explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1614: Kites

2015-12-10T11:06:56Z

Bentinata:

"If you didn't get it right away, and had to read this explanation, I would recommend finding a small dog and trying to fly it like a kite." This explanation made me laugh, kudos to whoever wrote it. [[User:NotLock|NotLock]] ([[User talk:NotLock|talk]]) 06:42, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

(When editing the main article, guys, remember not to overwrite tags. When Transcript text was put in someone squashed both the Incomplete tag and the one for this Discussion... anyway...) Note that it appears the dog isn't 'floating', as described in at least one place, but flying by flapping his (not particularly large) ears. If it were a wagging tail, I wouldn't be so sure (remember the robot dog from Battle Of The Planets?), but ears don't tend to noticably flap like that (when the rest of the body isn't in motion/sitting in a car, poking its head out the window). Of course full Dumbo Ears are far more overscale than these, so maybe the dog has ''some'' floating skills, the ears are merely attitude controls. - (And I can't believe I'm now discussing the precise nature of the airworthiness of a dog. Thank you Randall!) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.227|162.158.152.227]] 09:52, 9 December 2015 (UTC)
: That's definitely a wagging tail. Note that in the fourth panel the dog is facing downwards, and in the last panel it is facing to the left. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.35|173.245.54.35]] 16:47, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

there is "it's" abuse here. para 3: "it's mouth." and para 4: "it's title." --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.233|141.101.106.233]] 12:56, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

At first I read "kitties" instead of "kites", maybe because I'm not a native speaker and the first word is more familiar to me. So... I was not really surprised to see a dog, here. [[User:Seipas|Seipas]] ([[User talk:Seipas|talk]]) 13:42, 9 December 2015 (UTC)

My original interpretation of the title text was that the "string" in the dog's mouth was the line connecting the dialog to the characters, e.g. the two lines connecting Megan and Beret Guy's dialog to their characters in the second panel. So the voice drifting down from the sky was literally the words "Kites are fun!" being pulled (perhaps uttered?) by the dog. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.8|108.162.216.8]] 14:37, 9 December 2015 (UTC)Pat

Is there any direct implication that these objects ("kite" and the dog) are really in the sky? Maybe it was draw like this to trick the readers but instead it is a forced 2D perspective and the dog is just fighting with the Beret Guy? I guess we can also assume that while Beret Guy says "I'll go get mine, once I finish walking my dog!" he actually means it (walking - not flying/floating).
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.220|162.158.102.220]] 01:15, 10 December 2015 (UTC)Tom3k007
: The first panel. You can see the land part differ from the sky part.[[User:Bentinata|Bentinata]] ([[User talk:Bentinata|talk]]) 11:06, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

''"That is until the dog comes back with Beret Guy as a kite..."''
But it's not clear that the dog did come back with Beret Guy. The dog might have been chasing him. The title text does not say the dog has the ''bottom'' end of a string (ie, the kite string) in its mouth. Anyway, I don't understand the comic. I don't know what the dog is doing. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 06:24, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

The title text can implies that the dog come back on the floor with the lowest bit of the string in the mouth and Beret Guy is floating in the air as a Kite (or hooking on the kite) with the other end of the string (reverse position). --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.119|162.158.152.119]] 09:15, 10 December 2015 (UTC)Rayen

The title text appears to contain a somewhat cryptic reference to a very odd song from 1967, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kites_Are_Fun: Kites Are Fun], by the one-hit-wonder group Free Design. [[User:Acelightning|Acelightning]] ([[User talk:Acelightning|talk]]) 09:47, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

1487: Tornado

2015-02-16T05:59:21Z

Bentinata:

{{comic
| number = 1487
| date = February 16, 2015
| title = Tornado
| image = tornado.png
| titletext = Nearby, there were also no injuries when a multi-vortex tornado hit one of those spinning teacup rides.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}
Merry-go-round is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. A tornado touched down directly over a merry-go-round may faster the spin cycle, thus making the disaster more exciting.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands in front of a small village]
:Cueball: The tornado touched down directly over a merry-go-round, in what victims are calling a "fun" and "awesome" disaster.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1483: Quotative Like

2015-02-09T04:19:52Z

Bentinata:

That second panel is, like, depressing. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.185|108.162.249.185]] 05:19, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

I found [http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2015/01/25/linguists-are-like-get-used/ruUQoV0XUTLDjx72JojnBI/story.html the article]. [[User:Piderman|Piderman]] ([[User talk:Piderman|talk]]) 05:53, 6 February 2015 (UTC)
:Cool, added it. Thanks. [[User:PinkAmpersand|PinkAmpersand]] ([[User talk:PinkAmpersand|talk]])
God also introduced a new concept "light" and was quicker implementing it throughout the world. And light sounds similar to (like) like. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.231.68|108.162.231.68]] 08:58, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Are there any other examples of actual living people who are not celebrities being name-checked in xkcd? [[User:Andries|Andries]] ([[User talk:Andries|talk]]) 13:23, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Given that the article noted that the next generation would be, quote, "in control," I think Cueball's interpretation is...well, slightly less absurd than it would be otherwise. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.109}}

«Cueball: Like, when you're like, "She was like"?» What does that mean? --[[User:RenniePet|RenniePet]] ([[User talk:RenniePet|talk]]) 15:23, 6 February 2015 (UTC)
: Closest translation: "For example, when you say 'she said...'" [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 15:37, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

;Non-English analogon

It might interest you that in Germany exactly the same
phenomenon exists, only in different flavor: the lower caste using
"Digger" (like, "Fatso") as each third word, possibly in lieu
of a comma. (Appears not yet in written material.) Anyone forced to
overhear such a conversation is tempted to smack them in the face
- hey, it works on a stuck record needle too :-) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.221|108.162.230.221]] 13:38, 6 February 2015 (UTC)
:That has like nothing to do with it. The German analogue is "so" ("Ich so: Kein Scheiss! Dann sie so: Sicher, Mann!"). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.138|108.162.254.138]] 11:47, 8 February 2015 (UTC)

I vote that the explain be rewritten to incorporate as many uses of this phenomenon as possible. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.195|199.27.128.195]] 22:06, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

: Do you mean like: "In this comic, Megan like mentions an article on like the use of the word "like" as, like, a quotative, like. Cueball, like, makes a joke on this by, like,managing to use the word "like" like three times in like a seven word sentence, like. The "quotative like" is like regularly given as like an example of like the decline of the English language, like. It is used to like introduce a quotation or impersonation, although what follows may not be a like "verbatim" like quote, but rather conveys the like general meaning of the original phrase, like." [[User:Plm-qaz snr|Plm-qaz snr]] ([[User talk:Plm-qaz snr|talk]]) 02:52, 7 February 2015 (UTC)

::Yeah, like that. I like it. [[User:Bentinata|Bentinata]] ([[User talk:Bentinata|talk]]) 04:19, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

User talk:Plm-qaz snr

2015-02-09T04:18:56Z

Bentinata: Blanked the page

User talk:Plm-qaz snr

2015-02-09T04:18:11Z

Bentinata: Created page with "Yeah, like that. I like it. ~~~~"

Yeah, like that. I like it. [[User:Bentinata|Bentinata]] ([[User talk:Bentinata|talk]]) 04:18, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1481: API

2015-02-02T07:35:44Z

Bentinata:

It seems like the current explanation is completely wrong. The XML file with data and information about it's layout is just /X?HTML/.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.77|141.101.104.77]] 06:45, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

And title text is about leap seconds. Sorry, I don't have time to edit the explanation myself. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.77|141.101.104.77]] 06:47, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

My initial reading was that the "spatial arrangement" refered to the CSS file rather than to any in-text arrangement, though now I'm not quite sure. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.35|199.27.133.35]] 07:33, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I'll add that title text to my API docs. It's hillarious. :D [[User:Bentinata|Bentinata]] ([[User talk:Bentinata|talk]]) 07:35, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

1429: Data

2014-10-03T04:52:03Z

Bentinata: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1429
| date = October 3, 2014
| title = Data
| image = data.png
| titletext = If you want to have more fun at the expense of language pedants, try developing an hypercorrection habit.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Rough explanation, probably needs expanding}}
The humor in this comic stems from the fact that the word "data" is plural (the singular form of "data" is "datum".) Since there are very few uses for the singular form, many people do not use it and assume data to be singular as well, which sometimes leads to subject-verb agreement errors.

Data is a character from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Since it is a character's name, when used to refer to the character, "Data" should be treated as singular.

By reversing the subject-verb agreement in both cases, you are basically going out of your way to annoy any grammatically obsessed people.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[Cueball reading off a smart phone to someone off the panel]
:Cueball: According to this polling data, after Kirk and Picard, the most popular Star Trek character are Data.
:Off-panel character: Augh!
:Annoy grammar pedants on all sides by making "data" singular except when referring to the android.

{{comic discussion}}

1429: Data

2014-10-03T04:50:59Z

Bentinata: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1429
| date = October 3, 2014
| title = Data
| image = data.png
| titletext = If you want to have more fun at the expense of language pedants, try developing an hypercorrection habit.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Rough explanation, probably needs expanding}}
The humor in this comic stems from the fact that the word "data" is plural (the singular form of "data" is "datum".) Since there are very few uses for the singular form, many people do not use it and assume data to be singular as well, which sometimes leads to subject-verb agreement errors.

Data is a character from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Since it is a character's name, when used to refer to the character, "Data" should be treated as singular.

By reversing the subject-verb agreement in both cases, you are basically going out of your way to annoy any grammatically obsessed people.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[Cueball reading off a smart phone to someone off the panel]
:Cueball: According to this polling data, after Kirk and Picard, the most popular Star Trek character are Data.
:Off-screen character: Augh!
:Annoy grammar pedants on all sides by making "data" singular except when referring to the android.

{{comic discussion}}