2247: Weird Hill

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Weird Hill

Title text: I'm compromising by picking a weird hill to lie on.

Explanation

This comic is a joke about the expression "a (weird) hill to die on", which refers to holding a position as if it has great importance, and being willing to fight for that position, no matter how much opposition you face, or how little benefit is derived. The term comes from the military practice of capturing and holding hills in disputed areas, in order to command the high ground. Because hills tended to be highly disputed, soldiers would frequently die in their defense. Hence picking "a hill to die on" implies that you're choosing a position that you consider to be so important that you'd defend it at the cost of your own life. The term is generally used to point out the pointlessness of defending a rhetorical position with such fervor, particularly if the point is not especially important, and/or the other party is unlikely to change their views.

In this strip, Beret Guy interrupts Cueball, who is apparently arguing with someone who is wrong on the Internet. Pulling him away from the argument, Beret Guy asks why Cueball should pick a weird hill to die on (fight over an opinion online) when he could pick a soft hill to lie on, going out into nature and relaxing. This comic has a similar message to 386: Duty Calls, 1731: Wrong, and 2051: Bad Opinions. The theme is sometimes we either assign too much importance to our opinions, or we expend too much effort trying to persuade others, and it's often wiser to simply let the argument go. Leaving a computer problem to relax in nature was also mentioned in 1024: Error Code.

The title text is an absurd juxtaposition: that Cueball will pick a weird hill to lie on. In this case, he may be referring to a physical hill, in which case the meaning of "weird" is unclear due to lack of context.

The phrase "a weird hill to die on" was also featured in 1717: Pyramid Honey. (Normally the expression is just "a hill to die on".)

Transcript

[Cueball, frustrated, is sitting on a chair in front of a computer and Beret Guy pulling the chair back]

Computer: *!$@

Beret Guy: Why pick a weird hill to die on...

[Cueball gets up, still frustrated]

[Cueball and Beret Guy leave the room]

[Cueball and Beret Guy climbing a hill]

[Cueball and Beret Guy lying down at the top of a hill]

Beret Guy: ... when you could pick a soft hill to lie on?

Cueball: This is nice.

Trivia

• A quick Internet search does not indicate the existence of a properly-named "Weird Hill" on which Cueball could lie^{[citation needed]}, but there is a public park in Massachusetts called Weir Hill. Weir Hill's landscape is a weird patchwork, including several threatened species, because it was used for different agricultural purposes by the Algonquin and then European settlers and American farmers before becoming a park in the 1960s.

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Discussion

(obligatory comment about how the explanation I made was my first) but seriously, first time actually doing something after a long time checking here for comics I didn't get. Hope it's good. 108.162.216.222 06:55, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Maybe there should also be a comparison between this and https://xkcd.com/386/? Baldrickk (talk) 13:45, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

I'm not sure a comparison is in order, but this could easily be a sequel to 386 172.69.68.147 16:34, 27 December 2019 (UTC) Sam

As I have the mediator personality type (INFP) but I'm also something of a chaotic neutral, I can confirm that there are points where I've found a weird metaphoric hill to lie on... quite comfortably too. 172.69.68.147 16:34, 27 December 2019 (UTC) Sam

Is the expression "weird hill to die on" or "hill to die on" (as the link indicates)? 162.158.146.10 04:04, 2 January 2020 (UTC)loosenut

I'm VERY sure the expression is "hill to die on", I usually hear it as "Is this the hill you wanna die on?". He's just describing this one as a weird choice. That link leads to an article simply titled "hill to die on". NiceGuy1 (talk) 07:11, 5 January 2020 (UTC)

Should it be mentioned that this comic is similar to 438 and 14? 108.162.219.210 18:47, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

I'd rather pick a soft hill to die on

Hills are itchy though GetPunnedOn (talk) 23:45, 25 December 2023 (UTC)