Difference between revisions of "Talk:1890: What to Bring"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(Comic got corrected by Randall.)
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Presumerably water in a gun fight _might_ work if the guns involved are particularly old fashioned (eg see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintlock  Flintlock]) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.55|162.158.154.55]] 06:35, 15 September 2017 (UTC)
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Presumerably water in a gun fight _might_ work if the guns involved are particularly old fashioned (eg see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintlock  Flintlock]) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.55|162.158.154.55]] 06:35, 15 September 2017 (UTC) A flintlock style uses a metal 'frizzen' which hinges over the 'pan' into which the priming power is placed.  This not only protects the powder from the weather (and a splash), but also keep the powder in the pan as the firearm is moved about.  When the mechanism is fired, the flint comes striking down on the surface of the frizzen which both opens the cover and directs sparks into the pan.  The type of firearm that might be made inactive with a splash of water is an older design called the matchlock which held a lit cord or match in a mechanism over the open pan.  The gun is fired by allowing the match to fall into the pan and detonating the powder. 
  
 
I see that bringing a lid to a knife or gun fight might serve as some sort of a shield?  [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 06:52, 15 September 2017 (UTC)
 
I see that bringing a lid to a knife or gun fight might serve as some sort of a shield?  [[Special:Contributions/141.101.107.66|141.101.107.66]] 06:52, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Revision as of 16:13, 18 September 2017


Presumerably water in a gun fight _might_ work if the guns involved are particularly old fashioned (eg see Flintlock) 162.158.154.55 06:35, 15 September 2017 (UTC) A flintlock style uses a metal 'frizzen' which hinges over the 'pan' into which the priming power is placed. This not only protects the powder from the weather (and a splash), but also keep the powder in the pan as the firearm is moved about. When the mechanism is fired, the flint comes striking down on the surface of the frizzen which both opens the cover and directs sparks into the pan. The type of firearm that might be made inactive with a splash of water is an older design called the matchlock which held a lit cord or match in a mechanism over the open pan. The gun is fired by allowing the match to fall into the pan and detonating the powder.

I see that bringing a lid to a knife or gun fight might serve as some sort of a shield? 141.101.107.66 06:52, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

If your lid is big enough, you can extinguish a wood fire too 141.101.105.240 09:50, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Is this Randall being political about the situation with North Korea? Maybe I'm reading too much into it, although the world would probably be a better place if more people (and countries) followed the tag text. Fluppeteer (talk) 10:29, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

But what if... you bring a wood fire... TO A KNIFE FIGHT?! Also, I'm not the only person thinking about BOTW's lowest-defense shield, am I? OriginalName (talk) 11:24, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

US Military personnel use "lid" as a euphemism for their uniform hat. I think that interpretation is represented in the drawing for "lid to a knife fight". 162.158.74.201 12:57, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Using a gun to extinguish fire probably was influenced by this official tweet of a sheriff 5 days ago "To clarify, DO NOT shoot weapons @ #Irma. You won't make it turn around & it will have very dangerous side effects", which was necessary after stupid people started to try to fight the hurricane with guns. Sebastian --172.68.110.94 15:23, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

The sentence "which often come with lids suited to making an airtight seal" is inaccurate. Lids don't form an airtight seal, and airtightness is not necessary to extinguish a pan fire.--Pere prlpz (talk) 23:58, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

The phrase "don't bring a knife to a gun fight" is not a statement of general naive lack of preparation, but is specifically used to advocate literal firearms as a means of defense over literal knives. The "gun fight" refers to encounters with armed criminals who, the phrase suggests, will still use their gun to your disadvantage whether or not you are capable of fighting back. It has been subverted occasionally as an implied threat (usually in drama rather than reality) when the situation is reversed, ie. the criminal is armed with a knife and the would-be victim is armed with a gun. The violence implied by "a gun fight" tends to restrict more metaphorical use of the phrase. The title text seems to be based in the original meaning, with the implication that Randall expects a gun being used against an armed criminal to escalate violence.

Just noticed that the comic on xkcd got a little correction: The "Water to a knife fight" Cueball was missing an arm. --162.158.202.202 23:12, 17 September 2017 (UTC)