2394: Contiguous 41 States

2020-12-05T04:26:10Z

162.158.155.24:

{{comic
| number = 2394
| date = December 4, 2020
| title = Contiguous 41 States
| image = contiguous_41_states.png
| titletext = Linguists, settling some inscrutable grudge, have been steadily sneaking more backdated synonyms for 'sharing borders' into the dictionary. They've added 'contiguous,' 'coterminous,' 'conterminous,' and next year they're adding 'conterguous.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MISSING STATE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The United States of America is composed of 50 states, {{w|Contiguous United States|48 of which are contiguous}} - meaning sharing a common border. Two states are separated from the other 48 states, {{w|Alaska}} and {{w|Hawaii}}. Alaska, purchased from Russia in 1867, is separated from the rest of the United States by the country of Canada. Hawaii, annexed in 1898, is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. As these states are not ''contiguous'' to the rest of the 48 states, they may not be included in maps of the United States. Typically, these 2 states are included in inset maps, separate sections at the bottom of the map.

The map in this comic is "Alaska and Hawaii's revenge", with seven additional states removed: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Most of these are accomplished by eliminating a column of states — North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas; Oklahoma and Texas, which are directly south of these, are slid over to the west into the space freed up by deleting New Mexico. The other two deleted states are Pennsylvania and Delaware, with the states to their south and north slid/extended to fill the gap.

The title text riffs on synonyms for "shared borders", which, according to Randall, linguists are deliberately resurrecting from the history of language to make life more complicated for modern English users, for obscure reasons.

In fact, 'contiguous', 'coterminous', and 'conterminous' all date from early modern English, early-to-mid 17th century (just after the time of Shakespeare). 'Coterminous' and 'conterminous' are alternate spellings from the same Latin root ('com' + 'terminus'), whereas 'contiguous' is from a different root (Latin 'contiguus').

'Conterguous' is a neologism by Randall, though he blames it on linguists. It is a portmanteau of 'CONTERminous' and 'contiGUOUS'. It is etymologically absurd (the prefix 'conter-' is meaningless). Its prescriptivist ('top-down') introduction into the language would simply be for the purpose of messing with people's minds, as Randall suggests. However, should the word catch on with English speakers, perhaps precisely because it is a joke, its descriptivist ('bottom up') entry into the language is certainly possible. One could then argue just how much Randall would have to answer for.

===Missing States===
The map achieves a verisimilar looking map by removing approximately everything from 100°W to 105°W. This results in the disappearance of:
*New Mexico
*North Dakota
*South Dakota
*Kansas (replaced by Colorado)
*Nebraska (Replaced by Wyoming)

This is probably done because this part of the United States is known as {{w|flyover country}} and considered not very memorable by the rest of the country, and so would probably not be noticed if it's missing

However, the map also omits states in the east coast, which is much more populated and should be easier to notice:
*Pennsylvania (New York is enlarged to cover this area)
*Delaware (New Jersey is enlarged to cover this area)
Delaware is the second-smallest state and thus probably few people would notice it's missing. The omission of Pennsylvania, however, will probably be much easier to spot by people and may be a reference to the {{w|2020 United States presidential election#Subsequent events|lawsuits following the 2020 presidential election}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:The Contiguous 41 States

:[A map of the United States, missing Delaware, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota, along with Alaska and Hawaii]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Tired of being left off maps of the US, Alaska and Hawaii begin producing maps with ''other'' states missing, too.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:2393: Presidential Middle Names

2020-12-03T10:54:43Z

162.158.155.24: stand & deliver

I wonder where Hussein comes in in the official rankings. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 04:16, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

Gamaliel sounds like an Elvish name...[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.128|108.162.216.128]] 05:03, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
: No, it's a {{w|Gamaliel_Ratsey|highwayman}}. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.24|162.158.155.24]] 10:54, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

For the record, this was his paternal grandmother's maiden name. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 09:18, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

My understanding of the title text is that Hayes was previously in 3rd position, but has been demoted to 4th and no longer appears in the top 3, not that he is at the bottom of the list.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.243|141.101.99.243]] 09:39, 3 December 2020 (UTC)
::The title text literally says "The bottom of the list". How can you read that as not meaning "the bottom of the list"??? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.153|141.101.69.153]] 10:44, 3 December 2020 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2394: Contiguous 41 States

Talk:2393: Presidential Middle Names