Editing 1602: Linguistics Club
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | A " | + | A "[[wiktionary:sesquiannual|sesquiannual]]" meeting is one that occurs one and a half times every year, or once every 8 months. It comes from the Latin root "[[wiktionary:sesqui|sesqui-]]", which means "half and...", and "[[wiktionary:annual|-annual]]", which is "...one per year". A linguist or Latin scholar, the joke suggests, should be able to figure that out as "half-plus-one every year". This is an extension of the common confusion between "biannual," meaning "twice a year", and "biennial", meaning "once every two years". Compare with the {{w|Sesquicentennial Exposition}} celebrating the first 1½ centuries of the United States. |
− | + | On the other hand [and the crux of the comic in general], 'sesqui' can be interpreted as a prefix meaning '1.5'. For example, the US sesquicentennial was celebrated on July 4, 1926 (after 150 years), so the confusion comes from people who think the meetings would be every 8 months (as above) or every 18 months (here). The confusion is related to the distinction between 'biweekly' (once every two weeks) and 'semiweekly' (twice a week). 'Biannual' and 'biennial' only furthers this confusion (as in this case, 'biannual' and 'semiannual' are synonymous when the prefixes usually are not). | |
− | + | Regarding the title text, a {{w|tautology (rhetoric)|tautology}} is a statement that is true because of its logical form, such as "all birds are birds" or "A = A." As such, the statement "the Tautology Club meets on the date of the Tautology Club's meeting" is itself tautological. | |
− | + | While the membership requirement for the original club is merely to know the intended frequency (presumably then a successful applicant to be told at least one meeting date in the cycle so that an attendance can be made; or perhaps the member is supposed to guess that by reasoning that every third meeting must extend across the beginning of a new year), Tautology Club's stipulation appears to require an eligible member to derive a valid meeting date from thin air without any clue at all (and no indication that there is even a regular cycle of any kind). This would definitely be more of a challenge. | |
− | + | The title text has a connection to [[703: Honor Societies]] in which Cueball announces that "the first rule of Tautology Club is the first rule of Tautology Club." | |
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− | The title text has a connection to [[703: Honor Societies]] in which Cueball | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | + | Megan: You should come to our Linguistic Club's sesquiannual meeting. Membership is open to anyone who can figure out how often we meet. | |
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
[[Category:Language]] | [[Category:Language]] |