# ­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:** 26
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/501 "2021-02-04T16:09:54Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > if you were to put the egg in a zip-lock bag, and put it in the top rack of the dishwasher, would it hard-boil? Cooking in a dishwasher is a staple of “let’s see if this is possible” internet videos. I’d be surprised if you couldn’t cook an egg. I would think you could put it unprotected in the bottom rack and have it cook just fine, if a bit slow. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/502 "2021-02-04T16:49:03Z")
I don’t know about leaving it unprotected. If you don’t crack it, it may end up exploding, which, I suppose would be easy enough to clean up, but would ruin the egg. If you do crack it, then I certainly would advise against using any detergent. I’m actually surprised that the King of Random hasn’t done this. I mean, they did cook them in molten salt. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/503 "2021-02-04T17:00:01Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > If you do crack it, then I certainly would advise against using any detergent. I would recommend using detergent if you’d be doing it unprotected period. The shell is permeable. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/504 "2021-02-04T20:03:46Z")
Why is the dryer ‘yellow’ for Wash Clothes? It’s not going to do anything but warm then up.` ---
**Author:** ![FastDan1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fastdan1/32/427_2.png) [@FastDan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FastDan1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/505 "2021-02-04T20:08:19Z")
It could do a bit of good. Remove pet hair for example. Certainly won’t do any harm. Maybe that’s why it’s yellow? ---
**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:** [February 4, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/506 "2021-02-04T23:22:12Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > It’s not going to do anything but warm then up. Tumbling clothes will beat off a lot dust and other dry debris. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/507 "2021-02-04T23:24:42Z")
You can pick up home dry-cleaning kits. Comes with a bag; put your clothes into the bag and the bag into the drier. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/508 "2021-02-05T12:10:39Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Why is the dryer ‘yellow’ for Wash Clothes? It’s not going to do anything but warm then up. On high heat it will kill bacteria and fungus so it doesn’t smell. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/509 "2021-02-05T12:21:51Z")
On those sporadic occasions where I wash pots, pans, non-plastic mixing bowls, etc., shortly after cooking in the oven, I’ll put them in the oven to dry while it’s still got a lot of residual heat. Works quite well, of course. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/510 "2021-02-05T22:57:22Z")
> **[Tower of Babel](https://xkcd.com/2421/)** > > Soon, linguists will be wandering around everywhere, saying things like "colorless green ideas sleep furiously" and "more people have been to Russia than I have," and speech will become unintelligible. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/511 "2021-02-06T13:21:18Z")
Is the “more people have been to Russia than I have” one an old standard example? Because it really sounds like it makes sense, but I can’t even figure out what sense it almost-makes. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/512 "2021-02-06T15:20:45Z")
Not really related, but it brings to mind the memorable fantasy short story _Tower of Babylon_ by Ted Chiang. It’s set in a world where it really _is_ possible to build a miles-high tower to reach the celestial vault. And then tunnel through it when you get there. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/513 "2021-02-06T15:29:29Z")
Yeah, I was thinking of that one too. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/514 "2021-02-06T15:47:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is the “more people have been to Russia than I have” one an old standard example? Because it really sounds like it makes sense, but I can’t even figure out what sense it almost-makes. It fooled me enough that the first time I thought it _did_ make sense. Your post is what clued me in to look more closely. Gotcha! Or more like Gotme! IANA grammarian, so this analysis is spitballin’. Try this similar sentence: > More people have been in my store today than I have fingers. The “than” is a comparison and by putting a clause denoting a number on both sides of “than” we have something sensible. The “have” on the left denotes past tense while the have on the “right” denotes possesion. And the whole thing is logical and sensible and can be assigned a true / false value. Now leave the number specifier (implied to be 10) off the end: > More people have been in my store today than I have. We still have a comparison denoted by “than”. The left “have” is still denoting past tense. But now we’re comparing a number to nothing and the right “have” is now past tense, not possession, since there’s nothing for it to connect to possessing. The apparent parallelism prompts us to accept the sentence as meaningful. But it’s equivalent to > 18 \> which is meaningless. But the original sentence _almost_ implies “Others have been to Russia, but not me.” ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/515 "2021-02-06T15:53:08Z")
Late last sentence: And at the same time it _almost_ implies “I’m one of the many, many people who’ve been to Russia, but I’m only a tiny fraction of everyone who’s done so.” Those two diametrically conflicting interpretations scintillate in my head, and perhaps yours. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/516 "2021-02-06T16:09:19Z")
At least it’s not, “Fewer people have been to Russia than I have.” ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/517 "2021-02-06T17:55:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But the original sentence _almost_ implies “Others have been to Russia, but not me.” > [@LSLGuy](#): > > And at the same time it _almost_ implies “I’m one of the many, many people who’ve been to Russia, but I’m only a tiny fraction of everyone who’s done so.” > > Those two diametrically conflicting interpretations scintillate in my head, and perhaps yours. I feel another almost meaning is “People have been to Russia more times than I have.” Which leaves out the issue of whether I have been to Russia even once. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/518 "2021-02-07T14:45:21Z")
Apparently it’s a thing. > **[Comparative illusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_illusion)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > In linguistics, comparative illusions (CIs) or Escher sentences\[a\] are certain comparative sentences which initially seem to be acceptable but upon closer reflection have no well-formed, sensical meaning. The typical example sentence used to typify this phenomenon is More people have been to Russia than I have.\[b\] The effect has also been observed in other languages. Some studies have suggested that, at least in English, the effect is stronger for... ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/519 "2021-02-07T18:03:06Z")
A related parsing difficulty [https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=24582](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=24582) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/520 "2021-02-07T20:33:25Z")
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