explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2245: Edible Arrangements

2019-12-25T06:27:20Z

Spooky3do: Added cueball being in pain cause of the pun

{{comic
| number = 2245
| date = December 23, 2019
| title = Edible Arrangements
| image = edible_arrangements.png
| titletext = Any arrangement is an edible arrangement if you're hungry enough.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Needs expansion, Requires an analysis of the rhyming used to come up with the alternatives to "Edible Arrangements"}}

{{w|Edible Arrangements}} is a company that sells fruit, and other edible items that have been cut and arranged to look like flower bouquets. They can be ordered and sent to a given recipient for a variety of purposes. Flower arrangements are typically not eaten.{{Citation needed}}

In the first panel, [[Cueball]] seems to find the concept incongruous, and wonders how it came about. [[Megan]] points out the easy answer: picking out a gift for someone (this comic was released two days before Christmas) can be difficult, but a tasteful meal is always welcome so long as it's something the recipient can eat safely, and the visual appearance of an edible arrangement offers further appeal.

Shortly afterwards, Megan uses the same incongruity of eating a floral arrangement to make puns. '''Vore of the Roses''' is a play on the '''War of the Roses''', either the {{w|Wars of the Roses|English civil war}} or the 1989 [[imdb:tt0098621|movie]] of the same name. 'Vore' is a word part referring to eating, as in carnivore (meat eater), herbivore (plant eater), voracious (hungry or eating a lot), etc.

Cueball is disturbed by the thought (or perhaps disturbed that Megan would anthropomorphize her food so) and probably in pain because of the bad pun and says he will cancel the edible arrangement that he had bought for Megan. She tries to convince him otherwise by providing alternative names, which are evidently not any more to his liking. Mouth Blossoms, Juicy Bouquet, and Oral Floral are all combinations referencing the eating of a floral arrangement. In theory, these combinations could be good names for a band, or possibly a tumblr blog. (https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1025:_Tumblr)

The title text also makes reference to the fact that many flowers that are often found in floral arrangements, such as roses, violets, tulips, daisies, lavender and many more, are items that a human can eat. Such flowers are safe to consume but usually unappetizing; Randall makes the point that if a person is sufficiently hungry and thus doesn't care how appetizing their meal is, any floral arrangement can be eaten.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are sitting on opposite sides of a leafless tree. They are silhouetted.]
:Cueball: I don't get how Edible Arrangements is a thing.

:[Zoomed in on Cueball and Megan leaning against the tree]
:Megan: That's easy — picking out presents is hard and fruit is delicious.
:Cueball: Yeah, true.

:[Megan gestures with an open hand]
:Megan: But my question is, why did they call it "Edible Arrangements" and not "Vore of the Roses"?

:[Pan to just Megan. Megan turns to face Cueball]
:Cueball: Just for that, I'm going to cancel the one I got you.
:Megan: Nooo! I want my Mouth Blossoms!
:Megan: My Juicy Bouquet! My Oral Floral!
:Megan: Hey, come back!

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

2129: 1921 Fact Checker

2019-03-29T07:46:54Z

Spooky3do:

{{comic
| number = 2129
| date = March 27, 2019
| title = 1921 Fact Checker
| image = 1921_fact_checker.png
| titletext = POLITIFACT SAYS: MOSTLY WHATEVER
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| We need to find out whether the article is true or not. Lack of Importance is no justification for lazyness.}}

This comic shows a 1921 [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29977721/really_no_importance/ newspaper article] with information about {{w|Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony)|the Pilgrims}} coming to America. [[Randall]] has a 'grudging respect' for the author, who feels the information is so unimportant that no fact-checking has been done, and has enough integrity to inform the reader of this.

The [https://www.newspapers.com/title_9529/kansas_city_sun/ ''Kansas City Sun''] referenced by the comic was a newspaper in Kansas City, Kansas that ran from 1892 to 1924(?). (Interestingly, there was also a [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90061556/#tab=tab_newspapers ''Kansas City Sun''] in Kansas City, Missouri that ran from 1908 to 1924.)

{{w|PolitiFact}}, mentioned in the title text, is a fact-checking project which evaluates the truth or falsity of various statements made by politicians and other people involved in U.S. politics. The positions on its rating scale are "True", "Mostly True", "Half True", "Mostly False", "False", and "Pants on Fire", the last position being reserved for the most egregiously "false" claims. "Mostly Whatever", the rating identified in the title text, is presented by Randall as a rating that could apply to claims that have so little relevance or interest that they are not worth checking. See also [[1712: Politifact]].

==Transcript==
:[In a panel with light-gray background is a block of text:]
:An investigator claims to have discovered in some dusty archives that back in the days when the Pilgrims landed each person coming to America from England was required to bring with them eight bushels of corn meal, two bushels of oatmeal, two gallons of vinegar and a gallon each of oil and brandy.

:In view of the fact that nothing of importance hinges on the truth or falsity of this statement, not much time need be consumed to ascertain whether this is truth or fiction.
:::—Kansas City Sun
:::Friday, May 6<sup>th</sup>, 1921

:[Caption below the panel]
:I have a grudging respect for this 1921 newspaper fact-checker.

==Trivia==
*The exact newspaper [[Randall]] used is [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/477982773/ this].

{{comic discussion}}

2125: Luna 2

2019-03-19T08:56:22Z

Spooky3do:

{{comic
| number = 2125
| date = March 18, 2019
| title = Luna 2
| image = luna_2.png
| titletext = The flags were probably vaporized on impact, because we launched it before we had finished figuring out how to land. That makes sense from an engineering standpoint, but also feels like a metaphor.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a FLAGMENTATION GRENADE. Title text needs to be explained, . Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is referring to {{w|Luna 2}}, the first man-made object to make contact with the surface of the moon, and consequently, as stated in the comic, the first man-made object to touch another world. On September 13, 1959, it hit the Moon's surface east of {{w|Mare Imbrium}} near the craters Aristides, {{w|Archimedes}}, and {{w|Autolycus}}.

[[Megan]] is sitting in front of a computer, and telling [[Cueball]] about the Luna 2. She explains that the probe was designed to explode on impact, thus scattering multiple metal Soviet flags and ribbons on the surface of the Moon. They compare it to throwing a shrapnel grenade with flags in it at the moon.

Cueball's observation that it is "on-brand" for humans to litter another world with an explosion of nationalist iconography immediately upon reaching it, is a reference to the vastly numerous historical instances when, upon setting foot on territory for the first time, humans "conquer" it, by planting flags on the first thing they see.

The titletext might refer to the fact that for the Luna 2 mission it was more important to just get to the moon at all rather than have a sophisticated landing mechanism. This was due to the fact that it happened during the space race between the USA and USSR and both countries tried to reach significant milestones in space exploration. The metaphorical interpretation could be that sometimes people get overly excited after an initial breakthrough and dive into projects without thinking them through or considering long term consequences. This often goes along with the confidence to be able to "wing it" making up a solution on the spot when a problem comes up.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing behind while Megan sits at a laptop.]
:Megan: Huh. ''Luna 2'', the first artificial object to touch another world, carried a sphere made of steel Soviet flag emblems.

:[A patterned sphere is shown blowing up to pieces.]
:It was designed to blow apart on impact, scattering tiny metal flags and ribbons across the surface of the moon.

:[Close-up of Cueball and Megan's faces.]
:Cueball: So the first physical contact humans had with a heavenly body...
:Megan: ...was throwing a shrapnel grenade full of flags at it.
:Cueball: Well, it's on-brand for us, at least.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Space]]

1905: Cast Iron Pan

2017-10-20T08:22:35Z

Spooky3do:

{{comic
| number = 1905
| date = October 20, 2017
| title = Cast Iron Pan
| image = cast_iron_pans.png
| titletext = If you want to evenly space them, it's easiest to alternate between the Arctic and Antarctic. Some people just go to the Arctic twice, near the equinoxes so the visits are almost 6 months apart, but it's not the same.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BAT-MAN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[White hat]] takes the old myth [https://lifehacker.com/go-ahead-and-use-soap-to-clean-your-cast-iron-pan-1658416503] [http://www.thekitchn.com/can-you-really-not-wash-your-cast-iron-with-soap-235237] [http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html] that you shouldn't wash your cast iron pan with soap and runs with with to absurdity and beyond.

The title text says that some people (if they do in fact exist) go during the equinoxes; others alternate between poles. Going during the equinoxes, according to White Hat, is not the same.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[White hat is showing a cast iron pan to Cueball, holding it by the handle facing forwards in his left hand.]

White Hat: Never clean a cast-iron pan with soap. It destroys the seasoning.

Cueball: Got it.

[White hat lowers the cast iron pan to his side, switching it to his right hand, still facing Cueball.]

White hat: If you ever let soap touch the pan, throw it away. You're clearly not up to taking care of it.

Cueball: Wow, okay.

[In a frame-less panel]

White hat: Apply moisturizer to the pan daily to keep it fresh.

Cueball: ...moisturizer?

White hat: Do you want it to get all wrinkly?

Cueball: ... I... guess not.

White hat: Twice a year, fill the pan with iron filings and leave it in direct sunlight for 24 hours.

Cueball: Wait. 24 hours of sun?

White hat: If you're not willing to travel to the Arctic, you don't '''''deserve''''' cast iron.

{{comic discussion}}

1448: Question

2014-11-17T13:01:15Z

Spooky3do:

{{comic
| number = 1448
| date = November 17, 2014
| title = Question
| image = question.png
| titletext = The universe long dead, IsaAC surveyed the formless chaos. At last, he had arrived at an answer. 'I like you,' he declared to the void, 'but I don't LIKE like you.'
}}

==Explanation==
The comic depicts a note to “Isaac”. The note asks Isaac whether Isaac likes the note-writer and asks Isaac to choose either “yes” or “no” as the answer, but Isaac (whose pen is red) has filled in a third answer and selected that one.

Notes of this form – “Do you like me?”, “yes”, “no” are sometimes written by young schoolchildren to each other as a way of gauging or inciting romantic interest. That is, the note-writer is interested in Isaac, or maybe is wondering why Isaac is staring at her so much, and passed him this note to get his answer without the embarrassment of asking face-to-face. Isaac is supposed to check an answer and hand the note back.

The comic is a reference to a short story by Isaac Asimov "[http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html The Last Question]", where humans kept asking successively more complex computers whether [http://youtu.be/2knWCuzcdJo entropy] can be reversed, thereby preventing the {{w|heat death of the universe}}. The computers always answered "THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER". In the end, it figured out the answer, but there were no humans left to give the answer to.

We won’t spoil what the machine said at the end of “The Last Question” here. (Although the title text is a reference to this ending.) However, in this comic, Isaac has instead being ruminating on the question of whether he likes the note-writer. He answers that he likes the note-writer as a friend, but not as a romantic partner – “LIKE like” is a childish euphemism for “love”.
Another interpetation - which also takes the capitalization of both LIKE and IsaAC into account - would be that IsaAC likes the note-writer but being a supercomputer its way of liking someone or something will likely be entirely different.

The odd capitalization if "IsaAC" implies that the note's recipient, rather than being a human, is a supercomputer named with an abbreviation in the style of the real "UNIVAC" or the fictional "MULTIVAC". The final two letters stand for "analog computer" - according to the computer naming scheme in "The Last Question."

==Transcript==
:[A piece of paper.]
:Dear Isaac
:Do you like me?
:□Yes
:□No
:[Written in red.] ☒there is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer
{{comic discussion}}