https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=172.68.129.136&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T02:01:12ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2481:_1991_and_2021&diff=214240Talk:2481: 1991 and 20212021-06-26T01:24:25Z<p>172.68.129.136: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
It's 7:12p and I'm on android at m.xkcd.com . There is no alt text, and the "see also" link directs back to the same page. The comic is fun though, people will be thinking about time travel as technology takes off. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.179|162.158.62.179]] 23:14, 25 June 2021 (UTC)<br />
:There is no title-text on firefox on PC either. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.59|162.158.79.59]] 23:16, 25 June 2021 (UTC)<br />
::The title text is botched. Instead the comic is wrapped in an <code>a</code> (hyperlink) element: <code><a href=""Oh, and our computers all have cameras now, which is nice during the pandemic lockdowns." "The WHAT.""></code>. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.152|141.101.98.152]] 23:24, 25 June 2021 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Wasn't the federal no lasers pointed at airplanes law was in acted to prevent laser guided missile attacks against airlines? Not laser attacks in general? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.129.136|172.68.129.136]] 01:24, 26 June 2021 (UTC)</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2481:_1991_and_2021&diff=2142382481: 1991 and 20212021-06-26T01:21:40Z<p>172.68.129.136: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2481<br />
| date = June 26, 2021<br />
| title = 1991 and 2021<br />
| image = 1991_and_2021.png<br />
| titletext = "Oh, and our computers all have cameras now, which is nice during the pandemic lockdowns." "The WHAT."<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by an illegal laser pointer. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic shows a Cueball from 2021 discussing the future's technology with White Hat, who is apparently living in 1991. White Hat is awed by the advances in technology, but is confused that the law preventing lasers from attacking airplanes is not the most important thing mentioned.<br />
<br />
While "laser attacks on airplanes" do sound dramatic and important, they are in fact more along the line of a prank than a serious threat.{{citation needed}} This refers to the practice by some of pointing laser pointers at airplanes flying overhead. When the beam hits the airplane, it can blind the pilot. A law was thus passed to criminalize this. [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/39A 18 USC §39A]<br />
<br />
The robot fighting TV shows mentioned include ''{{w|BattleBots}}'', {{w|Robot Wars (TV series)|''Robot Wars''}}, and possibly {{w|MegaBots Inc.|''MegaBots''}}, in which machines armed with a variety of weapons fight in an arena.<br />
<br />
By any reasonable measure, the most important technologies on the list are the increased range of cordless phones and the ability to easily share news stories. The first of these has led to a dramatic change in how people communicate, with a large amount of communication now remote, which was not as convenient in the 90s and impossible a few decades prior. Sharing of news stories person-to-person is partly blamed for the spread of {{w|fake news}}; misinformation has become more and more politically significant in the past few years. The joke is that the impact of a technology on society isn't really about how exciting or dangerous it might look at first glance.<br />
<br />
The title text horrifies 90s White Hat, who is blissfully unaware of [[:Category:COVID-19|COVID-19]]. The title text was broken on release due to an HTML syntax error.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
[Cueball (with a time travel aura) is talking to White Hat]<br />
White Hat: Welcome to 1991. So you're from 2021? What happens with technology over the next 30 years?<br />
Cueball: We passed a Federal Law to combat Laser Attacks on Airliners, and there are TV shows where Robots Battle. Also, cordless Phones are longer range now, and it's really easy to send news story to your friends.<br />
White Hat: Wow Okay.<br />
Cueball: Now Try to Guess Which of those things turn out to be important.<br />
White Hat: ...Is it not the Lasers?<br />
Cueball: It is not the lasers.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2477:_Alien_Visitors&diff=2136402477: Alien Visitors2021-06-18T10:03:18Z<p>172.68.129.136: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2477<br />
| date = June 16, 2021<br />
| title = Alien Visitors<br />
| image = alien_visitors.png<br />
| titletext = Stay right there, we'll be back in a minute. We've just gotta brainstorm some new wonders. Have you all figured out gears yet? Yes? Crap.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by an Alien Visitor. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This strip satirizes the {{w|ancient astronauts}} hypothesis: that {{w|Extraterrestrial life|aliens}} were involved in building the {{w|pyramids}} and {{w|Stonehenge}}. This concept, popular in some circles, is based on the assumption that earlier civilizations lacked the technology to build such large structures. There are also geometric or other scientific properties to these structures, which some people assume that humans of that era would have been incapable of creating. {{w|Erich von Däniken}}, a Swiss author, is one of the foremost proponents of "ancient astronauts." Some say that such pseudoscience is inherently racist, as it assumes, without any proof, that other civilizations were unable to build their monuments without foreign help. Although others disagree since most races and nationalities have one or another of these monuments with similar claims. <br />
<br />
In the comic, aliens arrive with the intention of building such monuments with their highly advanced technology, including some sort of tractor beam to lift the heavy stones and another beam that can depict a pyramid. They are shocked to hear from [[Cueball]] that humans accomplished the same thing thousands of years earlier with such simple tools as ramps, and even in more than one location on Earth (Pyramids in {{w|Egyptian pyramids|Egypt}} and {{w|Mesoamerican pyramids|Mexico}}). Thus they proceed to suggest a stone circle to predict the solstice, but before they can finish this sentence [[Megan]] says this is like Stonehenge. <br />
<br />
The joke of the strip is that, if aliens were interested in building such structures on earth, they'd be just as likely to show up today as thousands of years ago. And if they offered to build pyramids today, humans would be very unimpressed, as we've had the technology to do so for a quite some time. The notion that an advanced, spacefaring species would come all the way to Earth (or whatever other planets they visit) to build relatively simple stone structures seems dubious, when put that way.<br />
<br />
Alternately, the aliens may have visited Earth before in the past and impressed the humans of the time with their advanced technology of pyramids and stone circles, leading them to expect the same technology to impress the humans again in the present day. This is somewhat plausible: Stonehenge is estimated to have been built around 3100BC, while the pyramids were built 500-1000 years later. Assuming both structures were indeed built by aliens in the past, the visitors would have returned to the Earth to find agricultural civilizations almost identical to the ones they encountered centuries prior. The aliens could have then been led to believe that human technology, if almost entirely unchanged in the 500 years since they last visited, would not have advanced significantly in a few thousand years. Indeed, the aliens were mostly correct in this assessment: technological advancement progressed at a crawl until the scientific revolution marked the emergence of modern science only a relatively short 600 years ago. From this perspective, the aliens would seem to be correct in their assumption that human technology would not significantly improve such that they could not impress humanity with their technological wonders. Unfortunately, the aliens have been caught off-guard by the exponential nature of technological advancement, in that advanced civilizations have the resources to advance even more rapidly.<br />
<br />
The aliens' reaction is frustration as they cannot teach us anything new; evidently, it does not occur to them to share their technologies for antigravity and interstellar travel (which, having come to Earth in floating spaceships, they clearly possess). So in the title text they have regrouped and would now present another wonder - {{w|gears}}. This is very likely a reference to the {{w|Antikythera mechanism}}, an artifact dating from the 2nd century BC which used a complex, geared calculating system to predict the movement of stars and planets. As with the aforementioned structures, some fringe groups theorize that such mechanisms were beyond human technology at the time, and therefore must have been given by aliens. Once again, such technology is not impressive to humans at this point, as complex, geared mechanisms are now commonplace in most human societies. Indeed, quite a bit of intricate mechanical gearing and timing has been obsoleted by electronics.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A flying saucer is hovering high above Cueball and Megan, drawn very small standing on the ground beneath it. The aliens inside speak to them from inside their saucer, indicated with zigzag lines between it and the text.]<br />
:Aliens: Greetings, humans!<br />
:Megan: Whoa, aliens!<br />
:Aliens: We bring you technological wonders!<br />
<br />
:[Zoom in on the flying saucer which has two beams below it, the left showing an outline of a pyramid and the right is shown lifting a large stone. Cueball replies off-panel.]<br />
:Aliens: We will help you lift great stones and build towering monuments.<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): Oh, pyramids?<br />
<br />
:[Zoom in on Cueball and Megan looking up, the Aliens reply from above the panel.]<br />
:Aliens (off-panel): ...Yes.<br />
:Cueball: Yeah, we have those. In Egypt.<br />
:Megan: And Mexico.<br />
:Cueball: I think they used ramps?<br />
<br />
:[Zoom back out, as in first panel]<br />
:Aliens: Then we shall build a ring of stones aligned with the stars, so at the solstice-<br />
:Megan: Oh, like Stonehenge?<br />
:Aliens: ''Dammit, humans.''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Aliens]]</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2466:_In_Your_Classroom&diff=2123472466: In Your Classroom2021-05-22T17:17:08Z<p>172.68.129.136: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2466<br />
| date = May 21, 2021<br />
| title = In Your Classroom<br />
| image = in_your_classroom.png<br />
| titletext = Ontology is way off to the left and geography is way off to the right.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a QUASAR IN YOUR CLASSROOM. The table is still a work in progress. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
Randall has created a thought experiment and corresponding chart about school courses. The idea is, "the subject of the class appears in the classroom" and the chart compares how dangerous and how unusual that would be. <br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|+Breakdown of Subjects<br />
|-<br />
!Course Topic<br />
!Weirdness<br />
!Danger<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Atmospheric Physics<br />
|0%<br />
|0%<br />
|The presence of atmosphere in the classroom is quite common, as humans require the presence of an atmosphere to remain alive, and cannot learn while dead.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ethics<br />
|25%<br />
|0%<br />
|Ethical thinking and behavior are widely considered good and should normally be present in education, but are sadly not universal.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Education<br />
|0%<br />
|10%<br />
|Learning usually goes on in classrooms, so education as a concept is both being learned about and present in the form of learning itself.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Bibliography<br />
|25%<br />
|7%<br />
|Bibliography is the study of books, and books are normally present in classrooms, particularly bibliography classrooms.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Human Physiology<br />
|0%<br />
|20%<br />
|This comic assumes that there are humans learning in the classroom, which was true at the time this comic was published, although in many places at the time the comic was published, many classrooms were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Additionally, as of 2038 the Earth has been overtaken and education is forbidden for mere mortals.{{Actual citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Public Speaking<br />
|25%<br />
|15%<br />
|Some classes require students to present things in front of the class, which is likely a requirement in a public speaking class. Thus, public speaking itself would be present in the class.<br />
Some classes also have a teacher talking or presenting to the students from the front of the class, another form of public speaking.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Architecture<br />
|0%<br />
|30%<br />
|All buildings can be considered architecture, and most classes take place in buildings. This comic also refers to a class''room'', which is a room, and therefore considered architecture.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Library Science<br />
|25%<br />
|25%<br />
|Library science is concerned with the organization of knowledge, and is useful for finding information. Many classes require research papers that require the use of books and other sources of information to complete them. This would be even more appropriate for a class actually taught in the school library.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Furniture Design<br />
|0%<br />
|40%<br />
|Most rooms have furniture,{{Citation needed}} so this would probably be present in a classroom<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Culinary Arts<br />
|40%<br />
|30%<br />
|Most studies of culinary arts include the teacher and/or students preparing food using the tools and/or techniques that have been taught, so it would be fairly normal for food to be a result of classroom activities. How ''good'' it is, however, can be a mixed bag, especially for student cooking attempts.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ergonomics<br />
|5%<br />
|45%<br />
|Ergonomic equipment and workspaces promote comfort and efficiency, while non-ergonomic ones may be unpleasant, unhealthy, or even immediately dangerous.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Botany<br />
|40%<br />
|40%<br />
|The near-neutral position of Botany (aka Plant Biology) obscures a wide range of possible outcomes, from the banal to the malignant. A teacher might have brought in a potted plant for decoration or show-n-tell, which would have zero weirdness and (if a non-allergenic species) zero danger. Or, a tree might have fallen through the roof, highly dangerous and weird, especially if it occurred during calm weather (weather likely to result in trees falling would probably have closed the school prior to treefall). This assumes that the event involves a vegetable and not an element of consumerism or purchasing.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|20th Century Authors<br />
|65%<br />
|10%<br />
|A literature class would, normally, benefit greatly from an open discussion or interview with the author himself. Sadly such things are rare. Authors who were published in the 20th century would mostly be in retirement age in 2021, so securing an interview with them could be somewhat difficult.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Exobiology<br />
|100%<br />
|0%<br />
|Exobiology is the study of extraterrestrial life. This would mean that an alien life-form was in the classroom.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|21st Century Authors<br />
|60%<br />
|20%<br />
|21st century authors have the advantage (over 19th and 20th century authors) of being alive and active at the time this comic was published. However, few of those born during the century have had time to achieve professional success, while those who have published in the 21st century mostly await final literary judgement on their work. Those authors with sufficient notoriety to be welcome in a classroom might charge appearance fees that schools cannot afford, and might, regardless of money, only agree to appear via virtual conference - hence, an elevated weirdness score. Dangers of an actual physical appearance include COVID risk and possible clashes between an author's activist stance and school policies.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|19th Century Authors<br />
|100%<br />
|15%<br />
|Like other authors, the class would benefit from having an actual author show up, but this would be extremely weird since no 19th century author is still alive.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Paleontology<br />
|100%<br />
|25%<br />
|Paleontology is the study of fossils. It would be normal to have some fossils in the classroom, so Randall is probably implying the weirdness of finding a live dinosaur. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Robotics<br />
|55%<br />
|30%<br />
|A course on robotics would often be expected to have some form of working models of the robots being discussed.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Martian Soil Chemistry<br />
|100%<br />
|35%<br />
|Martian soil only reaches Earth in small amounts, so it would be unusual to find a meaningful amount anywhere, except Mars.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Tourism<br />
|75%<br />
|40%<br />
|Tourists coming into an active classroom would be quite unusual. It could refer to the students leaving to become tourists in another location.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Child Psychology<br />
|60%<br />
|45%<br />
|Child study is the study of the psychological processes of children and how they differ from those of adults. It could mean one group of children in the class analyzing the behaviour of the other group and vice versa, which could mean each student has their own interpretation of the other group's behaviour, or it could mean that the teacher analyses the behaviour of the children and explaining it, which could mean a psychologist has to be involved.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Entomology<br />
|15%<br />
|55%<br />
|Insects in the classroom.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Occupational Therapy<br />
|10%<br />
|62%<br />
|Injury, illness or mental health problem that hinder your participation in life/school. Many students who have significant physical injuries and conditions that require occupational therapy would generally not engage in those activities during a class, although volunteers may be brought in as a demonstration of a particular health problem or method of treatment.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Hydraulic Engineering<br />
|40%<br />
|62%<br />
|Likely in the form of flooding or plumbing problems.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Pest Control<br />
|25%<br />
|70%<br />
|Pests may be naturally present in the building, depending on age and level of maintenance done, so students may get the opportunity to partake in some informal pest-control methods during class (such as killing via blunt-force impact). Professional pest control, however, usually involves using harmful chemicals as a method of mass extermination, limiting the ability of students to observe the process, besides causing unhealthy exposure to large amounts of pesticides. (Although, watching a professional pest controller at work would be an immense boon to students studying the topic). <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Foodborne Illness<br />
|15%<br />
|80%<br />
|Sometimes students in a culinary arts class do not properly observe hygiene standards and the food they present would lead to illness in those that consume the food. Thankfully, this is rare if the teacher is paying enough attention to proceedings. Students could also be ill from food eaten outside of class.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Criminal Law<br />
|45%<br />
|85%<br />
|This might happen if a crime occurs in the class.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Physiology of Stress<br />
|0%<br />
|90%<br />
|This would be a sign of stress severe enough to affect bodily functions, likely to an unhealthy extent.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Oncology<br />
|25%<br />
|100%<br />
|Someone in the room likely has cancer.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ornithology<br />
|60%<br />
|55%<br />
|Birds in the classroom?<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Animation<br />
|100%<br />
|56%<br />
|Examples of animated works might be displayed to the students in an animation class. It would be weird for animated characters to appear physically in the classroom instead of being projected on screens.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Petroleum Geology<br />
|65%<br />
|60%<br />
|Crude oil coming up through the floor of the classroom would be ''very'' weird.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Highway Engineering<br />
|75%<br />
|65%<br />
|A highway being built through an active classroom would be very unusual and not that safe.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Toxicology<br />
|55%<br />
|75%<br />
|Most likely, a toxic substance is present in the room. This is not very weird if the room is in a building that has asbestos-containing insulation (typically associated with buildings constructed before the 1990s, although it has not been specifically outlawed) or lead paint (which was fully outlawed in 1978, so any paint must have been applied prior to that date). However, toxic substances are, by definition, unsafe for humans (even students).<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Hematology<br />
|75%<br />
|70%<br />
|Hematology is the study of blood. Given that there should be blood in each of the students present{{Citation needed}}, we should probably assume Randall means "large quantities of blood outside of one's body", which would indeed be both bad and weird.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Hostage Negotiation<br />
|70%<br />
|85%<br />
|Reasons as to why there would be hostage negotiations taking place at a school have horrifying implications for the students and teacher.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|History of Siege Warfare<br />
|100%<br />
|80%<br />
|This would mean that the students would be trapped in the building until they ran out of resources, possibly dying of thirst and starvation (depending on whether or not the opposing army destroyed the school's water lines).<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Trauma Surgery<br />
|55%<br />
|95%<br />
|Trauma surgery is an incredibly painful procedure, and difficult to look at for many. It would undoubtedly be disturbing to the class, especially if the patient was one of them.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Volcanology<br />
|75%<br />
|95%<br />
|Having a live volcano in one's classroom is both very dangerous and very weird. Volcanoes mature over very long time frames, but even the earliest stages are highly disruptive and potentially deadly, as seen in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin#Formation 1943 eruption of Paricutín] and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_lower_Puna_eruption#Eruption 2018 flank eruption of Kilauea]. Note this also applies to [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar | baking soda and vinegar volcanoes that are offshoots of much larger vinegar hotspots]].<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Quasar Astronomy<br />
|75%<br />
|100%<br />
|Quasars are distant astronomical objects that release large amounts of energy. Not only would the power of a quasar destroy the classroom (as well as the building the classroom is in, the town the school is in, and the entire planet Earth,) quasars are too large to fit inside any known classroom. For example, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ULAS_J1342%2B0928 ULAS J1342+0928] has a mass of 8*10^8 solar masses. This means the event horizon of the black hole is almost 16 AU in radius, and this size does not include the accretion disk. <br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ontology (Title Text)<br />
|<0%<br />
|?<br />
|Ontology is the philosophical study of existence and being. Since there must be ''something'' learning in the classroom, it is unsurprising that ontology is a normal subject to appear in the classroom.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Geography (Title Text)<br />
|>100%<br />
|?<br />
|Logistics aside, having a planet's terrain newly appear in one's classroom would almost certainly be a distraction to the learning environment.<br />
<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Caption above scatter plot with labeled axes]<br />
:Caption: The thing you study just showed up in your classroom! That's...<br />
:Upper y-axis label: Good<br />
:Lower y-axis label: Bad<br />
:Upper x-axis label: Normal<br />
:Lower x-axis label: Weird<br />
<br />
:[First quadrant (left to right, top to bottom):]<br />
:20th century authors<br />
:Exobiology<br />
:21st century authors<br />
:19th century authors<br />
:Robotics<br />
:Paleontology<br />
:Martian soil chemistry<br />
:Child psychology<br />
:Tourism<br />
:[Second quadrant]<br />
:Atmospheric physics<br />
:Ethics<br />
:Education<br />
:Bibliography<br />
:Human physiology<br />
:Public speaking<br />
:Architecture<br />
:Library science<br />
:Furniture design<br />
:Culinary arts<br />
:Ergonomics<br />
:Botany<br />
:[Third quadrant]<br />
:Entomology<br />
:Occupational therapy<br />
:Hydraulic engineering<br />
:Pest control<br />
:Foodborne illness<br />
:Criminal law<br />
:Physiology of stress<br />
:Oncology<br />
:[Fourth quadrant]<br />
:Ornithology<br />
:Animation<br />
:Petroleum geology<br />
:Highway engineering<br />
:Toxicology<br />
:Hematology<br />
:Hostage negotiation<br />
:History of siege warfare<br />
:Trauma surgery<br />
:Volcanology<br />
:Quasar astronomy<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2466:_In_Your_Classroom&diff=2123132466: In Your Classroom2021-05-22T05:09:34Z<p>172.68.129.136: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2466<br />
| date = May 21, 2021<br />
| title = In Your Classroom<br />
| image = in_your_classroom.png<br />
| titletext = Ontology is way off to the left and geography is way off to the right.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a QUASAR IN YOUR CLASSROOM. The table is still a work in progress. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
Randall has created a thought experiment and corresponding chart about school courses. The idea is, "the subject of the class appears in the classroom" and the chart compares how dangerous and how unusual that would be. <br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|+Breakdown of Subjects<br />
|-<br />
!Course Topic<br />
!Weirdness<br />
!Danger<br />
!Explanation<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Atmospheric Physics<br />
|0%<br />
|0%<br />
|The presence of atmosphere in the classroom is quite common, as humans require the presence of an atmosphere to remain alive, and cannot learn while dead.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ethics<br />
|25%<br />
|0%<br />
|Ethical thinking and behavior are widely considered good and should normally be present in education, but are sadly not universal.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Education<br />
|0%<br />
|10%<br />
|Learning usually goes on in classrooms, so education as a concept is both being learned about and present in the form of learning itself.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Bibliography<br />
|25%<br />
|7%<br />
|A bibliography is a list of sources, and students should ideally learn to cite their sources. Presumably, this would be a bibliography at the end of a school paper about bibliographies.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Human Physiology<br />
|0%<br />
|20%<br />
|This comic assumes that there are humans learning in the classroom, which was true at the time this comic was published. However, as of 2038 the Earth has been overtaken and education is forbidden for mere mortals.{{Actual citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Public Speaking<br />
|25%<br />
|15%<br />
|Some classes require students to present things in front of the class, which is likely a requirement in a public speaking class. Thus, public speaking itself would be present in the class.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Architecture<br />
|0%<br />
|30%<br />
|All buildings can be considered architecture, and most classes take place in buildings. This comic also refers to a class''room'', which is a room, and therefore considered architecture.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Library Science<br />
|25%<br />
|25%<br />
|Library science is concerned with the organization of knowledge, and is useful for finding information. Many classes require research papers that require the use of books and other sources of information to complete them.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Furniture Design<br />
|0%<br />
|40%<br />
|Most rooms have furniture,{{Citation needed}} so this would probably be present in a classroom<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Culinary Arts<br />
|40%<br />
|30%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ergonomics<br />
|5%<br />
|45%<br />
|Ergonomic equipment and workspaces promote comfort and efficiency, while non-ergonomic ones may be unpleasant, unhealthy, or even immediately dangerous.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Botany<br />
|40%<br />
|40%<br />
|The near-neutral position of Botany (aka Plant Biology) obscures a wide range of possible outcomes, from the banal to the malignant. A teacher might have brought in a potted plant for decoration or show-n-tell, which would have zero weirdness and (if a non-allergenic species) zero danger. Or, a tree might have fallen through the roof, highly dangerous and weird, especially if it occurred during calm weather (weather likely to result in trees falling would probably have closed the school prior to treefall).<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|20th Century Authors<br />
|65%<br />
|10%<br />
|A literature class would, normally, benefit greatly from an open discussion or interview with the author himself. Sadly such things are rare. Authors who were published in the 20th century would mostly be in retirement age in 2021, so securing an interview with them could be somewhat difficult.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Exobiology<br />
|100%<br />
|0%<br />
|Exobiology is the study of extraterrestrial life. This would mean that an alien lifeform was in the classroom.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|21st Century Authors<br />
|60%<br />
|20%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|19th Century Authors<br />
|100%<br />
|15%<br />
|Like other authors, the class would benefit from having an actual author show up, but this would be extremely weird since no 19th century author is still alive.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Paleontology<br />
|100%<br />
|25%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Robotics<br />
|55%<br />
|30%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Martian Soil Chemistry<br />
|100%<br />
|35%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Tourism<br />
|75%<br />
|40%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Child Psychology<br />
|60%<br />
|45%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Entomology<br />
|15%<br />
|55%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Occupational Therapy<br />
|10%<br />
|62%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Hydraulic Engineering<br />
|40%<br />
|62%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Pest Control<br />
|25%<br />
|70%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Foodborne Illness<br />
|15%<br />
|80%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Criminal Law<br />
|45%<br />
|85%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Physiology of Stress<br />
|0%<br />
|90%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Oncology<br />
|25%<br />
|100%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ornithology<br />
|60%<br />
|55%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Animation<br />
|100%<br />
|56%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Petroleum Geology<br />
|65%<br />
|60%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Highway Engineering<br />
|75%<br />
|65%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Toxicology<br />
|55%<br />
|75%<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Hematology<br />
|75%<br />
|70%<br />
|Hematology is the study of blood. Given that there should be blood in each of the students present{{Citation needed}}, we should probably assume Randall means "large quantities of blood outside of one's body", which would indeed be both bad and weird.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Hostage Negotiation<br />
|70%<br />
|85%<br />
|Reasons as to why there would be hostage negotiations taking place at a school have horrifying implications for the students and teacher.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|History of Siege Warfare<br />
|100%<br />
|80%<br />
|This would mean that the students would be trapped in the building until they ran out of resources, and dies of thirst and starvation (depending on whether or not the opposing army destroyed the school's water lines).<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Trauma Surgery<br />
|55%<br />
|95%<br />
|Trauma surgery is an incredibly painful procedure, and difficult to look at for many. It would undoubtedly be disturbing to the class, especially if the patient was one of them.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Volcanology<br />
|75%<br />
|95%<br />
|Having a live volcano in one's classroom is both very dangerous and very weird, as volcanoes take very long times to form. Note this also applies to [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar | baking soda and vinegar volcanoes that are offshoots of much larger vinegar hotspots]].<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Quasar Astronomy<br />
|75%<br />
|100%<br />
|Quasars are distant astronomical objects that release large amounts of energy.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Ontology (Title Text)<br />
|<0%<br />
|?<br />
|Ontology is the philosophical study of existence and being. Since there must be ''something'' learning in the classroom, it is unsurprising that ontology is a normal subject to appear in the classroom.<br />
|-<br />
<br />
!scope=row|Geography (Title Text)<br />
|>100%<br />
|?<br />
|Logistics aside, having a planet's terrain in one's classroom would almost certainly be a distraction to the learning environment.<br />
<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Caption above scatter plot with labeled axes]<br />
:Caption: The thing you study just showed up in your classroom! That's...<br />
:Upper y-axis label: Good<br />
:Lower y-axis label: Bad<br />
:Upper x-axis label: Normal<br />
:Lower x-axis label: Weird<br />
<br />
:[First quadrant (left to right, top to bottom):]<br />
:20th century authors<br />
:Exobiology<br />
:21st century authors<br />
:19th century authors<br />
:Robotics<br />
:Paleontology<br />
:Martian soil chemistry<br />
:Child psychology<br />
:Tourism<br />
:[Second quadrant]<br />
:Atmospheric physics<br />
:Ethics<br />
:Education<br />
:Bibliography<br />
:Human physiology<br />
:Public speaking<br />
:Architecture<br />
:Library science<br />
:Furniture design<br />
:Culinary arts<br />
:Ergonomics<br />
:Botany<br />
:[Third quadrant]<br />
:Entomology<br />
:Occupational therapy<br />
:Hydraulic engineering<br />
:Pest control<br />
:Foodborne illness<br />
:Criminal law<br />
:Physiology of stress<br />
:Oncology<br />
:[Fourth quadrant]<br />
:Ornithology<br />
:Animation<br />
:Petroleum geology<br />
:Highway engineering<br />
:Toxicology<br />
:Hematology<br />
:Hostage negotiation<br />
:History of siege warfare<br />
:Trauma surgery<br />
:Volcanology<br />
:Quasar astronomy<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2421:_Tower_of_Babel&diff=205879Talk:2421: Tower of Babel2021-02-05T23:00:01Z<p>172.68.129.136: Addition of resident linguist Gretchen McCulloch?</p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
So is Gretchen McCulloch xkcd's resident linguist now? Is there going to be character page for her like Cory Doctorow? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.129.136|172.68.129.136]] 23:00, 5 February 2021 (UTC)</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2381:_The_True_Name_of_the_Bear&diff=2058742381: The True Name of the Bear2021-02-05T22:52:35Z<p>172.68.129.136: /* Explanation */ Tower of Babel</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2381<br />
| date = November 4, 2020<br />
| title = The True Name of the Bear<br />
| image = the_true_name_of_the_bear.png<br />
| titletext = Thank you to Gretchen McCulloch for fielding this question, and sorry that as a result the world's foremost internet linguist has been devoured by the brown one. She will be missed.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The Canadian Internet linguist {{w|Gretchen McCulloch}} [https://twitter.com/gretchenamcc/status/1113195661275611137 tweeted] about [https://www.charlierussellbears.com/LinguisticArchaeology.html the theory] that the word for bear became taboo in some branches of Indo-European languages - notably the Germanic one - and it was replaced by euphemisms. In the Germanic branch, the euphemism may have been "the brown one," and thus the modern word "bear" (derived from Germanic "beran") would more literally translate into the color "brown" rather than the animal.<br />
<br />
The Indoeuropean root for bear is *rkto-, which has been inferred from modern languages that still use a word derived from it. In the comic, McCulloch applies {{w|Sound change|sound shifting}} laws to it to guess how it would have evolved in English had it not been superceded, but saying it seems to actually summon a bear, showing that abandoning that word was a fairly wise move for the Germanic language family.<br />
<br />
Interestingly enough, the hypothesized word “arth” is the same as the Welsh and Cornish for the word “bear.” Welsh belongs to the Celtic language family, which is one of the Indo-European branches that still uses a word derived from *rkto-, as do the Italic (Romance), Greek and Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit) branches, while Germanic, Slavic and Baltic branches abandoned it for different euphemisms. Another Indo-European language where the word for bear is very close to this extrapolation is Armenian, where it's written [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/արջ արջ] and pronounced “artch”.<br />
<br />
Depending on how one takes the concept of "saying a true name", {{tvtropes|FridgeLogic|fridge logic}} issues arise with this comic, adding to the absurdity of the situation depicted. If saying the "true" name (or any name derived from that name) summons the bear, how do Celtic and Romance language speakers (e.g. Italians saying Orso, Spaniards saying Oso, etc) get away with saying it without running into the same issue? Perhaps the bears only respond to certain languages, but that seems unlikely unless the words mutated specifically into some special sound bears responded to, since the languages that the bears would be prompted by would have developed thousands of years apart in time. An arcane form of {{w|geofencing}}, and/or a {{w|geas}} firmly tied to some prior mystically-established meta-contextualising, might limit such otherworldly 'magic' and explain why more mundane science and logic is usually unworried by these kinds of phenomena being inadvertently triggered.{{Citation needed}}<br />
<br />
Joking aside, there can be actual good reason to avoid saying bear. For example, maybe when someone had a good harvest bears would have a tendency to come into town to investigate or raid their food store. After some time, people might have developed a tendency to discuss bears and lock up their food store after a good harvest, and so if people overheard discussion of bears from their neighbors, they might have all locked down their food stores, and bears could have learned to key in on the behavior of everyone locking their food stores to actually come into the city and raid them more in response.{{Citation needed}} Thus in a roundabout way, mentioning bears does summon bears.<br />
<br />
Another possibility is that the "true name" of a bear is actually in a language the bear understands: possibly involving smells, body language, territorial or ecological interspecies behavior, and would actually reliably summon a bear because the person using it knew exactly what they were doing. Hunter-gatherers and very experienced trackers are known to interact with wildlife in such ways.{{Citation needed}} <!-- I don't have a citation for this (although I'd start by looking in https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Science_and_Art_of_Tracking/bvJJAAAAYAAJ maybe), but I believed my tracking instructor telling it to me when I saw a photograph of him with a chickadee sitting on his finger. --><br />
<br />
Use of true names appears to be [[1013: Wake Up Sheeple|highly effective in the xkcd universe, rather like a fairy tale]], and it is also {{tvtropes|IKnowYourTrueName|a common trope}} elsewhere. Some say a true name contains clear meaning of who someone or something really is. In a competitive culture like ours, this could give others power over you, "profiling" you to be able to predict you and what you do.<br />
<br />
Internet Linguist Gretchen McCulloch (or her ghost) certainly found it effective, but [https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC/status/1324044826145378304 may reflect her extreme susceptibility to internet leakage]. After inexplicably leaving the bear, she reappears in [[2421: Tower of Babel]].<br />
<br />
== Trivia ==<br />
The last comic strip that ended with the words "Oh no" was [[2314: Carcinization]], which also featured an unfortunate occurrence involving an animal as its punchline when Cueball spontaneously transformed into a crab.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan walks in front the left, looking down at her phone. Cueball and Ponytail are standing next to each other.]<br />
:Megan: Wow - according to the internet, we don't know the true name of the bear.<br />
:Cueball: What?<br />
<br />
:[Gretchen, drawn with short, curly hair, comes on-panel from the right.]<br />
:Megan: Apparently there was a superstition that saying its name would summon it. "Bear" and "bruin" mean "the brown one." Its actual name has been lost.<br />
:Cueball: Wow.<br />
:Ponytail: Gretchen, is this for real?<br />
<br />
:[Zoom-in on Gretchen.]<br />
:Gretchen: Well, sort of<br />
:Gretchen: The Proto-Indo-European root was *rkto-<br />
:Gretchen: It was lost in the Germanic languages like English, but survived elsewhere, e.g. Greek "arktos" and Latin "ursus"<br />
<br />
:[Back to the second panel, with Megan holding her phone down, Ponytail with her hands in the air, and Gretchen with her hand on her chin.]<br />
:Megan: So could we figure out what the word would have been in English?<br />
:Gretchen: Hmm. I mean, we'll never know, but given Germanic sound shifts, a reasonable guess might be "arth"?<br />
:Ponytail: ''No!!''<br />
<br />
:[The panel zooms in again to Gretchen.]<br />
:Ponytail (off-panel): ''Stop! AAAAA!''<br />
:Gretchen: What??<br />
:Ponytail (off-panel): Don't ''say'' it!<br />
<br />
:[Ponytail is holding her palms out. Megan is no longer in the panel.]<br />
:Ponytail: What have you ''done''?<br />
:Off-panel noise: <big>'''''ROAR'''''</big><br />
:Gretchen: Oh<br />
:Gretchen: Oh no<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2372:_Dialect_Quiz&diff=1998562372: Dialect Quiz2020-10-15T08:12:20Z<p>172.68.129.136: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2372<br />
| date = October 14, 2020<br />
| title = Dialect Quiz<br />
| image = dialect_quiz.png<br />
| titletext = Do you make a distinction between shallots, scallops, and scallions? If you use all three words, do they all have different meanings, all the same, or are two the same and one different?<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a LIGHTBULB EATER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
This comic is a parody of online quizzes that offer to compare the user's dialect of American English with others around the country. These quizzes generally contain questions about word usage, names for certain objects, and pronunciations that vary between different regions of the US. There are also quizzes about broader English dialects, but this comic focuses on commonly cited differences between American dialects.<br />
<br />
The earliest quiz of this type to be widely disseminated online was the [http://dialect.redlog.net/ Harvard Dialect Survey], conducted in the early 2000s by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder. The survey created maps of the distribution of various word usage (such as pop/soda/Coke for a fizzy drink) and was a relatively early example of widely shared Internet "viral" content. In 2013, Josh Katz of the New York Times created [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html a new version] based on the Harvard survey, which became the Times' [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/-em-the-new-york-times-em-most-popular-story-of-2013-was-not-an-article/283167/ most popular content of 2013] and spread the idea to many more people. Many of the questions in this comic directly derive from entries in those surveys.<br />
<br />
Randall's previous two comics have been about election predictions, leading up to the 2020 US General Presidential Election. A prominent predictor of the election results is Nate Silver, who runs the FiveThirtyEight website. [https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1315348221565206530 @NateSilver538 posted his results] of taking the New York Times version of the survey on October 11, 2020... just three days before this comic was posted. [[2371: Election Screen Time]] specifically suggests that Randall may be spending too much time obsessing over new posts and content from the election predictors. It's coincidental, but likely, that Nate Silver's tweet inspired Randall's post: he was reminded of the 2013 feature from the Times.<br />
<br />
{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"<br />
! # !! Question !! Answers !! Explanation<br />
|-<br />
! 1<br />
| How do you address a group of two or more people?<br />
|<br />
* A) You<br />
* B) Y'all<br />
* C) I have not been around two or more people for so long that I can't remember<br />
| Reference to the first question of the Times quiz: "How would you address {{w|You#Informal_plural_forms|a group of two or more people}}?" (with options including "you all", "you guys", "y'all", etc.). Option C references the significant decrease in human interaction and social contact during the COVID-19 pandemic.<br />
|-<br />
! 2<br />
| How do you pronounce "Penelope"?<br />
|<br />
* A) Rhymes with "Antelope"<br />
* B) Rhymes with "Develop"<br />
| Both the options for this are wrong, making it the first of many quiz questions it is impossible to answer correctly.<br />
<br />
Neither Option A's "PEN-e-lohp" and Option B's "pe-NELL-up" are a typical pronunciation of this name (beyond mispronunciations). In English, the only correct way to pronounce this name is "pe-NELL-o-pee," which is not listed.<br />
|-<br />
! 3<br />
| What do you call the scientific field that studies the stars?<br />
|<br />
* A) Astrology<br />
* B) Agronomy<br />
* C) Cosmetology<br />
| The actual answer is {{w|Astronomy}}, which is not listed. {{w|Astrology}} is the pseudo-scientific "study" of the influence of the stars on our lives, including horoscopes (often confused with Astronomy due to its similar name), {{w|Agronomy}} ''is'' scientific but instead studies agriculture, and {{w|Cosmetology}} is the study of cosmetics and makeup (with a name close to {{w|Cosmology}}, a branch of Astronomy). The last may also be referring to the (occasionally heavily made-up) faces of movie and television "stars".<br />
|-<br />
! 4<br />
| How do you pronounce "genre"?<br />
| <br />
* A) Gone-ra<br />
* B) Juh-neer<br />
* C) Jen-er-uh<br />
| Reference to a question found on some quizzes: "How do you pronounce ''genre''? ZHAHN-ruh, or JAHN-ruh?"<br />
<br />
A majority of English speakers pronounce "genre" as either "'''ZH'''AHN-ruh" (beginning with the "zh" sound found in "trea'''s'''ure") or "'''J'''AHN-ruh" (beginning with the "j" sound in "justice"). Neither of these are listed, and none of the quiz's pronunciation options are common. However, they are close to other words: ''Gone-ra'' sounds like {{w|gonorrhea}}, ''Juh-neer'' is the way the second and third syllables of ''engineer'' are are pronounced, and ''Jen-er-uh'' is a word (genera), the plural of {{w|genus}}.<br />
|-<br />
! 5<br />
| You pronounce "Google" with a high-pitched yelp on the...<br />
| <br />
* A) First syllable<br />
* B) Second syllable<br />
| Reference to general questions regarding differences in pronunciation of words. "Google" is not generally pronounced with a high-pitched yelp on either syllable.{{Citation needed}} Yahoo! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!], however, had advertisements pronouncing it with high pitch sounds.{{Citation needed}} <br />
|-<br />
! 6<br />
| What do you call the thing on the wall at school that you drink water from?<br />
|<br />
* A) Gutter pipe<br />
* B) Drainpipe<br />
| Reference to a quiz question in the Harvard and Times quizzes, "What do you call the thing from which you might drink water in a school?" Answers included "drinking fountain", "water fountain", and "bubbler". However, the question in this comic implies that schoolchildren (or at least the quizmaker) drink out of gutter pipes or drain pipes, which are used to collect rainwater and should not be drunk from.{{Citation needed}}<br />
|-<br />
! 7<br />
| How do you pronounce the name for a short silent video file?<br />
|<br />
* A) Animated give<br />
* B) Animated gift<br />
| Reference to the "{{w|Gif}}" pronunciation debate, with people split between pronouncing it "gif" (with the hard G sound in "graphics") or "jif" (with the soft G sound in "giraffe"). However, both options presented in this quiz use the hard G sound.<br />
|-<br />
! 8<br />
| What do you call the baseball-sized garden bugs that, when poked, glow brightly and emit a warbling scream?<br />
| <br />
* A) What?<br />
* B) Lawn buddies<br />
| Reference to a question in the Harvard and Times quizzes: "What do you call the {{w|Armadillidiidae|small gray bug}} that curls up into a ball when it’s touched?" (options include "roly-poly," "pill-bug", "potato bug", "doodle bug", etc.). However, there are no common "baseball-sized garden bugs".{{Citation needed}} May also be a reference to what "potato bug" means to people in the eastern part of the United States and {{w|Jerusalem cricket|what it means}} to people in the western part of the United States.<br />
|-<br />
! 9<br />
| What do you call the misleading lines painted by disgruntled highway workers to trick cars into driving off the road?<br />
| <br />
* A) Prank lines<br />
* B) Devil's Marks<br />
* C) Fool-me lines<br />
* D) Fauxguides<br />
* E) Delaware lines<br />
| Reference to the fact that some quiz questions ask about road features, such as "verge/berm/parking strip/curb strip" and "roundabout/traffic circle". However, these particular road lines, if they have ever been made, aren't common enough to warrant different names. The Delaware Line was a formation within the Continental Army. May also just be a dig at Delaware.<br />
<br />
Misleading lines on the road were also mentioned in [[1958: Self-Driving Issues]].<br />
|-<br />
! 10<br />
| What do you call the blue-green planet in the outer Solar System?<br />
| <br />
* A) Uranus<br />
* B) Neptune<br />
| This question references the two common pronunciations of Uranus: "YURR-ə-nəss" and "yoo-RAY-nəss" (which sounds like the phrase "{{tvtropes|UranusIsShowing|Your anus}}", a favorite joke of little kids). It also references the fact that Uranus and Neptune are both blue-ish colored planets in the outer solar system and are often confused by people who don't know much about them. Uranus is closer to being the correct answer - it could plausibly be described as cyan, a color intermediate between blue and green - while Neptune is a deep, unambiguous blue.<br />
|-<br />
! 11<br />
| What do you call this tool?<br />
[[File:CloveHammer.png|150px]]<BR>(image of a clove hammer)<br />
| <br />
* A) Banger<br />
* B) Nail axe<br />
* C) Wood mage wand<br />
* D) I'm familiar with this tool but have no specific word for it<br />
* E) I have never seen it before <br />
| The only name most people would ever call this tool is a "hammer".<br />
<br />
The last two options reference options in many quiz questions along the lines of "I'm familiar with this but have no specific word for it" and "I am not familiar with this" (such as on the pill-bug/roly-poly question on the real quiz). These may appear as options to questions that ask about something that might not exist everywhere, or something which many may not have a word for (for example, some areas of the United States have a name for "sunshowers," while most don't). However, it's a bit absurd for these options to be present for this question (and this question alone), as most users would be expected to know what a hammer is.<br />
|-<br />
! 12<br />
| What do you call a long sandwich with meats and lettuce and stuff?<br />
|<br />
* A) A long sandwich with meats and lettuce and stuff<br />
* B) A longwich<br />
* C) A salad hot dog<br />
| Reference to a common dialect quiz question: "What do you call a {{w|Submarine sandwich|long sandwich}}?" with options typically including "sub", "hoagie", "hero", etc.<br />
<br />
The hot dog answer could refer to the common online discussion: "Is a hot dog a sandwich?"<br />
|-<br />
! 13<br />
| What do you call the scaly many-legged animal often found in attics?<br />
| <br />
* A) Lightbulb eater<br />
* B) I have no special name for them<br />
* C) I've never looked in my attic<br />
| Another reference to the frequent appearance of quiz questions asking what users call various creepy crawlies. <br />
<br />
{{w|Millipedes}} best fit the description. They have many legs, though rarely if ever a thousand of them, as their name (from the Greek for "thousand feet") suggests. The hard rings that separate an individual's body into segments has a scaly appearance. And of the thousands of species, only a few have common names, hence "no special name for them". The reference to "lightbulb eater" is obscure, but may refer to the tendency of millipedes to congregate in large numbers in dark crevices. Perhaps Randall found some in empty (no bulb) light fixtures in his attic.<br />
|-<br />
! 14<br />
| What do you say when someone around you sneezes?<br />
| <br />
* A) "What was that?"<br />
* B) "Oh, wow."<br />
* C) [Quietly] "Yikes."<br />
| Reference to a question on some quizzes about which of several words/phrases you say in response to a sneeze, with usual answers including "bless you", "God bless you", and "{{w|Gesundheit}}" (from the German word for 'health').<br />
<br />
This question may also be referencing the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}} in answer C (and possibly answer B). Sneezing isn't a primary symptom of COVID-19, but most people are hyper-aware of possibly contracting the disease from the people around them so sneezes are treated with suspicion and it's seen as rude to sneeze openly.<br />
<br />
It is also possible that a person who has been able to catch a sneeze-producing condition has also caught COVID-19 and, while the sneeze itself isn't ''caused'' by it, the air and various airway fluids so forcefully projected are a possible infective vector with that little extra frisson of concern, given the current situation.<br />
|-<br />
! Title Text<br />
| colspan=2 | Do you make a distinction between shallots, scallops, and scallions? If you use all three words, do they all have different meanings, all the same, or are two the same and one different?<br />
| Phrased similarly to questions like, on the Times quiz, "How do you pronounce the words Mary, merry, and marry?" Options included "all three are pronounced the same", "all three are pronounced differently," or all three combinations of two being the same and one different.<br />
<br />
{{w|Shallots}} and {{w|scallions}} are both types of onions (the former somewhat resembling garlic cloves, the latter being long green/white stalks also called spring onions). {{w|Scallops}} (either pronounced <br />
''skollops'' or ''skallops'') are invertebrate marine animals similar to oysters and clams, frequently harvested for food (also what potato fritters are called in some regions of the UK and Australia). The three sound somewhat similar, but are quite different.<br />
|}<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
<br />
[Box with title at the top]<br />
:<big>Dialect Quiz</big><br />
[Smaller subtitle underneath]<br />
:Compare answers with your friends!<br />
<br />
[Quiz is divided into two columns. Answers to questions are indicated by a letter followed by a closed parentheses, such as A). These letters are greyed out]<br />
<br />
[Column 1:]<br />
<br><br />
How do you address a group of two or more people? <br />
:A) You<br />
:B) Y'all<br />
:C) I have not been around two or more people for so long that I can't remember<br />
<br />
How do you pronounce "Penelope"? <br />
:A) Rhymes with "Antelope"<br />
:B) Rhymes with "Develop"<br />
<br />
What do you call the scientific field that studies the stars? <br />
:A) Astrology<br />
:B) Agronomy<br />
:C) Cosmetology<br />
<br />
How do you pronounce "genre"? <br />
:A) Gone-ra<br />
:B) Juh-neer<br />
:C) Jen-er-uh<br />
<br />
You pronounce "Google" with a high-pitched yelp on the... <br />
:A) First syllable<br />
:B) Second syllable<br />
<br />
What do you call the thing on the wall at school that you drink water from? <br />
:A) Gutter pipe<br />
:B) Drainpipe<br />
<br />
How do you pronounce the name for a short silent video file? <br />
:A) Animated give<br />
:B) Animated gift<br />
<br />
What do you call the baseball-sized garden bugs that, when poked, glow brightly and emit a warbling scream? <br />
:A) What?<br />
:B) Lawn buddies<br />
<br />
[Column 2:]<br />
<br><br />
What do you call the misleading lines painted by disgruntled highway workers to trick cars into driving off the road? <br />
:A) Prank lines<br />
:B) Devil's Marks<br />
:C) Fool-me lines<br />
:D) Fauxguides<br />
:E) Delaware lines<br />
<br />
What do you call the blue-green planet in the outer Solar System? <br />
:A) Uranus<br />
:B) Neptune<br />
<br />
What do you call this tool?<br />
<br><br />
[Image of a claw hammer] <br />
:A) Banger<br />
:B) Nail axe<br />
:C) Wood mage wand<br />
:D) I'm familiar with this tool but have no specific word for it<br />
:E) I have never seen it before<br />
<br />
What do you call a long sandwich with meats and lettuce and stuff? <br />
:A) A long sandwich with meats and lettuce and stuff<br />
:B) A longwich<br />
:C) A salad hot dog<br />
<br />
What do you call the scaly many-legged animal often found in attics? <br />
:A) Lightbulb eater<br />
:B) I have no special name for them<br />
:C) I've never looked in my attic<br />
<br />
What do you say when someone around you sneezes? <br />
:A) "What was that?"<br />
:B) "Oh, wow."<br />
:C) [Quietly] "Yikes."<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
<br />
*The xkcd Twitter account posted a [https://twitter.com/xkcd/status/1316484953480323072 series of Twitter polls] asking the questions in this comic.<br />
*Shallots, scallops, and scallions ran against each other in [[1529: Bracket]]<br />
<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Language]]<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=740:_The_Tell-Tale_Beat&diff=195892740: The Tell-Tale Beat2020-08-11T06:21:07Z<p>172.68.129.136: /* Explanation */ later ref</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 740<br />
| date = May 14, 2010<br />
| title = The Tell-tale Beat<br />
| image = the_tell_tale_beat.png<br />
| titletext = You fancy me mad. Could a madman have outsmarted the greatest electronica/techno artists of our era? Next to fall will be Roderick Usher's house/trance band.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{w|Daft Punk}} is a French electronic music group. The beat used in electronic music can be vocalized or spelled as "unn-tss". '{{w|The Tell-Tale Heart}}' is a short story by {{w|Edgar Allan Poe}}, in which the narrator tries to appear sane while describing how he killed a man and hid his body in the floorboards. Eventually, he imagines he hears the dead man's heartbeat through the floorboards. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is referenced again in the later comic [[2344: 26-Second Pulse]].<br />
<br />
[[Cueball]] narrates that he killed Daft Punk and hid their bodies under the floorboards, as the narrator of 'The Tell-Tale Heart' did. (Having to outsmart a band named {{Wiktionary|daft|Daft}} Punk is quite ironic.) He says he has been haunted by the sound of the band's beats.<br />
<br />
In the title text, the narrator continues trying to assert his sanity. The line, "You fancy me mad," comes directly from The Tell-Tale Heart. He then insinuates that he will kill Roderick Usher's band; Roderick Usher was a character in '{{w|Fall of the House of Usher}}', another story by Edgar Allan Poe, making puns on 'house' and 'trance', genres of electronic music (the character of Madeline Usher in the story suffers from catalepsy, frequently falling into trances).<br />
<br />
The title text mentions techno music, which is the subject of [[411: Techno]] and is also mentioned in [[586: Mission to Culture]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[The three panels show portions of a single scene. Although the characters are still stick figures, the artwork style is heavily crosshatched and shaded.]<br />
:[In the first panel there is a desk with monitor on it, and a painting of a woman above that. Next to it is a bookshelf.]<br />
:Ever since I murdered Daft Punk<br />
<br />
:[There is a fireplace, with no fire. A rug lies before it. At the left end of the mantelpiece are two bottles, one tall, one round. Another photograph of a woman is in a frame at the right end. The bookshelf continues from the previous panel.]<br />
:And hid their bodies beneath the floorboards, I've been haunted<br />
<br />
:[The narrator is clutching his head and leaning forward. A grandfather clock is behind him, next to a doorway. Above the doorway is a pallid bust of Pallas.]<br />
:By this ''pounding''.<br />
:[White text on black.]<br />
:Unn-Tss<br />
:Unn-Tss<br />
:Unn-Tss<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2344:_26-Second_Pulse&diff=1958912344: 26-Second Pulse2020-08-11T06:18:13Z<p>172.68.129.136: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2344<br />
| date = August 10, 2020<br />
| title = 26-Second Pulse<br />
| image = 26_second_pulse.png<br />
| titletext = There are some papers arguing that there's a volcanic component, but I personally think they're just feeling guilty and trying to cover the trail.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
In this comic strip, [[Science Girl]] is teaching a class on geology, and explaining some of the non-earthquake signals that seismometers detect. She describes [https://phys.org/news/2011-01-seismometer-noise-south-atlantic-storms.html a mysterious signal that repeats with a 26-second period], and initially provides a plausible explanation (some kind of natural wave pattern on the coastline of the {{w|Gulf of Guinea}}).<br />
<br />
However, she quickly takes a turn for the dramatic when she claims that it might be a giant, murdered by seismologists, whose heart still beats. This is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's short story ''{{w|The Tell-Tale Heart}}'', in which the main character murders his landlord and hides him beneath the floorboards, and then hears (or believes he hears) his victim's heart continuing to beat; the noise eventually drives the man to confess his guilt to visiting police officers. (The narrator of ''The Tell-Tale Heart'' never uses that phrase in the story; he calls it a ''hideous'' heart.) From this, we can perhaps conclude that Science Girl has killed a giant and dumped the body in the ocean, and is now driven by her guilt to perceive the giant's heartbeat in natural seismological signals. "The Tell-Tale Heart" was previously referenced in [[740: The Tell-Tale Beat]].<br />
<br />
Normal human hearts beat much more rapidly than once every 26 seconds, but [https://www.answers.com/Q/What_animal_has_slowest_heart_rate large animals and hibernating animals] may have much slower heart rates (which would include a giant at the bottom of the ocean).<br />
<br />
The title text gives an alternate explanation for the seismic activity: [https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/194/1/362/2006108 volcanic activity], but Science Girl continues to believe in the giant story.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Science Girl is standing in the front of a whiteboard with a pointer. Ponytail, Hairy, and Megan are sitting at desks.]<br />
:Science Girl: When everything is still, seismometers pick up faint tremors we call seismic noise.<br />
:Science Girl: Most of it is from ocean waves, cars, etc. But there's also a mysterious 26-second pulse.<br />
<br />
:[Close up on Science Girl, pointing to a map of the world. Africa is in view, and a star is drawn within the country of Ghana.]<br />
:Science Girl: We've triangulated the source to somewhere in the Gulf of Guinea.<br />
:Science Girl: It comes and goes with the seasons, but it's been there since at least the 1980s. It's so regular we use it to sync up seismometers.<br />
<br />
:[Science Girl is shown in profile, with the board behind her.]<br />
:Off-panel voice: What causes it?<br />
:Science Girl: Not sure. The most popular theory is that storm-driven waves set up some kind of resonance with the coast.<br />
<br />
:[Science Girl has leaned her stick on the board's tray. She has raised her clenched fists.]<br />
:Science Girl: Another theory is that long ago, seismologists murdered a giant and buried the body at sea.<br />
:Science Girl: Now we are haunted by the beating of its telltale heart!<br />
:Science Girl: Could be either.<br />
:Science Girl: Further research is needed.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Geology]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2344:_26-Second_Pulse&diff=1958902344: 26-Second Pulse2020-08-11T06:17:51Z<p>172.68.129.136: /* Explanation */ Daft Punk</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2344<br />
| date = August 10, 2020<br />
| title = 26-Second Pulse<br />
| image = 26_second_pulse.png<br />
| titletext = There are some papers arguing that there's a volcanic component, but I personally think they're just feeling guilty and trying to cover the trail.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
<br />
In this comic strip, [[Science Girl]] is teaching a class on geology, and explaining some of the non-earthquake signals that seismometers detect. She describes [https://phys.org/news/2011-01-seismometer-noise-south-atlantic-storms.html a mysterious signal that repeats with a 26-second period], and initially provides a plausible explanation (some kind of natural wave pattern on the coastline of the {{w|Gulf of Guinea}}).<br />
<br />
However, she quickly takes a turn for the dramatic when she claims that it might be a giant, murdered by seismologists, whose heart still beats. This is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's short story ''{{w|The Tell-Tale Heart}}'', in which the main character murders his landlord and hides him beneath the floorboards, and then hears (or believes he hears) his victim's heart continuing to beat; the noise eventually drives the man to confess his guilt to visiting police officers. (The narrator of ''The Tell-Tale Heart'' never uses that phrase in the story; he calls it a ''hideous'' heart.) From this, we can perhaps conclude that Science Girl has killed a giant and dumped the body in the ocean, and is now driven by her guilt to perceive the giant's heartbeat in natural seismological signals. "The Tell-Tale Heart" was previously referenced in [[740:_The_Tell-Tale_Beat]].<br />
<br />
Normal human hearts beat much more rapidly than once every 26 seconds, but [https://www.answers.com/Q/What_animal_has_slowest_heart_rate large animals and hibernating animals] may have much slower heart rates (which would include a giant at the bottom of the ocean).<br />
<br />
The title text gives an alternate explanation for the seismic activity: [https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/194/1/362/2006108 volcanic activity], but Science Girl continues to believe in the giant story.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
:[Science Girl is standing in the front of a whiteboard with a pointer. Ponytail, Hairy, and Megan are sitting at desks.]<br />
:Science Girl: When everything is still, seismometers pick up faint tremors we call seismic noise.<br />
:Science Girl: Most of it is from ocean waves, cars, etc. But there's also a mysterious 26-second pulse.<br />
<br />
:[Close up on Science Girl, pointing to a map of the world. Africa is in view, and a star is drawn within the country of Ghana.]<br />
:Science Girl: We've triangulated the source to somewhere in the Gulf of Guinea.<br />
:Science Girl: It comes and goes with the seasons, but it's been there since at least the 1980s. It's so regular we use it to sync up seismometers.<br />
<br />
:[Science Girl is shown in profile, with the board behind her.]<br />
:Off-panel voice: What causes it?<br />
:Science Girl: Not sure. The most popular theory is that storm-driven waves set up some kind of resonance with the coast.<br />
<br />
:[Science Girl has leaned her stick on the board's tray. She has raised her clenched fists.]<br />
:Science Girl: Another theory is that long ago, seismologists murdered a giant and buried the body at sea.<br />
:Science Girl: Now we are haunted by the beating of its telltale heart!<br />
:Science Girl: Could be either.<br />
:Science Girl: Further research is needed.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Geology]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]</div>172.68.129.136https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=517:_Marshmallow_Gun&diff=194802517: Marshmallow Gun2020-07-17T21:29:25Z<p>172.68.129.136: /* Explanation */ 2334: Slide Trombone</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 517<br />
| date = December 15, 2008<br />
| title = Marshmallow Gun<br />
| image = marshmallow_gun.png<br />
| titletext = Except in reality crossing a stream of marshmallows would create a giant Bill Murray.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Cueball]] has obtained a gun that shoots {{w|marshmallows}} and promptly decides to shoot at [[Megan]]. Having taken the first few hits without much reaction she sighs and then brings out the super soaker, which was first used on her in [[220: Philosophy]] (and later reappears in [[2334: Slide Trombone]]), and soaks him with it. <br />
<br />
The next day, everyone has such guns and starts shooting marshmallows at each other. We see [[Beret Guy]] and Megan who confront Cueball, saying ''Hey, {{w|noob}}! Eat {{w|Stay Puft Marshmallow Man|Stay-Puft®}}!'' This is like saying ''eat lead'' when threatening someone with a regular gun, since Stay Puft is a fictional brand of marshmallows from the ''{{w|Ghostbusters}}'' movie. These statements and many like them appear in many first person shooter games with chat.<br />
<br />
Beret Guy realizes that the "streams" of marshmallows are about to cross, and shouts a warning, but it is too late and they cross anyway. This results in something gigantic appearing with a '''Foom''' off-screen. It roars at the three friends. Megan looks up and states that ''this is bad'' as the giant shouts ''You're shooting what?'' Presumably the crossing marshmallows beams have recreated the {{w|Stay Puft Marshmallow Man}} from ''Ghostbusters''. In the movie, crossing the ghost-capturing streams from the {{w|Proton packs}} was "{{w|Proton pack#Crossing the streams|bad}}". But in the end, in which an ancient spirit took the form of this giant Marshmallow Man, the monster was destroyed as a side effect of crossing the streams. The Stay-Puft man sees what they are shooting and is justifiably upset.<br />
<br />
The title text is a further ''Ghostbusters'' reference, as {{w|Bill Murray}} was one of the actors in the movie. Since the crossing of the streams of the proton packs by Bill Murray and the other Ghostbusters is related to the creation of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in the movie, the crossing of the marshmallow streams in the comic does the opposite and summons an enormous Bill Murray.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A box above the first frame:]<br />
:I got this gun that shoots marshmallows.<br />
:[Cueball removes the red marshmallow gun from a box.]<br />
<br />
<br />
:[Cueball shoots at Megan with marshmallow gun from offscreen.]<br />
:Pop pop pop<br />
:Whap whap whap<br />
<br />
<br />
:[Megan facepalms.]<br />
:Pop<br />
:Megan: Sigh.<br />
<br />
<br />
:[Megan removes a super soaker from desk drawer.]<br />
:Pop pop<br />
<br />
:[Megan shoots Cueball (offscreen) with the super soaker.]<br />
:Cueball (offscreen): Augh! <br />
:''Fwoosh''<br />
:Cueball (offscreen): Man, I forgot that was there.<br />
<br />
<br />
:[A box above the first frame of the second part of the comic:]<br />
:The next day, everyone else got them too.<br />
:[Megan and Beret Guy brandish marshmallow guns.]<br />
:Megan: Hey, noob! Eat Stay-Puft®!<br />
<br />
<br />
:[Megan shoots a marshmallow gun.]<br />
:Pop pop pop<br />
<br />
<br />
:[Cueball shoots a marshmallow gun.]<br />
:Poppop pop<br />
<br />
<br />
:[Megan and Cueball shoot marshmallows into the air, crossing the streams.]<br />
:Beret Guy (offscreen): No! Don't cross the—<br />
<br />
<br />
:[Between the last two frames is a wide gap with the following text:]<br />
:'''Foom''' <br />
:Giant monster (offscreen): Roaaar!<br />
<br />
<br />
:[Megan, Cueball, and Beret Guy are all standing with weapons pointed at the ground looking up.]<br />
:Megan: Okay, this is bad.<br />
:Giant monster (offscreen): '''You're shooting <u>what</u>?'''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]</div>172.68.129.136