Editing 1405: Meteor

{{comic
| number    = 1405
| date      = August 8, 2014
| title     = Meteor
| image     = meteor.png
| titletext = No, only LAVA is called 'magma' while underground. Any other object underground is called 'lava'.
}}

==Explanation==
This is one of [[Randall]]'s [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] comics. The author makes semantically incorrect statements to frustrate pedantic people who know the correct word, and confuse people who don't know the precise word so they can go on using the wrong word; see also [[1429: Data]]. Since Randall is normally personified by [[Cueball]], it makes most sense to call the one with the hobby Cueball in the explanation below.

Cueball's friend (who also looks like Cueball) walks up to Cueball and tells him that he has found a piece of a "{{w|meteor}}". Cueball corrects him by telling him that what he found is called {{w|magma}}, and that the phrase "a piece of a meteor" would be correct if the object was in the air, once it hits the ground it is called magma. In doing so he attempts to confuse or annoy his friend. In truth, {{w|meteorite}} is the expression for a piece of a {{w|meteoroid}} that has landed; {{w|meteor}} is the term for the streak of light caused by the meteoroid while it falls through the atmosphere. Thus the first statement by him is a (partly) true correction, but the second one is wrong.

The word "{{w|pedant|pedantic}}" means being overly concerned with being precise. It is usually a pejorative term used to refer to someone who is overly fussy and corrects someone's word choice even when the more ambiguous or slightly incorrect term they used was fine for informal communication. One would tend to believe a pedant, as they would usually know what they are pedantic about. So when Cueball is making wrong statements that seem pedantic, he may make people believe him. A volcano that would be the bane of such a pedantic person was depicted in the last panel of [[1714: Volcano Types]], as a direct reference to this comic.

It is also worth mentioning that, technically, water is a form of lava. Ice is a mineral, since it has a definite crystalline structure and has a definite chemical structure (H<sub>2</sub>O). And molten mineral is lava. Therefore, our bodies are made up of up to 60% lava. See [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nv1qRjJMII Vsauce’s video] for more info. 

The title text expands on the joke, as if the conversation had continued with a confused friend responding that he thought magma was underground. Cueball attempts to confuse him further by talking about {{w|lava}} which indeed is the expression for magma that has reached the surface. But it's ridiculous to suggest that all other things are called lava when underground. In the sentence he also continues to imply that magma could also be found above ground. Mixing pedantic terms like this was later used in the title text of [[1967: Violin Plots]]. The two sentences thus follow the same pattern with one true but pedantic part to begin with, and then a false statement to confuse the victim.

===Meteor & Magma===
Here is a list of the terminology that is being muddled:
*The descent of a small solid body from space:
**A {{w|meteoroid}} is a small solid body traveling through space outside the atmosphere.
**A {{w|meteor}} is a streak of light produced by a meteoroid as it burns up in the atmosphere.
**A {{w|meteorite}} is a piece of a meteoroid remaining after it strikes the ground.
*Molten rock:
**{{w|Magma}} flows underground.
**{{w|Lava}} has been extruded to a planet's surface, as through volcanic eruption.

A nice English mnemonic helps: In the void, meteoroid. On the site, meteorite. Neither/Nor: meteor.

==Transcript==
:[Cueballs friend walks toward Cueball while holding a rock.]
:Cueball: Check it out - I got a piece of a meteor!
:Randall: ''Actually'', it's only called that while falling. Once it lands, it's called ''magma''.

:[Below the panel:]
:My Hobby: Mixing pedantic terms

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Pedantic]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]] <!--Lava/Magma -->
[[Category:Astronomy]]