# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 112
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2223 "2023-06-17T14:00:29Z")
He’s an “R” - his friends do make plans, they just never get down to him. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2224 "2023-06-17T17:20:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Y’know, I only just realized the disturbing implication of Wednesday’s strip. Apparently, among Randall’s circle of friends, he’s the one who organizes all of the social events? Good lord, what must the rest of them be like? Well, one of them wears a beret, one of them has a black hat… ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2225 "2023-06-17T17:52:09Z")
You know the difference between an introverted engineer and an extroverted engineer, right? The extroverted engineer looks at _your_ shoes when talking to you ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2226 "2023-06-19T21:39:18Z")
> **[Bookshelf Sorting](https://xkcd.com/2791/)** > > Of course, I sort all my bookshelves the normal way, alphabetically (by first sentence). ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2023, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2227 "2023-06-19T22:10:56Z")
The height of the pages seemed way too periodic, but thinking about it some more I guess that’s right if you keep the order of the pages with the same number in the same book order each time. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2228 "2023-06-19T23:20:41Z")
> Of course, I sort all my bookshelves the normal way, alphabetically (by first sentence). That makes perfect sense, since that’s where the book actually starts. The title, author, publisher, etc are all metadata. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2229 "2023-06-20T04:28:32Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > if you keep the order of the pages with the same number in the same book order each time. I was wondering what the secondary sort was myself, and to you keep i, ii, and iii in the forward separate from 1, 2, and 3 or intermix them? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2230 "2023-06-22T00:30:18Z")
> **[Summer Solstice](https://xkcd.com/2792/)** > > Then I'll start work on my lunar engines to line the Moon up with the ecliptic so we can have a solar eclipse every month (with a little wobble so they're not always on the equator.) While he’s at it, he could fix the aphelion/perihelion problem. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2231 "2023-06-22T04:00:56Z")
Blame Kepler. If Mr. Copernicus had his way, it would be so much easier. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2232 "2023-06-22T13:35:06Z")
How would you line up the longest day with the latest sunset (and assuming earliest sunrise), assuming that you can move celestial objects with ease? Would you need to completely circularize Earth’s orbit, or can you just shift it so that the solstices line up perfectly with the apsis? > [@dtilque](#): > > While he’s at it, he could fix the aphelion/perihelion problem. What’s wrong with them? ---
**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:** [June 22, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2233 "2023-06-22T13:53:14Z")
I assume that @dtilque is referring to the fact that the Earth is closest to the Sun in winter (or at least, when it’s winter for @dtilque and Randall Munroe). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2234 "2023-06-22T14:36:03Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Would you need to completely circularize Earth’s orbit, or can you just shift it so that the solstices line up perfectly with the apsis? Not an expert, but I’m pretty sure you’d have to circularize the orbit. Which would take care of the aphelion/perihelion problem, since there wouldn’t be either one… > [@Chronos](#): > > I assume that @dtilque is referring to the fact that the Earth is closest to the Sun in winter (or at least, when it’s winter for @dtilque and Randall Munroe). Kind of. But mostly it was posted without thinking too much about it. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2235 "2023-06-22T14:36:24Z")
I don’t see that as a problem. For the little effect it has, it mitigates the extreme temperatures of the seasons. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2236 "2023-06-23T18:08:51Z")
> **[Garden Path Sentence](https://xkcd.com/2793/)** > > Arboretum Owner Denied Standing in Garden Path Suit on Grounds Grounds Appealing Appealing ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2237 "2023-06-23T19:03:27Z")
I’m starting to think Randall gets ad revenue from the Explain XKCD website. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2238 "2023-06-23T19:23:05Z")
I haven’t figured out the main sentence yet. I think I’ve parsed the hover one, though: An arboreteum owner who was previously denied legal standing in a lawsuit about garden paths (on the legal grounds that the arboreteum grounds were aesthetically appealing), is now filing a legal appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2239 "2023-06-23T19:25:46Z")
I’m thinking the sentences can be parsed in multiple ways, like “she eats shoots and leaves”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2240 "2023-06-23T19:34:39Z")
That may be the case, but a [garden-path sentence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden-path_sentence) is a specific case where you get led down the wrong path in parsing the sentence due to specific words being ambiguous. A simple example is: _The old man the boat_ Almost everyone reads “old man” at first, but you hit a grammatical collision as soon as you read “the”. The only way to make sense of it is as “The old (people) man the boat.” ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2241 "2023-06-23T19:49:45Z")
Here comes Captain Ahab, always ordering us around with the old “man the boat” routine. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2242 "2023-06-23T19:49:57Z")
I’m not seeing any word in there that could be parsed as “airplane”, though I think there has to be one… Unless “bird” means “airplane”, but that’s a little too colloquial for a headline. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=111) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=113)