explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2381: The True Name of the Bear

2020-11-04T14:02:36Z

162.158.238.236: i don't really have much to add, but etymology is cool

This one is ridiculously early. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.120|172.69.22.120]] 05:22, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

Let’s try this again, hopefully won’t get stepped on this time... I know I’ve seen Gretchen on various YouTube channels but is she really “the world's foremost internet linguist” as Randal claims?[[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.87|162.158.79.87]] 05:29, 4 November 2020 (UTC)
:Probably as a linguist studying internet culture, which she is indeed one of the most famous in that area. Most popular linguist on the internet? It's everyone's guess. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.118.116|162.158.118.116]] 05:48, 4 November 2020 (UTC)
Well, after being mentioned by Randall she totally might become the most known one.

"Arth" is Welsh for bear.

Hmm... I find Ponytail's behaviour strange. At first she asks for explanation/verification of Megan's claim and when she recieves it she yells "NO!" as if she already knew it would be true... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:14, 4 November 2020 (UTC)
:She gets confirmation that the name is lost in panel 3 (and assumes it also confirms the summoning part). So she indeed knew by panel 4.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.66|141.101.68.66]] 10:51, 4 November 2020 (UTC)
:: Why isn't the bear's name summoning it after its name being said out loud in panel 3, though? Or is the name only "true" in English (in which the name didn't exist until Gretchen reconstructed it)? Doesn't make sense. /edit: I know we are talking about myths and superstition here and thus it might be all somewhat hazy but this comic is imho not self-consistent. I'm not used to inconsistent comics on XKCD (unless it's done on purpose for humorous effect which in this case seems not to be true). Thus my irritation. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:13, 4 November 2020 (UTC)
:::They are clearly in England (or the Anglosphere in general, though English isn't the official language in the US, merely customary) and by the Rules Of Summoning an English/etc 'bear' ''must'' only respond to the locality-sanctioned word (said with intent, not a coincidentally homophonic collection of syllables, not saying the exact same word but in the sense of being actually quoting a different language that uses the same word).
:::I theorise that the Welsh are saying ''their'' bear-name in slightly the wrong accent for being useful to summon a Welsh bear (maybe it should be more "Ardd"?) due to excessive Anglicisation. Or the Celtic way of not-saying-the-true-Celtic-word is to habitually say the Anglic one, which thus does not count. Or the Welsh bears are just confused by the current trend for dual-language signage and expect/require both. (Welsh then English in one half of the country, English followed by Welsh in the other part of the nation.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.208|141.101.98.208]] 12:55, 4 November 2020 (UTC)
:::If we're worried about consistency here, how is it that all the Romance language speakers (e.g. Orso for Italians, Oso for Spaniards, etc) get away without being constantly mauled? Perhaps it's only the *true* name of the bear, -rkto, that summons the animal. I suppose that would give an explanation of why we don't see any Indo-European speakers around nowadays... [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 13:37, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

Fascinating! In Russian, the word for bear is also euphemistic, pronounced as ''medved'', which roughly means "knowledgeable about honey". But until today, I thought that something like "ber" is in fact its true name. Turns out it's not even that. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.236|162.158.238.236]] 14:02, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

Talk:673: The Sun

2020-10-30T02:29:15Z

162.158.238.236:

Interesting (or deliberate?) that there's no reference at all in the explanation to [[wikipedia:Sunshine_(2007_film)|Sunshine]], released two years previously. [[Special:Contributions/178.99.247.73|178.99.247.73]] 21:07, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

Can't "to spring" be thought of as a physical movement? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.196|108.162.212.196]] 00:49, 7 January 2014 (UTC)
: Yes; that's why the mnemonic works. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 16:08, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
:: Also, the mnemonic works because physically it is relatively easier to spring (i.e., jump) forward and to fall (through the simple action of gravity, without being able to catch yourself with your arms) back(ward) than it is to do the reverse. --[[User:Bedunkel|BD]] ([[User talk:Bedunkel|talk]]) 01:09, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
the fusion reactions are well understood
By whom?

[[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 22:12, 27 January 2015 (UTC)

Okay, I'm too lazy to figure out a rewrite, but honestly...it seems pretty durned obvious that it's making fun of "The Core" which is actually mentioned in the comic, not making fun of some random British film not mentioned. Also look at the movie poster for "The Core" on Wikipedia; the similarities to the last panel with the group of people and the silhouettes is pretty obvious. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.150|108.162.215.150]] 23:11, 12 April 2015 (UTC)MW

I think "not on my watch" is being used as another pun, as daylight savings would not happen on your watch if you couldn't adjust it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.127|173.245.52.127]] 12:19, 28 April 2015 (UTC)

It's not incorrect to say that this comic makes fun of science fiction disaster movies, but that's not right place to start. The comic is really about the fact that there are two ways to interpret the term "daylight saving time", and one of those ways sounds like the over-adrenalized style that one sees in action movie posters. That's the central joke, and the mockery of science fiction disaster movies is there in order to make that joke funny

The statement that "Even in the nearly impossible event of the sun's fusion is failing in the traditional sense, the sun would collapse causing a supernova." is incorrect as the Sun does not have enough mass to fuel a supernova. IIRC it's mass would have to be about 40% higher for that to happen
: Removed it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.238.236|162.158.238.236]] 02:29, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

673: The Sun

2020-10-30T02:28:05Z

162.158.238.236: The Sun doesn't have enough mass to go supernova (removed inaccurate sentence)

{{comic
| number = 673
| date = December 9, 2009
| title = The Sun
| image = the_sun.png
| titletext = Obligatory bad guy: This operation is sheer foolishness, and it's not happening on my watch! Mainly because I can't figure out how to adjust the time.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic makes fun of {{w|science fiction}} {{w|disaster movies}}, especially the 2003 film ''{{w|The Core}}'' in which a group of scientists travel through the Earth's mantle to place a series of nuclear devices in order to speed up the slowing rotation of the Earth's core and prevent a complete collapse of Earth's magnetic field.

This comic presents the next film from the makers of The Core. In this case an astronomer [[Ponytail]] discovers the Sun's fusion is failing. The two [[Cueball]]-like guys behind her are not impressed, one is disbelieving and the other is not interested (''Whatever''). But then Ponytail rally them by threatening them with impeding doom for Earth, and they call {{w|NASA}}. A group of astronauts has taken the call at NASA and the leader (another Cueball-like guy) describes what could happen in trailer like fashion:
*The earth bathed in eternal darkness?
*A night without a dawn? Not on my watch!
And then he tells his team of astronauts, a fourth Cueball-like guy, [[Megan]] and another Ponytail to ''Saddle up'', and the comic finished with showing the poster (a copy of the one for The Core with the Sun in place of the Earth mantle) of this new movie called '''The Sun''' (hence the title of the comic) with two taglines:
*It's Daylight saving time.
*Never fall back.

The movie described by this comic shows a scenario where the "sun's fusion is failing". This is in fact the exact plot of the British science fiction film ''{{w|Sunshine (2007 film)|Sunshine}}'' from 2007, released two years before this comic, which was about a group of astronauts sent on a mission to reignite a dying {{w|Sun}} with a battery of nuclear bombs.

The {{w|sun}}'s energy comes from {{w|nuclear fusion}} reactions among the extremely hot dense hydrogen plasma in its core. The idea of the sun's fusion failing is rather ridiculous from a scientific perspective, because the fusion reactions are well understood and the sun has enough hydrogen to fuel it for about 5 billion more years. Even if the sun's hydrogen was getting low it would {{w|Star#Post–main sequence|start fusing helium}} and begin expanding into a {{w|red giant}}. This would then make the Earth uninhabitable. In other words, if the sun stopped fusing we wouldn't have to worry about less sunlight, we would have to worry about more.

In any case, it appears to be failing and the solution is to send a team of astronauts to the sun to restart the fusion (which is analogous to sending an {{w|ant}} to the {{w|US Senate}} to break a {{w|Government shutdowns in the United States|budget deadlock}}). The team leader is motivated by concern that if the sun's fusion stops, there will be no more light, and so the earth will be in perpetual darkness.

The poster in the final panel gives the movies two taglines. {{w|Daylight saving time}} (DST) refers both to the policy of changing clocks, which is intended to "save" daylight for a more useful part of the day; and the scenario in this movie in which it is time for the team to literally save the sun's daylight from being extinguished. "Never fall back" is an additional word play on the {{w|mnemonic}} used (in the States at least) to remember the direction to change clocks. The mnemonic goes, {{w|Spring forward, fall back#Terminology|"spring forward, fall back"}} to indicate that in the spring season, clocks get set ahead by an hour, while in the fall the clocks are set backwards an hour. The phrase "fall back", however, can also mean to retreat from a battle.

[[Randall]] seems to believe that DST makes little sense today and he has made it clear in [[:Category:Daylight saving time|several comics]] that he is not a fan. As DST is the main joke of the comic (and the title of the next movie), it seems obvious that the comment from the astronaut about this not happening on "my watch" may be a pun relating to his wristwatch. He would not wish to have DST on his watch! This meaning is the made clear in the title text see below. Also this indicates that Randall never wish to apply DST as he never falls back, the last tagline.

The comic makes fun of these disaster movies in a couple of ways. The characters in the first panel acknowledge that the scenario doesn't make sense scientifically, but are prepared to sacrifice scientific value for the plot. Also, in the second panel the team is to be composed of {{w|NASA}}'s "hottest astronauts", which makes fun of the fact that the characters in movies are much more attractive than average, and the fact that they will be much hotter when they reach the sun. The team leader expresses his concern with a few buzz phrases often used in such films.

An alternative explanation, which would make sense scientifically, is that the sun had never stopped working, and Ponytail merely assumed that something was wrong with the sun when the sunrise did not occur at its normal time, but that was only because the clocks had been sent an hour ahead for DST, and not because of anything wrong with the sun, which continued working properly, oblivious to earth clocks.

The title text continues the lunacy (solacy?) of the situation with the cliche of the "obligatory bad guy" — a person in the plot who acts antagonistic, often for the flimsiest of reasons. There is also the common complaint, especially among the technologically inept, that he can't figure out how to change the time, relating back to DST, and using the phrase "on my watch" as a pun here (if you interpret "watch" in the sense of a small timepiece worn on one's wrist). The phrase "on my watch" was used in the comic itself, but it isn't clear whether it was intended as a pun. It's possible that Randall realized he missed his chance to make a great pun with that phrase, inspiring the title text.

Note that while four different Cueballs in a comic is [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|not uncommon]] it is rare that two different Ponytails are shown in one comic.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the first panel, which is lower than the rest:]
:Coming this March from the makers of ''The Core''...
:[Ponytail is standing on a raised platform looking through a huge telescope (exiting the panel to the left) in an observatory. To her right is a large station with three screens and two Cueball-like guys are standing on the floor to the of that right. Behind them is another station with a large panel showing two circles with an arrow pointing from the top left to the bottom right.]
:Ponytail: The sun's fusion is failing!
:Man 1: Does that make sense?
:Man 2: Whatever.

:[Zoom in on the scene where Ponytail throws up her arms as she turns towards the two Cueball, still standing on the platform, but the rest of the background is white. The first Cueball turns around and points to the other Cueball who has also turned around and has taken a phone of the hook, the curled cord disappearing at the panels right edge.]
:Ponytail: If we don't send a ship to restart it, it could go out completely!
:Man 1: Call NASA!
:Man 2 (into the phone): <small>Assemble our hottest astronauts.</small>

:[Another Cueball-like guy has taken the call, and still stands with the phone in hand, the cord attached to the phone hook on the panels left edge. He stands with the helmet of a space suit under his other arm, obviously being an astronaut. Behind him is a fourth Cueball-like guy, Megan and another Ponytail.]
:Astronaut: The earth bathed in eternal darkness? A night without a dawn? Not on my watch!
:Astronaut: Saddle up.

:[The same four characters are shown in silhouette on gray background (still only one with helmet under arm), casting huge shadows towards the bottom of the panel from the dim sun in the top center of the panel. Above the sun is written a tagline (for the movie) and at the bottom of the panels with shadows falling over it is a second smaller tagline:]
:It's
:<big>'''''Daylight saving time.'''''</big>
:<small>Never fall back.</small>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]
[[Category:Telescopes]]
[[Category:Puns]]