2946: 1.2 Kilofives - Revision history

82.132.239.130: Undo revision 409036 by 2001:4450:81E7:1E00:ADD6:A33:300F:1CBB (talk)

2026-03-30T03:44:37Z

Undo revision 409036 by 2001:4450:81E7:1E00:ADD6:A33:300F:1CBB (talk)

2001:4450:81E7:1E00:ADD6:A33:300F:1CBB at 00:46, 30 March 2026

2026-03-30T00:46:15Z

Jkshapiro: /* Explanation */ This paragraph does nothing to make the comic easier to understand

2025-06-16T04:15:50Z

‎Explanation: This paragraph does nothing to make the comic easier to understand

CalibansCreations: /* Explanation */

2025-01-16T11:34:10Z

‎Explanation

141.101.69.77: Transcript is already completed

2024-08-14T15:42:03Z

Transcript is already completed

141.101.105.132 at 08:18, 29 July 2024

2024-07-29T08:18:15Z

ConscriptGlossary: Fixed typo

2024-07-21T13:54:20Z

Fixed typo

162.158.111.154: /* Explanation */ only 80=quatre-vingt,4x20. the words for 40 and 60 are based on those for for and six

2024-07-04T19:48:05Z

‎Explanation: only 80=quatre-vingt,4x20. the words for 40 and 60 are based on those for for and six

172.71.242.176: sp.

2024-06-18T19:04:26Z

sp.

162.158.63.83: /* Explanation */ The detail could prove important in edge cases.

2024-06-18T17:59:21Z

‎Explanation: The detail could prove important in edge cases.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 | titletext = 'Oh yeah? Give me 50 milliscore reasons why I should stop.'
 }}
-{{TOC}}
 ==Explanation==
 Abraham Lincoln's {{w|Gettysburg Address}} features the phrase "four {{wiktionary|score#Noun|score}} and seven"‍ to refer to 87: a "score" is a group of 20, which literally translates as "four-twenties [and] seven". This is because English used to count by twenties (and some modern languages, including French still do, at least partially). However, this practice has died off and most English speakers nowadays would not use "score" in such a manner. Inspired by this, [[Cueball]] (possibly representing [[Randall]]) decides to use unusual prefixes to state the population of a town.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 | titletext = 'Oh yeah? Give me 50 milliscore reasons why I should stop.'
 }}
+{{TOC}}
 ==Explanation==
 Abraham Lincoln's {{w|Gettysburg Address}} features the phrase "four {{wiktionary|score#Noun|score}} and seven"‍ to refer to 87: a "score" is a group of 20, which literally translates as "four-twenties [and] seven". This is because English used to count by twenties (and some modern languages, including French still do, at least partially). However, this practice has died off and most English speakers nowadays would not use "score" in such a manner. Inspired by this, [[Cueball]] (possibly representing [[Randall]]) decides to use unusual prefixes to state the population of a town.

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:15, 16 June 2025
Line 15:		Line 15:

	Taking "kilofive" to be a unit meaning 5,000, the population of East Hills, 6,000, can therefore be expressed as 1.2 kilofives. But phrasing a number this way requires the listener to make excess calculations to understand it, so [[White Hat]] would probably get confused or annoyed.		Taking "kilofive" to be a unit meaning 5,000, the population of East Hills, 6,000, can therefore be expressed as 1.2 kilofives. But phrasing a number this way requires the listener to make excess calculations to understand it, so [[White Hat]] would probably get confused or annoyed.
−
−	It is somewhat common for metric prefixes to go ''after'' numbers in abbreviations. Well-known examples are "{{w\|Y2K}}" for "year 2000", and "{{w\|4K resolution}}" for "4,000 [pixels]". The number 5,000 may be abbreviated as "{{w\|5K}}" in "{{w\|5K resolution}}". However, the 'postfix' (suffix) may be intended to modify the implied but unstated unit, where there is an obvious one, or stand for the unit itself in such cases as the word "kilometer" (often abbreviated to /ˈkeɪ/(s), in common use, in phrases such as "{{w\|5K run}}") or "{{wiktionary\|kilopixel\|kilo''pixel''}}" (in this case referencing the horizontal resolution, as in 5120 × 2880 pixels, rather than prior usages such as the 1080 ''horizontal lines'' in the standard known as {{w\|1080p}}, or the total ''area'' pixel count in 'megapixel'/'gigapixel' image sensors), thus making it directly stand for a prefixed unit itself, as an adjunct to the standard common shortening of "kilos" for, usually, "kilograms". Saying "1.2 5K" could be even more awkward, liable to be misunderstood as "1.25k" (1,250) instead of the value of 6000.

	In the title text, Cueball has apparently annoyed White Hat with his confusing expressions of numbers, but he doubles down, now directly including the word "score". He is riffing on the common expression, "give me one reason why..." but instead of simply asking for one reason, he asks for 50 milliscore reasons, or 50 × 1&frasl;1000 × 20, which is equal to 1.		In the title text, Cueball has apparently annoyed White Hat with his confusing expressions of numbers, but he doubles down, now directly including the word "score". He is riffing on the common expression, "give me one reason why..." but instead of simply asking for one reason, he asks for 50 milliscore reasons, or 50 × 1&frasl;1000 × 20, which is equal to 1.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 Abraham Lincoln's {{w|Gettysburg Address}} features the phrase "four {{wiktionary|score#Noun|score}} and seven"‍ to refer to 87: a "score" is a group of 20, which literally translates as "four-twenties [and] seven". This is because English used to count by twenties (and some modern languages, including French still do, at least partially). However, this practice has died off and most English speakers nowadays would not use "score" in such a manner. Inspired by this, [[Cueball]] (possibly representing [[Randall]]) decides to use unusual prefixes to state the population of a town.
-{{w|Metric prefix}}es can be added to a unit to scale up or down its magnitude. For example, "{{w|kilo-}}" means "multiply by 1000", so a {{w|kilometer}} is as long as 1,000 {{w|meter}}s. These prefixes are added to {{w|List of metric units|various metric units}} but, due to their usefulness, have been adopted and added to other, non-metric units, such as "kilocubic feet per second" (for the flow rate of a liquid, much to Randall's chagrin when researching for his book "XKCD What-If"), "megadeath" (how many millions killed in an estimated nuclear blast), or the "{{w|Helen (unit)|millihelen}}" (the amount of feminine beauty needed to launch a ship). Most potentially confusing might be "kilo-/mega-/giga-/terabyte",  which has [[394|competing definitions]]. However, they're not ordinarily added before number words to change their magnitude.
+{{w|Metric prefix}}es can be added to a unit to scale up or down its magnitude. For example, "{{w|kilo-}}" means "multiply by 1000", so a {{w|kilometer}} is as long as 1,000 {{w|meter}}s. These prefixes are added to {{w|List of metric units|various metric units}} but, due to their usefulness, have been adopted and added to other, non-metric units, such as "kilocubic feet per second" (for the flow rate of a liquid, much to Randall's chagrin when researching for his book ''[[What If? (book)|What If?]]''), "megadeath" (how many millions killed in an estimated nuclear blast), or the "{{w|Helen (unit)|millihelen}}" (the amount of feminine beauty needed to launch a ship). Most potentially confusing might be "kilo-/mega-/giga-/terabyte",  which has [[394: Kilobyte|competing definitions]]. However, they're not ordinarily added before number words to change their magnitude.
 Taking "kilofive" to be a unit meaning 5,000, the population of East Hills, 6,000, can therefore be expressed as 1.2 kilofives. But phrasing a number this way requires the listener to make excess calculations to understand it, so [[White Hat]] would probably get confused or annoyed.

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:42, 14 August 2024
Line 28:		Line 28:

	==Transcript==		==Transcript==
−	~~{{incomplete transcript\|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}~~

	:[Cueball, with his palm raised, is talking to White Hat. There is a sign on the ground in the background.]		:[Cueball, with his palm raised, is talking to White Hat. There is a sign on the ground in the background.]

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:18, 29 July 2024
Line 10:		Line 10:

	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|Created by 83.333... millidozen BOTS, Y2K reference added by ZC - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}~~
−
	Abraham Lincoln's {{w\|Gettysburg Address}} features the phrase "four {{wiktionary\|score#Noun\|score}} and seven"‍ to refer to 87: a "score" is a group of 20, which literally translates as "four-twenties [and] seven". This is because English used to count by twenties (and some modern languages, including French still do, at least partially). However, this practice has died off and most English speakers nowadays would not use "score" in such a manner. Inspired by this, [[Cueball]] (possibly representing [[Randall]]) decides to use unusual prefixes to state the population of a town.		Abraham Lincoln's {{w\|Gettysburg Address}} features the phrase "four {{wiktionary\|score#Noun\|score}} and seven"‍ to refer to 87: a "score" is a group of 20, which literally translates as "four-twenties [and] seven". This is because English used to count by twenties (and some modern languages, including French still do, at least partially). However, this practice has died off and most English speakers nowadays would not use "score" in such a manner. Inspired by this, [[Cueball]] (possibly representing [[Randall]]) decides to use unusual prefixes to state the population of a town.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 Taking "kilofive" to be a unit meaning 5,000, the population of East Hills, 6,000, can therefore be expressed as 1.2 kilofives. But phrasing a number this way requires the listener to make excess calculations to understand it, so [[White Hat]] would probably get confused or annoyed.
-It is somewhat common for metric prefixes to go ''after'' numbers in abbreviations. Well-known examples are "{{w|Y2K}}" for "year 2000", and "{{w|4K resolution}}" for "4,000 [pixels]". The number 5,000 may be abbreviated as "{{w|5K}}" in "{{w|5K resolution}}". However, the 'postfix' (suffix) may be intended to modify the implied but unstated unit, where there is an obvious one, or stand for the unit itself in such cases as the word "kilometer" (often abbreviated to /ˈkeɪ/(s), in common use, in phrases such as "{{w|5K run}}") or "{{wiktionary|kilopixel|kilo''pixel''}}" (in this case referencing the horizontal resolution, as in 5120 × 2880 pixels, rather than prior usages such as the 1080 ''horizontal lines'' in the standard known as {{w|1080p}}, or the total ''area'' pixel count in 'megapixel'/'gigapixel' image sensors), thus making it directly stand for a prefixed unit itself, as an adjunct to the the standard common shortening of "kilos" for, usually, "kilograms". Saying "1.2 5K" could be even more awkward, liable to be misunderstood as "1.25k" (1,250) instead of the value of 6000.
+It is somewhat common for metric prefixes to go ''after'' numbers in abbreviations. Well-known examples are "{{w|Y2K}}" for "year 2000", and "{{w|4K resolution}}" for "4,000 [pixels]". The number 5,000 may be abbreviated as "{{w|5K}}" in "{{w|5K resolution}}". However, the 'postfix' (suffix) may be intended to modify the implied but unstated unit, where there is an obvious one, or stand for the unit itself in such cases as the word "kilometer" (often abbreviated to /ˈkeɪ/(s), in common use, in phrases such as "{{w|5K run}}") or "{{wiktionary|kilopixel|kilo''pixel''}}" (in this case referencing the horizontal resolution, as in 5120 × 2880 pixels, rather than prior usages such as the 1080 ''horizontal lines'' in the standard known as {{w|1080p}}, or the total ''area'' pixel count in 'megapixel'/'gigapixel' image sensors), thus making it directly stand for a prefixed unit itself, as an adjunct to the standard common shortening of "kilos" for, usually, "kilograms". Saying "1.2 5K" could be even more awkward, liable to be misunderstood as "1.25k" (1,250) instead of the value of 6000.
 In the title text, Cueball has apparently annoyed White Hat with his confusing expressions of numbers, but he doubles down, now directly including the word "score". He is riffing on the common expression, "give me one reason why..." but instead of simply asking for one reason, he asks for 50 milliscore reasons, or 50 &times; 1&frasl;1000 &times; 20, which is equal to 1.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Abraham Lincoln's {{w|Gettysburg Address}} features the phrase "four {{wiktionary|score#Noun|score}} and seven"‍ to refer to 87: a "score" is a group of 20, which literally translates as "four-twenties [and] seven". This is because English used to count by twenties (and some modern languages, including French still do). However, this practice has died off and most English speakers nowadays would not use "score" in such a manner. Inspired by this, [[Cueball]] (possibly representing [[Randall]]) decides to use unusual prefixes to state the population of a town.
-{{w|Metric prefix}}es can be added to a unit to scale up or down its magnitude. For example, "{{w|kilo-}}" means "multiply by 1000", so a {{w|kilometer}} is as long as 1,000 {{w|meter}}s. These prefixes are added to {{w|List of metric units|various metric units}} but, due to their usefulness, have been adopted and added to other, non-metric units, such as "kilocubic feet per second" (for the flow rate of a liquid, much to Randall's chagrin when researching for his book "XKCD What-If"), "megadeath" (how many millions killed in an estimated nuclear blast), or the "{{w|Helen (unit)|millihelen}}" (the amount of fiminine beauty needed to launch a ship). Most potentially confusing might be "kilo-/mega-/giga-/terabyte",  which has [[394|competing definitions]]. However, they're not ordinarily added before number words to change their magnitude.
+{{w|Metric prefix}}es can be added to a unit to scale up or down its magnitude. For example, "{{w|kilo-}}" means "multiply by 1000", so a {{w|kilometer}} is as long as 1,000 {{w|meter}}s. These prefixes are added to {{w|List of metric units|various metric units}} but, due to their usefulness, have been adopted and added to other, non-metric units, such as "kilocubic feet per second" (for the flow rate of a liquid, much to Randall's chagrin when researching for his book "XKCD What-If"), "megadeath" (how many millions killed in an estimated nuclear blast), or the "{{w|Helen (unit)|millihelen}}" (the amount of feminine beauty needed to launch a ship). Most potentially confusing might be "kilo-/mega-/giga-/terabyte",  which has [[394|competing definitions]]. However, they're not ordinarily added before number words to change their magnitude.
 Taking "kilofive" to be a unit meaning 5,000, the population of East Hills, 6,000, can therefore be expressed as 1.2 kilofives. But phrasing a number this way requires the listener to make excess calculations to understand it, so [[White Hat]] would probably get confused or annoyed.