explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1735: Fashion Police and Grammar Police

2016-09-20T11:57:07Z

141.101.98.14:

I added a basic explanation to this comic. I also changed the incomplete to say "Needs more on the explanation". Maybe you guys can help connect the dots and extend the explanation? --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 14:45, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

It should be noted that he uses literally wrong, just to anger the grammar police he's mocking, it's a nice touch.[[User:Trives|Trives]] ([[User talk:Trives|talk]]) 14:59, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

In my eyes the 2 groups are not standing together in this comic. --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 15:12, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
: Yeah I'd have said they were just being presented graphically, the intention isn't to display them as protesting alongside each other. [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 15:31, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

Is there an extra joke in the Title Text, "* Mad about jorts"? If it's something which both Grammar Police and Fashion Police would find distasteful, it would add an extra layer to the assertion that they are the same people. {{unsigned ip|172.68.35.71}}
:Yes for sure and this is now in the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:27, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

Incidentally, I find it ironic and probably unintentional that the Title Text demonstrates the importance of grammar and undermines Randall's own assertions that Grammar Police are superfluous and annoying. Is he saying that he really likes jorts, or is he saying that he is really angered by them? If only there was some formal ruleset which allowed meaning to be more effectively conveyed, rather than being a system of glorious chaos... https://xkcd.com/1576/ {{unsigned ip|172.68.35.71}}
:I think the comment above is inaccurate: "Title Text demonstrates the importance of grammar and undermines Randall's own assertions that Grammar Police are superfluous and annoying". The "*" represents a bullet point so it is clear that "* Mad about jorts" is an additional bullet point that both groups would find offensive. The irony now is that I'm not familiar with how to structure my wiki comments. ~~dizzydan~~ {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.103}}
::Yes very intentionally and thanks for pointing out it is an extra bullet point ;-) That is why the grammar police would hate that sentence where the other police just hate jorts. And would be mad if they realized it could be understood like they loved jorts. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:27, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

Technically, the grammar police wouldn't care about jorts, since that is a spelling error, not a grammatical error. Please contact the spelling police. Sincerely,
:The Semantics Police {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.216}}
::Jorts is not a spelling error it is a real term used on Wikipedia and now linked in the explanation. They are mad about the use of "mad about". Because in this case it can be misunderstood as either really loving jorts or being upset about jorts. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:27, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
:::Then it would be "* mad about 'mad about jorts'", thus I lean for the portmanteau explanation - Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.167|162.158.86.167]] 03:07, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

'''Judgemental''' A spelling of the word 'judgmental,' infrequently used in the UK (which is widely regarded to be more fashionable than the US)? 
'''Deeply Arbitrary''' Internally inconsistent? Arbitrary means based on random chance or whim and as such cannot be strong or deep? 
'''Appreciate . . . are . . . is ''' Subject/verb disagreement with a plural/singular shift? 
'''Cool and casual''' vague use of an indefinite pronoun & a 'cool and casual' fashion choice is likely entails a significant amount of work, meaning it is not casual at all.--[[User:GotWilLeibniz|GotWilLeibniz]] ([[User talk:GotWilLeibniz|talk]]) 18:43, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
:Arbitrary is more 'not based on physical phenomena', and is not necessarily based on chance. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.80|172.68.35.80]] 06:17, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

: 'judgment' v. 'judgement' - I was taught that the first is used as in "using one's judgment," while the latter is "the court issued a judgement." [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 08:22, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

"Fashion Police and Grammar Police and ExplainXKCD Contributors" {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.69}}
:True ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:27, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

Just dropping a couple links here re: the "uncomfortably transparent proxies for race and class" in language. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.227|162.158.214.227]] 21:20, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
http://wordtree.com/what-the-victorians-did-to-english-grammar/
http://www.languagejones.com/blog-1/2014/6/8/what-is-aave

Por simpliĝi gramatikon, nur lernu Esperanton! Ĝi ne havas arbitrajn regularojn. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 22:17, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

In reality, I support the grammar police. Language is a set of shared rules allowing us to understand each other. Speaking in improper grammar produces misunderstandings and throws off listeners/readers, as well as making the speaker sound incompetent. Imagine if people started piping garbage down TCP connections! Servers wouldn't understand a thing! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.190|108.162.215.190]] 22:50, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

Rich white people being in high places is not really the point. Classism is the easiest to demonstrate: the grammar police frown on non-prestige dialects, and the fashion police consider poor people's clothing to be unfashionable. Racism is harder to demonstrate simply, but with language you have AAVE being treated as just "bad English" and, to a lesser extent, fashion popular in certain races being considered bad. (See, the literal fashion police of some French towns in reaction to burkinis. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 03:24, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
:Hostility to burkini in France has nothing to do with fashion police. This is not a reaction to alleged bad taste in clothing (attemps to make them more fashionable are even well received), but to other things that the French are not comfortable with: public display of rigorist religious behaviour in a strongly secular country, perceived provocation by muslims in a context of islamist terror attacks, considerations around women's liberties (burkini seen as an enslavement to men/husbands)... Or for some it's simply knee-jerk racism... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.14|141.101.98.14]] 11:57, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

1734: Reductionism

2016-09-16T15:21:28Z

141.101.98.14:

{{comic
| number = 1734
| date = September 16, 2016
| title = Reductionism
| image = reductionism.png
| titletext = "I've noticed you physics people can be a little on the reductionist side." "That's ridiculous. Name ONE reductionist word I've ever said."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is a reductionist's explanation}}
[https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Reductionism Reductionism] is an approach that seeks to understand the world by breaking problems into simpler pieces. This approach can disregard emergent properties which appear only from the individual parts working together. Here the meta joke is that Randall is attempting to define the word 'Reductionism', but is taking the reductionist approach to its extreme. He breaks the WORD "Reductionism" into individual letters explaining the origin of each individual letter, acting as if the word was nothing more than the "sum" of all its letters. In doing so he entirely fails to explain the actual meaning of the word.

In the title text, the speaker claims they are not reductionist since they have never said a single reductionist word. However the speaker overlooks the fact that reductionism is an emergent property of sentences. By focussing on individual words in this way the speaker proves them-self a reductionist, in the very act of trying to refute this accusation.

==Transcript==

:REDUCTIONISM n.1."R" is a letter with
:origins in the egyptian hieroglyphics. "E"
:stands for a vowel sound normally
:represented by "I" until the 1500's. "D" is

{{comic discussion}}

1734: Reductionism

2016-09-16T14:17:44Z

141.101.98.14: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1734
| date = September 16, 2016
| title = Reductionism
| image = reductionism.png
| titletext = "I've noticed you physics people can be a little on the reductionist side." "That's ridiculous. Name ONE reductionist word I've ever said."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This is a reductionist's explanation}}
[https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Reductionism Reductionism] is attempting to explain a complex topic using simple language or concepts. Here the meta joke is Randall is explaining the concept of Reductionism... by not explaining it at all, but rather explaining the origin of each individual letter of the WORD "Reductionism" (or at least the first three letters, the rest are cut off but we are to assume the definition were to continue until every letter were individually explained).

Reductionism is an approach that seeks to understand the world by breaking problems into simpler pieces. That can disregard emergent properties. This comic takes a reductionist approach to understanding the word "reductionism" by giving history of each letter, as if the word was nothing more than the "sum" of all its letters.

In the title text, the speaker tries to show they are not reductionist by saying they have never said a reductionist word; thus argument is self-defeating because reductionism is an emergent property of sentences, not a trait of single words.

==Transcript==

:REDUCTIONISM n.1."R" is a letter with
:origins in the egyptian hieroglyphics. "E"
:stands for a vowel sound normally
:represented by "I" until the 1500's. "D" is

:[Title text]
:"I've noticed you physics people can be a little on the reductionist side."
:"That's ridiculous. Name ONE reductionist word I've ever said."

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1271: Highlighting

2016-06-16T16:13:07Z

141.101.98.14:

I am relived to know that I am not the only person compulsive enough to have this issue. Though I particularity like case 3 when the highlight starts at the beginning of a word and ends at the end of one, and does not start or end in the middle of a word.

I used to think I was crazy, but this webcomic tells me I'm not alone. It has nothing to do with marking your place as your reading, its more or less just something to keep your hands busy while reading an article. It does drive other people crazy. [[User:HardKase|HardKase]] ([[User talk:HardKase|talk]]) 02:11, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

:I first started highlighting while reading stuff online when I should have been working, in order to keep my 'click frequency' from dropping to zero. Quiet mouse = Obviously not working (In the software we use anyway) --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:52, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Personally, I dislike it when the highlighted area includes either the beginning indent/tab or the ending indent/tab, so according to my standards, I'm satisfied with the highlighting in paragraphs 1-3, but not with 4-6. Saibot84 04:33, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
:There is nothing marked in paragraph 6, is there? --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 07:07, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
::@Chtz, no there's nothing highlighted in paragraph 6, I meant "mark" as the score it was given. And while I'm here, I just noticed Randall corrected the spelling of "highlighted" in the text below the image. Should someone re-upload the image here? Saibot84 13:21, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Why does he spell highlight like "hilight"? [[Special:Contributions/62.209.198.2|62.209.198.2]] 06:47, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
:Good question. Wiktionary allows {{Wiktionary|hilite}} as ''informal'', but says that {{Wiktionary|hilight}} is a "common misspelling". --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 07:07, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
::I assumed the poor spelling was a subtle way of poking fun at a site that would do something as stupid as trying to prohibit highlighting. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 03:20, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
:It seems the comic has now changed to spelling it "highlight" [[Special:Contributions/87.198.51.178|87.198.51.178]] 21:56, 1 October 2013 (UTC)
::But the name of the png file is still misspelt (I didn't know if the title was also misspelt or not, that's why I came here :D) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.53|108.162.229.53]] 15:32, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

I'm so used to doing this that I know a few tricks and tiny strips of areas to click on in order to achieve symmetry in some tricky situations. [[Special:Contributions/131.215.169.224|131.215.169.224]] 07:53, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

: On some pages, I spent more time getting the highlights right than actually reading it --[[Special:Contributions/141.89.226.146|141.89.226.146]] 08:06, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
: You will all certainly hate Confluence's new editing of code. One micrometer and your h/l is undone {{unsigned ip|145.64.134.242}}

The most frustrating thing when it comes to highlighting: willing to select text on a long line (such as source code with no word wrap) only to have the mouse cursor move out of line, sabotaging your selection and location in the text. When pages are wider than the visible area, it should not jump to the left side when there are empty lines above/below a long line and you drag the selection up/down, instead, it should scroll left only as you drag the selection to the left. [[Special:Contributions/213.163.40.100|213.163.40.100]] 08:11, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
:If you have source code extensively above your horizontal screen size, you either have a very small screen or you should rethink your coding style. ;) --[[User:Chtz|Chtz]] ([[User talk:Chtz|talk]]) 08:35, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
:The most frustrating thing for ''me'' is mouse-selection (though thankfully not keyboard-selection) tends in my experience to assume that a mid-selected word means "the start of the word as well", at least in a browser context. Especially in forum conversations, when you get '<nowiki>[quote="oneperson"][quote="ofanotherperson"]Blah[/quote]Replyblah[/quote]</nowiki>' to reply to, and you want to highlight and excise the inner quote, for brevity, it often adjusts to include the "] after the "oneperson". Which is annoying and breaks your BBCode if you don't notice what you also accidentally deleted, and correct for it.
:Outside of such forum specifics, example 4 looks like a successfully chosen entire DIV-block. Which is a handy thing to be able to do, sometimes, but as long as you aren't ''forced'' to do so (beyond the "reading guide" purpose for the highlighting, with optional OCD, when it's probably not of concern). And watch out (as a variant of the title text) that the ''entire'' text block hasn't been A HREFed or similar (popular, these days, seemingly to cater for messy touchscreen tablet navigation, sometimes even without a navigate-to cursor change). This is why I have a Perl application that will politely scrape regularly-viewed pages, regexp and reformat as necessary and give a better/pre-processed interface to such information. Which is nice. [[Special:Contributions/178.98.253.80|178.98.253.80]] 16:27, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

I do this all the time too... my wife HATES it! --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 12:13, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

I thought I was the only one. Although, I do a variation where I try to get the beginning of the selection directly over the end of the selection so that they vertically align and cause a glide reflection of sorts. [[Special:Contributions/96.254.46.231|96.254.46.231]] 14:06, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

;New file name
The picture hilighting.png should be moved to highlighting.png. BTW: There is still a typo at the ''click...'' statement.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:56, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

: is that necessary? Imho it should follow the misspelling of the article itself [[Special:Contributions/74.125.183.194|74.125.183.194]] 16:10, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
::It is done by an admin here and necessary because this list [[List_of_all_comics]] did render a wrong image link. Even when the original file name is in fact still "hilighting.png". --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:52, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

;Maybe he fears a trojan?
About Randall panicking about the clicking-a-word-triggers-a-search-script, there are certain trojan-ish programs that tamper with the user's browser and install such a script in them. In that case, various words on any webpage would become clickable links that lead to advertisement and potentially other unsavory things.
I had to clean a family member's computer from one such infection; I'm no expert but sleuthing a bit led me to believe he might've got it from a seemingly innocuous video-to-gif freeware.
If I saw that word-popping behavior on a webpage again, my immediate thought would probably be that it's from a malignant script and I'd probably drop everything like Randall and start scanning my machine. [[Special:Contributions/67.71.33.122|67.71.33.122]] 16:17, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

;Can't select the text in the image either

Ironically, when text is displayed using an image like in the comic itself, it is also impossible to highlight text.
[[User:Tom0000|Tom0000]] ([[User talk:Tom0000|talk]]) 18:29, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

;Double-Clicking
While ''double''-clicking on a paragraph, chromium gives the patter of (5); firefox, on the other hand, selects text only, meaning no whitespaces (indent or margin) on either side of the text (not shown in comic). Running linux, I didn't try safari or i-ex. (On a last side-note, konqueror doesn't select the paragraph at all, but only the current line...) [[Special:Contributions/134.130.114.148|134.130.114.148]] 09:06, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
:In Firefox (in Gnome 3 on Ubuntu, in case this is desktop environment specific or operating system specific), I have to ''triple''-click to select a paragraph. Double-clicking would select a single word. --[[User:Das-g|Das-g]] ([[User talk:Das-g|talk]]) 14:09, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
::Also in Firefox, you can't select like Randall has selected, as it doesn't select any non-space/tab whitespace.
::And yes, you have to (or should have to) triple click to select a paragraph.[[User:GBGamer117|GBGamer117 > /dev/null]] ([[User talk:GBGamer117|talk]]) 06:12, 5 October 2013 (UTC)GBGamer117
:: In chrome: 2 clicks = word, 3 clicks = paragraph.Microsoft word exclusive: Ctrl-A = '''''everything!''''' [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.65|108.162.218.65]] 19:21, 18 August 2015 (UTC)
:::CTRL-A is not exclusive to MS Word; as an example, it works in Chrome. (If you're in a text box, it's Select All of the contents of that box, but if you click in a non-form region of the page, it will in fact select everything. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.86|173.245.55.86]] 08:21, 20 August 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1686: Feel Old

2016-05-31T07:42:27Z

141.101.98.14:

;Candidates too
Heck with voters, we've got a ''candidate'' who can't remember it: [http://www.snopes.com/donald-trump-7-11/ Trump thought it was 7/11] and that [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/dec/02/new-information-doesnt-fix-donald-trumps-911-claim/ thousands and thousands celebrated in Jersey City]. [[User:Matchups|Matchups]] ([[User talk:Matchups|talk]]) 16:03, 27 May 2016 (UTC)

;The Pot
My favorite election-related "feel old": from 2012 to now, some eligible voters have had pot-smoking Presidents '''for their entire lifetime'''. - [[User:Frankie|Frankie]] ([[User talk:Frankie|talk]]) 16:19, 27 May 2016 (UTC)

; Maybe not?
I would not be surprised if, when young eligible voters are asked, nearly all of them respond that they clearly remember the events. My experience is that we tend to have memories (real or perceived) from a very young age, if we are reminded of them frequently enough later in our lifetime. I clearly remember watching the Apollo 11 landing on TV with my parents; I was only 14 months old at the time, but the memory is vivid in my head. Perhaps I remember a rebroadcast or another landing, when I was older. I remember Watergate unfolding, even though I was 6. Similarly, I have clear first-person memories of events that my father recorded with his 8mm camera. The 9/11 attacks were so frequently referenced and rebroadcasted for years after they occurred, that I suspect that most 18-year-olds consider them part of their personal experience. This also explains Trump's "memory" of celebrations in Jersey City mentioned by [[User:Matchups|Matchups]]. If someone immature sees something repeatedly on Fox news, the experience can become personal to them. [[User:Sysin|Sysin]] ([[User talk:Sysin|talk]]) 12:53, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

: The comic does not imply that all the voters of that age won't remember 9/11. Clearly there will be some, but not all people can remember events from when they were about 3 years-old. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.14|141.101.98.14]] 07:42, 31 May 2016 (UTC)

1529: Bracket

2016-03-30T03:27:15Z

141.101.98.14: /* Explanation */ Removed a sentence written by someone who didn't know who The Doctor is.

{{comic
| number = 1529
| date = May 25, 2015
| title = Bracket
| image = bracket.png
| titletext = I'm staring at the "doctor" section, and I can't help but feel like I've forgotten someone.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|Bracket (tournament)|tournament bracket}} shows the planned series of matchups in a tournament. In this comic [[Randall]] has shown a plan for a tournament between a wide range of cultural icons, both real and fictional, based mostly on similarities in their names. Various Internet groups have speculated on who would win in a fight between characters from different films. It may be relevant that the film {{w|Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice}} is soon to be released where the two eponymous {{w|superheroes}}, {{w|Batman}} and {{w|Superman}}, fight against each other.

The individual starting pairings are generally based on common or similar given names or surnames. Some adjacent brackets are "segued" by someone like Jeff Daniels, who segues from a bracket of "Jeff"s into a bracket of "Daniels"es. The bracket itself is fairly arbitrary. Most initial matchups are pairs, although several are trios and there's a quadruplet in the Russels group, while a single entry, {{w|Beyoncé}}, is given a first- and second-round {{w|bye (sports)|bye}}. Most of the participants in the tournament are people, with a few exceptions. {{w|Shallots}} (small onions), {{w|scallops}} (bivalve mollusks), and {{w|scallions}} (green onions) are similar sounding foods, therefore may be confusing for some individuals (perhaps including [[Randall]]). The final grouping on the lower right of the bracket features a several retail stores and a film.

The [[title text]] possibly refers to {{w|Dr. Dre}}, particularly as a reference to his 2001 song "{{w|Forgot About Dre}}". Alternatively, the title text could simply be a reference to the large number of pop culture personas that include the word "Doctor", such as {{w|Gregory House|Doctor House}}, {{w|Mehmet Oz|Dr. Oz}}, {{w|Phil McGraw|Dr. Phil}}, {{w|Dr. Watson}}, {{w|Emmett Brown|"Doc" Brown}}, {{w|Dr. Seuss}}, {{w|Dr Pepper}}, {{w|Doctor Doom}}, {{w|Zoidberg|Dr. Zoidberg}}, {{w|Dr. Horrible}}'s Sing-Along Blog and {{w|List of fictional doctors|many others}}.

The incentive for the comic may have been the {{w|2015 French Open|French Open 2015}}, which started on the day of the publication.

The comic inspired several groups to play out versions of the bracket. One user-voting based match-up on twitter, [https://twitter.com/xkcdbracket XKCD Bracket], was featured by Randall on the xkcd home page, with a link at at the top of the website, although the account was not created by Randall. (The link was part of a "news" flash, the other was regarding his book based on [[1133: Up Goer Five]]. See more on this news in that comics explanation). In the final match on July 29, Neil Armstrong defeated Mister Spock (see the [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLKJUpFWIAAlDnW.png:orig complete bracket]). The link was removed sometimes before Monday, 10 August 2015, within two weeks of the final result was revealed.

===Table of the bracket===
*The names and other entries in the bracket are given here below, sorted to explain why the individual entries have been grouped as they are.
*The first-round match-ups are grouped by shading.

{| class="wikitable"
!Grouping
!Subgrouping
!Person/Entry
!Known as
!Winning probability
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Armstrong
|{{w|Louis Armstrong}}
|Jazz-musician
| rowspan="4" |1/32
|-
|{{w|Neil Armstrong}}
|First human on the moon
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Lance Armstrong}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Cyclist
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Stretch Armstrong}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Action figure
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Jeff *
|Jeff Gordan (Probably {{w|Jeff Gordon}})
|Retired race car driver
| rowspan="9" |1/64
|-
|{{w|Jeff Bridges}}
|Actor in ''King Kong'', ''The Big Lebowski'', ''Iron Man'', ''Tron: Legacy''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Jeff Daniels}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Dumb and Dumber''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|J* Daniels
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jack Daniel's|Jack Daniels}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Alcoholic beverages
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>Well<nowiki>*</nowiki>
|{{w|Orson Welles}}
|Director of ''{{w|Citizen Kane}}'' and known for his {{w|The War of the Worlds (radio drama)|radio-play}} of {{w|H. G. Wells}}' ''{{w|The War of the Worlds}}''
|-
|{{w|H.G. Wells}}
|Author, known for ''The War of the Worlds'' and ''{{w|The Time Machine}}''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|George Orwell}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Author of ''{{w|Nineteen Eighty-Four}}'' and ''{{w|Animal Farm}}''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Wells Fargo}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Bank and stage coach company
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Russell *
|{{w|Kurt Russell}}
|Actor in ''John Carpenter's Escape from L.A.'', ''The Thing'', ''Big Trouble in Little China'', ''Fast & Furious 7''
| rowspan="5" |1/128
|-
|{{w|Russell Brand}}
|Comedian
|-
|{{w|Russell Crowe}}
|Actor in ''Gladiator'', ''A Beautiful Mind'', ''Les Misérables'', ''Noah''
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Russell Simmons}}
|rowspan="2"|Rapper
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Simmons
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Richard Simmons}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Host of exercise program
| rowspan="3" |1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Gene Simmons}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Musician, known from ''KISS''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Gene <nowiki>*</nowiki>
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Gene Hackman}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor
|rowspan="5" |1/96
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>ckman
|-
|{{w|Hugh Jackman}}
|Actor in the ''{{w|X-Men}}'' franchise as {{w|Wolverine (character)|Wolverine}}
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Alan Rickman}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Die Hard'', ''Harry Potter'' franchise, ''The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy''
|-
|rowspan="3"|Alan <nowiki>*</nowiki>
|-
|rowspan="2"|Alan Par*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Alan Parsons}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Musician
|rowspan="7" |1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Alan Partridge}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Fictional radio character
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> McCarthy
|{{w|Jenny McCarthy}}
|Anti-vaccination activist
|-
|{{w|Joseph McCarthy}}
|American Senator known for anti-communist policies.
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Eugene McCarthy}}
|rowspan="2"|Senator and Presidential candidate
|-
|rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>gene<nowiki>*</nowiki>
|rowspan="2"|Eugene <nowiki>*</nowiki>
|-
|{{w|Eugene V. Debs}}
|Labor leader
|-
|rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Wilde*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Gene Wilder}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor in ''Young Frankenstien'', ''Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory''
| rowspan="4" |1/96
|-
|rowspan="2"|
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Olivia Wilde}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actress in ''Tron: Legacy'', ''Her'', ''House M.D."
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Oscar Wilde}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Writer
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Oscar *
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Oscar De La Renta}}
|rowspan="2"|Fashion Designer
|rowspan="3"|1/32
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Oscar De La *
|-
|{{w|Oscar De La Hoya}}
|Boxer
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Jack Nic*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jack Nicklaus}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Golf player
| rowspan="9" |1/32
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Jack Nicholson}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'', ''The Shining'', ''The Bucketlist''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>ichol* / *ickel* / *ickle*
|-
|{{w|Phil Mickelson}}
|Golf player
|-
|{{w|Nicholas Nickleby}}
|Charles Dickens protagonist in the novel by the same name
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki>ryan Adams
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Ryan Adams}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Bryan Adams}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Singers with Stage Names Referencing Weight/Games
|{{w|Chubby Checker}}
|Singer famous for "The Twist"
|-
|{{w|Fats Domino}}
|Rock and Roll Singer
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Colin F*
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Colin Firth}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor, ''Pride and Prejudice'', ''Love Actually''
| rowspan="5" |1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Colin Farrell}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Daredevil'', ''In Bruges'', ''Total Recall''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|F*rell*
|-
|{{w|Will Ferrell}}
|Comic actor, ''Anchorman'' and ''The Other Guys''
|-
|{{w|The Farrelly Brothers}}
|Comedy film-makers
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|J<nowiki>*</nowiki> * *evitt/*ewitt (three names)
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Joseph Gordon-Levitt}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor in ''Third Rock from the Sun'', ''Dark Knight Rises''
| rowspan="2" |1/32
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jennifer Love Hewitt}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actress in ''Garfield: The Movie'' 
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|D* Glover
|{{w|Danny Glover}}
|Actor, ''Lethal Weapon'' series
| rowspan="7" |1/64
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Donald Glover}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor, ''Community'', also a rapper, aka ''Childish Gambino''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Don*
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Donnie Wahlberg}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Singer, ''{{w|New Kids on the Block}}''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Wahlberg
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Mark Wahlberg}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''The Departed'', ''The Other Guys'', and former hip-hop singer for ''Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Mark *
|-
|{{w|Mark Ruffalo}}
|Actor, known for his role as {{w|Hulk (comics)|the Hulk}} in the film ''{{w|The Avengers (2012 film)|The Avengers}}''
| rowspan="2" |1/32
|-
|{{w|Mark Shuttleworth}}
|Entrepreneur, founder of {{w|Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu}}
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Pullman
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Philip Pullman}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Author, ''Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ''
|rowspan="4"|1/48
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Bill Pullman}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Spaceballs'', and ''Independence Day''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Bill *
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Bill Paxton}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor in ''Apollo 13'', ''Aliens''
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Bill Murray}}
|rowspan="2"|Actor in ''Ghostbusters'', ''Groundhog Day''
|rowspan="3"|1/32
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Ghostbusters/SNL alumni
|-
|{{w|Dan Aykroyd}}
|Actor in ''Ghostbusters'', ''The Blues Brothers''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Rogers
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Ginger Rogers}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actress known for dancing with {{w|Fred Astaire}}
|rowspan="2"|1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Confusing reference to {{w|Fred Rogers}} (host of children's show, popularly known as "Mister Rogers") and to {{w|Fred Astaire}} (Dancer, actor, and singer)
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Spock
|{{w|Mister Spock}}
|Character on ''Star Trek'' portrayed by {{w|Leonard Nimoy}}
|rowspan="10"|1/96
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Doctor Spock}}
|rowspan="2"|Author of book on childcare
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="8"|Doctors
|-
|{{w|Doctor Octopus}}
|Villain in Spider-Man comic books
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Doctor Manhattan}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Character in Alan Moore's Watchmen
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Doctor Strangelove}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Character in a movie about nuclear war by {{w|Stanley Kubrick}}
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Doctor Strange}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Sorceror Supreme in Marvel Comics
|-
|{{w|Julius No|Dr. No}}
|Main villain in the {{w|Dr. No (film)|first James Bond movie}}
|-
|The Doctor
|Ambiguous reference to either the {{w|The Doctor (Doctor Who)|main protagonist}} of the science fiction series ''{{w|Doctor Who}}'' or the {{w|Doctor (Star Trek: Voyager)|emergency medical holographic program}} in ''{{w|Star Trek: Voyager}}''.
|-
|{{w|Cory Doctorow}}
|Real person - [[:Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow| who has been in a number of xkcd comics]]
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|J* Lewis
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jerry Lee Lewis}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Rock and Roll singer
|rowspan="9"|1/32
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Jerry Lewis}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Comedian and former chairman of charitable organization
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Jenny Lewis}}
|rowspan="2"|Indie singer-songwriter
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Sounds like *"enny"
|-
|{{w|Xeni Jardin}}
|Digital commentator, Boing Boing co-editor
|-
|rowspan="4"|Chris *
|rowspan="2"|Chris * (Avengers actors)
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Chris Evans (actor)|Chris Evans}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor, ''Captain America''
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Chris Hemsworth}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor, ''Thor''
|-
|rowspan="2"|Chris P*
|{{w|Chris Pine}}
|Actor, ''Star Trek''
|-
|{{w|Chris Pratt}}
|Actor, ''Guardians of the Galaxy''
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|'S' Foods That Rhyme Assonantly
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Shallots}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Small onions
|rowspan="3"|1/96
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Scallops}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Bivalve mollusks
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Scallions}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Green onions
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Suz* (Similar phonetics)
|{{w|Siouxie Sioux}}
|Rock singer
|rowspan="2"|1/64
|-
|{{w|Suzanne Vega}}
|Folk rock singer-songwriter
|-

|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|<nowiki>*</nowiki> Arnold *
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Tom Arnold (actor)|Tom Arnold}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Actor; ex-husband of {{w|Roseanne Barr}}
|rowspan="4"|1/48
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Arnold Palmer}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Golf player
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|A* Palmer
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Amanda Palmer}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer/songwriter
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Wes *
|{{w|Wes Craven}}
|Film maker
|rowspan="10"|1/64
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Wes Anderson}}
|rowspan="2"|Movie Director
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|* Anderson
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Paul Thomas Anderson}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Film maker
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|P*ul Anderson
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Poul Anderson}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Science fiction author
|-
|rowspan="3"|Sirs
|rowspan="2"|Sir Walter *
|{{w|Sir Walter Scott}}
|Scottish poet and writer
|-
|{{w|Sir Walter Raleigh}}
|British explorer of Virginia
|-

|rowspan="2"|F* Drake
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Sir Francis Drake}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|British explorer, 2nd to circumnavigate the Earth
|-
|
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Frank Drake}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Astrophysicist, SETI pioneer
|-
|rowspan="5"|"Van"
|rowspan="3"|Van *
|{{w|Van Halen}}
|Rock band
|rowspan="3"|1/96
|-
|{{w|Van Morrison}}
|Singer/songwriter
|-
|{{w|Van Wilder}}
|Comedy film
|-

|rowspan="2"|R* Van Winkle
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Robert Van Winkle}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|AKA Vanilla Ice, rapper
|rowspan="3"|1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Rip Van Winkle}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Fictional character
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Rip/Torn
|-
|{{w|Rip Torn}}
|Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, actor on ''Cross Creek'', ''Larry Sanders Show''
|rowspan="2"|1/32
|-
|{{w|Natalie Imbruglia}}
|Singer of "Torn"
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Businesses with the word "Body" in their name
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|The Body Shop}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Shop
|rowspan="6"|1/64
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|{{w|Bath and Body Works}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6" rowspan="2"|Shop
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Businesses with the word "Bath" in their name
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{w|Bed Bath and Beyond}}
|rowspan="2"|Shop
|-
|colspan="2" rowspan="3"|Beyon*
|-
|{{w|Beyond Thunderdome}}
|Motion picture
|-
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|{{w|Beyoncé}}
|bgcolor="E6E6E6"|Singer
|1/16

|}

==Transcript==
:[A tournament bracket. With the names listed in groups on the left-hand side and right-hand side as shown below. Within individual groups the names are ordered in match-ups, two, three or even four in the first match. The last name on the right, Beyoncé, is not even matched for first round. The winners goes on to the next match, but there are many that skips some of the matches up until the quarterfinals, so some need to win 5 matches to reach the quarterfinals, others only need to win 4 of 3, and Beyoncé only 2. After the first level, the match-ups are always between two names. The two sides join up in a final in the middle, where the winner of the left side has a place for the name below and the winner of the right a place for the name above a central rectangular frame with place for the winners name. Below the pairing in the first round matches are mentioned above each of the clear groupings of the bracket.]
:{| class="wikitable" style="background:transparent;border:none;width:100%;"
| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
 [These are paired two and two.]
 Louis Armstrong
 Neil Armstrong
 Lance Armstrong
 Stretch Armstrong

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Jeff Gordan
 Jeff Bridges
 Jeff Daniels
 Jack Daniels

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Orson Welles
 H.G. Wells
 George Orwell
 Wells Fargo

 [The first four, two, three and two are paired.]
 Kurt Russell
 Russell Brand
 Russell Crowe
 Russell Simmons
 Richard Simmons
 Gene Simmons
 Gene Hackman
 Hugh Jackman
 Alan Rickman
 Alan Parsons
 Alan Partridge

 [The first four, three and two are paired.]
 Jenny McCarthy
 Joseph McCarthy
 Eugene McCarthy
 Eugene V. Debs
 Gene Wilder
 Olivia Wilde
 Oscar Wilde
 Oscar De La Renta
 Oscar De La Hoya

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Jack Nicklaus
 Jack Nicholson
 Phil Mickelson
 Nicholas Nickelby

 [These are paired.]
 Ryan Adams
 Bryan Adams

 [These are paired.]
 Chubby Checker
 Fats Domino

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Colin Firth
 Colin Farrell
 Will Ferrell
 The Farrelly Brothers

 [These are paired.]
 Joseph Gordon-Levitt
 Jennifer Love Hewitt

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Danny Glover
 Donald Glover
 Donnie Wahlberg
 Mark Wahlberg
 Mark Ruffalo
 Mark Shuttleworth

| style="background:transparent;border:none;"|
 [The first three and two are paired.]
 Philip Pullman
 Bill Pullman
 Bill Paxton
 Bill Murray
 Dan Aykroyd

 [The first two, and then three times three are paired.]
 Ginger Rogers
 Fred Rogers|Mister/Fred Astaire/Rogers
 Mister Spock
 Doctor Spock
 Doctor Octopus
 Doctor Manhattan
 Doctor Strangelove
 Doctor Strange
 Dr. No
 The Doctor
 Cory Doctorow

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Jerry Lee Lewis
 Jerry Lewis
 Jenny Lewis
 Xeni Jardin

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Chris Evans
 Chris Hemsworth
 Chris Pine
 Chris Pratt

 [These are paired.]
 Shallots
 Scallops
 Scallions

 [These are paired.]
 Siouxie Sioux
 Suzanne Vega

 [These are paired.]
 Tom Arnold
 Arnold Palmer
 Amanda Palmer

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Wes Craven
 Wes Anderson
 Paul Thomas Anderson
 Poul Anderson

 [These are paired two and two.]
 Sir Walter Scott
 Sir Walter Raleigh
 Sir Francis Drake
 Frank Drake

 [The first three, two and two are paired.]
 Van Halen
 Van Morrison
 Van Wilder
 Robert Van Winkle
 Rip Van Winkle
 Rip Torn
 Natalie Imbruglia

 [The first four are paired two and two the last is the only one not paired.]
 The Body Shop
 Bath and Body Works
 Bed Bath and Beyond
 Beyond Thunderdome
 Beyoncé
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cory Doctorow]]
[[Category:Doctor Who]]

Talk:125: Marketing Interview

2014-02-12T21:00:09Z

141.101.98.14:

I believe I disagree with the explanation of the title text on this one. To me it suggests that this would be a rare case in which buying the most popular book would be the best because the people who wrote it obviously know a great deal about marketing.{{unsigned ip|‎75.151.211.170}}

I don't understand what you mean by "rare case"[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.202|108.162.219.202]] 05:14, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

:Agreed. The title text appears to connote that although a case of Black Hat or his ilk is rare, the tendency of good marketers' books to sell better ought most often to be the rule rather than the exception. --[[User:Jolbucley|Jolbucley]] ([[User talk:Jolbucley|talk]]) 04:16, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

or is it? i think he honestly wonders, not leaning towards one answer or the other. cause being the best selling book on marketing guarantees the writer is (or has) a very good marketer (sry, english is not my first language. is marketer a word?). anyway, it doesn't guarantee that there will be any useful information in it, just that the marketing department did their part in promoting the said book. am i going too far here?