# ­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:** 156
**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 3, 2024, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3103 "2024-06-03T23:59:08Z")
I don’t think many unicycles have gearshifts, which makes a big difference in a 'cycle’s practicality. They usually can’t coast, either. ---
**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 4, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3104 "2024-06-04T00:09:08Z")
A geared bike is more practical, no doubt. It deserves to be near the top of any list. But fixie bikes are popular and totally usable on ordinary terrain. And of course skateboards, rollerblades, scooters, etc. are “morally” fixed speed. I see that multi-speed unicycles are available. But I wonder if a fixed geared unicycle would be almost as good. You don’t necessarily need lots of torque all the time, but top speed is limited by wheel size with a fixed pedal-wheel relationship. The old penny-farthing problem. ---
**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 4, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3105 "2024-06-04T15:50:18Z")
Are geared unicycles a thing? 99% of the ones I’ve seen have the pedal cranks directly on the axle. The 1% are those tall ones with a chain drive reaching down to the axle. I’ve never noticed if they have ratio other than 1:1 or not. ---
**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 4, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3106 "2024-06-04T16:28:03Z")
You can also make a three-speed transmission using orbital gears-- Those aren’t as obvious, from an external look. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3107 "2024-06-06T03:37:54Z")
> **[Fluid Speech](https://xkcd.com/2942/)** > > Thank you to linguist Gretchen McCulloch for teaching me about phonetic assimilation, and for teaching me that if you stand around in public reading texts from a linguist and murmuring example phrases to yourself, people will eventually ask if you're okay. ---
**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 6, 2024, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3108 "2024-06-06T04:11:40Z")
Don’t leave us hanging, Randall. What’s the answer? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3109 "2024-06-06T11:36:01Z")
Randall’s comics (including today’s!) are regularly featured at [Language Log](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/), and it wouldn’t surprise me if Randall hangs out there himself. If so, I’m willing to bet that today’s comic is a stealth rejoinder to a certain Language Log commenter who never misses an opportunity to complain about people who say “gonna.” (Also “gotta,” “wanna”…) ---
**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 6, 2024, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3110 "2024-06-06T11:56:05Z")
Good to see that Gretchen is continuing her recovery from that Brown One attack. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3111 "2024-06-06T15:25:24Z")
I have a distinct memory of asking my teacher how to spell “gunta”. Learned a lot about spoken language that day. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3112 "2024-06-06T18:05:02Z")
I remember being confused that I did not know what the letter “elemeno” looked like. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3113 "2024-06-06T18:18:56Z")
I was stunned that the little dishes of food my mother handed around at parties before the main meal were “hors d’oeuvres” and not “orderbs”. ---
**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 6, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3114 "2024-06-06T18:43:44Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I remember being confused that I did not know what the letter “elemeno” looked like. That’s where all those Texians died, right? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3115 "2024-06-06T20:08:50Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I was stunned that the little dishes of food my mother handed around at parties before the main meal were “hors d’oeuvres” and not “orderbs” I blame the French for their relentless crusade against consonants. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3116 "2024-06-06T20:10:15Z")
My mother avoided this by calling them, “Horse’s doofers” ---
**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 7, 2024, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3117 "2024-06-07T00:02:34Z")
Didn’t you have a student ask you once how to spell “Onesaponatime” (which is how all fairy tales start)? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2024, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3118 "2024-06-07T13:06:55Z")
It was “Wunsaponatim”, but yes. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3119 "2024-06-07T17:54:44Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I remember being confused that I did not know what the letter “elemeno” looked like. It looks like [this](https://i.etsystatic.com/17677583/r/il/8231a6/3553659363/il_300x300.3553659363_s3o9.jpg) - see the third line in the chart. It comes from a SNL sketch where they developed a 10-letter alphabet for the metric system; A, B, C, D, EF, GHI, J, K, LMNO, and all of the letters from P to Z combined. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3120 "2024-06-07T22:42:49Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I remember being confused that I did not know what the letter “elemeno” looked like. There’s a character in Neil Stephenson’s _Snow Crash_, a Chinese-American pirate called Bruce Lee. At one point, he talks with the protagonists, and punctuates his question with “Chomsayin?” Which it took me a few moments on first reading to realize was the actual informal pronounciation of “Do you know what I’m saying?” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3121 "2024-06-08T00:11:29Z")
> **[Unsolved Chemistry Problems](https://xkcd.com/2943/)** > > I'm an H⁺ denier, in that I refuse to consider loose protons to be real hydrogen, so I personally believe it stands for 'pretend'. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2024, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3122 "2024-06-08T02:43:57Z")
Erm, I thought it was from German, power of Hydrogen or sumthin’. Nah, I don’t want to get into a discussion of what ‘real’ hydrogen is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=155) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=157)