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| | ==Explanation== | | ==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.
| + | {{incomplete|Due to its earliness, it probably has a lot of errors.}} |
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| − | 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 gratuitously exacting in ones speech. It is usually a pejorative term used to refer to someone who is overly fussy. For example, if one were to say "The sky is blue" and someone were to correct you telling you it is actually every color but blue because of {{w|Diffuse sky radiation|light scattering}} and its apparent blueness is a mere illusion, while true, that would be pedantic. However, in science, pedantry is important so things may be classified and we have a unified definition of when things are very similar. |
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| | + | In cosmology, there are different classifications of bodies: {{w|asteroid}}s, {{w|comet}}s, {{w|meteor}}s, {{w|meteorite}}s, {{w|meteoroid}}s, and so forth. Each of these has a very specific definition to distinguish between them. However, the distinction is also a common source of pedantry. A meteor is a body that enters Earth's orbit. Many which enter the earths atmosphere do not survive entry. It is only a meteorite if it is found intact on the ground. |
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| − | The word "{{w|pedant}}ic" 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.
| + | Cueball attempts to correct (another Cueball?) by telling him it is not a meteor he found. We expect him to say it is a meteorite, but the joke comes when he calls it {{w|magma}}, which is completely different. {{w|Lava}} is liquid rock which has been ejected from a volcano. Magma on the other hand is still under earth's crust and has yet to be ejected. This distinction is yet another common source of pedantry. Cueball not only misappropriates the cosmological terms, but assigns the wrong pedantic term to the geological correction he attempts to give. |
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| − | 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 is a very muddled pedantic statement. Lava is magma while underground, but it's ridiculous to suggest that other things could be lava when underground. That would be like saying chickens are technically chicks when they're young, but all other young animals are technically known as chickens. |
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| − | 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.
| + | Another aspect of the joke is that the first Cueball is actually correct - what he has (meteorite) ''is'' a part of a meteor. |
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| − | ===Meteor & Magma=== | + | ==Transcript== |
| − | Here is a list of the terminology that is being muddled:
| + | {{incomplete transcript}} |
| − | *The descent of a small solid body from space:
| + | First Cueball: Check it out -- I got a piece of a meteor! |
| − | **A {{w|meteoroid}} is a small solid body traveling through space outside the atmosphere.
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| − | **A {{w|meteor}} is a streak of light produced by a meteoroid as it burns up in the atmosphere.
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| − | **A {{w|meteorite}} is a piece of a meteoroid remaining after it strikes the ground.
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| − | *Molten rock:
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| − | **{{w|Magma}} flows underground.
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| − | **{{w|Lava}} has been extruded to a planet's surface, as through volcanic eruption.
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| − | A nice English mnemonic helps: In the void, meteoroid. On the site, meteorite. Neither/Nor: meteor.
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| − | ==Transcript==
| + | Second Cueball: ''Actually'', it's only called that while falling. Once it lands, it's called ''Magma'' |
| − | :[Cueballs friend walks toward Cueball while holding a rock.]
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| − | :Cueball: Check it out - I got a piece of a meteor!
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| − | :Randall: ''Actually'', it's only called that while falling. Once it lands, it's called ''magma''.
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| − | :[Below the panel:]
| + | My hobby: Mixing Pedantic Terms |
| − | :My Hobby: Mixing pedantic terms
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| | {{comic discussion}} | | {{comic discussion}} |
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| − | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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| − | [[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
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| | [[Category:My Hobby]] | | [[Category:My Hobby]] |
| − | [[Category:Pedantic]]
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| − | [[Category:Volcanoes]] <!--Lava/Magma -->
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| − | [[Category:Astronomy]]
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