explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:588: Pep Rally

2025-12-09T00:09:50Z

68.204.55.141:

Reminds me of the whole traditional situation that various war leaders would inspire the troops prior to a battle with the whole "I spoke to God(/equivalent), and He is with us!" sort of thing. Presumably similar speeches were being made by his opposing number. And then there's the comedic subversion of "I had a little chat with God, last night and... I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. But you'll still try your best, right chaps?" [[Special:Contributions/178.105.100.250|178.105.100.250]] 00:11, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
: Various times in the Bible, the leader would ask if they'd win this fight. God would say no, and the leader would refuse to fight. They only went headfirst into losing fights when they didn't listen to God. So there wasn't that subversion really. At least, not from their point of view. [[User:Cflare|Cflare]] ([[User talk:Cflare|talk]]) 15:38, 4 August 2014 (UTC)
:: You know, I think he may have got that from somewhere else.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.157|108.162.249.157]] 13:07, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

I remember back in high school (not to far back), I once gave an obnoxious and over the top rant in APUSH comparing the high school rally to nationalistic propaganda indoctrinating Americans into an Us-Them Mentality. My APUSH teacher found it hilarious. We also had an Anti-Rally, where all the students (and teachers) who didn’t want to go to the rally would go hang by the cafeteria and play Cards Against Humanity, Mau, Ninja, or whatever else came to mind. I have a distinct memory of my Robotics teacher watching me friends and I play CAH. Also of playing CAH during APUSH and AP Lit after the AP Tests. This has nothing to do with anything, this just reminded me of those events and I thought people may find it amusing. If i’m Off base here, then I apologize. {{unsigned|Comment Police}}
:I want to do this. Rallies are more obnoxious than your rant could ever have been. [[User:Trogdor147|Trogdor147]] ([[User_talk:Trogdor147|talk]]) 03:22, 19 September 2024 (UTC)

Perhaps we should include a mention of the extraneous comma in the final panel ("...this, rally, again?") as a typo?-DrKaii {{unsigned|Comment Police}}
:It could have been a 'verbal comma', where the speaker pauses to emphasize the word 'rally'. Possibly for sarcasm. [And I'm sorry, I probably ought to create a login, as much as I read explainxkcd.] [[Special:Contributions/68.204.55.141|68.204.55.141]] 00:09, 9 December 2025 (UTC)

Talk:846: Dental Nerve

2025-09-19T14:46:44Z

68.204.55.141: advice about arm-chilling

Modern science has yet to come up with any plausible theories as to ''why'' Ke$ha would even want to brush her teeth with a bottle of Jack Daniel's in the first place. [[Special:Contributions/71.201.53.130|71.201.53.130]] 20:33, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

How important is brushing and flossing really? Take a look at these Before & After images courtesy of a Shellharbour Dentist (http://shellharbourcitydental.com.au) {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.219}}

The page was the home page with no obvious link to whatever. [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 19:41, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Is this the before and after pictures you were talking about? https://www.shellharbourcitydental.com.au/view-results
[[User:Alissa92|Alissa92]] ([[User talk:Alissa92|talk]]) 17:58, 17 June 2019 (UTC)
What's with the stressed syllables in caps in the title text? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.226|103.22.201.226]] 12:02, 2 June 2014 (UTC)
:It's to clarify which syllables are stressed. If you read it that way, it sounds like the original lyrics. [[User:Mezgrman|Mezgrman]] ([[User talk:Mezgrman|talk]]) 18:08, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Obviously brushing one’s teeth with a bottle of Jack is not ideal, but I am somewhat curious whether it would be better than nothing, and if so how much. The actual damage is done by bacteria, which presumably do not appreciate the alcohol. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.56.221|162.158.56.221]] 19:32, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
:After a bit of research I found that alcohol is in fact pretty bad for your mouth (dries it out; does damage to gums etc.). I don’t drink; I have no idea whether I’d have known that if I actually did drink or not.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.56.221|162.158.56.221]] 19:40, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
Many types of mouth cleansing fluid use alcohol for disinfection; bacteria don't appreciate that. However, booze'll never manage to remove food leftovers from your teeth (mostly done by the brush, with help of the toothpaste), and it won't help strengthen the teeth (the toothpaste's fluoride) either. Apparently alcohol can also harm your gums, which would indirectly harm your teeth.
Result: in the very short term, alcohol would clean your teeth, but in the longer run, the remaining food traces would attract bacteria again within minutes, your teeth would be weaker after a period without fluoride, and gum harm might cause teeth harm if you kept going like this for a long time. Sounds like alcohol could be an emergency solution in the wilderness? Or use it to disinfect a shared toothbrush!

It would do more damage, but in a different way. Also, because people are like that, your teeth would be taking damage from both bacteria and the jack. In addition, there’s no guarantee that you would specifically take nerve damage from that so… [[User:Itz meeeeee37|Itz meeeeee37]] ([[User talk:Itz meeeeee37|talk]]) 19:40, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thinks holding my hands in ice water for 90 seconds wouldn't be that painful? The cold should numb the hands pretty quickly, especially if you put a good amount of forearm in to cool the blood flowing in. [[User:Metatem|Metatem]] ([[User talk:Metatem|talk]]) 05:02, 10 September 2025 (UTC)
:Personally, I'd advise against it. You might think 90 seconds is not too bad... but after two minutes of finger-freeze, you'll likely be thinking again. And no, the blood-flow 'pause' doesn't immediately resume, so much as recovers over time. (noob user, who hasn't wanted to sign up for yet ANOTHER place to login.) [[Special:Contributions/68.204.55.141|68.204.55.141]] 14:46, 19 September 2025 (UTC)

Talk:783: I Don't Want Directions

2025-09-15T21:34:47Z

68.204.55.141: Added suggestion to discourage extended 'helpful explanations'

Are you sure the postman can find his way? Maybe you need to put the directions on the letter, just to be safe. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|#707|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 02:33, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Unless you're using Apple Maps on an iPhone 5S. Watch out for those runways.
[[Special:Contributions/74.140.141.101|74.140.141.101]] 18:16, 5 October 2013 (UTC)

Am I the only one that doesn't automatically assume the GPS knows best? I always look it up anyway... especially in Houston where there are a lot of roads that the system thinks is "divided," so it will try to route you in a circuitous way to ensure you can make a right-turn in (when in reality it is totally possible to make the left turn). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.220.23|108.162.220.23]] 15:52, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
:No. In Britain GPS systems usually assume the motorways are quickest when in Britain the motorways are usually clogged.

:It was 2010, so it was before when smartphones got ''this'' popular. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.85.204|141.101.85.204]] 05:39, 17 June 2015 (UTC) [[User:Weatherlawyer| I used Google News BEFORE it was clickbait]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 17:10, 26 January 2015 (UTC)

If someone insists on giving directions, listen to them; it may mean the place isn't where maps think it is, or they give a road that's not there or something. At least three addresses in my immediate family have this problem to some degree.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.16|108.162.221.16]] 18:59, 2 September 2015 (UTC)
* Agreed: in my area, people may have address "house X", but with "access via dead end Y" [[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.243|172.68.11.243]] 05:30, 28 July 2020 (UTC)
One possible 'way around' people who don't want to trust your GPS, is to accept/acknowledge the directions, then _quote them back wrong_. For example, "Okay, so turn left a mile before the big open field, and west onto I-73, right?" because in the US, major interstates tend to be even for east-west, odd for north-south. (My apologies; I have not created a username for explainxcd.) [[Special:Contributions/68.204.55.141|68.204.55.141]] 21:34, 15 September 2025 (UTC)