Difference between revisions of "Talk:2660: Gen Z"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(Found prior reference to the 1905 "yaghurt" quotation)
 
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I'm pretty sure the five listeners represent the five generations between the {{w|Lost Generation}} (when {{w|Boater}} hats like the speaker is wearing were popular) and the Gen Z that he is talking about.  The middle character with the flower in her hair is definitely a {{w|hippie}}, for the {{w|Baby boomers}}.  I mentally associate the white {{w|Flat cap}} with post-WW2, which would be the {{w|Silent generation}}, although I'm not sure why I have that association.  Extending this, the {{w|Millennial}} is the one saying "Gosh", the one in the black hat would be a {{w|Gen X|Gen Xer}} (no idea why), and the last one with the hairbun would be from the {{w|Greatest generation}}.  I don't think I can describe those associations well enough to actually write it up, though.  Does this view make sense to anyone else?  -- [[User:Bobson|Bobson]] ([[User talk:Bobson|talk]]) 21:13, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
 
I'm pretty sure the five listeners represent the five generations between the {{w|Lost Generation}} (when {{w|Boater}} hats like the speaker is wearing were popular) and the Gen Z that he is talking about.  The middle character with the flower in her hair is definitely a {{w|hippie}}, for the {{w|Baby boomers}}.  I mentally associate the white {{w|Flat cap}} with post-WW2, which would be the {{w|Silent generation}}, although I'm not sure why I have that association.  Extending this, the {{w|Millennial}} is the one saying "Gosh", the one in the black hat would be a {{w|Gen X|Gen Xer}} (no idea why), and the last one with the hairbun would be from the {{w|Greatest generation}}.  I don't think I can describe those associations well enough to actually write it up, though.  Does this view make sense to anyone else?  -- [[User:Bobson|Bobson]] ([[User talk:Bobson|talk]]) 21:13, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
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:I think that's an interesting interpretation, but I would invoke Occam's razor to suggest that the fashions depicted could all be from the early 1900s, and that the gathered crowd is composed of "small town salespeople in 1905" as the caption describes.  I think if Randall wanted to make it clear they were from different generations, he would include more obvious cultural touchstones in their clothing or speech, and he wouldn't have them conversing with each other unless there were a reason to introduce time travel
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I agree with the Elk Falls Journal correspondent. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 21:15, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
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Is anyone else unable to load the page for comic 1962 when logged in?  I can load it when logged out, but when I'm logged in I get an error.  I pasted the error message to [[Talk:1962: Generations]]. --[[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 23:24, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
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I don't think French ever wrote "yaghurt". But it writes "yaourt". --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.130.127|172.71.130.127]] 07:12, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
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The hats are: straw boater/skimmer, definitely of the 1905 period; perhaps homburg or fedora, mostly kind of the period; Greek fisherman’s cap, I say anachronistic. My impression is that such caps were popular in the 60s, 70s with men of the Greatest Generation. (Such as my father!) Randall has used that kind of hat to indicate elderly men in other comics, so maybe a joke? {{unsigned|BuckyE|15:35, 19 August 2022}}
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: It's a cloth-type cap, but I think it far predates the '60s, etc. And while greek-sailors contemporary of '60s/'70s films do ring a bell, I had other classes and eras of person in mind.
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: Anyway, if you look in [https://vintagedancer.com/1900s/1900s-mens-hat-styles-edwardian-era/ here in the Golf Caps section], and even a few of the images slightly above there, there seem to be styles which could have directly inspired what turned up to adorn the stick-figure heads in characature line-drawn form. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.61|162.158.34.61]] 20:25, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
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I think all the characters are 1905 versions of the stock-characters in xkcd, I'd say from left to right they are White Hat, Megan, Black Hat, Science Girl, Cueball, and one more that I cannot figure out.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.208|172.69.69.208]] 18:50, 22 August 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
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: OH DUH, THE LAST ONE IS HAIRBUN [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.193|162.158.62.193]] 22:25, 28 August 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
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It is possible that the alt text is an actual quotation from a 1905 cookbook, based on a reference from a cooking blog [https://sharonkreider.com/2021/11/09/the-joy-of-cooking/], however, the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine shows no record of this page from its 2021 archives, so it may be an elaborate retcon, including a dated comment from 2021. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.215|172.70.114.215]] 18:28, 1 September 2022 (UTC)Bill

Latest revision as of 18:28, 1 September 2022

It makes sense that Randall isn't calling out any particular fads, trends, tendencies, or commonalities in Gen Z to comment on, but some immediately came to my mind as I read the comic. Is it worth putting a list of possibilities in the explanation, or just one or two examples? That knowledge probably isn't going to contribute to the understanding of the joke, which is that for *every* generation there have been such observations and complaints from older folks. Dextrous Fred (talk) 21:28, 17 August 2022 (UTC)

I don't think there's a need for that, but someone should add a definition of Generation Z. The Wikipedia page that it links to should describe the notable features of that generation. Barmar (talk) 22:41, 17 August 2022 (UTC)

I found the title text in the New Zealand Mail, Issue 1729, 19 April 1905, Page 15 (https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL19050419.2.44).

Not quite the same, though both articles were probably based on reading the same medical communication that one references. The Kansas one, however, appears to be the source of the quote in the comic. -boB (talk)

holy shit randall is based --108.162.221.17 01:35, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

Based on what? 162.158.159.125 03:33, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
Binary 172.70.162.5 14:46, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
Based is a term I have heard of, it means really like something but you say it in a jokey, possibly sarcastic way. 172.70.206.163 06:10, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=based Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 07:11, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the five listeners represent the five generations between the Lost Generation (when Boater hats like the speaker is wearing were popular) and the Gen Z that he is talking about. The middle character with the flower in her hair is definitely a hippie, for the Baby boomers. I mentally associate the white Flat cap with post-WW2, which would be the Silent generation, although I'm not sure why I have that association. Extending this, the Millennial is the one saying "Gosh", the one in the black hat would be a Gen Xer (no idea why), and the last one with the hairbun would be from the Greatest generation. I don't think I can describe those associations well enough to actually write it up, though. Does this view make sense to anyone else? -- Bobson (talk) 21:13, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

I think that's an interesting interpretation, but I would invoke Occam's razor to suggest that the fashions depicted could all be from the early 1900s, and that the gathered crowd is composed of "small town salespeople in 1905" as the caption describes. I think if Randall wanted to make it clear they were from different generations, he would include more obvious cultural touchstones in their clothing or speech, and he wouldn't have them conversing with each other unless there were a reason to introduce time travel

I agree with the Elk Falls Journal correspondent. -- Hkmaly (talk) 21:15, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

Is anyone else unable to load the page for comic 1962 when logged in? I can load it when logged out, but when I'm logged in I get an error. I pasted the error message to Talk:1962: Generations. --Orion205 (talk) 23:24, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

I don't think French ever wrote "yaghurt". But it writes "yaourt". --172.71.130.127 07:12, 19 August 2022 (UTC)

The hats are: straw boater/skimmer, definitely of the 1905 period; perhaps homburg or fedora, mostly kind of the period; Greek fisherman’s cap, I say anachronistic. My impression is that such caps were popular in the 60s, 70s with men of the Greatest Generation. (Such as my father!) Randall has used that kind of hat to indicate elderly men in other comics, so maybe a joke? -- BuckyE (talk) 15:35, 19 August 2022 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

It's a cloth-type cap, but I think it far predates the '60s, etc. And while greek-sailors contemporary of '60s/'70s films do ring a bell, I had other classes and eras of person in mind.
Anyway, if you look in here in the Golf Caps section, and even a few of the images slightly above there, there seem to be styles which could have directly inspired what turned up to adorn the stick-figure heads in characature line-drawn form. 162.158.34.61 20:25, 19 August 2022 (UTC)

I think all the characters are 1905 versions of the stock-characters in xkcd, I'd say from left to right they are White Hat, Megan, Black Hat, Science Girl, Cueball, and one more that I cannot figure out.172.69.69.208 18:50, 22 August 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

OH DUH, THE LAST ONE IS HAIRBUN 162.158.62.193 22:25, 28 August 2022 (UTC)Bumpf

It is possible that the alt text is an actual quotation from a 1905 cookbook, based on a reference from a cooking blog [1], however, the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine shows no record of this page from its 2021 archives, so it may be an elaborate retcon, including a dated comment from 2021. 172.70.114.215 18:28, 1 September 2022 (UTC)Bill