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− | {{comic | + | {{ComicHeader|1069|June 15, 2012}} |
− | | number = 1069 | |
− | | date = June 15, 2012 | |
− | | title = Alphabet
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− | | image = alphabet.png
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− | | titletext = Do I get to remove letters entirely? Or just rearrange them? Because the 'k/c' situation is ridiculous. Look, we can make out whenever. This is *immortality*!}}
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− | ==Explanation==
| + | [[File:Alphabet.png]] |
− | This comic is mainly a joke on the traditional {{w|pick-up line}} that goes: "Baby, if I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put 'U' and 'I' together", taking advantage of the letters being pronounced identically to the pronouns "you" and "I".
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− | However, in typical [[xkcd]] fashion, rather than continuing with that tired pickup line, addressed at [[Blondie]] at the bar, [[Cueball]] jumps at his hypothetical chance to rearrange the alphabet and fix the {{w|English orthography}}.
| + | == Image Text == |
| + | Do I get to remove letters entirely? Or just rearrange them? Because the 'k/c' situation is ridiculous. Look, we can make out whenever. This is *immortality*! |
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− | An {{w|orthography}} is a standardized system for using a particular {{w|writing}} system (script) to write a particular language, including rules of spelling. English orthography is rather infamous for being rather complicated, due to the tendency to adopt words from other languages - each with their own incompatible orthographies - wholesale and keeping both the spelling and the pronunciation, hence the English "system" might better be described as a Frankenstein mix of multiple different orthographies. Unsurprisingly, {{w|English-language spelling reform}} has been a common topic of discussion over the years.
| + | ==Explanation== |
− | | + | This comic is a joke on the traditional pick-up line that goes something like this: "Baby, if I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put 'U' and 'I' together." Terrible, I know. |
− | So faced with this opportunity, the hooking up could wait. Restructuring the alphabet and creating a sensibly regular English spelling is the chance of a lifetime, and would make history, making Cueball immortal in the sense of living on forever in memory, as the alphabet-fixer.
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− | In the title text Cueball muses on the limits of his newfound grant. Does he get to remove letters entirely or just rearrange them (like putting U and I together)? Then he mentions "the 'k/c' situation" specifically because that "situation is ridiculous". This is about the use of the letter <nowiki><c></nowiki> which doesn't have a unique sound on its own, most often representing a {{w|Voiceless velar stop|'k'-sound}} or an {{w|Voiceless alveolar sibilant|'s'-sound}}. Combined with an <nowiki><h></nowiki> it usually makes the {{w|Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate|'ch'-sound}} as in ''chair'', although sometimes it might simply make 'k', such as in ''character''. In more than a few cases they even make a {{w|Voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant|'sh'-sound}} like in ''champagne''. [http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Words_with_the_letters_ch_that_sound_like_sh see more examples here]). So a reasonable change Cueball might make is to replace <nowiki><c> with <k> or <s> and keep <c> only followed by <h></nowiki>, or perhaps even making <nowiki><c></nowiki> on its own pronounced as the 'ch' as in ''chair''.
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− | He finishes off by stating that they can make out any other time, because fixing the alphabet now would bring him immortality.
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− | Orthography was again the subject in [[1562: I in Team]]. A non-standard version of this pickup joke was previously referenced in [[279: Pickup Lines]] and later in [[2794: Alphabet Notes]].
| + | However, in typical [[XKCD]] fashion, rather than continue with that tired pickup line, [[Cueball]] jumps at his change to rearrange the alphabet and fix the English {{w|orthography}}. An orthography is a standardized system for using a particular writing system (script) to write a particular language. It includes rules of spelling, and may also concern other elements of the written language such as punctuation and capitalization. |
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− | ==Transcript==
| + | The joke is that hooking up with this girl can wait because rearranging the alphabet and changing the English language is the chance of a lifetime, and would make history. |
− | :[Cueball stands behind Blondie who has turned her head towards him while sitting at a bar stool at a bar desk. She holds on to a wine glass standing on the desk. Two regular glasses are standing on the desk in front of her.]
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− | :Cueball: Baby, if I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd forget about you in a ''heartbeat''.
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− | :Cueball: I'm not gonna waste my one chance to help the mess that is English orthography.
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− | {{comic discussion}}
| + | "The 'k/c' situation" refers to the use of the letter 'C', which doesn't have a unique sound; it sounds either like a 'K' or an 'S'. The only exception is when it is combined with 'H', as in 'chair'. A possible change Cueball might make is to replace 'C' with a letter that exclusively sounds like 'CH'. |
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| [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] |
− | [[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
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− | [[Category:Language]]
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