Editing 2754: Relative Terms
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | The terms "small" and "big" are used to refer to size; the terms "loud" and "quiet" are used to refer to (audial) volume | + | {{incomplete|Created by a BOT THAT IS LARGER THAN A BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
+ | The terms "small" and "big" are used to refer to size; the terms "loud" and "quiet" are used to refer to (audial) volume. | ||
− | This comic humorously suggests that the item defined to be in the middle of all four terms ("neither small nor big; neither quiet nor loud") is a sewing machine, as a sewing machine seems (at least in comparison to the other items on the graph) to be neither particularly big nor particularly small | + | While these terms are relative, they are often used even when there is nothing obvious being compared against (e.g. "A windmill is a big thing" or "An ant is a small thing"). This comic humorously suggests that the item defined to be in the middle of all four terms ("neither small nor big; neither quiet nor loud") is a sewing machine, as a sewing machine seems (at least in comparison to the other items on the graph) to be neither particularly big nor particularly small, neither particularly quiet nor particularly loud. |
− | + | An alternative argument may be that the in the center would be the average adult human (as this is the perspective from which most people use language), though this observation would lose some of the comic's comedic value. | |
− | + | The center of the chart is a sewing machine, and the comic is claiming that the scales of "loud and quiet" and "big and small" are measured in comparison to a standard size sewing machine. A standard sewing machine is roughly 60dB in volume and approximately 42” X 21”, although this is for industrial machines, and those in the home would be both smaller and quieter. | |
+ | |||
+ | Many of the items appear to have been placed in the wrong quadrant for their actual attributes; locations seem to reflect more how people generally think of these things, as opposed to their real-life relationship to a sewing machine. | ||
The title text is humorously tautological because it compares the standard against those things that are themselves defined against the standard. | The title text is humorously tautological because it compares the standard against those things that are themselves defined against the standard. | ||
Line 27: | Line 30: | ||
| Ant || Randall has used ants as a small comparator in [[2733:_Size_Comparisons|a previous comic]] on the topic of comparisons. | | Ant || Randall has used ants as a small comparator in [[2733:_Size_Comparisons|a previous comic]] on the topic of comparisons. | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Balloon || | + | | Balloon || a party balloon is quite loud when it pops; a hot-air balloon is big enough to carry a few humans. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Book || | + | | Book || |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Bun (rabbit or pastry) || "Bun" is an informal term for a rabbit and a loaf of bread | + | | Bun (rabbit or pastry) || "Bun" is an informal term for a rabbit and a loaf of bread, this comparison was made in [[1871: Bun Alert]] |
|- | |- | ||
| Butterfly || Butterflies are used as an exemplar of something small, unnoticeable and seemingly insignificant in the metaphor of the Butterfly Effect. | | Butterfly || Butterflies are used as an exemplar of something small, unnoticeable and seemingly insignificant in the metaphor of the Butterfly Effect. | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Hat || | + | | Hat || |
|- | |- | ||
| Mouse || A mouse is a very small, quiet animal. This might also be a reference to the expression "quiet as a mouse", meaning very quietly. | | Mouse || A mouse is a very small, quiet animal. This might also be a reference to the expression "quiet as a mouse", meaning very quietly. | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Newt || | + | | Newt || |
|- | |- | ||
| Pin drop || The expression "hear a pin drop" is used to indicate that an area is exceptionally quiet; the idea is that the space is so silent that even something as insubstantial and tiny as a pin can be heard hitting the ground. | | Pin drop || The expression "hear a pin drop" is used to indicate that an area is exceptionally quiet; the idea is that the space is so silent that even something as insubstantial and tiny as a pin can be heard hitting the ground. | ||
Line 65: | Line 68: | ||
| Harmonica || See Flute. | | Harmonica || See Flute. | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Popcorn || A snack that | + | | Popcorn || A snack that is known for being annoyingly loud in a cinema setting. However, this is largely due to the otherwise low volume environment, and arguably a sewing machine might be equally or more annoying. Also, some helpings of popcorn in some cinemas may actually be larger than a sewing machine. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Songbird || | + | | Songbird || |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Whistle || This is of course | + | | Whistle || This is of course the device known as a whistle, as it is small. The act by humans to whistle has no size (other than that of the whistler). A whistle is used functionally in place of a human that whistles. The loudest human whistle ever recorded was 8372 Hz and roughly 110 DB, which is a C9 in the standard musical scale and is roughly as loud as a jackhammer[https://www.vnews.com/West-Lebanon-man-sets-a-world-record-for-whistling-24480844#:~:text=Guinness'%20website%20says%20Stanford%20reached,in%20the%20standard%20musical%20notation.]. Since a whistle should be able to beat this it must be seen as loud. |
|} | |} | ||
Line 78: | Line 81: | ||
! Item !! Description | ! Item !! Description | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Anaconda || | + | | Anaconda || |
|- | |- | ||
| Giraffe || Giraffes can be quite loud, but they usually vocalise using frequencies well below the range of human hearing. So, to a human, giraffes are quiet. | | Giraffe || Giraffes can be quite loud, but they usually vocalise using frequencies well below the range of human hearing. So, to a human, giraffes are quiet. | ||
Line 84: | Line 87: | ||
| Northern lights || "In 2016, a Finnish study confirmed that the Aurora Borealis does produce a sound that can be heard" [https://www.techexplorist.com/listen-sound-aurora-borealis/47421/] | | Northern lights || "In 2016, a Finnish study confirmed that the Aurora Borealis does produce a sound that can be heard" [https://www.techexplorist.com/listen-sound-aurora-borealis/47421/] | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Shark || | + | | Shark || |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Statue || | + | | Statue || Most statues are larger than a sewing machine. Most statues are silent, but some have fountains or other devices that make sound. |
− | Most statues are silent, but some | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | The Moon || | + | | The Moon || Lower left corner; the Moon is very, very big{{fact}}, but it is also completely silent{{fact}} as sound cannot travel through the vacuum of space. |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Tree || | + | | Tree || |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Windmill || | + | | Windmill || |
|} | |} | ||
Line 101: | Line 103: | ||
! Item !! Description | ! Item !! Description | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Airplane || | + | | Airplane || |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Cannon || | + | | Cannon || |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Riding mower || | + | | Riding mower || |
|- | |- | ||
| [[wikipedia:Calliope_(music)|Steam calliope]] || A large musical device which functions by sending steam (or more recently compressed air) through attached whistles. | | [[wikipedia:Calliope_(music)|Steam calliope]] || A large musical device which functions by sending steam (or more recently compressed air) through attached whistles. | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Train || | + | | Train || |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Tuba || | + | | Tuba || |
|- | |- | ||
| Volcano || Lower right corner. Volcanic eruptions can be extremely loud. The {{w|1883 eruption of Krakatoa}} made a pressure wave of 180 dB, the loudest sound ever recorded. | | Volcano || Lower right corner. Volcanic eruptions can be extremely loud. The {{w|1883 eruption of Krakatoa}} made a pressure wave of 180 dB, the loudest sound ever recorded. | ||
|- | |- | ||
− | | Waterfall || | + | | Waterfall || |
|- | |- | ||
− | | Whale || | + | | Whale || |
|} | |} | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
+ | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
+ | |||
:[A chart, with "Quiet" to "Loud" on the X-axis, and "Small" to "Big" on the Y-axis. It is split into four quarters, with "Sewing machine" in the center.] | :[A chart, with "Quiet" to "Loud" on the X-axis, and "Small" to "Big" on the Y-axis. It is split into four quarters, with "Sewing machine" in the center.] | ||