Difference between revisions of "Talk:2191: Conference Question"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search
m (wiki link)
Line 10: Line 10:
  
 
One thing I feel needs to be said is that this behavior belies a lack of linguistic skill, because any statement can always be phrased in the form of a question, e.g, most easily, "Do you agree that _______?" Or by asking about the details of the comment about which the commenter is most interested in emphasizing or soliciting a response. That this kind of thing happens among advanced academics belies how narcissistic and tone-deaf even otherwise intelligent people can often be. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.34|162.158.255.34]] 12:20, 19 August 2019 (UTC)
 
One thing I feel needs to be said is that this behavior belies a lack of linguistic skill, because any statement can always be phrased in the form of a question, e.g, most easily, "Do you agree that _______?" Or by asking about the details of the comment about which the commenter is most interested in emphasizing or soliciting a response. That this kind of thing happens among advanced academics belies how narcissistic and tone-deaf even otherwise intelligent people can often be. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.34|162.158.255.34]] 12:20, 19 August 2019 (UTC)
 +
:Similar to how the comic ends in a question? I think your statement is part of the joke. Less of a statement, and more of an utterance. [[User:OhFFS|OhFFS]] ([[User talk:OhFFS|talk]]) 14:28, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

Revision as of 14:28, 19 August 2019


I don't know to what "Word of Power" in the title text refers. A quick Google revealed something from Skyrim and something from D&D, but I have the feeling there must surely be a more original source for it, even if it is just a common term in folklore or something. Pureawes0me (talk) 07:45, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

I think it means "magic word". The next step, "Unforgivable Curse", is from Harry Potter; a magic spell against someone that will get you jail time. (C. S. Lewis had an apocalyptic option, the "Deplorable Word", which killed every living person except the speaker) So Harry Potter's schoolteacher demonstrates the Unforgivables on spiders... and on students. (You find out why.) Also I think the title text is the platform speaker's response to Beret Guy. [email protected] 162.158.158.183 09:12, 19 August 2019 (UTC) WhiteDragon (talk) 13:51, 19 August 2019 (UTC)
Yeah, I understand the "Unforgivable Curse" part - it's more "Word of Power" I'm struggling with. I agree that the title text could potentially be a response by the speaker, and I've updated the page to reflect this. Pureawes0me (talk) 10:20, 19 August 2019 (UTC)
It's from tabletop roleplaying games; some of the earliest high level spells from the original edition of Dungeons and Dragons were "Power Word Kill," "Power Word Blind," and "Power Word Stun." These spells have been carried forward into newer editions where they are extremely unpopular because they were designed for campaigns when most monsters had a tiny fraction of the number of hit points typical today, and unlike essentially all of the fifth edition spells, they don't do anything when they don't work, and they don't work based on facts which are theoretically unknowable to the players. So, they kind of have a reputation of the worst high level spells, and are sometimes included in magic items which turn out to be, well, like fruitcake, if you know what I mean. 172.69.22.134 11:36, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

One thing I feel needs to be said is that this behavior belies a lack of linguistic skill, because any statement can always be phrased in the form of a question, e.g, most easily, "Do you agree that _______?" Or by asking about the details of the comment about which the commenter is most interested in emphasizing or soliciting a response. That this kind of thing happens among advanced academics belies how narcissistic and tone-deaf even otherwise intelligent people can often be. 162.158.255.34 12:20, 19 August 2019 (UTC)

Similar to how the comic ends in a question? I think your statement is part of the joke. Less of a statement, and more of an utterance. OhFFS (talk) 14:28, 19 August 2019 (UTC)