Editing 1989: IMHO

{{comic
| number    = 1989
| date      = May 4, 2018
| title     = IMHO
| image     = imho.png
| titletext = "Ugh, TMI." "Yeah, that's some tantalizing meat info."
}}

==Explanation==
The conversation begins with a reference to the controversy between whether IMHO stands for "in my '''honest''' opinion" or "in my '''humble''' opinion". Some older Internet users, including Cueball, use the H to mean "humble", which Cueball references as being the norm in the 1990s. However, many younger Internet users, including, apparently, Ponytail, use it to mean "honest", which became the norm after another SMS abbreviation, TBH (to be honest) became popular c. 2011 [https://trends.google.de/trends/explore?date=all&q=tbh,imho]. However, the joke veers into absurdity with Ponytail sharing her unusual opinions on other Internet controversies, including: 

*Believing the G in {{w|GIF}} (Graphics Interchange Format) is silent, so she pronounces it "if", as opposed to the two main camps claiming it should be either a soft G (as in "giantess") or a hard G (as in "graphics").

*Believing that the S in SMDH ("Shaking My Damn Head" or "So Much Damn Hate") stands for "swallowing".

*Believing that the G in OMG ("Oh My God" or "Oh My Goodness") stands for either "giantess" or "genitals."

*Believing a viral picture of {{w|The dress|a dress in very bad lighting}} is actually black and white. For context, the usual perceptions are black and blue to some people and white and gold to others (the manufacturer eventually confirmed it to be black and blue). Though the dress may also appear blue and brown to some people, virtually no individual perceives the dress as black and white. The dress was previously mentioned in [[1492: Dress Color]].

*Believing that the database language {{w|SQL}} (Structured Query Language) is pronounced "squill" as opposed to the two main camps claiming it should be an acronym "sequel" (two syllables) or an initialism S-Q-L ("ess cue ell"; three syllables).

*Using {{w|tab key|tabs}} after {{w|Full stop|periods}}, instead of the two main opposing camps of using either one or two {{w|Sentence spacing|spaces}}. 

Before the 20th century, it was common typographical practice to use an em-space (or other similar wide-space) between sentences.  In the 1930s, common practice was to use smaller inter-sentence spacing, and by the 1950s, inter-sentence spaces were the same size as inter-word spaces.  Although modern style guides all insist on single-spacing between sentences, many people prefer to include two spaces, possibly out of habit from typewriter usage (which commonly used two spaces to mimic the 19th century typographic standards).  (See also: [[1285: Third Way]].) Tabs vs. Spaces also refer to the programmers' debate on how to {{w|Indentation (typesetting)#Indentation in programming|indent}} code correctly.

In the last panel, Cueball exclaims "OMG" (meaning "Oh, my God") to which Megan replies "Yeah, mine too", taking the meaning as "Oh, my genitals" from the 5th panel. This leads to the title text "TMI" (too much information). The pun on periods (typographical and menstruation) might also explain the reaction.

In the title text, another incorrect belief Ponytail has is believing TMI to be "tantalizing meat info," as opposed to too much information. (Remarkably, this makes sense in the context of Megan's comment about her genitals.)

The comic also obliquely references the mistaken opinion that Website polling is an accurate measure of anything; selection bias (among many other problems) renders them almost useless for measuring the general population.

;Etymology of IMHO

ESR's Jargon File (later known as The New Hacker's Dictionary) has [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/I/IMHO.html an entry of "IMHO"]. It's also seen in variant forms such as IMNSHO (In My Not-So-Humble Opinion) and IMAO (In My Arrogant Opinion).

And it has been added into the [http://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-2.1.1.dos.txt Jargon File v2.1 in January 1990], the first version under Eric S. Raymond. Maybe the acronym "IMHO" was invented by science fiction fans in frequent discussions and used on the {{w|Usenet}} which started in 1980. It was in common usage as "humble" in APA (Amateur Press Association) publications during the 1980s, and possibly earlier.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail stand together, talking.]
:Cueball: I thought the "H" in "IMHO" was "humble," but Buzzfeed ran a poll and "honest" won.
:Megan: That can't be true. Their readers are messing with us.

:[Cueball and Megan look at Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Are you sure? I always used it to mean "honest."
:Megan: ...What?!

:[Close up of Cueball holding a phone. A box with usage of "IMHO" and "TBH" from Google Trends shows "TBH" suddenly rising in 2011, with a second spike in 2014.]
:Cueball: It was definitely "humble" in the 1990s.
:Cueball: Maybe people who picked it up after the rise of "TBH" in 2011 interpreted it as "honest" and used it that way.

:[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail as before.]
:Megan: I can't get over this. What other wrong opinions do you have?
:Megan: The "G" in "G-I-F"?
:Ponytail: Silent.

:[Close up of Ponytail, with Megan talking from offscreen.]
:Megan: The "S" in "SMDH"?
:Ponytail: "Swallowing."
:Megan: The "G" in "OMG"?
:Ponytail: "Giantess" or "genitals."

:[Cueball, Megan, and Ponytail as before.]
:Megan: The Dress?
:Ponytail: Black and white.
:Megan: Is the database language "sequel" or "ess cue ell"?
:Ponytail: I've always said "squill."

:Cueball: Okay, the big one: how many spaces after a period?
:Ponytail: None; I use tabs.
:Cueball: OMG.
:Megan: Yeah, mine too.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Programming]]