# Best Literary/Geeky Cartoon I've Ever Seen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858 "2007-03-28T17:40:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/1 "2007-03-28T17:40:47Z")
[xkcd](http://xkcd.com/c241.html) today cracked me up. It only took me a second to get the punchline, and the alt text is hilarious. It’s worth checking out the archives in this one, too! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/2 "2007-03-28T18:47:01Z")
I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/3 "2007-03-28T19:06:42Z")
I know it’s a reference to Ender’s Game but I don’t get why the punchline is funny. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/4 "2007-03-28T19:15:10Z")
Smirk-worthy, at least. Reminds me of an old computer joke - “nice servers don’t go down.” ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/5 "2007-03-28T19:18:05Z")
How is this funny? Is it because “gate is down” has a computor meaning as well as the meaning that Ender used it as a kind of battle-cry in the story? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/6 "2007-03-28T19:18:31Z")
In the book, one of the “revelations” that Ender has is in relation to the game they play. The older players all think of the game as a level fight, Ender discovers that it makes more sense to think of yourself as “falling” toward the other end of the battlefield (the enemy’s gate). In the book, he’s always reminding his troops that “the enemy’s gate is down”. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/7 "2007-03-28T19:37:17Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] Is it because “gate is down” has a computor meaning as well as the meaning that Ender used it as a kind of battle-cry in the story? [/QUOTE] 😕 It’s the same usage as “the server is down” or “the network is down”, as in “the service is not in an operational condition”. However, this idiom has usage beyond the scope of computer-speak (and the computer-speak likely derives from the wider scope) - e.g. “the phones are down”. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/8 "2007-03-28T19:43:03Z")
…If you want sublimely funny computer humor, [this one](http://xkcd.com/c224.html) is a classic. The website isn’t lacking for [math](http://xkcd.com/c179.html) or [physics](http://xkcd.com/c123.html) gags, either. Lastly, his [map of the internet](http://xkcd.com/c195.html) was so brilliant and useful I duplicated it in HTML and a hardcopy is taped to the wall next to my servers. (I find it very handy when dissecting spam headers.) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/9 "2007-03-28T19:50:57Z")
That is a brilliantly bad pun. I love xkcd. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/10 "2007-03-28T20:12:17Z")
I feel stoopid. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/11 "2007-03-29T00:45:06Z")
It’s been too long since I’ve read _Ender’s Game_… I didn’t get it until **Zakalwe** explained it. Unusually for jokes, it was still funny even after being explained. And in my defense, the stress would go on different words in the two readings of that phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/12 "2007-03-29T01:05:27Z")
Well, I get the Lavoisier gag: [http://www.galactanet.com/comic/547.htm](http://www.galactanet.com/comic/547.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/13 "2007-03-29T02:40:45Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] Well, I get the Lavoisier gag: [http://www.galactanet.com/comic/547.htm](http://www.galactanet.com/comic/547.htm) [/QUOTE] I understood the Kim Possible part, but the panel with Kim Possible kinda went over my head. You know, I can’t concentrate on anything but Kim Possible right now. I think I just need to go watch a few eps. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-literary-geeky-cartoon-ive-ever-seen/397858/14 "2007-03-30T12:36:39Z")
[QUOTE=Subway Prophet] 😕 It’s the same usage as “the server is down” or “the network is down”, as in “the service is not in an operational condition”. .. [/QUOTE] Thanks, I’d not noticed the word “gate” applied to computor stuff before. Can you tell I’m not very computor savvy?