Talk:2923: Scary Triangles

Sharks are but two-dimensional icebergs. [ What is Titanic in this metaphor? ] JohnHawkinson (talk) 00:17, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

The Orca. Barmar (talk) 00:33, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

A castaway sitting on a floating log. :) NiceGuy1 (talk) 05:06, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

This feels like a riff on cosmology, not sure if it's meant to be it specifically, just sounds a lot like "recent research has discovered 90% of the mass in the universe is dark matter" kind of thing. 172.69.22.56 03:57, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

No for sure it is a riff on icebergs. It is also not very recent that we found out that most mass in galaxies seems to be invisible (dark matter) --Kynde (talk) 11:41, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Surely we've known about icebergs for longer. But the fact that they are referenced in the title text reads to me that that's a secondary layer of the joke. 172.69.140.142 06:02, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

Just like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea predicted the modern submarine, so too did Jaws predict the modern shark. --NeatNit (talk) 04:43, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

No, the joke is, in my opinion, NOT that Cueball didn't understand that sharks don't always show this behaviour and that 90% of it are below the surface is no "conclusion" but the "recent discovery" he (and his team, most likely) just made. The joke is the analogy to icebergs and that only "recent research" has shown that sharks are much more than the "scary triangles of the sea". Pretty much like the discovery that icebergs are much more than what can be seen from the surface was a "huge" surprise in the 18th century. Unfortunately I currently don't have the time to rewrite the explanation in that regards. Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 06:52, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

I think I, and others, did rewrite it, hope it is an improvement? --Kynde (talk) 11:41, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Yes, thanks :) Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 13:21, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

"90% of the universe is composed of faecal matter" - this is another fundamental law, coincidentally found out by a person named like another large fish, so there is clearly a pattern emerging and Cueball might be on to something. Will we get to a Grand Unified Theory of Everything and Its Dog through sharks, icebergs, dark matter and literary genres? PaulEberhardt (talk) 22:04, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Don't you mean '...everything and its dogfish'?141.101.99.169 08:30, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

actualy just statistical error. only 2% of the universe is poop. Feces Georg --172.69.79.183 08:44, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

Depends whether you're measuring volume or mass. Basically you're talking at cross poopuses.141.101.99.20 12:07, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

BLÅHAJ

Yes! If you learn enough about the culture of Blåhaj, you will recognize that 90% of it is hidden below the visual appearance. (Okay, I got the iceberg attribution a few seconds before I got the link to Blåhaj, but now I am convinced. :D ) --162.158.111.211 15:25, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Factoid

Mar 10, 2024 — noun. fac·​toid ˈfak-ˌtȯid. Synonyms of factoid. A spurious "fact," assumed to be true simply because it appears in print. Coined by Norman Mailer in his 1973 biography of Marilyn Monroe. -- Greeseyparrot (talk) 21:06, 26 April 2024 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Yeah, the suffix "-oid" means having the form of something but not being one. "Android" or "humanoid" has the form of a human but isn't one. "Spheroid" is like a sphere but not one. "Crystalloid" has crystal-like properties but isn't a crystal. Etc. :) (I keep having to remind myself to stop using "factoid" and realizing we need a replacement to ACTUALLY mean "tiny fact". :) ) NiceGuy1 (talk) 05:18, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

You needn't dismiss all <X>oids as not examples of an <X>. It's a superset. A cuboid (a hexahedron with the equivalent form as a cube) can indeed be a fully regular rectangular cuboid (i.e. an actual cube).

When you're not sure about the figure emerging from the mist in front of you not being a trivial arrival rather than a supernatural/extraterrestrial visitation, you can describe it as humanoid and not actually be wrong when it turns out to be a human.

A factoid, therefore could be 'true', but it certainly gives room for various unstated nuances in the 'soundbite statement'. 141.101.99.97 13:20, 28 April 2024 (UTC)