1735: Fashion Police and Grammar Police - Revision history

42.book.addict: we don't use TOCs in comic pages

2025-10-23T05:06:15Z

we don't use TOCs in comic pages

2001:4450:813D:C800:FCCA:442D:8C9D:DF33 at 22:07, 22 October 2025

2025-10-22T22:07:10Z

2001:4450:813D:C800:5442:5CC9:5A5B:7B11 at 02:56, 13 October 2025

2025-10-13T02:56:23Z

94.175.200.195: Corrected grammar

2025-09-25T19:02:27Z

Corrected grammar

Theanswertolifetheuniverseandeverything: This sentence is incorrect.

2024-10-15T21:16:34Z

This sentence is incorrect.

Pie Guy: /* Table of individual items */ Clarification would do well here; reduces apparent bias and adds clarity

2023-11-10T16:04:50Z

‎Table of individual items: Clarification would do well here; reduces apparent bias and adds clarity

162.158.74.25: /* Explanation */ Rationalised a bit, on top of prior edit.

2023-11-04T11:53:42Z

‎Explanation: Rationalised a bit, on top of prior edit.

Certified nqh at 02:54, 4 November 2023

2023-11-04T02:54:21Z

Certified nqh: i nuked the transcript and some other stuff

2023-11-04T02:53:28Z

i nuked the transcript and some other stuff

172.71.242.223: /* Explanation */ Deleting a fortunately unnecessary portion of phrase, resolving a plural/singular grammatical disagreement. Or at least awkward stand-off. (Crocs are clogs. "Crocs" is a brand of clogs/clog-likes. A croc is like a clog.)

2023-07-04T07:53:36Z

‎Explanation: Deleting a fortunately unnecessary portion of phrase, resolving a plural/singular grammatical disagreement. Or at least awkward stand-off. (Crocs are clogs. "Crocs" is a brand of clogs/clog-likes. A croc is like a clog.)

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:06, 23 October 2025
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{TOC}}~~
	In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are ''most likely'' drawn side by side not because they're protesting in the same place, but to compare their similarities.		In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are ''most likely'' drawn side by side not because they're protesting in the same place, but to compare their similarities.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:07, 22 October 2025
Line 8:		Line 8:

	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
		+	{{TOC}}
	In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are ''most likely'' drawn side by side not because they're protesting in the same place, but to compare their similarities.		In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are ''most likely'' drawn side by side not because they're protesting in the same place, but to compare their similarities.

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 | title     = Fashion Police and Grammar Police
 | image     = fashion_police_and_grammar_police.png
-| titletext = * Mad about jorts
+| titletext = <nowiki>* Mad about jorts</nowiki>
 }}

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 | Understand that there's no way to "opt out" of sending messages by how you present yourself, and attempts to do so send strong messages of their own || As above, our dress and speech will be taken by others as sending messages about ourselves. Trying to ignore the rules of either grammar or fashion is, itself, a message, as it presents to the world that we refuse to live by this set of rules. Whether or not we're trying to convey that message, it is what will come across.
 |-
-|To seem cool and casual, pretend to ignore them while understanding them very well || People who appear to not understand the rules of either grammar or fashion will often be seen as ignorant or low-class. On the other hand, deliberately ignoring rules of either when its clear that you've mastered them comes across as casual, since it's clear that you're choosing to play with the rules, rather than simply not knowing them.
+|To seem cool and casual, pretend to ignore them while understanding them very well || People who appear to not understand the rules of either grammar or fashion will often be seen as ignorant or low-class. On the other hand, deliberately ignoring rules of either when it's clear that you've mastered them comes across as casual, since it's clear that you're choosing to play with the rules, rather than simply not knowing them.
 |-
 |Vindictive about things that are often uncomfortably transparent proxies for race or social class || This is probably the most impactful observation. Rules around fashion and grammar, being arbitrary, are generally set by the most powerful classes in any society, which often run along racial lines as well. As a result, the "proper" way to dress or speak generally remains associated with those classes. This association can be pragmatic, such as "fashionable" clothing being more expensive and hard for poor people to acquire, or it may simply be cultural, as 'proper' grammar is whatever's spoken in wealthy neighborhoods and schools, while language variants associated with poor people and minority groups is bluntly denounced as 'wrong', even if it has a fully consistent internal grammar. Similarly, fashions that are associated with poor and non-white social groups are broadly considered to be inappropriate, even if the reasons are arbitrary. As a result, such things become signifiers by which one can present oneself as being part of a social class. In America, it would be socially unacceptable to reject a job applicant because they grew up poor, and illegal to do so because of their race. However, rejecting an applicant for using 'improper' grammar, or for not wearing the right clothing or hairstyle, is standard practice. Randall identifies this fact as "uncomfortably transparent".

@@ Line 46: / Line 46: @@
 |Vindictive about things that are often uncomfortably transparent proxies for race or social class || This is probably the most impactful observation. Rules around fashion and grammar, being arbitrary, are generally set by the most powerful classes in any society, which often run along racial lines as well. As a result, the "proper" way to dress or speak generally remains associated with those classes. This association can be pragmatic, such as "fashionable" clothing being more expensive and hard for poor people to acquire, or it may simply be cultural, as 'proper' grammar is whatever's spoken in wealthy neighborhoods and schools, while language variants associated with poor people and minority groups is bluntly denounced as 'wrong', even if it has a fully consistent internal grammar. Similarly, fashions that are associated with poor and non-white social groups are broadly considered to be inappropriate, even if the reasons are arbitrary. As a result, such things become signifiers by which one can present oneself as being part of a social class. In America, it would be socially unacceptable to reject a job applicant because they grew up poor, and illegal to do so because of their race. However, rejecting an applicant for using 'improper' grammar, or for not wearing the right clothing or hairstyle, is standard practice. Randall identifies this fact as "uncomfortably transparent".
-To be clear, it doesn't make one racist to dislike another's, or a group's, fashion choices or grammatical habits/rules; only certain bad actors intentionally use them as the proxies mentioned.
+To be clear, it doesn't make one racist to dislike another's, or a group's, fashion choices or grammatical habits/rules.
 |-
 | Fun to cheer on until one of them disagrees with you|| As with any arbitrary set of rules, those that we're in agreement and comfortable with are easy to promote, and we may enjoy taking part in the condemnation of others. But that suddenly changes when we find ourselves on the outside, condemned for our own use of language or how we dress.  At that point, the flaws of such groups become much harder to ignore.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are <i>most likely</i> drawn side by side not because they're protesting in the same place, but to compare their similarities.
+In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are ''most likely'' drawn side by side not because they're protesting in the same place, but to compare their similarities.
 The left group represents the '''Fashion Police''' with [[Cueball]] holding a sign implying that {{w|Crocs}} are prohibited by showing Crocs shoe/sandal in a circle with a strike through it. Crocs are {{w|Clog|clogs}} made of foam. Crocs (and their imitators) have become fairly popular due to their low price, comfort, and ease of use, but are broadly considered {{w|Crocs#Fashion| unfashionable to wear in public}}. It is not the first time [[Randall]] mocks a special type of shoes, as previously, in [[1065: Shoes]], Randall was after shoes that ''has those creepy individual toes'' like {{w|Vibram FiveFingers}}. They will also never be a hit with the Fashion Police.{{Citation needed}}
-The right group represents the '''Grammar Police''' with another Cueball holding a sign with the three homophones [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/their Their] (belonging to them), [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/they%27re They're] ("they are"), and [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/there There] (a location).  These words, due to their common usage and identical pronunciation, are frequently confused for one another, with one spelling being used in a context meant for a different one, causing the Grammar Police to quickly intervene. See the [https://twitter.com/_grammar_ Grammar Police on Twitter] and {{w|Grammar Police|Linguistic prescription}}.
+The right group represents the '''Grammar Police''' with another Cueball holding a sign with the three homophones {{wiktionary|their|Their}} (belonging to them), {{wiktionary|they're|They're}} ("they are", contracted), and {{wiktionary|there|There}} (a location). These words are frequently confused for one another, due to their common usage and identical pronunciation, with one spelling then being used in a context meant for a different one and potentially provoking the Grammar Police to quickly intervene. See the [https://twitter.com/_grammar_ Grammar Police on Twitter] and {{w|Grammar Police|Linguistic prescription}}.
 The two groups look similar, standing in similar poses, with Cueball holding a sign and [[Megan]] in the front line in both. Each group also has one member brandishing a sword, indicating the exaggerated level of intensity they feel about their respective causes.

@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 ==Transcript==
-:[Beneath two headings to the left and right are shown two aggressive-looking groups of people with only the four people in the front clearly shown for each group. Behind them five other people can be seen, but they are drawn in grey and are only partially shown behind the first four, but legs from all five in each group can be seen along with some heads (all Cueball like) and arms etc. The front of the left group consist of Hairy holding a fist up towards left, Megan with her arms crossed in front of her chest, Cueball holding a sign with both hands above his head with another Cueball to the right holding up a branch in his left hand. The person behind the stick-wielding cueball is shown to hold up his fist towards right like Hairy does to the left. The sign shows a Crocs shoe in a circle with a strike through it going above the Crocs from top left to bottom right.  The front of the right group consist of Megan holding both her arms over her head hands folded into fist while looking towards left, Cueball holding a sign, using both hands, towards the right and up above Ponytails head, she is raising one hand in a fist to the left and finally a bald guy with glasses is brandishing a short sword in one hand toward right while holding his other hand palm up. The sign has three similar words written beneath each other.]
+:[Beneath two headings to the left and right are shown two aggressive-looking groups of people with only the four people in the front clearly shown for each group. Behind them five other people can be seen, but they are drawn in grey and are only partially shown behind the first four, and legs from all five in each group can be seen along with some of their heads.]
 :Left: Fashion Police
 [From left to right, Hairy is holding one fist up to the left, Megan has her arms while crossed facing forward, a Cueball is holding a pole sign above his head with both hands facing a little to the left, displaying a single croc with a line through it and a circle around it, and another Cueball is holding a large stick to the right at head level. The person behind the rightmost Cueball has one fist raised, though not as high as Hairy.]

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are <i>probably</i> not actually protesting side by side, but simply drawn side by side to compare their similarities.
+In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are <i>most likely</i> drawn side by side not because they're protesting in the same place, but to compare their similarities.
-The left group represents the '''Fashion Police''' with [[Cueball]] holding a sign implying that {{w|Crocs}} are prohibited (by showing Crocs shoe/sandal in a circle with a strike through it). Crocs are {{w|Clog|clogs}} made of foam. Crocs (and their imitators) have become fairly popular due to their low price, comfort, and ease of use, but are broadly considered {{w|Crocs#Fashion| unfashionable to wear in public}}. It is not the first time [[Randall]] mocks a special type of shoes, previously in [[1065: Shoes]] Randall was after shoes that ''has those creepy individual toes'' like {{w|Vibram FiveFingers}}. They will also never be a hit with the Fashion Police.{{Citation needed}}
+The left group represents the '''Fashion Police''' with [[Cueball]] holding a sign implying that {{w|Crocs}} are prohibited by showing Crocs shoe/sandal in a circle with a strike through it. Crocs are {{w|Clog|clogs}} made of foam. Crocs (and their imitators) have become fairly popular due to their low price, comfort, and ease of use, but are broadly considered {{w|Crocs#Fashion| unfashionable to wear in public}}. It is not the first time [[Randall]] mocks a special type of shoes, as previously, in [[1065: Shoes]], Randall was after shoes that ''has those creepy individual toes'' like {{w|Vibram FiveFingers}}. They will also never be a hit with the Fashion Police.{{Citation needed}}
-The right group represents the '''Grammar Police''' with another Cueball holding a sign with three homophones: [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/their Their] (belongs to them), [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/they%27re They're] (contraction meaning "they are"), [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/there There] (a location).  These words, due to their common usage and identical pronunciation are frequently confused for one another, with one spelling being used in a context meant for a different one, causing the Grammar Police to quickly intervene (see [[386: Duty Calls]]). See the [https://twitter.com/_grammar_ Grammar Police on Twitter] and also {{w|Grammar Police|Linguistic prescription}} which comes up on Wikipedia when searching for Grammar Police.
+The right group represents the '''Grammar Police''' with another Cueball holding a sign with the three homophones [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/their Their] (belonging to them), [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/they%27re They're] ("they are"), and [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/there There] (a location).  These words, due to their common usage and identical pronunciation, are frequently confused for one another, with one spelling being used in a context meant for a different one, causing the Grammar Police to quickly intervene. See the [https://twitter.com/_grammar_ Grammar Police on Twitter] and {{w|Grammar Police|Linguistic prescription}}.
-The two groups look similar, standing in similar poses, with one Cueball holding signs in each group, and [[Megan]] in the front line of both groups. Each group also has one member brandishing a sword, indicating the exaggerated level of intensity they feel about their respective causes.
+The two groups look similar, standing in similar poses, with Cueball holding a sign and [[Megan]] in the front line in both. Each group also has one member brandishing a sword, indicating the exaggerated level of intensity they feel about their respective causes.
-Both types of people will correct, criticize, denigrate or mock those who fail to conform to their criteria for what is "correct". Fashion police oppose people wearing clothing that's mismatched, out of style/{{w|fashion}} or simply "ugly" to them. Grammar police are "sticklers" for {{w|grammar}} rules and have an immediate negative reaction when someone uses non-standard grammar in a sentence. These two groups are generally seen as socially separate, and their goals appear very distinct, but the comic explains how the two groups are actually very similar.  This is demonstrated by listing eight characteristics (plus a ninth in the title text) common to both groups. See explanation in the [[#Table of individual items|table below]].
+Both types of people will correct, criticize, denigrate or mock those who fail to conform to their criteria for what is "correct". Fashion police oppose people wearing clothing that's mismatched, out of style/{{w|fashion}}, or simply "ugly" to them. Grammar police are "sticklers" for {{w|grammar}} rules and have an immediate negative reaction when someone uses non-standard grammar in a sentence. These two groups are generally seen as socially separate, and their goals appear very distinct, but the comic explains how the two groups are actually very similar.  This is demonstrated by listing eight characteristics, plus one in the title text, common to both groups. See explanation in the [[#Table of individual items|table below]].
-In the caption below the comic Randall notes that he just realized that these are literally the same people because they both exhibit the listed traits.
+In the caption below the comic Randall notes that he had just realized that these are literally the same people because they both exhibit the listed traits.
-It seems like a safe assumption (see [[1339: When You Assume]]) that there are more grammar pedants (see title text of [[1652: Conditionals]]) than fashion police people who read xkcd, and it also would seem likely that many xkcd readers would dislike the Fashion Police.  This comic may, therefore, be intended to point out to grammar pedants that their behavior is functionally similar to that of other people who they dislike. Ponytail also represented the grammar police in [[1576: I Could Care Less]], where Megan puts her in place after she polices her sentence; this thus shows what Randall thinks about such police work and supports the above assumption. In 1576: I Could Care Less, "literally" was also used in the title text.
+It seems like a safe assumption that there are more grammar pedants (see title text of [[1652: Conditionals]]) than fashion police people who read xkcd, and it also would seem likely that many xkcd readers would dislike the Fashion Police. This comic may, therefore, be intended to point out to grammar pedants that their behavior is functionally similar to that of other people who they dislike. Ponytail also represented the grammar police in [[1576: I Could Care Less]], where Megan puts her in place after she polices her sentence; this thus shows what Randall thinks about such police work and supports the above assumption. In 1576: I Could Care Less, "literally" was also used in the title text.
 Randall is, with regards to language, definitely one of those that can belong in this group: ''To seem cool and casual, pretend to ignore them while understanding them very well.''
-The title is a ninth point to add to the list, with the asterisk in front representing one more bullet. See the last entry in the [[#Table of individual items|table below]] for more:
+The title is a ninth point to add to the list, with the asterisk in front representing one more bullet. See the last entry in the [[#Table of individual items|table below]] for more.
 ==Table of individual items==
@@ Line 60: / Line 60: @@
 ==Transcript==
-:[Beneath two headings to the left and right are shown two aggressive-looking groups of people with only the four people in the front clearly shown for each group. Behind them five other people can be seen, but they are not drawn with the same solid line and are only partly shown behind the first four, but legs from all five in each group can be seen along with some heads (all Cueball like) and arms etc. The front of the left group consist of Hairy holding a fist up towards left, Megan with her arms crossed in front of her chest, Cueball holding a sign, using both hands, straight up above his head and another Cueball-like guy to the right is holding up a broken branch in one hand toward right. The person behind this last person is shown to hold up his fist towards right like Hairy does to the left. The sign shows a Crocs shoe in a circle with a strike through it going above the Crocs from top left to bottom right.  The front of the right group consist of Megan holding both her arms over her head hands folded into fist while looking towards left, Cueball holding a sign, using both hands, towards the right and up above Ponytails head, she is raising one hand in a fist to the left and finally a bald guy with glasses is brandishing a short sword in one hand toward right while holding his other hand palm up. The sign has three similar words written beneath each other.]
+:[Beneath two headings to the left and right are shown two aggressive-looking groups of people with only the four people in the front clearly shown for each group. Behind them five other people can be seen, but they are drawn in grey and are only partially shown behind the first four, but legs from all five in each group can be seen along with some heads (all Cueball like) and arms etc. The front of the left group consist of Hairy holding a fist up towards left, Megan with her arms crossed in front of her chest, Cueball holding a sign with both hands above his head with another Cueball to the right holding up a branch in his left hand. The person behind the stick-wielding cueball is shown to hold up his fist towards right like Hairy does to the left. The sign shows a Crocs shoe in a circle with a strike through it going above the Crocs from top left to bottom right.  The front of the right group consist of Megan holding both her arms over her head hands folded into fist while looking towards left, Cueball holding a sign, using both hands, towards the right and up above Ponytails head, she is raising one hand in a fist to the left and finally a bald guy with glasses is brandishing a short sword in one hand toward right while holding his other hand palm up. The sign has three similar words written beneath each other.]
 :Left: Fashion Police
 :Right: Grammar Police
-:Sign:
+[From left to right, Megan is holding both fists above her head to the left, a Cueball is holding a sign much like the Cueball in the Fashion Police, although he is facing to the right and his sign has "Their", "They're", and "There" written on top of each other, Ponytail has one fist raised, facing left, and a bald man wearing glasses is holding a sword in his left hand facing right while his right palm is raised face up.]
 :[Below the two groups are eight points with bullets:]