Talk:1776: Reindeer

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search

Captcha does not work on mobile browser. (Android Firefox) Had to switch over to laptop to make edit. Also, it's two words, not one as the thing above implies ("To help protect against automated edit spam, please type the word you see in the box below:") ~Dartania 162.158.74.141 14:03, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

This post was made with Firefox on Android. Are you sure you didn’t just get a difficult CAPTCHA? 108.162.216.214 14:32, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
The captcha from my most recent edit had a total of four words and 23 letters. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk)

Title text could be a parody of "When what to my wondering eyes should appear/but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer" from "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ('Twas the Night Before Christmas) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus's_reindeer#Eight_reindeer 172.68.78.10 14:42, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Seems more likely to be a few lines later, “And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof / The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.” 162.158.62.249 15:19, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

To pick nits, an octopus has eight arms and no tentacles. A squid has eight arms plus two tentacles. --162.158.34.94 15:21, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

To pick further nits, some instead argue that octopuses have 6 arms and 2 legs. Hppavilion1 (talk) 20:14, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

Is the octopus tentacle comment adding anything? I believe octopodophobia is substantially rarer than arachnophobia (to the extent that it doesn't seem to have an official name); Cthulhu aside, I suspect a deer with octopus tentacles would mostly look weird (or comical) rather than scary. To most, I suspect octopus tentacles are only scary if you're on a ship being attacked by a kraken or if you're a diver and one is playfully tugging on your respirator. Of course, I speak as an arachnophobe who cringed when I saw this comic... Fluppeteer (talk) 15:39, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

In the Odin myth, he rides Sleipnir while he distributes gifts. Black Hat isn't all that authentic if he got that mixed up with the more modern "Santa Claus" mythology. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk)

Except that Black Hat doesn't actually care about being authentic, he just discovered a new fact that he wants to use to mess with people. 172.68.46.23 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Fun bit of trivia: Loki is Sleipnir's mom.108.162.246.47 19:23, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

One of many ways that Loki's life kinda sucked. He starts Ragnarok for a reason. --108.162.215.28 21:21, 28 December 2016 (UTC)
What makes you think that? Sure, there was lot of things which sucked in Loki's life, but we can't be sure what his sexual preferences are ... -- Hkmaly (talk) 07:05, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

Does Randall's repeating interest in spiders have any relevance here? --108.162.250.53 21:32, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

I think Randall screwed up with the title text. Spiders only have two (or, rarely, three) tarsal claws (See last line here: https://www.amnh.org/learn/biodiversity_counts/ident_help/Parts_Arthropods/male_spider.htm). So either BlackHat has been doing more agressive genetic engineering than you'd think or Randall screwed up! 162.158.69.39 21:44, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Maybe he's keeping it simple for people who didn't know that. That's right, Jacky720 just signed this (talk | contribs) 00:32, 24 December 2016 (UTC)
I think the link provided above says that spiders have only two (or, rarely, three) tarsal claws per leg. This site (http://www.findaspider.org.au/info/glossary.htm) mentions that each leg has these claws, and some spiders have a median claw behind their main pair. This refers to the third claw spiders sometimes have, mentioned in the previous link. 01:37, 24 December 2016 (UTC)Count Schlick (talk)
Ah...that makes more sense. OK - so "the sound of sixteen to twenty four tarsal claws"...unless the reinspiders are standing on tippy-toes? 162.158.69.39 01:55, 24 December 2016 (UTC)

Perhaps a nod to Love Actually - one of the holiday season's more popular movies - which notes, "Eight is a lot of legs." ~Dave 162.158.202.148 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

To those of you who have watched Infinity Train, I think you'll agree with me that this deer's name is Alan Dracula 173.245.52.197 23:54, 4 May 2021 (UTC)