Editing 1137: RTL
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{{comic | {{comic | ||
| number = 1137 | | number = 1137 | ||
| date = November 21, 2012 | | date = November 21, 2012 | ||
| − | | title = | + | | title = LTR |
| image = rtl.png | | image = rtl.png | ||
| + | | imagesize = | ||
| titletext = Collaborative editing can quickly become a textual rap battle fought with increasingly convoluted invocations of U+202a to U+202e | | titletext = Collaborative editing can quickly become a textual rap battle fought with increasingly convoluted invocations of U+202a to U+202e | ||
}} | }} | ||
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| + | U+202e is a {{w|unicode control characters|unicode control character}} that changes all proceeding text to right-to-left (RTL, as the title references). In the comic, [[Black Hat]] tires of [[Cueball]]'s complaining and inserts a U+202e character in the middle of Cueball's speech, turning his complaints into gibberish - sentences that must be read from right-to-left. U+202c returns text back to its normal direction. | ||
| − | + | When multiple writers work on the same text, arguments can often arise with some writers resorting to vandalizing the works of other writers. The title text takes this up a level, suggesting the use of U+202e and other direction control characters in editor wars to disrupt other people's work. | |
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| − | When multiple writers work on the same text, arguments can often arise with some writers resorting to vandalizing the works of other writers. The title text takes this up a level, suggesting the use of U+202e and other direction control characters in editor wars to disrupt other people's work | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
| − | :[Cueball is standing | + | :[Cueball and Black Hat. Cueball is standing. Black Hat is sitting down and using a laptop.] |
| − | :Cueball: And that's not even the worst part! The ''worst'' part is that— | + | :Cueball: And that's not even the worst part! The ''worst'' part is that— |
| − | :Black Hat | + | :Black Hat: U+202e |
| − | :Cueball: | + | :Cueball: ...neve t'ndid yehT— (Flipped translation = "— They didn't even...") |
| − | :Cueball: | + | :Cueball: ?lleh eht tahW... (Flipped translation = "...What the hell?") |
| − | :Cueball: | + | :Cueball: ...uoy did woH (Flipped translation = "How did you...") |
| − | :Cueball: | + | :Cueball: .elohssA... (Flipped translation = "...Asshole.") |
| − | == | + | == Unicode Control Characters == |
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Unicode number !! Name !! Meaning | ! Unicode number !! Name !! Meaning | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | U+202a || LEFT-TO-RIGHT EMBEDDING || The following text will be left-to-right. This will not change directionality of characters, so for example Arabic letters will stay right-to-left. This character alone does nothing in an English text, since the text direction is left-to-right by default. | + | | U+202a || LEFT-TO-RIGHT EMBEDDING || The following text will be left-to-right. This will not change directionality of characters, so for example Arabic letters will stay right-to-left. This character alone does nothing in an English text, since the text direction is left-to-right by default. |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | U+202b || RIGHT-TO-LEFT EMBEDDING || The following text will be right-to-left. This will not change directionality of characters, so Latin letters will stay left-to-right. Full stops, which don't have a directionality on their own, will be left of the sentence. Use this character for some little misplacings that cause big confusion. | + | | U+202b || RIGHT-TO-LEFT EMBEDDING || The following text will be right-to-left. This will not change directionality of characters, so Latin letters will stay left-to-right. Full stops, which don't have a directionality on their own, will be left of the sentence. Use this character for some little misplacings that cause big confusion. |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | U+202c || POP DIRECTIONAL FORMATTING || The following text is | + | | U+202c || POP DIRECTIONAL FORMATTING || The following text is formated like the text before the last U+202a, U+202b, U+202d or U+202e character. |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | U+202d || LEFT-TO-RIGHT OVERRIDE || The following text will be left-to-right. Additionally, the directionality of characters is changed to left-to-right. Used alone in an English text, this will only affect characters that are right-to-left by default, like Arabic letters. | + | | U+202d || LEFT-TO-RIGHT OVERRIDE || The following text will be left-to-right. Additionally, the directionality of characters is changed to left-to-right. Used alone in an English text, this will only affect characters that are right-to-left by default, like for example Arabic letters. |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | U+202e || RIGHT-TO-LEFT OVERRIDE || The following text will be right-to-left. Additionally, the directionality of characters is changed to right-to-left. Use this character to completely screw up an English text. | + | | U+202e || RIGHT-TO-LEFT OVERRIDE || The following text will be right-to-left. Additionally, the directionality of characters is changed to right-to-left. Use this character to completely screw up an English text. |
|} | |} | ||
| − | {{comic discussion}} | + | ==Trivia== |
| + | * The title of the comic on the xkcd website actually has a U+202e character preceding it; when copied and pasted, the title of the comic actually reads "LTR". The page title is "xkcd: [U+202e]LTR", which causes Firefox to use "xkcd: xoferiF allizoM - RTL" as the window title. This also occurs in Chromium and Opera. | ||
| + | * In the version originally published there was a typo in the reverse text ("ETH" instead of "EHT" for "THE"). This mistake was corrected within a couple of hours. | ||
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| + | {{comic discussion}} | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] | ||
[[Category:Computers]] | [[Category:Computers]] | ||
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