explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1475: Technically

2015-01-19T21:35:59Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1475
| date = January 19, 2015
| title = Technically
| image = technically.png
| titletext = "Technically that sentence started with 'well', so--" "Ooh, a rock with a fossil in it!"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First Draft}}

When the word "technically" is used to start a sentence, the remainder of the sentence tends to follow one of a number of patterns:

{| class="wikitable"
! Sentence pattern
! Example
|-
| An explanation which is far more complex than the listener needs/wants.
| "Technically an inch is 25.4 mm, but historically..."
|-
| A justification of a particular (usually unpopular) viewpoint through an unusual technical definition.
| "Technically a tomato is a fruit, so there is no reason it shouldn't be used in a fruit salad."
|-
| A pedantic overapplication of rules or laws, often to avoid the spirit of the law through a technical loophole.
| [http://factually.gizmodo.com/technically-american-flag-napkins-are-illegal-1599774198 "Technically, American flag napkins are illegal."]
|-
| The speaker repeating a 'little known fact', believing that he/she sounds incredibly knowledgeable.
In many cases these 'facts' are actually false, as in the example to the right (see {{w|Ten_percent_of_brain_myth|the 10% of the brain myth}}).
| "Technically we only use 10% of our brains, so imagine what we could do if we used 100%"!
|-
| An attempt to disguise an outright lie as a simple misunderstanding in point of view.
| "Technically, we're not cows. We're aardvarks."
|}

[[Cueball]] has decided that any sentence beginning with the word "technically" is highly likely to be completely worthless for him to listen to, so he allows himself to be distracted by anything which happens to be around.

The particular sentence uttered by White Hat is of the fourth type, due to his incorrect interpretation of the word "drug" and lack of understanding of the role of food in human physiology. Indeed, the word drug is defined as "a substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose", followed by a secondary definition of "a psychoactive substance, especially one which is illegal and addictive". Food, on the other hand, is defined as "any substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life". In other words, food is consumed in order to sustain the normal, innate state of the body, while the drug is consumed in order to alter certain states.

The title text starts to pedantically over apply Cueball's rule to the comic panel, noting that technically [[White Hat]]'s sentence started with the word 'well' instead of the word 'technically', and thus Cueball is wrong to have ignored it. This makes the title text a sentence of the third type. Halfway through the sentence, this argument is cut off by the discovery of a rock with a fossil in it, correctly applying the rule to a sentence that began with the word "technically".

==Transcript==
:[White Hat talks to Cueball who looks at a flying insect]
:White Hat: Well, technically, food is a "drug", since it's a substance that alters how your body works, so yes, I'm —
:Cueball: Hey, look at that weird bug!

:[Caption below the frame:]
:My life improved when I realized I could just ignore any sentence that started with "technically."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

1475: Technically

2015-01-19T21:35:28Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1475
| date = January 19, 2015
| title = Technically
| image = technically.png
| titletext = "Technically that sentence started with 'well', so--" "Ooh, a rock with a fossil in it!"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|First Draft}}

When the word "technically" is used to start a sentence, the remainder of the sentence tends to follow one of a number of patterns:

{| class="wikitable"
! Sentence pattern
! Example
|-
| An explanation which is far more complex than the listener needs/wants.
| "Technically an inch is 25.4 mm, but historically..."
|-
| A justification of a particular (usually unpopular) viewpoint through an unusual technical definition.
| "Technically a tomato is a fruit, so there is no reason it shouldn't be used in a fruit salad."
|-
| A pedantic overapplication of rules or laws, often to avoid the spirit of the law through a technical loophole.
| [http://factually.gizmodo.com/technically-american-flag-napkins-are-illegal-1599774198 "Technically, American flag napkins are illegal."]
|-
| The speaker repeating a 'little known fact', believing that he/she sounds incredibly knowledgeable.
In many cases these 'facts' are actually false, as in the example to the right (see {{w|Ten_percent_of_brain_myth|the 10% of the brain myth}}).
| "Technically we only use 10% of our brains, so imagine what we could do if we used 100%"!
|-
| An attempt to disguise an outright lie as a simple misunderstanding in point of view.
| "Technically, we're not cows. We're aardvarks."]
|}

[[Cueball]] has decided that any sentence beginning with the word "technically" is highly likely to be completely worthless for him to listen to, so he allows himself to be distracted by anything which happens to be around.

The particular sentence uttered by White Hat is of the fourth type, due to his incorrect interpretation of the word "drug" and lack of understanding of the role of food in human physiology. Indeed, the word drug is defined as "a substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose", followed by a secondary definition of "a psychoactive substance, especially one which is illegal and addictive". Food, on the other hand, is defined as "any substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life". In other words, food is consumed in order to sustain the normal, innate state of the body, while the drug is consumed in order to alter certain states.

The title text starts to pedantically over apply Cueball's rule to the comic panel, noting that technically [[White Hat]]'s sentence started with the word 'well' instead of the word 'technically', and thus Cueball is wrong to have ignored it. This makes the title text a sentence of the third type. Halfway through the sentence, this argument is cut off by the discovery of a rock with a fossil in it, correctly applying the rule to a sentence that began with the word "technically".

==Transcript==
:[White Hat talks to Cueball who looks at a flying insect]
:White Hat: Well, technically, food is a "drug", since it's a substance that alters how your body works, so yes, I'm —
:Cueball: Hey, look at that weird bug!

:[Caption below the frame:]
:My life improved when I realized I could just ignore any sentence that started with "technically."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

Talk:1345: Answers

2014-03-21T14:23:58Z

Nsimonetti:

Not true. We know that sleep is important for storing memories and cleaning out toxins. http://www.nih.gov/news/health/oct2013/ninds-17.htm [[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.89|108.162.222.89]] 11:06, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

Stupid personalized jokes and the like in this explanation... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.53.174|173.245.53.174]] 11:19, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure this is the correct explanation.
The paradox of being confronted daily with a mystery and not trying to solve it is inconsistent with the title text. So this explanation doesn't sound right to me.
I think it's more about defining humanity as seeking for answers, while spending a huge amount of time closing off from the world for apparently no reason.
In other words, IMHO, it's not about "[not being] distracted by this mystery", but about "not being able to investigate any mystery during 1/3 of our life even if we want to".

Also, with my explanation, the original puchline "touché" works better than the the current explanation's suggestion "Which is why it keeps me awake all night". -- Shirluban@[[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.36|108.162.229.36]] 12:28, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

I disagree with the above poster (and agree with the explanation) on the basis of the boldface text... "And nobody knows why". Every human sleeps, so if humans were really curious, someone should have figured out why by now.[[User:Nsimonetti|NikoNarf]] ([[User talk:Nsimonetti|talk]]) 14:23, 21 March 2014 (UTC)

754: Dependencies

2013-12-18T20:21:25Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 754
| date = June 16, 2010
| title = Dependencies
| image = Dependencies.png
| titletext = The prereqs for CPSC 357, the class on package management, are CPCS 432, CPSC 357, and glibc2.5 or later.
}}

==Explanation==
One of the responsibilities of a compiler (more pedantically, the linker) is ''dependency resolution'', the process of identifying what other components are necessary in order to construct a target component. Those other components may in turn may have their own requirements, all of which must also be satisfied.

On college campuses, course names indicate the department and level of a course. CPSC would be one way to express Computer Science classes, and course numbers in the 400 range would likely indicate a senior-level course.

The comic envisions a college computer science course (CPSC432) focusing on dependency resolution which has itself as a prerequisite. This dependency structure would send a naïve compiler into an infinite loop. In real life, the problem is solved by allowing an object to satisfy itself as a prerequisite. (You see this, for example, every time you compile a recursive function.)

The joke is that any student who successfully enrolls in the class already knows this solution because they must have employed it in order to get past the apparent infinite recursion in the class prerequisites.

''Package management'' is a problem in software deployment similar to compiler dependency resolution, except that the dependencies are collections of files known as ''packages''.

The title text posits a course on package management which is dependent not only on itself (recursive dependency), but also on the course presented in the main comic, which has a higher course number. Package managers resolve self-dependencies in much the same way as compilers do, but a dependency from a lower-numbered package to a higher-numbered package is typically disallowed because it can create cycles in what is supposed to be a tree structure. glibc is a commonly-used package on Unix systems. Its inclusion as a course prerequisite blurs the line between the course material and the course itself.

==Transcript==
:A portion of a page from an imaginary course catalog.

:Page 3
:[A table with four columns labeled Department, Course, Description, and Prereqs. Under 'Department' it reads, "computer science". Under 'course' it reads, "CPSC 432". Under 'Description' it reads, "Intermediate compiler design, with a focus on dependency resolution." Under 'Prereqs' it reads, "CPSC 432".]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Recursion]]

679: Christmas Plans

2013-12-13T18:32:33Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 679
| date = December 23, 2009
| title = Christmas Plans
| image = christmas_plans.png
| titletext = Physicists who want to protect traditional Christmas realize that the only way to keep from changing Christmas is not to observe it.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic centers around a joke about {{w|Quantum Entanglement}} in physics - if you don't observe something, it has all possible states, not a specific one. It is a double-entendre with the word ''observe'' meaning both "look at" (physics sense) and "celebrate" (a holiday)

The title text refers to another principle in physics where the act of measuring something must also change it in some way. If one drops a thermometer into into a mug of water, energy spent (or released) when heating (or cooling) the mercury in the thermometer changes the temperature of the water in the mug by a small amount. The only way not to interfere with the temperature of the water in the mug is not to measure it.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing behind a friend, who is sitting at a computer.]
:Cueball: Hey, will you be in town the day after Christmas?
:Friend: Couldn't say—
:Friend: I'm Jewish.

:Cueball: But... how does being Jewish keep you from knowing your plans?
:Friend: I know my plans—
:Friend: I just don't know when Christmas is.

:Cueball: Really? Why not look it up?
:Friend: Well, I'm also a physicist.

:Cueball: So?
:Friend: I believe that since I don't observe Christmas, it can't ''have'' a definite date.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]

466: Moving

2013-11-14T19:49:37Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 466
| date = August 22, 2008
| title = Moving
| image = moving.png
| titletext = We need a special holiday to honor the countless kind souls with unsecured networks named 'linksys'.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|cantenna}} is an self-made antenna made from a can, in this case a {{w|pringles}} can. Cueball is pointing his cantenna to the neighbors across the road, which, as he says, will allow him to connect to the {{w|wifi}} network there.

Megan points out that the neighbors themselves don't have Internet access, to which Cueball answers that he thinks that the neighbors will get hooked up to the Internet first.

The narrator notes that very little will stop geeks trying to get Internet in a new apartment.

The title text continues this theme of connecting to other people's networks, noting that we should have a holiday in honour of those people who don't bother reconfiguring their Linksys routers (thus leaving them with the default name of 'linksys'), which allows other people to connect to those networks very easily, as the default password is well-known.

==Transcript==
:There are few forces more powerful than geeks desperately trying to get internet in a new apartment.
:Cueball: Okay, the pringles cantenna has let us patch into the WiFi network across the road.
:Megan: And they have internet?
:Cueball: No, but I think the cable van will hook up their house first.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Internet]]

465: Quantum Teleportation

2013-11-14T19:47:46Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 465
| date = August 20, 2008
| title = Quantum Teleportation
| image = quantum teleportation.png
| titletext = Science should be exactly as cool as the headlines sound. Like the "RUSSIANS CUT APART AND REASSEMBLE DOGS" thing
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Quantum teleportation}} is a method of effectively taking a quantum state that exists in one laboratory and destroying it in the current laboratory and later recreating that exact same (unmeasured) quantum state in another laboratory that could potentially be very far away.

This is achieved by first creating an entangled quantum state in a laboratory and moving one part of the entangled quantum state to a faraway laboratory. Now let's say a scientist desires to teleport the quantum state |ψ> to a faraway lab. The scientists does a specific measurement on the combination of |ψ> and their half of the entangled quantum state and the outcome of their measurement will be two bits of classical information. They can then telephone over the results of their two bits of information to tell scientists at the faraway lab how to do a measurement on their half of the entangled quantum state, which will recreate the quantum state |ψ> at the faraway lab, effectively teleporting it. This is an important result in quantum mechanics, especially in regards to quantum computing.

The name is misleading in that it does not create an efficient means of transportation via like something like Star Trek teleporters or the "conventional teleporter" where macroscopic objects like humans (composed of 10<sup>25</sup> particles) could be teleported to an arbitrary place.

The whole method is predicated on first being able to first create entangled quantum states and transport by conventional means one-half of the entangled state. Only after this step, could you then destroy the shared entangled quantum state, to "teleport" a different quantum state to the new location.

Quantum teleportation is deeply related to {{w|Bell's theorem}} where its shown that quantum mechanics is incompatible with the idea of local hidden variables and which has been experimentally demonstrated (though a few very small loopholes still have not been conclusively ruled out). Explaining "it's a particle statistics thing" is a great explanation of the related Bell's theorem experiments, which demonstrate quantum entanglement which is at the root of quantum teleportation. In these experiments, physicists take an entangled quantum state move it apart and then randomly decide which direction to measure each side of the quantum states. Through a statistical analysis of the results, you can demonstrate and measure each entangled particle in a randomly chosen direction. The statistical correlations between the particles are consistent with quantum mechanics and inconsistent with any local hidden variable theory; however this instantaneous wave-function collapse does not break special relativity as wave-function collapse {{w|No-communication theorem|does not allow communication of any information}}. Instead you can just analyze the correlations after the fact and compare the hypothesis of local hidden variables to the inconsistent hypothesis predicted by quantum mechanics, and verify the quantum mechanical prediction.

The title text refers to the controversial 1940s Soviet {{w|Experiments in the Revival of Organisms}} video that depicts a dog's head being cut off and revived. The film is controversial in that the footage is often perceived as being staged, though the {{w|Sergei S. Bryukhonenko|Soviet scientists}} depicted in the video was attempting these sorts of experiments and this research eventually lead to the first Soviet open heart operation in 1957.

The last panel appears to indicate this scientist already has a "regular" teleporter of the type the reporter is asking about, which would be a gigantic news item.

==Transcript==
:[Reporter and Cueball are facing each other, sitting in chairs.]
:Reporter: So, Quantum Teleportation-
:Cueball: The name is misleading. It's a particle statistics thing.
:Reporter: So it's not like Star Trek? That's boring.
:Cueball: Okay, I'm sick of this. Every time there's a paper on Quantum Teleportation, you reporters write the same disappointed story.
:[Cueball leaves seat and moves behind it.]
:Reporter: But-
:[Cueball has gone to device that was behind him and was out of the scope of the three previous panels.]
:Cueball: Talk to someone else. I'm going to the Bahamas. ''Click''
:[Cueball switches a device on.]
:[Device labelled "TELEPORTER" is switched from "Quantum" to "Regular".]
:''VRMMM''
:[Cueball is beamed up in classic Star Trek fashion.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]

461: Google Maps

2013-11-14T19:38:26Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 461
| date = August 11, 2008
| title = Google Maps
| image = google_maps.png
| titletext = Apparently Google assumes you're traveling during the ferry's normal operating hours. We lost two hours circling that damn lake (to say nothing of the Straw Man).
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
{{w|Google Maps}} is a web mapping service application, which among other things, offers a route planner. The comic pokes fun at Google Maps for occasionally giving suboptimal directions, taking it to the logical extreme of giving directions that resemble the plot of a badly-scripted horror/action movie or an old {{w|text adventure}} game.

Luckily Cueball's brother realizes that the directions are weird when he notices that they're supposed to take a ferry after midnight. However, the title text implies that despite the bizarreness of the directions, the brothers still took them.

==Transcript==
:My road trip with my brother ran into trouble around page three of the Google Maps printout

:[Google Maps printout:]
:← 70. SLIGHT '''LEFT''' AT '''RT-22''' -- GO 6.8 MI
:→ 71. TURN '''RIGHT''' TO STAY ON '''RT-22''' -- GO 2.6 MI
:← 72. TURN '''LEFT''' AT '''LAKE SHORE RD''' -- GO 312 FT
:→ 73. TURN '''RIGHT''' AT '''DOCK ST''' -- GO 427 FT
:[Water replaces an arrow.] 74. TAKE THE '''FERRY''' ACROSS THE '''LAKE''' -- GO 2.8 MI

:[A car is driving in the dark.]
:Cueball: Okay, now take Dock St toward the ferry
:Brother: We're supposed to take a ferry? It's past midnight, and these woods are creepy.
:Cueball: Google Maps wouldn't steer us wrong.

:[Cueball and brother stand outside the car. The ferry has a sign on it reading CLOSED.]
:[Cueball stands holding the Google Maps printout next to brother in the dark]
:[Still standing in the dark]
:Cueball: Let me see those directions.

:[Google Maps printout:]
:[Water replaces an arrow] 74. TAKE THE '''FERRY''' ACROSS THE '''LAKE''' -- GO 2.8 MI
:↗ 75. CLIMB THE '''HILL''' TOWARD '''HANGMAN'S RIDGE,''' AVOIDING ANY '''MOUNTAIN LIONS''' -- UP 1,172 FT
:↷ 76. WHEN YOU REACH AN '''OLD BARN,''' GO AROUND BACK, KNOCK ON THE '''SECOND DOOR''', AND ASK FOR '''CHARLIE''' -- GO 52 FT
:[A van] 77. TELL '''CHARLIE''' THE '''DANCING STONES''' ARE '''RESTLESS'''. HE WILL GIVE YOU HIS '''VAN'''. -- CAREFUL
:[A picture of the straw man] 78. TAKE '''CHARLIE'S VAN''' DOWN '''OLD MINE ROAD'''. DO NOT WAKE THE '''STRAW MAN'''. -- GO π MI
:← 79. TURN LEFT ON '''COMSTOCK'''. WHEN YOU FEEL THE '''BLOOD''' CHILL IN YOUR '''VEINS''', STOP THE VAN AND '''GET OUT'''. -- GO 3.2 MI
:↓ 80. STAND VERY STILL. EXITS ARE '''NORTH''', '''SOUTH''', AND '''EAST''', BUT ARE BLOCKED BY A '''SPECTRAL WOLF'''. -- GO 0 FT
:[A picture of a spectral wolf] 81. THE '''SPECTRAL WOLF''' FEARS ONLY '''FIRE'''. THE '''GOOGLE MAPS TEAM''' CAN NO LONGER HELP YOU, BUT IF YOU MASTER THE '''WOLF''', HE WILL GUIDE YOU. '''GODSPEED'''. -- GO ?? MI

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

462: Freemanic Paracusia

2013-11-14T19:27:32Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 462
| date = August 13, 2008
| title = Freemanic Paracusia
| image = freemanic_paracusia.png
| titletext = It's amazing what it does for YouTube comments.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Paracusia}} is a form of hallucination that involves perceiving sounds without auditory stimulus.

{{w|Morgan Freeman}} is an American actor, film director, and narrator. He is known for his soothing and mellow voice, which helps amplify his performances, such as God in {{w|Bruce Almighty}} and its sequel {{w|Evan Almighty}}, as well as narrator in {{w|War of the Worlds (2005 film)|War of the Worlds}} by {{w|Steven Spielberg}}.

The comic is a play on the combination of the two. The idea is that while reading a text, instead of hearing you own voice in your mind's ear, you substitute it for Freeman's voice, giving a new perspective on the contents of the text.

The title text suggests to apply this specifically on the mostly stupid comments on YouTube, like those found in [[202: YouTube]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is sitting behind a desk with a computer.]
:Freemanic Paracusia: A disorder wherein you hear everything you read in the comforting voice of Morgan Freeman.
:[There is a thought bubble of Cueball's thoughts, within it is Morgan Freeman reading text.]
:Morgan Freeman: Why, you could enlarge your penis for cheap. My, my. Isn't that ''something.''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:YouTube]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:461: Google Maps

2013-11-14T19:17:39Z

Nsimonetti:

By the end, it's really starting to sound like a text-based fantasy adventure game, or possibly a game of D&D. This adds an additional level of humour: using Google Maps to navigate around virtual worlds.

I particularly liked the "Go pi miles", and the "Careful" instructions in the Google Maps "Action" column on the right. ''--[[User:MisterSpike|MisterSpike]] ([[User talk:MisterSpike|talk]]) 18:58, 26 June 2013 (UTC)''

:Yes it is very much like old text games. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 04:18, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

The Spectral Wolf plays a role in World of Warcraft, but as I am not a WoW player, I don't feel qualified to update the explanation. Any WoWians want to add a paragraph on the Spectral Wolf?[[User:Nsimonetti|NikoNarf]] ([[User talk:Nsimonetti|talk]]) 19:17, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Talk:435: Purity

2013-11-14T15:27:05Z

Nsimonetti:

See Comte's hierarchy of the sciences from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_three_stages his law of three stages]: Mathematics; Astronomy; Physics; Chemistry; Biology; Psychology; Sociology. --[[Special:Contributions/24.85.241.128|24.85.241.128]] 07:20, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

Shame it leaves out Engineering running parellel to all of them - maybe Engineering is just too busy getting shit done? {{unsigned|2.121.172.39}}

- What can we learn from this? - Actually as an Engineer I have a different view point to 2.121.172.39. We are implementers of original ideas and a few of us are lucky to be original idea generators. As a successful full time Engineer I still find time to be a philosopher and aspiring teacher (who simply didn't want to be poor, which is hard to do when specializing in the other two professions). How ever I do keep asking myself often who wrote the laws that mathematicians and theoretical scientists keep re-discovering for us... - [[User:E-inspired|E-inspired]] ([[User talk:E-inspired|talk]]) 17:04, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

"[http://robotics.cs.tamu.edu/dshell/cs689/papers/anderson72more_is_different.pdf More is Different]", written by Nobel laureate P.W. Anderson, is an insightful critique of constructivism. Quote:
<blockquote>But this hierarchy does not imply that science X is "just applied Y." At each stage entirely new laws, concepts, and generalizations are necessary, requiring inspiration and creativity to just as great a degree as in the previous one.</blockquote>
[[User:Allenz|Allenz]] ([[User talk:Allenz|talk]]) 02:20, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

This one resonated around the Internet quite a bit more than average, and deservedly so. I'd think it'd be almost as far-reaching as the grownups one. I did wonder, after I saw this, how one would take into account things like linguistics, logic, and philosophy. Then I read ''Gödel, Escher, Bach'' and returned to normal. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 03:58, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Could one argue that Mathematics is applied Philosophy? [[User:Nsimonetti|NikoNarf]] ([[User talk:Nsimonetti|talk]]) 15:27, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Talk:431: Delivery

2013-11-14T15:07:22Z

Nsimonetti:

Yeah, I got the image to show this time!!! Now to get rid of that "Jump to:"...--[[User:7OO Tnega Terces|7OO Tnega Terces]] ([[User talk:7OO Tnega Terces|talk]]) 08:22, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

I added a reference to Punxsutawney Phil in the explanation.[[User:Nsimonetti|NikoNarf]] ([[User talk:Nsimonetti|talk]]) 15:07, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

431: Delivery

2013-11-14T14:59:36Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 431
| date = June 2, 2008
| title = Delivery
| image = delivery.png
| titletext = Ma'am, I admit that wasn't in the best taste, but you have to admire my delivery! Ha, ha get it? Oh god, don't throw those syringes! Your baby's fine!
}}

==Explanation==
It is an old superstition that a {{w|groundhog}} (a type of rodent akin to a large squirrel) can predict the seasonal change from winter to spring in early February. A groundhog that sees his shadow and retreats back in his home predicts another six weeks of winter, while a groundhog that does not see its shadow predicts an early spring. This event is celebrated in a small town in western Pennsylvania, where {{w|Punxsutawney Phil}} serves as the forecaster in an annual ceremony on February 2. This, in turn, becomes the basis for the comedy movie {{w|Groundhog Day (film)|''Groundhog Day''}} that is also referred in [[1076: Groundhog Day]].

The joke here is that, instead of a groundhog predicting when spring will come, the baby is predicting the change in season. Evidently, he predicts we will have six more weeks of winter.

The title text indicates that the doctor was joking about the baby retreating back inside. He then makes a pun which results in an assault by the mother. The word ''delivery'' can mean the act of giving birth or the presentation of a joke. He then indicates that the baby is fine.

==Transcript==
:[In a delivery room.]
:Doctor: There's the head... he's looking at me... Wait, he's crawling back into the womb.
:Megan: What?!
:Doctor: Yeah, it's the darnedest thing.
:Megan: Um, what does it mean?
:Doctor: My guess? Six more weeks of winter.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

431: Delivery

2013-11-14T14:51:43Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 431
| date = June 2, 2008
| title = Delivery
| image = delivery.png
| titletext = Ma'am, I admit that wasn't in the best taste, but you have to admire my delivery! Ha, ha get it? Oh god, don't throw those syringes! Your baby's fine!
}}

==Explanation==
It is an old superstition that a {{w|groundhog}} (a type of rodent akin to a large squirrel) can predict the seasonal change from winter to spring in early February. A groundhog that sees his shadow and retreats back in his home predicts another six weeks of winter, while a groundhog that does not see its shadow predicts an early spring. This event is celebrated in a small town in western Pennsylvania, where {{w|Punxsutawney Phil}} serves as the predicting groundhog in an annual ceremony on February 2. This, in turn, is the basis for a funny movie {{w|Groundhog Day (film)|''Groundhog Day''}} that has been referred also in this comic: [[1076: Groundhog Day]].

The joke here is that, instead of a groundhog predicting when spring will come, it's a baby predicting the change in season. Evidently he decided we will have six more weeks of winter.

The title text indicates that the doctor was joking about the baby retreating back inside. He then makes a pun which results in an assault by the mother. The word ''delivery'' can mean the act of giving birth or the presentation of a joke. He then indicates that the baby is fine.

==Transcript==
:[In a delivery room.]
:Doctor: There's the head... he's looking at me... Wait, he's crawling back into the womb.
:Megan: What?!
:Doctor: Yeah, it's the darnedest thing.
:Megan: Um, what does it mean?
:Doctor: My guess? Six more weeks of winter.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

281: Online Package Tracking

2013-11-04T18:55:05Z

Nsimonetti: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 281
| date = June 25, 2007
| title = Online Package Tracking
| image = online package tracking.png
| titletext = I don't even *want* this package! Why did I join the stinging insect of the month club, anyway?
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] notes that package tracking, as provided by many shipping companies like {{w|United Parcel Service|UPS}} and {{w|FedEx}}, is helpful as customers can see the status of their package delivery. However, [[Megan]] refreshes the package tracking page every few minutes in her impatience on the status of their package; it drives her crazy.

Memphis happens to be the headquarters and 'superhub' of FedEx Express.

The title text refers to various "''x'' of the month clubs" (fruit, cheese, wine, etc.) that one might be signed up for a gift but never really interested in the gifts. This, combined with the ease by which a person can track the package, creates a strange dichotomy whereby you don't really want the package, but you keep checking where it is just because you can.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is sitting at a computer.]
:<nowiki>*refresh*</nowiki>
:Megan: Aww, still in Memphis.
:<nowiki>*refresh*</nowiki>
:Megan: Aww, still in Memphis.
:<nowiki>*refresh*</nowiki>
:Megan: Aww, still in Memphis.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]