1689: My Friend Catherine

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 18:21, 3 June 2016 by 162.158.214.227 (talk) (Explanation)
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My Friend Catherine
I can't get any work done because my friend Catherine is sitting on my keyboard.
Title text: I can't get any work done because my friend Catherine is sitting on my keyboard.

Explanation

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If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This is another in a series of substitutions, where a word or phrase, in this case "my cat", is replaced with a different word or phrase, in this case "my friend Catherine". By doing so in a list of people discussing things their feline cat did, it makes it seem like they are discussing things their female human friend did. What is cute, impressive, or normal for a cat would often be weird or disturbing if an adult human were to do it[citation needed], which is what makes the substitution humorous.

Note that the substitution can be a simple mental substitution, or there are browser extensions that can be used to do the substitution for you.

It should also be noted that this comic conflicts with one of the substitutions from 1288: Substitutions. Namely: its original car → cat replacement. Upon this comic's release,"car" and "cat" should be stll the same, except in the case "my car" and "my cat", which should both be replaced with "my friend Catherine."

Transcript

New Favorite Substitution: My Cat → My Friend Catherine

(A Facebook-like list of comments by different people)

My friend Catherine just did a backflip and then ate a bug!
I wish my friend Catherine wouldn't wake me up by chewing on my hair.
Oh no, my friend Catherine has learned to open the refrigerator.
My friend Catherine just walked in, threw up on the rug, and walked out.
My friend Catherine is looking out the window making weird noises at the birds.
I wish my friend Catherine wouldn't make eye contact with me while pooping.

Title text: I can't get any work done because my friend Catherine is sitting on my keyboard.


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Discussion

I can't get any work done because My Friend Catherine is sitting on my leopard. Mikemk (talk) 15:07, 3 June 2016 (UTC)

I genuinely expected to see leopard in the alt text.162.158.214.230 18:03, 3 June 2016 (UTC)
I also came straight here to write a note on the leopard after seeing the title text, but Mikmek beat me too it ;-) --Kynde (talk) 19:32, 3 June 2016 (UTC)

I'm not so sure that it does conflict with car->cat. This is "my cat"->to " my friend Catherine", i.e. car->cat->my friend Catherine wouldn't happen. 108.162.237.137 15:15, 3 June 2016 (UTC)

You would have to make sure that "my cat" came before "cat" in the script, else it would first replace all cats with cars and thus never see the phrase "my cat".162.158.214.230 18:03, 3 June 2016 (UTC)
The substitution was the other way replacing car with cat, so it is the other way around that if there was some "my car" they would also become my friend Catherine in stead of my cat. --Kynde (talk) 19:32, 3 June 2016 (UTC)
I also don't see how the conflict exists. By that logic, Substitutions 2 would conflict with itself, since it completely swaps "minutes" and "years". Schiffy (Speak to me|What I've done) 14:20, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
Agree. Also, it is possible to create a substitution algorithm clever enough not to chain its own replacements, I don't think that note is relevant, removing it for now. Jaalenja (talk) 14:27, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
This whole conversation confused me further than it needed to. I'm going to disable substitutions on this site from now on. Xseo (talk) 07:52, 5 July 2016 (UTC)

Being a dog person, my dog-->my friend Doug would also be a fun substitution. Jake (talk) 15:43, 3 June 2016 (UTC)


Is the cat-on-my-keyboard in the title text possibly a reference to that old Keyboard Cat video?[1] 108.162.221.80 20:06, 3 June 2016 (UTC)

Don't think so—cats seem to have a tendency to sit on computer keyboards when their owners aren't using them. ~AgentMuffin
More often when the owners are using them. 162.158.2.138 10:54, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
Especially if it is a laptop, because cats like the warmth. 141.101.70.61 17:39, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
Of course. Cats don't have time to sit on keyboards while their owners are using them. 162.158.86.245 18:55, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
Never heard about cats sitting on keyboards, but hearing a lot about cats sitting on tablets. -- Hkmaly (talk) 19:01, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

For an even creepier substitution, try "great aunt Catherine". 108.162.250.158 03:06, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Oh great, I have to change the chrome extension again. 108.162.215.69 15:18, 4 June 2016 (UTC)--