Editing Talk:2837: Odyssey

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oh boy! first comment + no explanation! did i sign this correctly? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.23|162.158.186.23]] 21:37, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
: yes 162.158.186.23, yes you did.

added transcript, probably could be done better but i don't have the time right now to look at formatting guides [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]<sup>&#91;[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]&#93;[[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]]</sup> 22:03, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
: ok maybe i ''did'' but someone can make it better [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]<sup>&#91;[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]&#93;[[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]]</sup> 22:16, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
:: messed with transcript more, it has divs now [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]<sup>&#91;[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]&#93;[[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]]</sup> 03:19, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
::: im removing the divs [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]<sup>&#91;[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]&#93;[[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]]</sup> 14:28, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

In Emily Wilson's translation of the Odyssey (paperback edition), she writes that Odysseus says, "My name is Noman. / My family and friends call me Noman" (9.366-367). So given that the comic is about Emily Wilson's translation, shouldn't the title text say, "Noman was home," not "Nobody was home"? [[User:AoPS is superior|AoPS is superior]] ([[User talk:AoPS is superior|talk]]) 22:35, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
:It would depend upon how the original fit within the language. "Οὖτις" ('Outis') is "no one"/"nobody"/"not somebody" rather than "no man" ("man" is "ᾰ̓νήρ", roughly 'aner' and led towards "andras" in less ancient Greek, but I don't right now know how to inflect the "ou" prefix for "no"). Wilson's translation is probably borrowing the general "might be a name"ness and combining it with modern "Norman"-like names to go beyond the literal and give it 'ear-feel'.
:The trouble with that is the Macbeth/Witch-King thing whereby "no man" (of woman born, in the case of the former) is said to be able to defeat them, only for a caesarian-delivered individual to get the chance to overcome the resulting hubris in the former case and a tag-team of hobbit and woman (and arguments about which was most important!) in the latter. "No man" has baggage. (With getting hit by an exploding sundial also maybe another unforzeen Achilles' Heel for such fate-determined individuals!)
:Yes, possibly by letting these specific translations be canon, I could see it being inportant to stick to ''their'' term but... there's so much detail and the rest of the multivolume works probably differ (if you're being exact) from the rest of the paradoic reference here. So not sure it's worth worrying about this. ;) Any more than we don't describe people as having a "swollen foot complex". ;p [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.21|172.71.242.21]] 00:52, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
:: It could Randall hasn’t read the book either, but instead ordered the sequel rather than reading it. It could also be an editor was trying to help us think about the causes of these things. Criminals can force victims to deny their existence, stimulating psychological dissociation where you actually think “nobody” is causing your addiction; small things can help people connect the dots more safely. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.211|172.70.126.211]] 13:28, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
:Maybe Cueball has a dog named Nobody, and the courier refused to complete the delivery for fear of being bitten. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.68.249|141.101.68.249]] 16:28, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

It's the 21st century. He should have ordered it as an e-book. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:51, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
: "This file type was not recognised. It may be protected by BeggarDRM."[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.219|172.70.85.219]] 08:28, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

The current transcript text describes the "Refresh" click as coming after the displayed screen contents.  I could be wrong, but I thought the clicks on "Refresh" actually caused the display presented in the panel.  Anyone else think the same thing? [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 01:44, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
:I initially agreed with you, but noting the "order" process appears to happen at the end of one panel and its result in the next, I feel it's appropriate to maintain the refresh as "after" the content. But it sure does feel unnatural. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.66|172.71.166.66]] 02:24, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
::I thought about that as well, which is why I didn't go ahead and change it without asking. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 03:13, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
:::i put them at the end because they're lower than the rest of the text in the panel [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]<sup>&#91;[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]&#93;[[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]]</sup> 03:23, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
: More likely it's happening before, after, and several times subsequently - i.e. it's a single 'Refresh' that stands for repeated refreshing.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.85|141.101.99.85]] 08:32, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

Not why the explanation suggests that buying more books than you read only happens because 'technology and marketing slowly addicts us'. Clearly whoever wrote this hasn't met many bibliophiles or book collectors. It's not a new phenomenon -- or a bad one! I suggest looking up the concept of an antilibrary.... [[User:Zoid42|Zoid42]] ([[User talk:Zoid42|talk]]) 14:35, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
:: This antilibrary thing is a strange and vaguely unpleasant concept to me. Preservation of antique texts or something is one thing, but a collection of standard-edition books you have no intention to read feels... perverse feels close to the right word. Like having a collection of paintings you lock in a closet and refuse to show to anyone, or a workshop that you refuse to use. [[User:Scorpion451|Scorpion451]] ([[User talk:Scorpion451|talk]]) 18:40, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

The Odyssey is just the most elaborate "Why were you so late getting home from work?" excuse in history. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.43|172.69.247.43]] 14:45, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

Anyone else think XKCD has kind of gone downhill? This comic doesn't quite seem as high quality as some of his work a few years ago. Is there any reason for this that could be added to the explanation?
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.19|172.70.162.19]] 23:10, 5 October 2023 (UTC)
:Given that this opinion would be entirely subjective (not every comic's a winner, certainly, but different people would suggest different non-winners), probably not going to be a valid Explanation addition.
:Some might want a lot more Map Of The Internet-type things, rather than Gravity/Escape Velocity things. I'm sure there'd be fans of Barrel Boy, or Time or even further Up-Goer Five stuff (which, after all, spawned a book!) in returning.
:But something new is something new. And it's not ''all'' 'classicist' humour. Or the latest Exploits Of A Mum/Blackhat/White Beret/... It'd be boring if it were, or chasing Erdoz/Euler jokes incessantly. But part of the fun (for me... YKmMV) is never quite knowing what the next comic might look like. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.2|172.70.90.2]] 11:15, 6 October 2023 (UTC)