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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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{{incomplete|Created by a FALLING BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
  
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{{w|Autumn}}, also known as "fall" in the United States (short for 'fall of the leaf'), is the season between the end of summer and the beginning of winter. These terms are used interchangeably, but Randall in this comic treats them as separate seasons. His timeline uses "autumn" as the season between the end of summer and the "{{w|September equinox|fall equinox}}", and the season of "fall" as the period after that until winter. While many different parts of the world use different ways of reckoning the {{w|seasons}} (eg, a two-season system in the tropics or a six-season system in South Asia), nowhere uses the type of five-season system shown in the comic, nor the extrapolated eight-season system it may even imply.
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{{w|Autumn}}, also known as "fall" in the United States, is the season between summer and winter. These terms are used interchangeably, but Randall in this comic treats them as separate seasons. His timeline uses "autumn" as the season between the end of summer and the "{{w|September equinox|fall equinox}}", and the season of "fall" as the period after that until winter. Of course, while many different parts of the world use different ways of reckoning the {{w|seasons}} (eg, a two-season system in the tropics or a six-season system in South Asia), nowhere uses the type of five-season system shown in the comic.{{Citation needed}}
  
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The comic depicts two of the commonly used boundaries, for any given hemisphere, for the recognized end of summer. While other cultures have adopted yet other dates, according to their own calendars or local experience, [[Randall]] may have encountered several other 'standard' methods of dividing the year.
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The comic depicts two of the three possible boundaries, for any given hemisphere, for the recognised end of summer.
 
* Some treatments of the seasons (not shown) treat the summer solstice very much as "midsummer", and all other seasons also more or less equally straddling their own equinoxes/remaining solstice, putting the seasonal boundaries half way between each of these astronomically significant points.
 
* Some treatments of the seasons (not shown) treat the summer solstice very much as "midsummer", and all other seasons also more or less equally straddling their own equinoxes/remaining solstice, putting the seasonal boundaries half way between each of these astronomically significant points.
 
* For others, the equinoctial/solstitial dates are used for the changeover time, so that autumn/fall starts upon the equinox (shown) and ends at the astronomically shortest day which is then the start of winter. This system tends to be traditional where the annual warming and cooling of the climate significantly 'lags' the solar calendar.
 
* For others, the equinoctial/solstitial dates are used for the changeover time, so that autumn/fall starts upon the equinox (shown) and ends at the astronomically shortest day which is then the start of winter. This system tends to be traditional where the annual warming and cooling of the climate significantly 'lags' the solar calendar.
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* Meteorological seasons are handily aligned to months, for administrative reasons. Spring (short for 'spring of the leaf') is March through May, summer across June to August, the September start (to the close of November) is as illustrated, leaving winter to be covered by December and on until the end of the following February. Or shifted round by two of the triples for the southern hemisphere.
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* Meteorological seasons are handily aligned to months, for administrative reasons. Spring is March through May, summer across June to August, the September start (to the close of November) is as illustrated, leaving winter to be covered by December and on until the end of the following February. Or shifted round by two of the triples for the southern hemisphere.
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* For practical purposes, many in the U.S. treat {{w|Labor Day}} as the unofficial end of summer: this is the day many local pools close for the winter, people start watching football rather than baseball, have their last picnic of the year, etc.
 
  
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The joke here is that, because Americans do not use the term "autumn" very often in normal communication, someone might be led to believe that it had a special unusual scientific meaning.
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The title text makes fun of the transatlantic difference in terms, as it claims one must ''reverse'' these two distinct season names. The term "autumn" is, in reality, the word overwhelmingly used in the UK for the season commonly (but not exclusively) refered to as "the fall" in the US. The latter is rarely used 'natively' in the UK, although it will usually be understood. Its use within Britain is rare beyond forming the handy mnemonic of "spring forward, fall back", which helpfully refers to how/when British Summer Time (UTC+1) temporarily replaces Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±0).
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The title text makes fun of the transatlantic difference in terms, as it claims one must ''reverse'' these two distinct season names. The term "autumn" is, in reality, the word overwhelmingly used in the UK for the season commonly (but not exclusively) referred to as "the fall" in the US, regardless of which of the calendar offsets is to be assumed, and the equinox is, accordingly, called the autumn equinox. "Fall" is rarely used 'natively' in the UK (although it will usually be understood), with the main exception being that it handily allows for the mnemonic of "spring forward, fall back", which uses wordplay to refer to how and roughly when British Summer Time (UTC+1) takes over from the default Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±0).
 
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
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:[A monthly time track, showing the stretch of August, September, and October. The date of September 6th is marked now, with September 23rd marked as the Fall Equinox. September 1st is marked as the Meteorological End of Summer. Underneath the track there are labels for the seasons - Summer ends at September 1st, which is then labelled as Autumn until the Equinox wherein a separate season labelled as Fall is from the Equinox onwards.]
 
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:[Caption below the panel:]
 
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:Now that summer is over, the first day of fall is just a few weeks away!
 
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
  
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[[Category:Calendar]]
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[[Category:Time]]
 
[[Category:Timelines]]
 
[[Category:Timelines]]

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