Editing 1475: Technically
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|First Draft}} | |
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+ | When the word "technically" is used to start a sentence, the remainder of the sentence tends to follow one of a number of patterns: | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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| An explanation which is far more complex than the listener needs/wants. | | An explanation which is far more complex than the listener needs/wants. | ||
− | | "Technically | + | | "Technically an inch is 25.4 mm, but historically..." |
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| A justification of a particular (usually unpopular) viewpoint through an unusual technical definition. | | A justification of a particular (usually unpopular) viewpoint through an unusual technical definition. | ||
| "Technically a tomato is a fruit, so there is no reason it shouldn't be used in a fruit salad." | | "Technically a tomato is a fruit, so there is no reason it shouldn't be used in a fruit salad." | ||
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− | | A pedantic overapplication of rules or laws, often to avoid the | + | | A pedantic overapplication of rules or laws, often to avoid the spirit of the law through a technical loophole. |
| [http://factually.gizmodo.com/technically-american-flag-napkins-are-illegal-1599774198 "Technically, American flag napkins are illegal."] | | [http://factually.gizmodo.com/technically-american-flag-napkins-are-illegal-1599774198 "Technically, American flag napkins are illegal."] | ||
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− | | The speaker repeating a 'little known fact', believing that | + | | The speaker repeating a 'little known fact', believing that he/she sounds incredibly knowledgeable. |
− | | "Technically we only use 10% of our brains, so imagine what we could do if we used 100%! | + | In many cases these 'facts' are actually false, as in the example to the right (see {{w|Ten_percent_of_brain_myth|the 10% of the brain myth}}). |
+ | | "Technically we only use 10% of our brains, so imagine what we could do if we used 100%"! | ||
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| An attempt to disguise an outright lie as a simple misunderstanding in point of view. | | An attempt to disguise an outright lie as a simple misunderstanding in point of view. | ||
− | | "Technically, we're not | + | | "Technically, we're not cows. We're aardvarks." |
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− | [[Cueball]] | + | [[Cueball]] has decided that any sentence beginning with the word "technically" is highly likely to be completely worthless for him to listen to, so he allows himself to be distracted by anything which happens to be around. |
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− | The | + | The particular sentence uttered by White Hat is of the fourth type, due to his incorrect interpretation of the word "drug" and lack of understanding of the role of food in human physiology. Indeed, the word drug is defined as "a substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose", followed by a secondary definition of "a psychoactive substance, especially one which is illegal and addictive". Food, on the other hand, is defined as "any substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life". In other words, food is consumed in order to sustain the normal, innate state of the body, while the drug is consumed in order to alter certain states. |
− | + | The title text starts to pedantically over apply Cueball's rule to the comic panel, noting that technically [[White Hat]]'s sentence started with the word 'well' instead of the word 'technically', and thus Cueball is wrong to have ignored it. This makes the title text a sentence of the third type. Halfway through the sentence, this argument is cut off by the discovery of a rock with a fossil in it, correctly applying the rule to a sentence that began with the word "technically". | |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[White Hat talks to Cueball who looks at a flying insect | + | :[White Hat talks to Cueball who looks at a flying insect] |
− | :White Hat: Well, technically, food is a "drug", since it's a substance that alters how your body works, so yes, I' | + | :White Hat: Well, technically, food is a "drug", since it's a substance that alters how your body works, so yes, I'm — |
:Cueball: Hey, look at that weird bug! | :Cueball: Hey, look at that weird bug! | ||
− | :[Caption below the | + | :[Caption below the frame:] |
:My life improved when I realized I could just ignore any sentence that started with "technically." | :My life improved when I realized I could just ignore any sentence that started with "technically." | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]] | [[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]] | ||
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