1845: State Word Map - Revision history

YZ100 at 03:36, 19 May 2026

2026-05-19T03:36:38Z

162.158.74.95: /* Explanation */ The phrasing looked a little off (and porn can often be of solo acts, so broadening it out).

2025-03-02T21:22:00Z

‎Explanation: The phrasing looked a little off (and porn can often be of solo acts, so broadening it out).

FaviFake: weird spot to get into the etymology of the word porn

2025-03-02T15:35:53Z

weird spot to get into the etymology of the word porn

162.158.74.68: /* Explanation */

2025-03-02T15:07:30Z

‎Explanation

162.158.74.68: /* Explanation */

2025-03-02T15:06:55Z

‎Explanation

FaviFake: added Category:Comics edited after their publication using HotCat

2025-03-02T10:41:22Z

added Category:Comics edited after their publication using HotCat

FaviFake: /* Trivia */

2025-03-02T10:41:13Z

‎Trivia

FaviFake: /* Explanation */

2025-03-02T10:39:57Z

‎Explanation

JLZ0kTC5 at 09:40, 21 October 2022

2022-10-21T09:40:03Z

PouncySilverkitten at 18:28, 11 May 2022

2022-05-11T18:28:53Z

Show changes

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 [[Category:US maps]]
 [[Category:Charts]]
 [[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]

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 The primary joke is that the likelihood of these being the words used most often by the inhabitants of each state is low, rather than accurately representing the most used words Randall has just done exactly what he says he can do (make fun of Florida by putting whatever he wants). He also has not obtained the data from anywhere, just 'Something Something'. The joke about {{w|Florida}} is that the most used word in Florida is "Florida", which would make people in Florida very self-centered.
-The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for "sex porn" instead of "porn", which is not needed since porn already refers to the representation of sex acts. This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state. Florida is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. For more information on why Florida itself seems eager to play into this stereotype, check out the {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}}.
+The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for "sex porn" instead of "porn", which is not needed since porn already means the depiction of sexual content. This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state. Florida is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. For more information on why Florida itself seems eager to play into this stereotype, check out the {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}}.
 Randall previously used a map of the United States as the basis for his comics in [[1767: US State Names]], [[1653: United States Map]], [[1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet]] and in [[1079: United Shapes]].

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ==Explanation==
-This is another of the many comics where [[Randall]] used a map of the United States for his joke (see below for examples).
+This is another of the many comics where [[Randall]] used a map of the United States for his joke (see below for examples). Similar in spirit to [[1138: Heatmap]], this comic pokes fun at many maps that attempt to use data to discern unique characteristics about various sub-regions, in this case {{w|U.S. state|American states}}. This map may have been inspired by [https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/status/869624196921303040 this map] posted on Twitter by Google Trends the day before the comic was posted. Many web companies use maps like this in viral marketing, but the methodology behind them is pretty weak. The random noise in the data will mean that there will be variations between states even if there is no underlying pattern - and this can be further boosted by statistical tricks. A common one is to show the "most characteristic" or "most distinctive" term for each state. For instance, [http://www.businessinsider.com/most-common-causes-of-death-in-each-state-2014-6?IR=T the most common cause of death is heart disease or cancer] in every US state, but this makes for a boring map. Looking at the [https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2015/14_0395.htm most distinctive cause of death] produces a more interesting map, but it highlights very minor trends - Louisiana is marked as having syphilis as its most distinctive cause of death, even though [https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/stateprofiles/pdf/louisiana_profile.pdf only 15 Louisianans in every 100,000 have the disease] and there were only 22 syphilis deaths in the state over a whole decade. These maps can give a misleading impression of huge variation between states that doesn't really exist.
-Similar in spirit to [[1138: Heatmap]], this comic pokes fun at many maps that attempt to use data to discern unique characteristics about various sub-regions, in this case {{w|U.S. state|American states}}. This map may have been inspired by [https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/status/869624196921303040 this map] posted on Twitter by Google Trends the day before the comic was posted. Many web companies use maps like this in viral marketing, but the methodology behind them is pretty weak. The random noise in the data will mean that there will be variations between states even if there is no underlying pattern - and this can be further boosted by statistical tricks. A common one is to show the "most characteristic" or "most distinctive" term for each state. For instance, [http://www.businessinsider.com/most-common-causes-of-death-in-each-state-2014-6?IR=T the most common cause of death is heart disease or cancer] in every US state, but this makes for a boring map. Looking at the [https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2015/14_0395.htm most distinctive cause of death] produces a more interesting map, but it highlights very minor trends - Louisiana is marked as having syphilis as its most distinctive cause of death, even though [https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/stateprofiles/pdf/louisiana_profile.pdf only 15 Louisianans in every 100,000 have the disease] and there were only 22 syphilis deaths in the state over a whole decade. These maps can give a misleading impression of huge variation between states that doesn't really exist.
+This map does not include real data, but says (when read left to right):
-This map does not include real data, but says (when read left to right/west to east):
+The primary joke is that the likelihood of these being the words used most often by the inhabitants of each state is low, rather than accurately representing the most used words Randall has just done exactly what he says he can do (make fun of Florida by putting whatever he wants). He also has not obtained the data from anywhere, just 'Something Something'. The joke about {{w|Florida}} is that the most used word in Florida is "Florida", which would make people in Florida very self-centered.
-The primary joke is that the likelihood of these being the words used most often by the inhabitants of each state is low, rather than accurately representing the most used words Randall has just done exactly what he says he can do (make fun of Florida by putting whatever he wants). He also has not obtained the data from anywhere, just 'Something Something'. The joke about {{w|Florida}} is that the most used word in Florida is "Florida", which would make people in Florida very self-centered. The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for ''sex porn'' instead of ''porn'', which is not needed since porn (short for "{{wiktionary|pornography}}", literally "depictions of fornication") ''already'' refers to the representation of sex and sexual situations in various forms (e.g. written, audio, imagery, video). This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state. Florida is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. For more information on why Florida itself seems eager to play into this stereotype, check out the {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}}.
+The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for "sex porn" instead of "porn", which is not needed since porn already refers to the representation of sex acts. This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state. Florida is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. For more information on why Florida itself seems eager to play into this stereotype, check out the {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}}.
 Randall previously used a map of the United States as the basis for his comics in [[1767: US State Names]], [[1653: United States Map]], [[1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet]] and in [[1079: United Shapes]].

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 :You can make these maps say whatever you want by adjusting the methodology. Half of the time you're just amplifying random noise because the underlying data doesn't vary that much from one state to another. But whatever. Nobody checks this stuff. Just pick whatever normalization lets you make fun of Florida.
-The primary joke is that the likelihood of these being the words used most often by the inhabitants of each state is low, rather than accurately representing the most used words Randall has just done exactly what he says he can do (make fun of Florida by putting whatever he wants). He also has not obtained the data from anywhere, just 'Something Something'. The joke about {{w|Florida}} is that the most used word in Florida is "Florida", which would make people in Florida very self-centered. The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for ''sex porn'' instead of ''porn'', which is not needed since porn (short for "{{wiktionary|pornography}}", literally "depictions of fornication"}} ''already'' refers to the representation of sex and sexual situations in various forms (e.g. written, audio, imagery, video). This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state. Florida is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. For more information on why Florida itself seems eager to play into this stereotype, check out the {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}}.
+The primary joke is that the likelihood of these being the words used most often by the inhabitants of each state is low, rather than accurately representing the most used words Randall has just done exactly what he says he can do (make fun of Florida by putting whatever he wants). He also has not obtained the data from anywhere, just 'Something Something'. The joke about {{w|Florida}} is that the most used word in Florida is "Florida", which would make people in Florida very self-centered. The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for ''sex porn'' instead of ''porn'', which is not needed since porn (short for "{{wiktionary|pornography}}", literally "depictions of fornication") ''already'' refers to the representation of sex and sexual situations in various forms (e.g. written, audio, imagery, video). This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state. Florida is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. For more information on why Florida itself seems eager to play into this stereotype, check out the {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}}.
 Randall previously used a map of the United States as the basis for his comics in [[1767: US State Names]], [[1653: United States Map]], [[1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet]] and in [[1079: United Shapes]].

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 :You can make these maps say whatever you want by adjusting the methodology. Half of the time you're just amplifying random noise because the underlying data doesn't vary that much from one state to another. But whatever. Nobody checks this stuff. Just pick whatever normalization lets you make fun of Florida.
-The primary joke is that the likelihood of these being the words used most often by the inhabitants of each state is low, rather than accurately representing the most used words Randall has just done exactly what he says he can do (make fun of Florida by putting whatever he wants). He also has not obtained the data from anywhere, just 'Something Something'. The joke about {{w|Florida}} is that the most used word in Florida is "Florida", which would make people in Florida very self-centered. The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for ''sex porn'' instead of ''porn'', which is not needed since porn means images and film of people having sex. This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state.
+The primary joke is that the likelihood of these being the words used most often by the inhabitants of each state is low, rather than accurately representing the most used words Randall has just done exactly what he says he can do (make fun of Florida by putting whatever he wants). He also has not obtained the data from anywhere, just 'Something Something'. The joke about {{w|Florida}} is that the most used word in Florida is "Florida", which would make people in Florida very self-centered. The comic continues to make fun of Florida in the title text by saying that Florida searches for ''sex porn'' instead of ''porn'', which is not needed since porn (short for "{{wiktionary|pornography}}", literally "depictions of fornication"}} ''already'' refers to the representation of sex and sexual situations in various forms (e.g. written, audio, imagery, video). This is also probably a reference to PornHub's [https://www.pornhub.com/insights/united-states-top-searches data-farming] exercises, where they have periodically released the most frequently searched term by state. Florida is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. For more information on why Florida itself seems eager to play into this stereotype, check out the {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}}.
-Florida is often the butt of many jokes, including the {{w|Florida Man}} meme and many mocking jibes regarding its {{w|2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida|messy electoral history}}. For more information on why Florida itself seems eager to play into this stereotype, check out the {{tvtropes|OnlyInFlorida|"Only in Florida" phenomenon}} Randall previously used a map of the United States as the basis for his comics in [[1767: US State Names]], [[1653: United States Map]], [[1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet]] and in [[1079: United Shapes]].
+Randall previously used a map of the United States as the basis for his comics in [[1767: US State Names]], [[1653: United States Map]], [[1509: Scenery Cheat Sheet]] and in [[1079: United Shapes]].
 ==Transcript==

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:41, 2 March 2025
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	[[Category:US maps]]		[[Category:US maps]]
	[[Category:Charts]]		[[Category:Charts]]
		+	[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]

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 ==Trivia==
-* In [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/0/04/20170602113432%21state_word_map.png the original version of this comic] the border line dividing {{w|New Hampshire}} and {{w|Maine}} was missing, although both states had distinct words attributed to them ("you" for NH and "want" for ME). The error was later corrected by Randall to the current version.
+In [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/0/04/20170602113432%21state_word_map.png the original version of the comic], the border line dividing {{w|New Hampshire}} and {{w|Maine}} was missing, although both states had distinct words attributed to them ("you" for NH and "want" for ME). Randall later corrected the error.
 {{comic discussion}}