explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2819: Pronunciation

2023-08-23T19:11:48Z

198.41.238.51: Explanation

{{comic
| number = 2819
| date = August 23, 2023
| title = Pronunciation
| image = pronunciation_2x.png
| imagesize = 315x257px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I pronounce the 'u' in 'pronunciation' like in 'putting' but the 'ou' in 'pronounce' like in 'wound'.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOTATO - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic shows how to pronounce the word "Tuesday", however it does so through the use of ambiguous pronunciation guides. Often these guides are used to tell people how something is pronounced without resorting to the IPA, which most are unfamiliar with. However these guides often have issues with multiple accents, or in this case, words that can be pronounced in multiple ways.

(Note: using General American pronunciations here)

:Buffe'''t''': Can be pronounced as /ˈbʌ.feɪ/ (silent t) (referring to the food) or /ˈbʌf.ɪ'''t'''/ (to strike something) (correct).
:Min'''u'''te: Can be pronounced as /ˈmɪn'''ɪ'''t/ (time) or /maɪˈn'''(j)uː'''t/ (small) (correct).
:R'''e'''cord: Can be pronounced as /ˈɹ'''ɛ'''k.ɚd/ or /ˈɹ'''ɛ'''k.ɔɹd/ (noun) or /ɹ'''ɪ'''ˈkɔɹd/ (verb). Neither is actually the correct e, the correct e would be silent.
:U'''s'''e: Can be pronounced as /juː'''s'''/ (noun) or /juː'''z'''/ (verb) (correct).
:Mope'''d''': Can be pronounced as /moʊp'''t'''/ (dejected) or /ˈmoʊ.pɛ'''d'''/ (vehicle) (correct).
:B'''a'''ss: Can be pronounced as /b'''eɪ'''s/ (guitar) (correct) or /b'''æ'''s/ (fish).
:G'''y'''ro: Can be pronounced as /ˈd͡ʒ'''aɪ'''.ɹoʊ/ (gyroscope) or /ˈj'''iː'''.ɹoʊ/, /ˈj'''ɪ'''ɹoʊ/ or /ˈʒ'''ɪ'''ɹoʊ/ (correct) as well as /ˈd͡ʒ'''aɪ'''.ɹoʊ/ (sandwich).

Following this guide, a pronunciation of Tuesday as /ɪɛstæaɪ/ is possible.

The title text references how some people pronounce the word "pron'''u'''nciation" like "pron'''ou'''nce" (with /aʊ/) and others use a different vowel /ʌ/. Here Randall is saying that he pronounces them with the u in putting and the ou in wound. If we take putting to mean /ˈpʌtɪŋ/ (golf) and wound as /waʊnd/ (past tense of wind), this could mean he pronounces them using common pronunciations. However those two words could also be pronounced /ˈpʊtɪŋ/ (placing) and /wund/ (injury), indicating a very non-standard pronunication.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[The word "Tuesday", with each letter labeled by a box with an arrow:]
:T: As in buffe'''t'''
:u: As in min'''u'''te
:e: As in r'''e'''cord
:s: As in u'''s'''e
:d: As in mope'''d'''
:a: As in b'''a'''ss
:y: As in g'''y'''ro

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Pet peeve: Ambiguous pronunciation guides

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2507: USV-C

2021-08-26T05:35:17Z

198.41.238.51:

I just did my first edit! It'll definitely get changed, but I guess this is good enough for a start

[[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.204|162.158.89.204]] 16:30, 25 August 2021 (UTC)

that's not as absurd as it sounds. there are optical usb cables which work by converting the usb signals to and from light signals.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.83|162.158.92.83]] 16:48, 25 August 2021 (UTC)

I bet this is going to be an xkcd that gets recreated in real life.

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.87|108.162.215.87]] 17:01, 25 August 2021 (UTC)

There are ultraviolet LED lamps that are powered at 5V with an USB connector. xkcd in real life it's already done.
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.27|141.101.105.27]] 17:57, 25 August 2021 (UTC)
: I've been unable to find one with a hardwired male USB-C plug in a quick Google search. Though, there are many portable UV-C lamps which would count as USB-C socket to UV-C, so you could add on a USB-C plug-plug adapter and emulate this XKCD with two chained adapters. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.69|172.69.71.69]] 19:20, 25 August 2021 (UTC)

Am I the only one to think "from C to shining C"? And I'm not even American. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.209|141.101.76.209]] 20:00, 25 August 2021 (UTC)

It could be as simple as a UV lightbox integrated into a USB EPROM programmer. Have a few in the back erasing while you're programming a few in the front. --[[User:Tepples|Tepples]] ([[User talk:Tepples|talk]]) 22:42, 25 August 2021 (UTC)

It could be that the light flashes on and off for data or something. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.51|198.41.238.51]] 05:35, 26 August 2021 (UTC)

Talk:851: Na

2021-03-15T23:32:37Z

198.41.238.51: Shes got the look

Randall actually explains at the top: "I can't ''believe'' I forgot Hey Jude.
I don't get do-overs, but I couldn't resist making [http://xkcd.com/851_make_it_better/ a fixed version]." [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 16:29, 6 April 2013 (UTC)
:The "make it better" portion of the URL of the revised comic is probably a reference to additional lyrics from Hey Jude. In light of the fact that that particular joke wouldn't have been available unless he had omitted it from the initial one, it's possible he 'forgot' Hey Jude on purpose.
:[[Special:Contributions/173.21.244.39|173.21.244.39]] 22:40, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
Doesn't Katamari Damacy have nine "na"s, not ten? This is the number I can hear in the song on youtube, and the number in his earlier comic Accident. Am I missing something? --[[Special:Contributions/152.78.168.175|152.78.168.175]] 13:22, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
:Nope. It has 9. "Hey, Jude" wasn't the only thing he missed. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.41|108.162.217.41]] 04:14, 8 June 2014 (UTC)
::Actually it depends. In some arrangements there's a leading "Na" at a lower pitch before going into the main sequence, providing the tenth. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.13|108.162.216.13]] 20:01, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Doesn't Batman have 16 na's? I'm pretty sure Im right about that ~JFreund
:Usually, yeah. But if you replace "nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana" with just "na na na na na na na na" then you get what is seen here. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.41|108.162.217.41]] 04:14, 8 June 2014 (UTC)

This is described here as a "flowchart", but I suspect Randall was going for a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_State_Machine finite state machine]. --[[User:Dfeuer|Dfeuer]] ([[User talk:Dfeuer|talk]]) 08:04, 16 January 2014 (UTC)

Um, I'm not a math person, but this reminds me of Markov Chain a bit?[[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.190|141.101.105.190]] 14:14, 21 February 2015 (UTC)

Doesn't it go "hey hey hey goodbye" instead of "hey hey goodbye" as well? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.5|141.101.99.5]] 18:28, 11 March 2015 (UTC) Yeah, I Think I'm Signing Right

This explanation is incomplete and not very good. I'm not American and only by reading through comments here I get to understand that "Na na na ... <x>" are like lyrics extracts from different TV-Show-Songs in the USA? {{unsigned ip|162.158.93.128}}

I added the mention of the title text to the explanation so it's not incomplete anymore. -- [[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 1:28, 9 September 2016 (EDT)

What about Na Na Na by My Chemical Romance? Na count of 7 Nas, repeated 6 times in each of 3 choruses, and 11 extra, which adds up to 137 Nas! Or Na Na Na Na Naa by Kaiser Chiefs? Counting Naa as Na, there are 5 Nas, repeated 47 times, for a total of 235 Nas! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.82|162.158.34.82]] 11:59, 16 December 2016 (UTC)NaNaNa[[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.82|162.158.34.82]] 11:59, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

Journey's "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'" ends with 7 sets of 22 for a total of 154 Nas. [[User:Ryanker|Ryanker]] ([[User talk:Ryanker|talk]]) 19:33, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Ini Kamoze does 20 of them in "Here comes the hot stepper" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.94|162.158.59.94]] 16:56, 23 May 2018 (UTC)

Searching any fulltext-searchable lyrics site gives NA songs in the order of 50000. Probably won't fit on a xkcd comic... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.226|108.162.229.226]] 15:43, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

My favourite omission is "Shes got the Look" from Roxette. 30xNa+"Shes got the look".
[[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.51|198.41.238.51]] 23:32, 15 March 2021 (UTC)