https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=108.162.242.10&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T18:12:30ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1576:_I_Could_Care_Less&diff=1015011576: I Could Care Less2015-09-11T06:40:55Z<p>108.162.242.10: Added further explanation.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1576<br />
| date = September 11, 2015<br />
| title = I Could Care Less<br />
| image = i_could_care_less.png<br />
| titletext = I literally could care less.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
This comic references the dichotomy between the literal meaning of the phrase "I could care less." And its incorrect idiomatic meaning. This dichotomy is best explained by the Weird Al Yankovic song "Word Crimes": <blockquote>Like I could care less <br /><br />
That means you do care<br /><br />
At least a little</blockquote><br />
Many people argue that the phrase should be "I couldn't care less".<br />
Megan feels alone because there is unavoidable difference between her understanding of her own words and the listener's interpretation, so while she sees discussion of semantics as being of potentially high social and emotional value, she doesn't think it has objective value. However, ironically, at the end of the comic, the meaning of "I could care less" with regards to Ponytail's behavior is ambiguous: either Megan is brushing off Ponytail's pedantry because she doesn't care about it or she is hurt by Ponytail's focus (she couldn't care less) on the details of her words rather than the emotional cues she should have learned over the course of their relationship (she actually could care less).<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Megan: Anyway, I could care less.<br />
:Ponytall: I think you mean you couldn't care less. Saying you could care less implies you care at least some amount.<br />
:Megan: I dunno.<br />
:Megan: We're these unbelievably complicated brains drifting through a void, trying in vain to connect with one another by blindly flinging words out into the darkness.<br />
:Megan: Every choice of phrasing and spelling and tone and timing carries countless signals and contexts and subtexts and more, and every listener interprets those signals in their own way. Language isn't a formal system. Language is glorious chaos.<br />
:Megan: You can never know for sure what any words will mean to anyone. All you can do is try to get better at guessing how your words affect people, so you can have a chance of finding the ones that will make them feel something like what you want them to feel. Everything else is pointless.<br />
:Megan: I assume you're giving me tips on how you interpret words because you want me to feel less alone. If so, then thank you. That means a lot.<br />
:Megan: But if you're just running my sentences past some mental checklist so you can show off how well you know it, then I could care less.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Logic]]</div>108.162.242.10https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1482:_NowPlaying&diff=83998Talk:1482: NowPlaying2015-02-04T06:11:32Z<p>108.162.242.10: Created page with "So what song is it? ~~~~"</p>
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<div>So what song is it? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 06:11, 4 February 2015 (UTC)</div>108.162.242.10https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1436:_Orb_Hammer&diff=775451436: Orb Hammer2014-10-20T16:10:45Z<p>108.162.242.10: Added one more example of simple language usage.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1436<br />
| date = October 20, 2014<br />
| title = Orb Hammer<br />
| image = orb_hammer.png<br />
| titletext = Ok, but make sure to get lots of pieces of rock, because later we'll decide to stay in a room on our regular orb and watch hammers hold themselves and hit rocks for us, and they won't bring us very many rocks.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Added title text explain first draft.}}<br />
This conversation suggests doing something that sounds absurd and not useful at all for the daily activities of a regular human. Yet it refers in simple English words to the {{w|Apollo_program|Apollo human spaceflight program}} which sent people to the Moon to bring geological samples back to Earth to study them. The use of such simple language contributes to the effect of the suggestion sounding absurd, even though the numerous side-products of the effort to realize the project have in fact had many benefits for regular people.<br />
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No person has been on the Moon since the final Apollo mission, Apollo 17, in 1972. Occasional lunar rocks can still be collected on Earth. They are formed when a celestial body impacts the Moon's surface, forming a crater and launching small rocks into the space. Some of them will eventually reach Earth, see {{w|Lunar_meteorite|lunar meteorites}}.<br />
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The title text refers to the current Mars missions ({{w|Mars_Pathfinder|Pathfinder}}, {{w|Spirit_(rover)|Spirit}}, {{w|Opportunity_(rover)|Opportunity}}, {{w|Curiosity_(rover)|Curiosity}}) where, instead of traveling to Mars ourselves, we stay on Earth ("our regular orb") and control rovers by remote. The rovers collect geological samples and test them for life, but have no way to send the samples back to Earth.<br />
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The idea of using simple language in highly technical fields began with [[547: Simple]] and was revisited in [[722: Computer Problems]] and [[1133: Up Goer Five]]. It should be noted however, that in this case [[Randall]] didn't use the 1000 most basic words in the English language, because that [http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_1000_basic_words list] does contain the words "Moon" and "Earth," but not "glowing" or "orb."<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
Person 1: You know that glowing orb in the night sky?<br />
<br />
Person 2: Yeah?<br />
<br />
Person 1: Let's go hit it with a hammer until little pieces break off, then bring the pieces back and lock them in a closet.<br />
<br />
Person 2: Sounds good!<br />
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Text under panel: The Apollo program was weird.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}</div>108.162.242.10https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:75:_Curse_Levels&diff=72355Talk:75: Curse Levels2014-07-26T22:32:49Z<p>108.162.242.10: Created page with "I'm sorry that I don't know who to attribute this to, but I once heard a comedian refer to someone as a "mother-effin' fucker". - ~~~~"</p>
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<div>I'm sorry that I don't know who to attribute this to, but I once heard a comedian refer to someone as a "mother-effin' fucker". - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 22:32, 26 July 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.242.10https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1394:_Superm*n&diff=71613Talk:1394: Superm*n2014-07-14T06:03:11Z<p>108.162.242.10: /* Wildcard */</p>
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<div>==Wildcard==<br />
Excellent description, but minor niggle: In "Superm*n' , the '*' is a wildcard. This isn't a regular expression that would match 'Superman' and Supermoon'. A regexp could be "Superm.*n" - the '.' means 'any character' and the '*' means 'as many times as you like'. (More selective regexps exist) If you were to interpret 'Superm*n' as a regular expression, it would match 'Supern' , 'Supermn', "Supermmn', Supermmmn' etc. So you could describe 'Superm*n' as a 'wildcard search that would match superman and supermoon'. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.184|141.101.99.184]] 05:11, 14 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
:You're approaching this from a very specific context. You may be correct in that context, but there are plenty of different programs, protocols, languages, etc which use wildcards in various ways. I once worked as a 411 operator, and in the search software we used at the time, a search on "SUPERM*N" would have found both "Superman" and "Supermoon" if both of those were names in listings (although our supervisors would consider that too many keystrokes and would suggest "SUP*N" instead). - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 05:58, 14 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
::Oops, looks like I read the initial comment too quickly, didn't realize you were kind of making the same point I wanted to, you were just being more technical about it. Either way, I think the explanation of the wildcard in the article itself should be made vague enough to avoid further threads like this. - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 06:03, 14 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
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==Colour==<br />
If a Trivia section is warranted for this comic, I think it should definitely be pointed out this is one of the rare strips that uses a colour other than black or white. Is there an available statistic on use of colour in xkcd? - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 05:58, 14 July 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.242.10https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1394:_Superm*n&diff=71612Talk:1394: Superm*n2014-07-14T05:58:47Z<p>108.162.242.10: responded to comment, added new comment, added headers</p>
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<div>==Wildcard==<br />
Excellent description, but minor niggle: In "Superm*n' , the '*' is a wildcard. This isn't a regular expression that would match 'Superman' and Supermoon'. A regexp could be "Superm.*n" - the '.' means 'any character' and the '*' means 'as many times as you like'. (More selective regexps exist) If you were to interpret 'Superm*n' as a regular expression, it would match 'Supern' , 'Supermn', "Supermmn', Supermmmn' etc. So you could describe 'Superm*n' as a 'wildcard search that would match superman and supermoon'. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.184|141.101.99.184]] 05:11, 14 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
:You're approaching this from a very specific context. You may be correct in that context, but there are plenty of different programs, protocols, languages, etc which use wildcards in various ways. I once worked as a 411 operator, and in the search software we used at the time, a search on "SUPERM*N" would have found both "Superman" and "Supermoon" if both of those were names in listings (although our supervisors would consider that too many keystrokes and would suggest "SUP*N" instead). - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 05:58, 14 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
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==Colour==<br />
If a Trivia section is warranted for this comic, I think it should definitely be pointed out this is one of the rare strips that uses a colour other than black or white. Is there an available statistic on use of colour in xkcd? - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 05:58, 14 July 2014 (UTC)</div>108.162.242.10