elements of a college education.'''<br />
::Mary Eileen Ahern, ''Library Bureau''<br />
:::1926<br />
<br />
:'''In the year A.D. 2014''' journalists will be writing on the centenary of the great war - '''that is, if there has not been a greater war.'''<br />
::F.J.M, ''The Journalist''<br />
:::1934<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]</div>108.162.216.62