explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2960: Organ Meanings

2024-07-19T15:54:25Z

Abukaj:

Thymus was referred to in an epigraph of supplementary material of ANSI C course taught by Z. Płoski at University of Wroclaw in winter 2005:

Polish:
Pewien pan co miał w normie '''grasicę'''
Rzekł do kumpla wychodząc z ANSI C
Drogi panie kolego, dwie godziny niczego
A ja taką do wiedzy mam chcicę

English:
A man whose '''thymus''' was normal
After ANSI C class told to his pal
Dear colleague, two hours about nothing
Although I crave for knowledge so much

[[User:Abukaj|Abukaj]] ([[User talk:Abukaj|talk]]) 15:50, 19 July 2024 (UTC)


how is thymus formed [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.102|172.70.85.102]] 07:00, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
: It grows from seed.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.97|172.69.194.97]] 12:23, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

You think Randall might have made this one as a ploy to have explain xkcd educate him on the organs and metaphors mentioned? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.33|162.158.146.33]] 07:59, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Why is 'Liver' so high up on the metaphor scale? The only one I can think of is 'lily-livered', which doesn't appear to make much sense at all. On the other hand, I'd have 'Spleen' nearer the top, and 'Tongue' fairly high up as well. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.185|172.70.162.185]] 08:06, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:Agreed; personally I’d have liver and tongue switch places, and I’d guess the one who added silver-tongued and biting one’s tongue would probably agree also. But that might be because I understand the biological function of a liver better than the average person does. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.5|172.70.210.5]] 08:21, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:: Are those really metaphors, though? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.40.152|162.158.40.152]] 09:24, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
::: They aren't, or at least not metaphors to the tongue. Just done an edit, before having read this, to remove the visibility of "silver tongue" (a tongue that is metaphorically as silver... or maybe even quicksilver) and a "bitten tongue" (the tongue as if restrained by biting). Though there are other forms, the metaphor to biological function must be of the general "it is the tongue of the <something else>" type, maybe such as a tongue of lava or the tongue of an oil-can (one being an extending appendage, the other additionally being a contact depositor of liquid - though not always consistent in application).
::: Something can more easily be understood as the metaphorical heart/nerves/spine/etc of something, and we also have a good understanding of what the originals do. A sewage treatment plant can be considered the kidneys of a town (arguably more understood than a liver of one, for example, so I'd have personally switched the two), but it gets more complex with some of them. In the case of the appendix, we pretty much ''only'' know (in lay-use) that it's a spare fleshy bit that might or might not have any use, so the metaphorical 'equivalent biological function' of a "town's 'appendix'" is probably more understood than a body's ''actual'' appendix, for most people, the opposite of the situation with metaphorical/actual tongues. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.64|172.70.91.64]] 10:06, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:::: Your understanding of metaphors is... unique. A "silver tongue" certainly is a tongue-based metaphor; we're referring to someone's manner of speech as their "tongue".{{unsigned|Collapsinghrung}}
::::: From my perspective, that's a tongue-''targetting'' metaphor. "He has a tongue of silver" (in this case "tongue" is a metonym of "manner of talking", not a metaphor). Your understanding of what the tongue refers to is different from metaphor/simile, etc, as it ''is'' the thing (the talking) that is refered to. It's the silverness that's an metaphorical element. Or, like "To bite one's tongue", having become an established idiom. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.145|172.70.86.145]] 16:46, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
: The one I think of is "What am I chopped Liver". Though according to google that is usually a Jewish metaphor (which I am) {{unsigned ip|162.158.158.103}}
:Liver has medieval English metaphors for bravery too, but afaik usually in the context of weak-liver = cowardly; e.g. lily-livered. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.130.19|172.69.130.19]] 14:25, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:Euch ist wohl ne Laus über die Leber gelaufen! (German proverb, "=someone angered you?!") [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.115|172.71.160.115]] 07:12, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that 'Metaphor meaning' is going to work as a column in the table - several of these have multiple metaphors associated, often with varied and little-related meanings.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.249|172.70.160.249]] 12:20, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

I just added the line about anatomical metaphors varying from culture to culture. Would people like to include any examples of culturally variable metaphors? I think it was Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything Is Illuminated" where an Eastern European character kept shouting out "spleen". [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.172|172.70.46.172]] 12:58, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:One example off the top of my head - and might need a proper reference to add - is the common use of Kidneys in metaphor. Afaik, the most common-slang in NA for that is "ow my kidneys" as in "I laughed so hard, my kidneys hurt now." Meanwhile, in many East Asian cultures, references to the 'kidneys' is most commonly used as an euphemism for sexual performance due to the connection to traditional medicine, where having sex is seen as 'exerting/damaging the kidneys.' E.g., feeding someone food 'good for the kidneys,' references to 'oh, your kidneys have been overexerted lately,' 'are your kidneys okay,' etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.38|172.69.214.38]] 14:05, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
::Kidneys are also often referred to, typically facetiously, as a high value object one can sell in a pinch. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.140.184|172.69.140.184]] 08:44, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

I think tongue is placed strangely low on the metaphor axis. Usage of "tongue" to mean language, conversation, or other speech (i.e. "mother tongue," "silver-tongued," "speaking in tongues") is well-established. Secondly, I also feel kidneys should be higher with the added metaphorical definition of value, as in "you'd have to sell a kidney." [[Special:Contributions/172.69.140.184|172.69.140.184]] 08:44, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:Tongue (as per language) is a metonym, not a metaphor. And other examples I'm seeing are verging upon similes (also different from metaphors). People seem to be confused about this, but possibly also Randall (hard to tell, as he doesn't really give examples, just his graphic conclusions). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.185|172.70.162.185]] 09:48, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:: Added a poscript paragraph to try to cover the scope of these contentions between y'all. I (hurridly) provided examples for each linguistic form, but I might not have gone with the best ones (for example, I was going to add such as "a brain like a computer", at the appropriate point, but then realised that "brain" wasn't even featured in the comic so obviously better rhetorical examples could be provided instead/as well. Bear in mind that different literary backgrounds might understand the references as different rhetoric devices, especially once a phrase becomes idiomatic in its own right. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.176|172.70.90.176]] 13:37, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Bodily fluids ({{w|humors}}) had the same overlap, with early doctors thinking that fluids influenced moods (giving us terms like "sanguine", "phlegmatic", "bilious"). Could someone add a section about that? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.47.23|172.70.47.23]] 15:28, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Your table in the article says that "appendix" has a metaphorical meaning of "uselessness", but I don't think this is true. Can you find a dictionary that has a figurative sense? Wiktionary for example does not [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/appendix]. I think Randall may be a little confused about what is a metaphor, and may have intended "appendix" here in the sense of an extra part added to a book or academic paper etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.138|172.70.85.138]] 08:05, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
: I have, albeit rarely, heard people refer to something as 'a mere appendix to ''x'' '. However, I suspect the metaphor in those cases is more in reference to appendix as a part of a book, rather than a biological organ.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.94|172.70.90.94]] 09:55, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:: Both biological and bibliographical uses derive, in their own way, from the Latin root term for "to hang upon(/off of)", as an added on element to something else. And most 'metaphorical' use does not deviate too far from this concept so could be considered a reference to both (or neither), according to the intent of the one who invokes it or the perception of one who receives such an invoked reference. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.176|172.70.90.176]] 13:37, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2960: Organ Meanings

2024-07-19T15:52:56Z

Abukaj:

Thymus was referred to in an epigraph of supplementary material of ANSI C course taught by Z. Płoski at University of Wroclaw in winter 2005:

Polish:
Pewien pan co miał w normie '''grasicę'''
Rzekł do kumpla wychodząc z ANSI C
Drogi panie kolego, dwie godziny niczego
A ja taką do wiedzy mam chcicę

English:
A man whose '''thymus''' was normal
After ANSI C class told to his pal
Dear colleague, two hours about nothing
Although I crave for knowledge so much

[[User:Abukaj|Abukaj]] ([[User talk:Abukaj|talk]]) 15:50, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

how is thymus formed [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.102|172.70.85.102]] 07:00, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
: It grows from seed.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.97|172.69.194.97]] 12:23, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

You think Randall might have made this one as a ploy to have explain xkcd educate him on the organs and metaphors mentioned? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.33|162.158.146.33]] 07:59, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Why is 'Liver' so high up on the metaphor scale? The only one I can think of is 'lily-livered', which doesn't appear to make much sense at all. On the other hand, I'd have 'Spleen' nearer the top, and 'Tongue' fairly high up as well. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.185|172.70.162.185]] 08:06, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:Agreed; personally I’d have liver and tongue switch places, and I’d guess the one who added silver-tongued and biting one’s tongue would probably agree also. But that might be because I understand the biological function of a liver better than the average person does. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.5|172.70.210.5]] 08:21, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:: Are those really metaphors, though? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.40.152|162.158.40.152]] 09:24, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
::: They aren't, or at least not metaphors to the tongue. Just done an edit, before having read this, to remove the visibility of "silver tongue" (a tongue that is metaphorically as silver... or maybe even quicksilver) and a "bitten tongue" (the tongue as if restrained by biting). Though there are other forms, the metaphor to biological function must be of the general "it is the tongue of the <something else>" type, maybe such as a tongue of lava or the tongue of an oil-can (one being an extending appendage, the other additionally being a contact depositor of liquid - though not always consistent in application).
::: Something can more easily be understood as the metaphorical heart/nerves/spine/etc of something, and we also have a good understanding of what the originals do. A sewage treatment plant can be considered the kidneys of a town (arguably more understood than a liver of one, for example, so I'd have personally switched the two), but it gets more complex with some of them. In the case of the appendix, we pretty much ''only'' know (in lay-use) that it's a spare fleshy bit that might or might not have any use, so the metaphorical 'equivalent biological function' of a "town's 'appendix'" is probably more understood than a body's ''actual'' appendix, for most people, the opposite of the situation with metaphorical/actual tongues. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.64|172.70.91.64]] 10:06, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:::: Your understanding of metaphors is... unique. A "silver tongue" certainly is a tongue-based metaphor; we're referring to someone's manner of speech as their "tongue".{{unsigned|Collapsinghrung}}
::::: From my perspective, that's a tongue-''targetting'' metaphor. "He has a tongue of silver" (in this case "tongue" is a metonym of "manner of talking", not a metaphor). Your understanding of what the tongue refers to is different from metaphor/simile, etc, as it ''is'' the thing (the talking) that is refered to. It's the silverness that's an metaphorical element. Or, like "To bite one's tongue", having become an established idiom. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.145|172.70.86.145]] 16:46, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
: The one I think of is "What am I chopped Liver". Though according to google that is usually a Jewish metaphor (which I am) {{unsigned ip|162.158.158.103}}
:Liver has medieval English metaphors for bravery too, but afaik usually in the context of weak-liver = cowardly; e.g. lily-livered. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.130.19|172.69.130.19]] 14:25, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:Euch ist wohl ne Laus über die Leber gelaufen! (German proverb, "=someone angered you?!") [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.115|172.71.160.115]] 07:12, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that 'Metaphor meaning' is going to work as a column in the table - several of these have multiple metaphors associated, often with varied and little-related meanings.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.249|172.70.160.249]] 12:20, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

I just added the line about anatomical metaphors varying from culture to culture. Would people like to include any examples of culturally variable metaphors? I think it was Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything Is Illuminated" where an Eastern European character kept shouting out "spleen". [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.172|172.70.46.172]] 12:58, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:One example off the top of my head - and might need a proper reference to add - is the common use of Kidneys in metaphor. Afaik, the most common-slang in NA for that is "ow my kidneys" as in "I laughed so hard, my kidneys hurt now." Meanwhile, in many East Asian cultures, references to the 'kidneys' is most commonly used as an euphemism for sexual performance due to the connection to traditional medicine, where having sex is seen as 'exerting/damaging the kidneys.' E.g., feeding someone food 'good for the kidneys,' references to 'oh, your kidneys have been overexerted lately,' 'are your kidneys okay,' etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.38|172.69.214.38]] 14:05, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
::Kidneys are also often referred to, typically facetiously, as a high value object one can sell in a pinch. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.140.184|172.69.140.184]] 08:44, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

I think tongue is placed strangely low on the metaphor axis. Usage of "tongue" to mean language, conversation, or other speech (i.e. "mother tongue," "silver-tongued," "speaking in tongues") is well-established. Secondly, I also feel kidneys should be higher with the added metaphorical definition of value, as in "you'd have to sell a kidney." [[Special:Contributions/172.69.140.184|172.69.140.184]] 08:44, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:Tongue (as per language) is a metonym, not a metaphor. And other examples I'm seeing are verging upon similes (also different from metaphors). People seem to be confused about this, but possibly also Randall (hard to tell, as he doesn't really give examples, just his graphic conclusions). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.185|172.70.162.185]] 09:48, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:: Added a poscript paragraph to try to cover the scope of these contentions between y'all. I (hurridly) provided examples for each linguistic form, but I might not have gone with the best ones (for example, I was going to add such as "a brain like a computer", at the appropriate point, but then realised that "brain" wasn't even featured in the comic so obviously better rhetorical examples could be provided instead/as well. Bear in mind that different literary backgrounds might understand the references as different rhetoric devices, especially once a phrase becomes idiomatic in its own right. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.176|172.70.90.176]] 13:37, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Bodily fluids ({{w|humors}}) had the same overlap, with early doctors thinking that fluids influenced moods (giving us terms like "sanguine", "phlegmatic", "bilious"). Could someone add a section about that? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.47.23|172.70.47.23]] 15:28, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Your table in the article says that "appendix" has a metaphorical meaning of "uselessness", but I don't think this is true. Can you find a dictionary that has a figurative sense? Wiktionary for example does not [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/appendix]. I think Randall may be a little confused about what is a metaphor, and may have intended "appendix" here in the sense of an extra part added to a book or academic paper etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.138|172.70.85.138]] 08:05, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
: I have, albeit rarely, heard people refer to something as 'a mere appendix to ''x'' '. However, I suspect the metaphor in those cases is more in reference to appendix as a part of a book, rather than a biological organ.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.94|172.70.90.94]] 09:55, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:: Both biological and bibliographical uses derive, in their own way, from the Latin root term for "to hang upon(/off of)", as an added on element to something else. And most 'metaphorical' use does not deviate too far from this concept so could be considered a reference to both (or neither), according to the intent of the one who invokes it or the perception of one who receives such an invoked reference. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.176|172.70.90.176]] 13:37, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2960: Organ Meanings

2024-07-19T15:50:42Z

Abukaj:

Thymus was referred to in an epigraph of supplementary material of ANSI C course taught by Z. Płoski at University of Wroclaw in winter 2005:

Polish:
Pewien pan co miał w normie '''grasicę'''
Rzekł do kumpla wychodząc z ANSI C
Drogi panie kolego, dwie godziny niczego
A ja taką do wiedzy mam chcicę

English:
A man whose '''thymus''' was normal
After ANSI C lecture told his pal
Dear colleague, two hours about nothing
Although I crave for knowledge so much

[[User:Abukaj|Abukaj]] ([[User talk:Abukaj|talk]]) 15:50, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

how is thymus formed [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.102|172.70.85.102]] 07:00, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
: It grows from seed.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.97|172.69.194.97]] 12:23, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

You think Randall might have made this one as a ploy to have explain xkcd educate him on the organs and metaphors mentioned? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.33|162.158.146.33]] 07:59, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Why is 'Liver' so high up on the metaphor scale? The only one I can think of is 'lily-livered', which doesn't appear to make much sense at all. On the other hand, I'd have 'Spleen' nearer the top, and 'Tongue' fairly high up as well. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.185|172.70.162.185]] 08:06, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:Agreed; personally I’d have liver and tongue switch places, and I’d guess the one who added silver-tongued and biting one’s tongue would probably agree also. But that might be because I understand the biological function of a liver better than the average person does. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.5|172.70.210.5]] 08:21, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:: Are those really metaphors, though? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.40.152|162.158.40.152]] 09:24, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
::: They aren't, or at least not metaphors to the tongue. Just done an edit, before having read this, to remove the visibility of "silver tongue" (a tongue that is metaphorically as silver... or maybe even quicksilver) and a "bitten tongue" (the tongue as if restrained by biting). Though there are other forms, the metaphor to biological function must be of the general "it is the tongue of the <something else>" type, maybe such as a tongue of lava or the tongue of an oil-can (one being an extending appendage, the other additionally being a contact depositor of liquid - though not always consistent in application).
::: Something can more easily be understood as the metaphorical heart/nerves/spine/etc of something, and we also have a good understanding of what the originals do. A sewage treatment plant can be considered the kidneys of a town (arguably more understood than a liver of one, for example, so I'd have personally switched the two), but it gets more complex with some of them. In the case of the appendix, we pretty much ''only'' know (in lay-use) that it's a spare fleshy bit that might or might not have any use, so the metaphorical 'equivalent biological function' of a "town's 'appendix'" is probably more understood than a body's ''actual'' appendix, for most people, the opposite of the situation with metaphorical/actual tongues. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.64|172.70.91.64]] 10:06, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:::: Your understanding of metaphors is... unique. A "silver tongue" certainly is a tongue-based metaphor; we're referring to someone's manner of speech as their "tongue".{{unsigned|Collapsinghrung}}
::::: From my perspective, that's a tongue-''targetting'' metaphor. "He has a tongue of silver" (in this case "tongue" is a metonym of "manner of talking", not a metaphor). Your understanding of what the tongue refers to is different from metaphor/simile, etc, as it ''is'' the thing (the talking) that is refered to. It's the silverness that's an metaphorical element. Or, like "To bite one's tongue", having become an established idiom. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.145|172.70.86.145]] 16:46, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
: The one I think of is "What am I chopped Liver". Though according to google that is usually a Jewish metaphor (which I am) {{unsigned ip|162.158.158.103}}
:Liver has medieval English metaphors for bravery too, but afaik usually in the context of weak-liver = cowardly; e.g. lily-livered. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.130.19|172.69.130.19]] 14:25, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:Euch ist wohl ne Laus über die Leber gelaufen! (German proverb, "=someone angered you?!") [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.115|172.71.160.115]] 07:12, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that 'Metaphor meaning' is going to work as a column in the table - several of these have multiple metaphors associated, often with varied and little-related meanings.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.249|172.70.160.249]] 12:20, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

I just added the line about anatomical metaphors varying from culture to culture. Would people like to include any examples of culturally variable metaphors? I think it was Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything Is Illuminated" where an Eastern European character kept shouting out "spleen". [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.172|172.70.46.172]] 12:58, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
:One example off the top of my head - and might need a proper reference to add - is the common use of Kidneys in metaphor. Afaik, the most common-slang in NA for that is "ow my kidneys" as in "I laughed so hard, my kidneys hurt now." Meanwhile, in many East Asian cultures, references to the 'kidneys' is most commonly used as an euphemism for sexual performance due to the connection to traditional medicine, where having sex is seen as 'exerting/damaging the kidneys.' E.g., feeding someone food 'good for the kidneys,' references to 'oh, your kidneys have been overexerted lately,' 'are your kidneys okay,' etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.214.38|172.69.214.38]] 14:05, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
::Kidneys are also often referred to, typically facetiously, as a high value object one can sell in a pinch. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.140.184|172.69.140.184]] 08:44, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

I think tongue is placed strangely low on the metaphor axis. Usage of "tongue" to mean language, conversation, or other speech (i.e. "mother tongue," "silver-tongued," "speaking in tongues") is well-established. Secondly, I also feel kidneys should be higher with the added metaphorical definition of value, as in "you'd have to sell a kidney." [[Special:Contributions/172.69.140.184|172.69.140.184]] 08:44, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:Tongue (as per language) is a metonym, not a metaphor. And other examples I'm seeing are verging upon similes (also different from metaphors). People seem to be confused about this, but possibly also Randall (hard to tell, as he doesn't really give examples, just his graphic conclusions). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.185|172.70.162.185]] 09:48, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:: Added a poscript paragraph to try to cover the scope of these contentions between y'all. I (hurridly) provided examples for each linguistic form, but I might not have gone with the best ones (for example, I was going to add such as "a brain like a computer", at the appropriate point, but then realised that "brain" wasn't even featured in the comic so obviously better rhetorical examples could be provided instead/as well. Bear in mind that different literary backgrounds might understand the references as different rhetoric devices, especially once a phrase becomes idiomatic in its own right. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.176|172.70.90.176]] 13:37, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Bodily fluids ({{w|humors}}) had the same overlap, with early doctors thinking that fluids influenced moods (giving us terms like "sanguine", "phlegmatic", "bilious"). Could someone add a section about that? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.47.23|172.70.47.23]] 15:28, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Your table in the article says that "appendix" has a metaphorical meaning of "uselessness", but I don't think this is true. Can you find a dictionary that has a figurative sense? Wiktionary for example does not [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/appendix]. I think Randall may be a little confused about what is a metaphor, and may have intended "appendix" here in the sense of an extra part added to a book or academic paper etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.138|172.70.85.138]] 08:05, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
: I have, albeit rarely, heard people refer to something as 'a mere appendix to ''x'' '. However, I suspect the metaphor in those cases is more in reference to appendix as a part of a book, rather than a biological organ.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.94|172.70.90.94]] 09:55, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
:: Both biological and bibliographical uses derive, in their own way, from the Latin root term for "to hang upon(/off of)", as an added on element to something else. And most 'metaphorical' use does not deviate too far from this concept so could be considered a reference to both (or neither), according to the intent of the one who invokes it or the perception of one who receives such an invoked reference. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.176|172.70.90.176]] 13:37, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2846: Daylight Saving Choice

2023-10-25T16:36:45Z

Abukaj:

I instead suggest that we make the DST shift 12 hours. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.1.190|172.68.1.190]] 15:16, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

The terrorist plot wasn't thwarted by this kind of proposal. It was just due to the fact that DST laws differ between countries. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:31, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

: The Palestinian terrorist plot on 5th September 1999 definitively was. One group of terrorists switched to ST as decided by authorities, while other refused to and used DST. [[User:Abukaj|Abukaj]] ([[User talk:Abukaj|talk]]) 16:36, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

== Average 39 minutes ==

While this figure makes sense (rather than 30 minutes) it was still slightly unexpected at first; as DST has a duration of 238 days, the average year-round time would be 238/365 hours ahead of Standard, or 39 minutes and 7.4 seconds. 
(Or, to factor in that a leap day occurs in 97 of every 400 years, 238/(365 ⁹⁷⁄₄₀₀) = 39 minutes and 5.8 seconds)

In fact, the original DST duration was set to actually be 6 months long (last Sunday of April to October), before being extended in 1987 and 2007 to reach its current 34 weeks.

[[User:SomeDee|SomeDee]] ([[User talk:SomeDee|talk]]) 15:23, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

2846: Daylight Saving Choice

2023-10-25T16:19:15Z

Abukaj: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2846
| date = October 25, 2023
| title = Daylight Saving Choice
| image = daylight_saving_choice_2x.png
| imagesize = 231x386px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I average out the spring and fall changes and just set my clocks 39 minutes ahead year-round.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TWO CLOCKS SET ONE HOUR APART - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Daylight saving time}} is a practice involving changing the clock one hour ahead for approximately half the year, typically during winter or spring. Most countries no longer follow this practice, as it has been found to cause major health problems such as an increased risk of heart attacks, however it is still used in North America, Europe, and parts of South America and Australia.

Within countries that still follow the practice, there are frequent arguments (mostly 2-3 days surrounding the clock change) over the pros and cons. Black Hat is suggesting that everyone should observe or ignore observe daylight savings time based on their personal opinion. While it might put an end to the arguments (although this itself is debatable) it would clearly cause disharmonious time. For example, during daylight savings time, an observer would claim it's 12:00 when a non-observer would claim it's 11:00.

There are known incidents in which an actual application of Black Hat's proposal
[https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/the-conversation/sdut-daylight-saving-time-sunday-2015mar07-htmlstory.html rendered a terrorist plot void]. One of them is the [https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-38.html 1999 Darwin Award Winner]

This comic was posted 11 days before the end of 2023's Daylight saving time in the United States.

The title text suggests splitting the difference by using a constant offset which is the average of the daylight savings offset across days of the year. We do not know if in this system Randall would change his clock for leap year.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is speaking at a lectern, flanked by Ponytail and Hairy.]
:Black Hat: From now on, everyone who likes daylight saving time should change their clocks, and everyone who doesn't, shouldn't.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The government finally decides to put an end to all the arguments.

{{comic discussion}}

2846: Daylight Saving Choice

2023-10-25T14:31:46Z

Abukaj: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2846
| date = October 25, 2023
| title = Daylight Saving Choice
| image = daylight_saving_choice_2x.png
| imagesize = 231x386px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I average out the spring and fall changes and just set my clocks 39 minutes ahead year-round.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TWO CLOCKS SET ONE HOUR APART - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Daylight saving time}} is a practice involving changing the clock one hour ahead for approximately half the year, typically during winter or spring. Most countries no longer follow this practice, as it has been found to cause major health problems such as an increased risk of heart attacks, however it is still used in North America, Europe, and parts of South America and Australia.

Black Hat is suggesting that everyone should observe or fail to observe daylight savings time based on their personal opinion. This would cause disharmonious time. For example, during daylight savings time, an observer would claim it's 12:00 when a non-observer would claim it's 11:00.
There are known incidents in which an actual application of Red Hat's proposal
[https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/the-conversation/sdut-daylight-saving-time-sunday-2015mar07-htmlstory.html rendered a terrorist plot void].

This comic was posted 10 days before the end of Daylight saving time.
==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is speaking at a lectern, flanked by Ponytail and Hairy.]
:Black Hat: From now on, everyone who likes daylight saving time should change their clocks, and everyone who doesn't, shouldn't.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The government finally decides to put an end to all the arguments.

{{comic discussion}}

1944: The End of the Rainbow

2018-01-23T01:46:17Z

Abukaj: /* Explanation */ another point Megan is wrong

{{comic
| number = 1944
| date = January 19, 2018
| title = The End of the Rainbow
| image = the_end_of_the_rainbow.png
| titletext = The retina is the exposed surface of the brain, so if you think about a pot of gold while looking at a rainbow, then there's one at BOTH ends.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Megan]] appears to reference the myth that at the end of every {{w|rainbow}} lies a {{w|leprechaun}}'s pot of gold. Instead of claiming that leprechauns and their gold don't exist, [[Cueball]] mansplains that, technically, {{w|File:Circular_rainbow.jpg|rainbows are circles}}, so they do not have an end. This is true for an idealised rainbow, and for some actual rainbows: if the viewer has an unobstructed view of the light-reflecting substance creating the effect for the whole of the circle's circumference, they could see a full circle. In practice, the circle is often broken by the horizon or, for example, discontinuity in cloud cover.

However, Megan counters that if one considers the path that light takes to form a rainbow, then it forms a two-cone structure, where the Sun (the vertex of the outer cone) emits light rays that move towards the Earth (forming the faces of the outer cone), then reflect off water droplets located at just the right angle (the circular base) to reach our eyes (the vertex of the inner cone). Thus, such a rainbow structure ''can'' be said to have "ends", represented by the vertices of the two cones: one at the eye of the viewer, and another at the light source (usually the sun).
A common rainbow (which base is formed by a water droplets in the Earth's atmosphere) can not be viewed as that. The Sun's diameter is orders of magnitude greater than Earth's one (even including the outer layers of the atmosphere), and we would expect the apex of a cone to be much smaller than its base. Thus a two-cone rainbow which starts in Sun shall have its base formed in the outer space.

Megan then says that the Sun is indeed a pot of gold. The Sun is approximately 1.989 × 1030 (1 nonillion 989 octillion) kilograms[https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/sunfact.html], and its abundance of gold is approximately 0.3 parts per trillion[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1968PASAu...1..133A&data_type=PDF_HIGH&filetype=.pdf&type=PRINTER&whole_paper=YES] (ed: this value is incorrect - values in the paper are not in ppt - see comments below). Based on these numbers, the sun contains 5.967 × 1017 (596 quadrillion 700 trillion) kilograms of gold. This equates to 5.967 × 1014 (596 trillion 700 billion) metric tons of gold. As such, Megan's statement that the sun contains "quintillions of tons of gold" is off by a factor of roughly 4000, but the amount of gold within the sun is, nonetheless, far more than a pot's worth.

The amount of water in the oceans is about 1.35 × 1018 (1 quintillion 350 quadrillion) metric tons[https://phys.org/news/2014-12-percent-earth.html]. If we assume that Megan is still talking in terms of mass rather than volume or molecule count, then her next statement (that there is more gold in the sun than water in the oceans) would have been true had she been correct in her previous claim, but in fact there is more sea-water than sun-gold by a factor of roughly 2300.

Cueball then asks about leprechauns (perhaps ironically, since Megan's theory at this point appears to involve astronomy/physics, not mythical creatures/beings). Megan replies that the leprechauns all died when the Sun formed, building on the irony of Cueball's question (& opening questions about the role of leprechauns in the early formation of our solar system).

The title text suggest that, since the pot of gold exists as an idea in the brains of people thinking about it, and the retina is the foremost part of the brain for light perception, it can be argued that, in addition to existing in the sun as the comic explains, the gold (and leprechauns) also exist at the other end, in the retina and brain of the person seeing the rainbow -- as long as they are thinking about a pot of gold at the time -- and then it's gone as soon as they stop thinking about it.

Many neurologists would agree with the concept that ideas in your mind can be said to be physically located in your brain. However, there are significant implications to this. For example, there is a hippopotamus in the room you are in. It's in your brain, because you read that sentence. Feel free to inform anybody else nearby of this, and any similar true facts.

==Transcript==

:[Megan and Cueball are walking.]
:Megan: There's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
:Cueball: Rainbows are circles. They have no end.
:Megan: Not quite!

:[In a borderless panel, a multi-part graphic is shown depicting what Megan is describing off-panel: a short cone inside a longer cone, with the longer cone having its point starting at the Sun, the shorter cone having its point at a miniature Cueball's head, and both cones sharing the same circular base. The diagram is repeated from 3 different perspectives to make the structure easier to grasp.]
:Megan (off-panel): A '''rainbow''' is light leaving the Sun, bouncing off the clouds, and converging on your eye. It's an inside-out two-ended cone.

:[Megan and Cueball are still walking.]
:Megan: One end of that cone is your retina.

:[A wider view of the same scene, with Megan and Cueball walking on a dark ground.]
:Megan: The other end is the Sun—which contains quintillions of tons of gold. There's more gold in the Sun than water in the oceans.
:Cueball: So there ''is'' a pot of gold!
:Cueball: What about leprechauns?
:Megan: All incinerated as the sun formed. Very sad.

==Trivia==

As of January 19, 2017, the value of gold is 42,692.98 USD per kilogram. Based on this, all of the gold in the sun is worth 2.5474901 × 10^22 (25 sextillion 474 quintillion 901 quadrillion) USD. Of course, if you tried to sell the gold in the sun, the market would be saturated and the value of gold would plummet astronomically. You would never be able to cash out.

The idea that the Sun is valuable in monetary terms is also present in [[1622: Henge]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics_featuring_Megan]]
[[Category:Comics_featuring_Cueball]]

1912: Thermostat

2017-11-07T07:55:33Z

Abukaj: /* Explanation */ another possible source of walking into the sea

{{comic
| number = 1912
| date = November 6, 2017
| title = Thermostat
| image = thermostat.png
| titletext = Your problem is so terrible, I worry that, if I help you, I risk drawing the attention of whatever god of technology inflicted it on you.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Rough draft, could still use work. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Hairy]] is working at a tech support office, and receives a call from [[Cueball]]. After the scripted greeting, Cueball, who [[1084|has the]] [[1586|weirdest]] [[1700|tech issues]], tells Hairy that his thermostat – a single-purpose device used to adjust the settings of indoor heating and air conditioning – is showing an error screen from the {{w|Android operating system}}, and asking if he wants to partition the volume. The Android error seems to imply that it is trying to mount a file with {{w|.doc}} extension (most likely a [[1459|Microsoft Word document]]) as the {{w|Boot_device|boot device}}. An added twist is the "(1)" in the filename, which is appended by Windows when a user attempts to copy a file into a directory that already has a file with the same name. Furthermore, the extension {{w|.docx}} has been the default from Microsoft Office 2007 onwards and is generally favored over the preceding .doc extension.

The error message suggests a system problem at the core of the device. Not only is the operating system completely missing, but the device is trying to locate the operating system inside a Microsoft Word document, something that has nothing to do with regulation of temperature and should have no way of getting onto the device in the first place, let alone be considered as a boot volume.

This is so abnormal that Hairy is briefly struck silent, and upon recovering he suggests Cueball {{tvtropes|SuicideBySea|walk into the sea}} as a form of suicide (possibly a reference to {{w|Kate Chopin|Kate Chopin's}} ''{{w|The Awakening (Chopin novel)|The Awakening}}'', or to ''{{w|Eldritch Horror}}'', or to the ''{{w|Exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac}}'' or to ''Automatthew's Friend'' by Stanisław Lem) rather than try solve the issue. Hairy might also attempt to interpret the message (partition the volume) more liberally as suggesting the device can part the sea like Moses did in the book of Exodus. This may also be a reference to [[349: Success]].

The title text elaborates that the situation is so insanely absurd that it must be divine punishment, and Hairy does not want to try and help him for fear of invoking the wrath of whatever deity is issuing it. This may be a reference to the character of {{w|Aeolus_(son_of_Hippotes)|Aeolus}} in the ''{{w|Odyssey}}'', who, having made an unsuccessful attempt to assist {{w|Odysseus}} by giving him a bag containing unfavourable winds, refused to provide further assistance on the grounds that the gods were clearly hostile to Odysseus.

Part of the humour is the problem being only a slight exaggeration of real software issues. The symptoms are unlikely, yet just about possible (a thermostat could be running Android and could generate a report as a doc file; given some data corruption, the name of the doc file could get into the boot script and a volume could appear unpartitioned). It would take an expert Android/Unix engineer to fix, particularly on an embedded device with no obvious way to connect remotely or attach a keyboard. In real life, a cheap embedded device whose software was this broken would just be replaced.

==Transcript==
:[Hairy, with a headset on, is sitting in an office chair at a desk with his hands ready on the keyboard of his computer.]
:Hairy: Tech support, how can I help you?

:[Cueball is on his smartphone while looking at a small blinking panel on the wall in front of him.]
:Cueball: The little LCD on my thermostat says ''Error: Android system recovery: Unrecognized boot volume "/MONTHLY ENERGY REPORT (1).DOC"

:[In a frame-less beat panel Hairy just stares at his screen with his hands on his lap.]

:[Back to Cueball, now with Hairy's reply coming from the smartphone in a box with a jagged arrow pointing to the smartphone.]
:Cueball: It's asking if I want to partition the volume. What should I do?
:Hairy (on the phone): Have you tried walking into the sea.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]