# "Stop Continental Drift" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914 "2007-02-27T19:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/1 "2007-02-27T19:40:17Z")
Anyone heard that one yet? Just saw this on a bumper sticker and thought it was hilarious. I can’t find an accurate recreation online - the ones I found all seem to have some [knowing wink](http://www.bumperart.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=2004083016&productID=9966) built into it. The one I saw was played dead-straight to accurately match the self-righteousness of its target. A blue rare example of right-wing humor done right. Note: This is not me sharing my political position, this is just me appreciating a gag well done. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/2 "2007-02-27T19:50:04Z")
Years ago bumper stickers for “Re-Unite Gondwanaland” were occasionally seen. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/3 "2007-02-27T19:52:35Z")
I guess I should have clicked the link first. 🙂 But the joke is at least 30 years old, probably more. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/4 "2007-02-27T20:28:40Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Years ago bumper stickers for “Re-Unite Gondwanaland” were occasionally seen. [/QUOTE] I’ve got an ancient T-shirt that says that. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/5 "2007-02-27T20:33:09Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Years ago bumper stickers for “Re-Unite Gondwanaland” were occasionally seen. [/QUOTE] Yeah, and that’s a perfect example of sloppy humor (which is typical for political bumper sticker slogans). Besides the fact that Gondwanaland is extremely obscure, compared to Pangaea (or maybe it wasn’t 30 years ago), there’s no political issue involving re-uniting anything. “Stop Continental Drift” is directly parallel to “Stop Global Warming” and thus makes the satire more potent. The idea behind it is that that both sentiments are equal - that both are calls to take political action against natural planetary changes that are outside of mankind’s power. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/6 "2007-02-27T20:36:58Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Years ago bumper stickers for “Re-Unite Gondwanaland” were occasionally seen. [/QUOTE] How about _“186,000 miles a second isn’t just the law, it’s also a good idea.”_ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/7 "2007-02-27T20:48:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, and that’s a perfect example of sloppy humor No, it’s not. **Reunite Gondwanaland** is infinitely superior to “Stop Continental Drift”. It sounds like a political statement, and “Gondwanaland” really does sound like some 1960s-era post-colonial African state. It makes you think and maybe look it up. (Thorty years aho “Gondwanaland” and “Pangaea” were equally obscure) “Stop Continental Drift” is iommediately obvious and doesn’t sound sufficiently like anything else (even “Stop Global Warming” ) to do anything but fall with the dead thud of witlessness. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/8 "2007-02-27T20:53:48Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] …“Gondwanaland” really does sound like some 1960s-era post-colonial African state. It makes you think and maybe look it up. . [/QUOTE] I just did. Now I want the bumber sticker. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/9 "2007-02-27T20:56:05Z")
I’ve got to agree with **CalMeacham**. The Gondwanaland slogan is much funnier, because it’s more obscure. Most people are going to take it at face value. You have to actually know something about how the continents are formed to get the joke. It’s excellent insider humor, while “Stop Continental Drift” is merely adequate satire. Incidentally, I recently purchased [this t-shirt](http://www.questionablecontent.net/merch.php) for myself. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/10 "2007-02-27T20:57:00Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] I’ve got an ancient T-shirt that says that. [/QUOTE] ha! ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/11 "2007-02-27T21:03:57Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] No, it’s not. **Reunite Gondwanaland** is infinitely superior to “Stop Continental Drift”. It sounds like a political statement, and “Gondwanaland” really does sound like some 1960s-era post-colonial African state. It makes you think and maybe look it up. (Thorty years aho “Gondwanaland” and “Pangaea” were equally obscure) [/QUOTE] Were there calls for third parties to re-unite any dissolved post-colonial African states back then (I really don’t know, tell me)? Even if there were, such an issue would be too far removed from global warming to be sufficiently clever. > [@](#): > > “Stop Continental Drift” is iommediately obvious and doesn’t sound sufficiently like anything else (even “Stop Global Warming” ) to do anything but fall with the dead thud of witlessness. Okay…you realize I’m gaging the gag on it’s propensity to get a laugh, not on its ability to get someone to jump through sadistic loops to decipher a code. That it’s _relatively_ immediately obvious is why it’s funny. It’s actually a _bit_ of a thinker but pays off in the time that a bumper sticker should. And why should it sound like something else besides “Stop Global Warming” (which it does, I don’t get why you’re saying it doesn’t, they’re perfectly parallel if you’re taking the position of the sticker)? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/12 "2007-02-27T21:12:46Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] I’ve got to agree with **CalMeacham**. The Gondwanaland slogan is much funnier, because it’s more obscure. [/QUOTE] Why does that make it funny? Because you get to congratulate yourself about your superiority? It’s sloppy because there’s less of an attempt to connect it to its target. In fact, you’re admitting that that’s not the source of the humor at all - it’s funny simply because it sounds like something it’s not. That’s quite banal compared to the biting satire that “continental drift” offers. \*The author of the “continental drift” gag found a perfect analogy (assuming his position is sound) for global warming to make his point. That’s more laudatory noticing that “Gondwanaland” sounds like an unstable African country. What does that have to do with anything? \*(added via edit) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/13 "2007-02-27T21:19:09Z")
I used to have a t-shirt that proclaimed that I was a member of the **Pangaean Liberation Front.** **Miller** , I love that shirt! ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/14 "2007-02-27T21:23:24Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] That’s more laudatory noticing that “Gondwanaland” sounds like an unstable African country. [/QUOTE] Eh, that should be "more _laudable than_ noticing ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/15 "2007-02-27T21:30:42Z")
Well, it could be funny, on Iceland. According to [this](http://www.dur.ac.uk/g.r.foulger/Offprints/Astron-Geo.pdf) Iceland is widening at a rate of about 2 cm/year. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/16 "2007-02-27T21:55:13Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Why does that make it funny? Because you get to congratulate yourself about your superiority? It’s sloppy because there’s less of an attempt to connect it to its target. In fact, you’re admitting that that’s not the source of the humor at all - it’s funny simply because it sounds like something it’s not. That’s quite banal compared to the biting satire that “continental drift” offers. \*The author of the “continental drift” gag found a perfect analogy (assuming his position is sound) for global warming to make his point. That’s more laudatory noticing that “Gondwanaland” sounds like an unstable African country. What does that have to do with anything? \*(added via edit) [/QUOTE] See, I don’t get this at all. When I saw the bumper sticker I had no concept that it connected to global warming. None at all. Lady Chance has had a sweatshirt for fifteen years that proclaims “STOP PLATE TECTONICS”. So I didn’t even notice the humor, much less the supposed satire of the OP. Gondwanaland, now, that’s funny on it’s own. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/17 "2007-02-27T21:58:14Z")
I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this, **pizzabrat**. “Stop Continental Drift” to me has not an iota of wit. It states its premise bluntly and blandly and doesn’t have the lots-of-information-packed-into-a-tiny-space-that-makes-you-think-and-reconsider that is, to me, the heart and soul of humor. “Reuynite Gondwanaland” sounds like a political statement, but a little thought or research shows that it’s not, yet it sounds incredibly plausibly like the name of a real country. It’s got nothing to do with smug superiority over those “not in the know”. It’s the re-adjustment of your viewpoint neatly packaged in a two-word statement. Brevity is indeed the soul of wit. “Stop Continental Drift” hasn’t got that seems-to-mean-something-else-wait-it’s-not quality that yanks you by the neck and makes you stop and think. It ain’t funny. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/18 "2007-02-27T22:06:11Z")
I’m with **pizzabrat** , I think SCD is funnier than the Gondwanaland one, which is a bit clunky IMO. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/19 "2007-02-27T22:26:48Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Why does that make it funny? Because you get to congratulate yourself about your superiority? [/quote] No, that’s what makes it interesting. I don’t really have to explain the concept of an inside joke to you, do I? What makes it _funny_ is the juxtaposition of a relatively obscure scientific term in the context of political sloganing. > [@](#): > > It’s sloppy because there’s less of an attempt to connect it to its target. There’s no target to begin with. It’s not satirical, it’s absurdist. > [@](#): > > In fact, you’re admitting that that’s not the source of the humor at all - it’s funny simply because it sounds like something it’s not. Yes, and what of it? > [@](#): > > That’s quite banal compared to the biting satire that “continental drift” offers. \*The author of the “continental drift” gag found a perfect analogy (assuming his position is sound) for global warming to make his point. “Biting?” Not particularly. I don’t really think you can get “biting” satire out of such a short slogan. There’s just not enough room to properly establish a biting tone on a bumpersticker. Biting satire needs to really demolish it’s target. It has to make people who hold the position being satired look like idiots, and there’s just not enough meat in “Stop Continental Drift” to do that. Anyway, I never thought to take the bumpersticker as an anti-global warming swipe. I figured it was more of an anti-Creationist joke. > [@](#): > > That’s more laudatory noticing that “Gondwanaland” sounds like an unstable African country. What does that have to do with anything? Who gives a fuck about “laudatory?” I’m interested in funny. The Gondwanaland joke is much funnier, if for no other reason than it contains the word “Gondwanaland,” which is an intrinsically funny word. Off topic, but did you ever get that webcomic up and running? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914/20 "2007-02-27T22:57:25Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] No, that’s what makes it interesting. I don’t really have to explain the concept of an inside joke to you, do I? [/QUOTE] Ah, inside joke… Makes more sense in that context… Okay, I get that. I’ll admit I can see the humor in that now (I wouldn’t have been in on the joke since I never heard of Gondwanaland). But then, thought of that way there’s really no point in comparing the two slogans at all. > [@](#): > > “Biting?” Not particularly. I don’t really think you can get “biting” satire out of such a short slogan. There’s just not enough room to properly establish a biting tone on a bumpersticker. Biting satire needs to really demolish it’s target. It has to make people who hold the position being satired look like idiots, and there’s just not enough meat in “Stop Continental Drift” to do that. It does exactly that. Continental Drift is an existing phenomenon, and can cause huge problems for mankind. But how ridiculous would anyone sound mounting a political movement to get the government and its citizenry to stop it, rather than just dealing with it as a natural planetary quirk? > [@](#): > > Off topic, but did you ever get that webcomic up and running? It’s not a webcomic, it’s a graphic novel, and no, still working on it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-continental-drift/393914.md?page=2)