Editing 37: Hyphen
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| date = October 28, 2005 | | date = October 28, 2005 | ||
| title = Hyphen | | title = Hyphen | ||
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| image = hyphen.jpg | | image = hyphen.jpg | ||
− | | titletext = I do this constantly | + | | titletext = I do this constantly |
}} | }} | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | This | + | This is the first "[[My Hobby]]" comic in ''[[xkcd]]''. In these comics, [[Randall]] suggests an obscure activity or pastime he enjoys which he declares as his "hobby". In the premiere "My Hobby" comic, Randall's hobby is mentally re-interpretting what people mean when they say "[adjective]-ass [noun]" by moving the hyphen to after the word "ass" instead of before. |
− | + | The semi-{{Wiktionary|scatological}} suffix "-ass" is used as an intensifier in informal US English speech, usually attached to an adjective directly modifying a noun, as in "big-ass car" or "funny-ass comedian". In this comic, [[Cueball]] is exploring the increased humor aspect of changing "-ass" from a suffix modifying the adjective, to "ass-", a prefix modifying the noun, yielding a "big ass-car" or a "funny ass-comedian", the former presumably being a large car for carrying donkeys, the latter being a humorous comedian specializing in jokes about burros. The prefix "ass-" may also have a negative connotation, indicating that something is disliked. An "ass-car" may be a very crappy car, for example. | |
− | + | Another explanation would be that, since this suffix/prefix refers to an element of human anatomy, the car would be in the shape of said anatomical piece. | |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:My hobby: whenever anyone calls something an [adjective]-ass [noun], I mentally move the hyphen one word to the right. | :My hobby: whenever anyone calls something an [adjective]-ass [noun], I mentally move the hyphen one word to the right. | ||
− | + | :[Cueball is talking to a friend about a car that resembles a Volkswagen Beetle.] | |
:Cueball: Man, that's a sweet ass-car. | :Cueball: Man, that's a sweet ass-car. | ||
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
− | * | + | *Original comment from [[Randall]]: "Tune in Monday for the conclusion to the story of the boy and his barrel." The comic posted on Monday was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]], which really wasn't the conclusion of the story of the boy and his barrel. |
− | * This | + | *This is the twenty-fifth comic originally posted to livejournal. The previous was [[23: T-shirts]]. The next was [[25: Barrel - Part 4]]. |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
− | + | [[Category:Comics posted on livejournal]] | |
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
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[[Category:My Hobby]] | [[Category:My Hobby]] | ||
[[Category:Language]] | [[Category:Language]] | ||
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