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| | | title = Cautionary Ghost | | | title = Cautionary Ghost |
| | | image = cautionary_ghost.png | | | image = cautionary_ghost.png |
| − | | titletext = But then the Ghost of Subjunctive Past showed up and told me to stay strong on 'if it were'. | + | | imagesize = |
| | + | | titletext = But then the Ghost of Subjective Past showed up and told me to stay strong on 'if it were'. |
| | }} | | }} |
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| | ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
| − | This comic is a parody of {{w|Charles Dickens}}'s ''{{w|A Christmas Carol}}'', where Scrooge is replaced with someone who insists on calling people out on their incorrect usage of the word "literally", and speaks to the irrelevance of correcting people's speech.
| + | The usage of a ghost from the past or future to deliver a message in fiction was begun in Charles Dicken's ''A Christmas Carol'', in which the main character is visited upon by the ghosts of past, present and future during his sleep. |
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| − | In "A Christmas Carol", the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future awaken the main character in the middle of the night to show him the negative causes and effects of his selfish and uncharitable behavior. In this comic the ghost wakes up a man who is intent on correcting people's usage of the word "literally." People often use "literally" as emphasis or exaggeration to a figurative statement, when the word's original meaning was that something had happened exactly as described. A statement such as "I literally ate 40 lbs of chocolate" might be said, when the person might have only actually eaten half a pound. A more correct statement would be "I ate a large amount of chocolate."
| + | This comic is a comment on the futility of arguing over trivial matters, such as the usage of the word "literally" as mentioned in the comic. It also links to comic [http://xkcd.com/725/ 725] and probably to a parody at [http://www.explosm.net/comics/2923/ Cyanide & Happiness]. In the comic, a man is presented an idyllic scene of the future, then is given an identical scene and told that the second scene is the future if he gives up arguing over a word. The comparison is meant to signal the almost inconsequential impact on the world that some debates have. |
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| − | The ghost shows the protagonist two futures, one where he keeps correcting people, and one where he stops. That the two "different" futures are exactly (i.e., literally) the same suggests that the man's struggle to get people to stop using "literally" incorrectly will have no meaningful effect on the world, and so the man (and by extension, everyone else) may as well stop wasting time and energy on it. | + | The title text is a reversal on this, where the man meets a contrary ghost who encourages him to continue with his argument and insist upon alternate hypothetical futures in which misuse of the word "literally" ''does'' have a negative impact on the world. |
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| − | Ironically, the title text indicates that a second apparition encouraged the man to continue the fight on a different grammatical issue, the use of the phrase "if it were," which is frequently incorrectly substituted with "if it was." "Were" is correctly used in a hypothetical condition, when referencing something that may not be true. The ghost of subjunctive past references the ghost of Christmas past and the {{w|English subjunctive#Use of the past subjunctive|'Subjunctive past tense'}}. The following sentences illustrate the correct usages:
| + | ==Transcript== |
| − | *If I were rich, I wouldn't have to work for a living.
| + | [Man sitting in bed is facing a ghost.] |
| − | *When I was rich, I didn't have to work for a living.
| + | |
| | + | Ghost: ''Ooooooooooooooooo'' |
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| | + | Man: A ghost!? |
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| − | Another xkcd comic, [[725: Literally]], also refers to the overly mocked usage of "literally."
| + | Ghost: I bring a '''cautionary vision''' of things to come! |
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| − | A similar ghost is seen in [[1393: Timeghost]], where it reminds Cueball about the passing of time, and [[2836: A Halloween Carol]] similarly parodies Dickens's ''A Christmas Carol''.
| + | [Cut to scene with two houses, a plane, a tree and a standing couple.] |
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| − | ===Popular Culture===
| + | Ghost: This is the future: |
| − | The comics ''[https://explosm.net/comics/matt-literally-a-comic Cyanide & Happiness]'' and ''[https://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally The Oatmeal]'' offer examples of this sort of derision.
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| − | ==Transcript==
| + | [Identical scene] |
| − | :[A man wakes up to an apparition hovering over his bed.]
| + | |
| − | :Apparition: ''ooOOOOOOOOOOooooo'' | + | Ghost: And '''this''' is the future if you give up the fight over the word "literally": |
| − | :Man: A ghost!?
| + | |
| − | :Apparition: ''I bring a '''cautionary vision''' of things to come!'' | + | [Cut back to man sitting in bed with ghost] |
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| | + | Man: They looked exactly the same. |
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| − | :Apparition: This is the future: | + | Ghost: ''Oooooooooooooooo'' |
| − | :[Two people are standing between a pair of houses. There is a tree. An airplane flies past.]
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| − | :Apparition: And '''''this''''' is the future if you give up the fight over the word "literally": | + | Man: Ok, I get it. |
| − | :[Two people are standing between a pair of houses. There is a tree. An airplane flies past. The cynical might suggest the panel is copy pasted.]
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| | | | |
| − | :[Back to the man in bed.]
| + | Ghost: Seriously, this is duuuuumb. |
| − | :Man: They looked exactly the same.
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| − | :Apparition: ''ooOOOOOOOOOOOooo''
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| − | :Man: Ok, I get it.
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| − | :Apparition: Seriously, this is duuuuumb.
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| − | {{comic discussion}} | + | {{comic discussion}} |
| − | [[Category:Language]]
| + | <!-- Include any categories below this line--> |
| − | [[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
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