# ­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:** 15
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/281 "2020-11-28T17:17:07Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > But you only get a free refill for your horse. And you have to buy the extended warranty to get the free refill. That’s how they get you. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/282 "2020-11-30T19:33:44Z")
> **[Cyber Cafe](https://xkcd.com/2392/)** > > Since we haven't really settled on a name for those online hangout/work spaces that try to recreate the experience of cafes, and I love confusion, I'm going to start calling them 'cyber cafes' or 'internet cafes.' ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/283 "2020-11-30T20:20:04Z")
OK, I’m a luddite. I’vn’t any idea what “online hangout/work spaces” he’s referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/284 "2020-11-30T20:29:30Z")
[Starbucks](https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/learn-more/policies/third-place). ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/285 "2020-11-30T20:32:10Z")
That’s not an online space that tries to recreate the feel of a cafe; that’s just a cafe. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/286 "2020-11-30T22:12:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, I’m a luddite. I’vn’t any idea what “online hangout/work spaces” he’s referring to. I may be getting whooshed here but you posted this in an online hangout space. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/287 "2020-11-30T22:24:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I may be getting whooshed here but you posted this in an online hangout space. Quiet, you! I’m tryin’ to work over here! ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/288 "2020-11-30T22:35:01Z")
Fair enough. I missed that it was supposed to be an online “location” I thought it was a place to hangout/work online. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/289 "2020-11-30T22:53:40Z")
I think that was the punchline Munroe was going for. In the past when we talked about a cafe, we were talking about a physical location people would go to to hang out and talk. A cyber cafe was a physical location where people would go to have access to the internet. Munroe was suggesting that we’re now using online locations (like this message board) as the equivalent of the cafes where we used to go to hang out. So he’s suggesting we call these cyber cafes. The confusion he referred to would be that this would result in us having two different things being called cyber cafes. The evolution would be that people would probably start calling the online hangout sites cafes and the term cyber cafe would fade away. We’d then have to come up with a retronym for the cafes located in physical locations. Some term like physical cafe would join terms like acoustic guitar or black and white TV or silent movie. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/290 "2020-12-01T12:42:47Z")
Agree completely w @Little_Nemo’s astute analysis but I also share @Chronos’ confusion. Are there in fact online hangouts that are consciously mimicking some aspects of physical cafes? Even as minor as using cafe-themed terms in their name? Perhaps, like our MMP, there’s some in-jokes where everybody talks about the coffee they’re supposedly drinking or what snacks they’re munching? Not that I expect @Little_Nemo to have this answer, but I think it’s a legit question that our non-retired set may have more info about. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/291 "2020-12-01T12:50:30Z")
I suppose that I should point out that the online space we’re currently in does in fact have the word “Cafe” in its name. I still rather doubt that we’re what Munroe is referring to, though. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/292 "2020-12-03T07:16:37Z")
> **[Presidential Middle Names](https://xkcd.com/2393/)** > > The bottom of the list remains unchanged. Poor Rutherford Birchard Hayes. What about Quincy? I’d say that’s prettier than Delano. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/293 "2020-12-03T08:11:37Z")
If you want to get technical, “Ulysses” wins it in a walk. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/294 "2020-12-04T02:27:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > My English lit is _very_ weak. _Knights_ I got as a matter of history. > > The _foot fetish_ may as well have been written in Chinese for all I got of it Care to enlighten an unwashed philistine? Don’t feel too bad. I didn’t get it either, and my degree is in English Lit. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/295 "2020-12-04T05:40:47Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > What about Quincy? I’d say that’s prettier than Delano. And Spence should at least be in the running. But I think we can all agree that Hussein was the middle name that was most problematic for its owner. > [@Alessan](#): > > If you want to get technical, “Ulysses” wins it in a walk. It’s surprising how many American Presidents went by their middle names: Hiram Ulysses Grant, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, Stephen Grover Cleveland, David Dwight Eisenhower, John Calvin Coolidge. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/296 "2020-12-04T15:00:11Z")
I wonder if by “pretty” Munroe means it would make a plausible girl’s / woman’s name that’s obviously feminine? Note he didn’t say cool or euphonious or majestic or powerful or timeless; he said “pretty”. I could totally see a classroom full of 5yo girls, 3 of whom are named _Gamaliel_ or _Robinette_. _Delano_ would be a bit of a stretch, but far from inconceivable. I know it’s much the fashion in recent years to name girls with traditionally male names, Madison coming immediately to mind. I’m not talking about that effect. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/297 "2020-12-04T19:52:41Z")
Some words are pretty, even if they’re never used as names. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/298 "2020-12-04T20:44:12Z")
_Robinette_ is the surname of a friend of mine. She’s not related to the President-elect in any way she knows, but she says the name’s of sufficient rarity in the U.S. that she probably is, at some remove. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/299 "2020-12-04T20:50:58Z")
I think he’s referring to things like Zoom, Google Meet and Discord. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/300 "2020-12-05T04:45:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I know it’s much the fashion in recent years to name girls with traditionally male names, Madison coming immediately to mind. I’m not talking about that effect. I thought that got started with the movie _Splash_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=16)