https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Werehyena&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T20:08:37ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=739:_Malamanteau&diff=65817739: Malamanteau2014-04-22T01:52:34Z<p>Werehyena: added description of Language Log and why it would be referenced in the comic.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 739<br />
| date = May 12, 2010<br />
| title = Malamanteau<br />
| image = malamanteau.png<br />
| titletext = The article has twenty-three citations, one of which is an obscure manuscript from the 1490s and the other twenty-two are arguments on LanguageLog.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
This comic is a reference to the large number of Wikipedia pages that start by labeling their subject matter as a "malapropism", a "portmanteau", or a "neologism". A {{w|malapropism}} is the use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical utterance. An example of a {{w|malapropism}} is {{w|Yogi Berra}}'s statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes". A {{w|portmanteau}} is a word made-up of two or more combined words and their definitions. For example, motel is a portmanteau, from the words motor and hotel. A {{w|neologism}} is simply a newly-coined word that is not yet in common use. <br />
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Here, Randall uses the word "malamanteau" which is both a portmanteau of "malapropism" and "portmanteau" and a malapropism of "portmanteau". Finally, "malamanteau" is itself a neologism. The methods used to create this new word are the very words used in the process. This is called a meta or “self-referential” joke.<br />
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"Malamanteau" was originally coined in 2007, when it was proposed by user [http://www.metafilter.com/user/17900 ludwig_van] on [http://www.metafilter.com Metafilter] as a term for language errors like "flustrated" (flustered & frustrated) and "misconscrewed" (misconstrued & screwed). <br />
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In response to this comic, editors at Wikipedia created a malamanteau page. It was deleted multiple times and eventually turned into a redirect to the Wikipedia page for {{w|xkcd}}. Malamanteau and the controversy at Wikipedia got coverage at ''The Economist'' and ''The Boston Globe''.<br />
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The title text refers to Wikipedia's requirements of citations for a page on there to exist. It also refers to the wide range of places citations can be obtained from, showing a direct opposition due to the use of very different citations (The Language Log arguments are modern and informal, whereas the obscure manuscript is formal and much older). [http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/ Language Log] is a blog that posts content relating to language and linguistics, including things like malapropisms and portmanteaus. While an informal source, it has produced new linguistic terms before, such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn/ eggcorn]. Its comments sections frequently contain discussions and arguments about English, whose participants are probably the same people who write Wikipedia articles about linguistic phenomena like malamanteaux. The fact that no modern citation could be found outside of Language Log comments implies that the malamanteau is not a widely recognized or studied concept, but one invented by amateur linguists. [http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2758 Malamanteau] did not appear on Language Log until after this strip. Malamanteau has since been referenced on the Language Log website, with a link to the comic in question. Language Log has referenced XKCD many times before, reposting the comics and linking to the XKCD website.<br />
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The citation of a document from the 1490s is a reference to the fact that linguists, like those who post on Language Log, often use old documents as evidence, possibly to prove that a construction is a longstanding feature of the language. However, if such an archaic citation is the only evidence of the term's use, then it is unlikely to be a notable feature worthy of a Wikipedia article.<br />
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Further, the title text implies that the fictional article isn't exactly the most stable inside the fictional Wikipedia's userbase, or otherwise is being subject to some severe favoritism, since "malamanteu" hasn't been used at any time since the feudal ages and its most recent citations are a borderline flame war on another website. Most articles that are only cited by a single website tend to get deleted unless the subject has achieved significant coverage in outside news media.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[The strip is set up as the top of a Wikipedia page.]<br />
:[The Wikipedia logo.]<br />
:Wikipedia<br />
:The free encyclopedia<br />
:[Side navigation options.]<br />
:Navigation<br />
:-Main Page<br />
:-Contents<br />
:-Featured Content<br />
:-Current Events<br />
:[Wikipedia header options.]<br />
:Article Discussion Edit this page History<br />
:[The article itself.]<br />
:Malamanteau<br />
:From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<br />
:A malamanteau is a neologism for a portmanteau created by incorrectly combining a malapropism with a neologism. It is itself a portmanteau of [...the article cuts off.]<br />
:[Below the panel.]<br />
:Ever notice how Wikipedia has a few words it ''really'' likes?<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[http://wiki.xkcd.com/irc/Malamanteau Malamanteau] at the official xkcd wiki<br />
*[http://malamanteaus.blogspot.com/ Malamanteaus], a blog dedicated to the creation and proliferation of malananteaux<br />
*[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Malamanteau Malamanteau] at urbandictionary.com<br />
*[http://wordsquirt.com/Word/View/Malamanteau/dbb34d48-e565-4012-bcc8-56718f351712 Malamanteau] at wordsquirt.com<br />
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==References==<br />
*[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/index.php?s=malamanteau Entries referencing "malamanteau"] at LanguageLog.com<br />
*Malamanteau Talk Page Archives [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AMalamanteau/Archive_1 1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Malamanteau/Archive_2 2] at Wikipedia.com<br />
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Malamanteau Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Malamanteau]<br />
*[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malamanteau_page_history.jpg Screen capture] of the deleted history for the "Malamanteau" page from Wikipedia<br />
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Malamanteau Wikipedia Log for "Malamanteau"]<br />
*Beutler, William (May 5, 2010) "[http://thewikipedian.net/2010/05/18/much-ado-about-malamanteau/ Much Ado About Malamanteau]". ''The Wikipedian''<br />
*McKean, Erin (May 30, 2010) "[http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/05/30/one_day_wonder/ One Day Wonder]". ''The Boston Globe''<br />
*R.L.G (Nov 4th 2010) "[http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2010/11/neologisms Eggcorn, mashup, malamanteau or other?]". ''The Economonist''<br />
*July 17, 2007 "[http://ask.metafilter.com/67192/How-to-define-this-language-mistake How to define this language mistake?]" - MetaFilter thread with the first usage<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Wikipedia]]<br />
[[Category:CC-BY-SA comics]]<br />
[[Category:Portmanteau]]</div>Werehyena