# ­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:** 63
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1242 "2022-02-19T12:59:31Z")
Why wouldn’t he know it? It’s a famous song by a well known composer. And he’s certainly [aware of](https://xkcd.com/1052/) Gilbert & Sullivan. ---
**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 19, 2022, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1243 "2022-02-19T14:12:56Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Why wouldn’t he know it? It’s a famous song by a well known composer. I doubt whether he listens to Victorian drawing-room songs. (Lyrics by Adelaide Proctor, not Gilbert.) There are a couple of well known G&S patter songs, but all the more serious songs, sad songs, beautiful songs from the Savoy operas are far less known today. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1244 "2022-02-22T10:45:45Z")
> **[Headline Words](https://xkcd.com/2584/)** > > Roundly-condemned headlinese initiative shuttered indefinitely. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1245 "2022-02-23T22:31:03Z")
> **[Rounding](https://xkcd.com/2585/)** > > I've developed a novel propulsion system powered by loss of precision in unit conversion. ---
**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 23, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1246 "2022-02-23T22:34:35Z")
I’d love to see that with proper error propagation. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2022, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1247 "2022-02-24T02:36:45Z")
Ask at the talk page for the [explain xkcd entry](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2585:_Rounding), and somebody there might be willing to tackle that for you. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2022, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1248 "2022-02-24T12:34:44Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I’d love to see that with proper error propagation. There’s a [step-by-step table](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2585:_Rounding) on the explainxkcd wiki. ---
**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 24, 2022, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1249 "2022-02-24T22:35:27Z")
It really depends on what you mean by “proper error propagation”. ---
**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 24, 2022, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1250 "2022-02-24T23:06:39Z")
I’ll have to work it out myself. 😛 I’m thinking of something like the variance of the initial 17 mph is (\pm 0.5 mph)^2. Then the variance of the next step, 8 m/s is (\pm 0.5 mph)^2 + (\pm 0.5 m/s)^2. And so on… ---
**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 25, 2022, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1251 "2022-02-25T00:30:45Z")
Eliding the math… | Value | Error | Length Unit | | Time Unit | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 17.0 | 0.5 | mile | / | hour | | 8.0 | 0.5 | meter | / | second | | 16.0 | 1.2 | nautical mile | / | hour | | 5.0 | 0.6 | fathom | / | second | | 3.0 | 0.6 | furlong | / | minute | | 6.0 | 1.2 | fathom | / | second | | 40.0 | 7.9 | kilometer | / | hour | | 22.0 | 4.3 | nautical mile | / | hour | | 41.0 | 8.0 | kilometer | / | hour | | 204.0 | 39.8 | furlong | / | hour | | 26.0 | 5.0 | mile | / | hour | | 12.0 | 2.3 | meter | / | second | | 4.0 | 0.8 | furlong | / | minute | | 15.0 | 3.1 | yard | / | second | | 8.0 | 1.7 | fathom | / | second | | 15.0 | 3.1 | meter | / | second | | 34.0 | 6.9 | mile | / | hour | | 5.0 | 1.0 | furlong | / | minute | | 33.0 | 6.8 | nautical mile | / | hour | | 19.0 | 3.9 | yard | / | second | | 10.0 | 2.0 | fathom | / | second | | 36.0 | 7.1 | nautical mile | / | hour | | 6.0 | 1.2 | furlong | / | minute | | 45.0 | 9.0 | mile | / | hour | Hmm, it seems the error is not normal. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1252 "2022-02-26T03:33:31Z")
> **[Greek Letters](https://xkcd.com/2586/)** > > If you ever see someone using a capital xi in an equation, just observe them quietly to learn as much as you can before they return to their home planet. ---
**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 26, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1253 "2022-02-26T13:22:32Z")
I feel like I’ve already seen a very similar XKCD… ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1254 "2022-02-26T16:08:43Z")
It felt familiar to me, too, but I couldn’t find one. He used to sell a [T-shirt](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/561613016017389353/) with all the different things that Greek letters could represent - maybe that’s what we’re thinking of? His store seems to be closed right now, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1255 "2022-02-28T19:38:36Z")
This one, right? Only last year: > **[Symbols](https://xkcd.com/2520/)** > > "röntgen" and "rem" are 20th-century physics terms that mean "no trespassing." ---
**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 28, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1256 "2022-02-28T22:09:17Z")
Yup, that’s the one I was thinking of. I once graded for a class, where one student liked to use Cyrillic letters for his auxiliary variables. OK, fine, you can use whatever you want for auxiliary variables, and it made it unlikely that he’d accidentally collide with any letters already in the problem… except that he liked to use both Ш and Щ, and it took me a while to realize those were two different letters. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1257 "2022-03-01T00:04:24Z")
Oh, and… > **[For the Sake of Simplicity](https://xkcd.com/2587/)** > > For the sake of simplicity, gardeners are assumed to move through Euclidean space--neglecting the distortion from general relativity--unless they are in the vicinity of a Schwarzschild Orchid. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1258 "2022-03-01T00:45:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > he liked to use both Ш and Щ, and it took me a while to realize those were two different letters Really, they look nothing alike. _ш_ and _т_, on the other hand… (soon you wind up with [http://i.imgur.com/DdSNkI3.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/DdSNkI3.jpg) ) ---
**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:** [March 1, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1259 "2022-03-01T00:52:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I once graded for a class, where one student liked to use Cyrillic letters for his auxiliary variables. OK, fine, you can use whatever you want for auxiliary variables, and it made it unlikely that he’d accidentally collide with any letters already in the problem… except that he liked to use both Ш and Щ, and it took me a while to realize those were two different letters. Some of us would create our own symbols. :evil: ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1260 "2022-03-03T02:11:54Z")
> **[Party Quadrants](https://xkcd.com/2588/)** > > Single-elimination might provide more drama, but I think we can all agree that a comprehensive numerical scoring system will let us better judge the party's winner. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1261 "2022-03-03T22:07:00Z")
I am _totally down_ for a Sporcle geography tournament. I’m very good at “Countries of the World”. My personal best is 195 out of 197. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=62) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=64)