explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2493: Dual USB-C

2021-07-24T04:49:45Z

162.158.74.107:

I guess this is how connector vendors maintain backwards compatibility for USB-C. ----DaveK

I would have thought it was cursed more from what would happen if you plugged it into a standard ac outlet. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.107|162.158.74.107]] 04:49, 24 July 2021 (UTC)

1713: 50 ccs

2020-08-25T19:25:46Z

162.158.74.107: /* Explanation */ a hiccup cure

{{comic
| number = 1713
| date = July 29, 2016
| title = 50 ccs
| image = 50_ccs.png
| titletext = There's been a raccoon accident at an accordion bacchanalia! Double doses!
}}

==Explanation==
This comic presents a busy day in the clinic for doctor [[Ponytail]], who orders 50 ccs from a nurse (probably [[Megan]] who walks in front of her rather than [[Cueball]] walking away behind her), all the while everyone is hurrying along the hall. This could be a typical scenario in a busy hospital. However the pun is that the 50 ccs are not medicine but should be used to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times.

In medicine, "cc" usually means "{{w|cubic centimeter}}", and is often called that by medical personnel. A cubic centimeter is equal to 1 ml (milliliter), so "50 ccs" usually means 50 ml of a certain medicine. In this case however, the doctor has not told the nurse to bring 50 ccs of any given medicine; instead, she needs to write "hi'''cc'''up va'''cc'''ine" 25 times, with both words containing the letter combination "cc", so she needs to write that combination 50 times.

That is the joke, that the 50 ccs literally means the two-lettered 'cc' fifty times.
*50 cc would be
**cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc
** just enough 'cc's to spell ''hiccup vaccine'' 25 times.

There's no conventional {{w|vaccine}} against {{w|hiccup}}s. However, performing tasks meant to distract one's self is a method to stop hiccups. Therefore the act of writing "hiccup vaccine" 25 times would itself comprise one more of those hiccup cures that never seems to work. What these techniques all rely on is that they all force one to hold one's breath, thus resetting the diaphragm from its out of sync spasms.

The title text text refers to a fictional event with four words containing "cc" (ra'''cc'''oon, a'''cc'''ident, a'''cc'''ordion, ba'''cc'''hanalia), which means she needs to write "cc" 100 times. Referring to the 50 ccs from above, this would be a double dosage.

Although the words of the sentence has been chosen based on their cc's the sentence is quite interesting in itself:
*An {{w|accordion}} is a box-shaped musical instrument with tangents like on a piano. The instrument is played by compressing or expanding the bellows. It has sometimes been accused of being a [http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f193/ZenLunatic82/FarSide-Accordion.jpg hellish instrument]. It has not been used in xkcd before.
*The ''{{w|Bacchanalia}}'' were Roman festivals of {{w|Bacchus}} (Roman name for the equivalent Greek wine God Dionysus). The festivals were based on various ecstatic elements of the Greek {{w|Dionysia}}.
*The animal {{w|raccoon}}, has begun to appear in {{w|Raccoon#Urban_raccoons|urban areas}} which has given rises to increasing {{w|Raccoon#Conflicts|conflicts with humans}}. A dead raccoon had thus found its way into Cueball's car in [[1565: Back Seat]] and already back in [[1025: Tumblr]] Megan has a raccoon sex dungeon in her attic!

So here there is talk of a wine festival with music played on accordions that has had an accident involving raccoons, in addition to the need for vaccine against the hiccups.

A similar doctor Ponytail is shown in [[883: Pain Rating]] also along with Cueball and Megan and just with Megan in [[996: Making Things Difficult]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail in a doctor's coat, walks right while reading from a clipboard, passing Cueball walking the other way while she talks to Megan walking in front of her.]
:Ponytail: Nurse, bring me 50 ccs!
:Ponytail: I need to write "hiccup vaccine" 25 times!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Doctor Ponytail]]

923: Strunk and White

2020-08-22T21:30:52Z

162.158.74.107:

{{comic
| number = 923
| date = July 11, 2011
| title = Strunk and White
| image = strunk_and_white.png
| titletext = The best thing about Strunk/White fanfiction is that it's virtually guaranteed to be well written.
}}

==Explanation==
The 1918 writing style guide ''{{w|The Elements of Style}}'', by Cornell University professor {{w|William Strunk Jr.}} and ''New Yorker'' writer {{w|E.B. White}} (perhaps better known as the author of ''{{w|Charlotte's Web}}'' and ''{{w|Stuart Little}}''), is commonly referred to as "''Strunk & White''". In this comic, the current editors of ''Strunk & White'' are clarifying a matter of style pertaining to the style guide, an instance of {{w|meta humor}}, a recurring theme in ''xkcd''.

Erotic fan fiction is a genre of writing in which fans make up erotic stories involving characters from non-erotic stories. "{{w|Slash fiction}}" is a subgenre that pairs characters of the same sex: These pairings are denoted by using the "/" to separate the paired characters, hence the name "slash fiction". This convention is generally thought to originate with the {{w|Kirk/Spock}} pairing in {{w|Star Trek: The Original Series|''Star Trek''}} fan fiction, wherein "K/S" was used for such romantic or erotic works of fan fiction, while "K&S" was used for non-romantic works. This comic imagines a similar distinction being necessary for "''Strunk & White''" vs. "Strunk/White".

The title text comments that authors of Strunk/White fan fiction will most likely have read ''The Elements of Style'', which makes them better writers.

==Transcript==
:[Hairbun, with glasses, sits behind a desk typing on a computer. A line goes from the keyboard indicating that the text above is the one she types. Behind her stand Cueball with a book in his hand and a man with sideburns holding up a smoking pipe.]

:Dear Internet,
::We, the current editors of
:Strunk & White's ''The Elements of''
:''Style'', must—with great reluctance—
:clarify a point of orthography:

::"Strunk & White" should be
:used for the style manual and
:"Strunk/White" for the erotic
:fan fiction pairing.

==Trivia==
E.B. White is mentioned again in the later comics, [[2162: Literary Opinions]] and [[1087: Cirith Ungol]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Sex]]

Talk:276: Fixed Width

2020-07-08T17:11:01Z

162.158.74.107: Added comment(s).

All these statements would have been aligned, too:
No this is for real
I love you so much!
I really love you!!
It’s the real thing
You can believe it!
I love you!!!!!!!!!
I love you. Really.
Definitely for real
This is an odd one, because Emily presented two alternatives, both of the same length. Both choices would have retained the pattern.--[[Special:Contributions/46.142.61.98|46.142.61.98]] 09:21, 3 September 2012 (UTC)madd

:No it isn't - 'rob' is two characters shorter than 'emily', so his answers have two be two characters longer. So Emily's answers won't do. [[User:Kaa-ching|Kaa-ching]] ([[User talk:Kaa-ching|talk]]) 09:49, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

::Nope. 'for real' and 'just sex' (assuming the use of a monospace font, which appears to be the case) are the same length. As 'definitely just sex' allows the lines to match up, 'definitely for real' should also. -- 22:50, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

:::This is because 'for real' and 'just sex' are both being said by Rob to complete his 19-character message. All of Emily's messages are 17 characters long, because her name is two shorter. [[Special:Contributions/101.162.138.9|101.162.138.9]] 17:02, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

:...other alternatives:
Just sex?Ridiculous
Justsex?Ridiculous!
Just sex? No way!!!
This isn't just sex
This is for serious
I want to marry you
This is not for sex
:[[User:Greyson|Greyson]] ([[User talk:Greyson|talk]]) 21:01, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

I don't understand this statement: "Rob then attempts to justify what he said which, possibly by design, is the normal text alignment for making text being even on both the left and right sides of a page." Does it need clarifying, or am I just confused? [[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 22:18, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

::He's referring to the implied pun on the word "justified", which can mean "done for a good or legitimate reason" or "having been adjusted so that print forms a straight line on one or both margins." I'll clarify it. [[User:Jerodast|- jerodast]] ([[User talk:Jerodast|talk]]) 13:33, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

The "alternative replies" suggested above are hilarious because they betray that their suggesters probably can't relate to compulsions well. To begin with, they begin with capital letters, while the comic lines don't! This is inconsistency. And then, they include trailing punctuation, repeated punctuation, spacing mistakes... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.225|141.101.89.225]] 18:50, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

Maybe it's not worth mentioning, Rob doesn't start the conversation intending to synch line-lengths. His first comment "<rob> hi" is the same length as "<emily> ", so she can't possibly reply with the same length. His second comment is conversational too, but his third is probably lined up on purpose. I figure it's also worth noting to alternative-seekers, especially if he was compulsively making the line lengths match, he probably didn't give himself very much time to reply, and "definitely just sex" was the first thing that came to mind. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.63|173.245.55.63]] 17:37, 15 July 2014 (UTC)

Here a few ways that could've worked out well, or at least better (all appended together to make easier to see the alignment) :
<rob> hi
<emily> hey you
<rob> last night was nice
<emily> the best i've had
<rob> yeah it was AMAZING
<emily> ok, i have to ask
<emily> is this for real?
<emily> or is it just sex
<rob> em, it is for real!
<rob> as real as it gets!
<rob> it is more than sex
<rob> i think i'm in love
<rob> definitely in love!
<rob> love is undeniable!
<rob> i heart you verily!
<rob> i want you forever!
<rob> i want your babies!
<rob> please don't leave!
<rob> love is in the air!
<rob> you and me, wedding
<rob> sex good, love more
<rob> justifiably in love

I could think of more, but I got bored. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.212.213|108.162.212.213]] 05:20, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

This is a parody of the game Emily is away[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.59|141.101.66.59]] 13:25, 21 November 2015 (UTC)
:It was released THREE YEARS after the comic. [[User:Sobsz|Sobsz]] ([[User talk:Sobsz|talk]]) 16:28, 17 January 2016 (UTC)
::In which case, I suggest that the reverse is true instead. "Emily is away", is a parody or an extension of the idea in this comic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.107|162.158.74.107]] 17:11, 8 July 2020 (UTC)
:"141.101.66.59 is away" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.55|162.158.187.55]] 15:48, 28 December 2018 (UTC)