
'No idea what I was thinking! Haha! But anyway, maybe we should check out what this Ba'al guy has to say.'
I don't need a soul anyway.

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slinches wrote:Also, the OTC isn't a disease. In fact, it's the cure. As we all know, Time heals all wounds.
Eutychus wrote:Is this the first time we have a view of what's clearly the back of an xkcd character's head?
xtifr wrote:... and orthogon merely sounds undecided.
orthogon wrote:Never keep your hammer in the fridge. It should be kept in the oven, at 200°C (400°F, gas mark 6), which maximises the strength of the steel by optimising the balance between plastic yield and brittle failure.
pkcommando wrote:orthogon wrote:Never keep your hammer in the fridge. It should be kept in the oven, at 200°C (400°F, gas mark 6), which maximises the strength of the steel by optimising the balance between plastic yield and brittle failure.
What about when your fridge looks like this inside?
Introbulus wrote:You'll need this hammer.
xtifr wrote:... and orthogon merely sounds undecided.
Whizbang wrote:Thor's hammer, from Marvel, is supposedly made from a neutron star.
cowpi wrote:Ba'al?? Really... where's the humor in that?
Ba'al was the ancient god they sacrificed infants to.
It was the idol of Carthage and look where they ended up.
heuristically_alone wrote:I want to write a DnD campaign and play it by myself and DM it myself.
heuristically_alone wrote:I have been informed that this is called writing a book.
Whizbang wrote:Thor's hammer, from Marvel, is supposedly made from a neutron star.
heuristically_alone wrote:I want to write a DnD campaign and play it by myself and DM it myself.
heuristically_alone wrote:I have been informed that this is called writing a book.
Plutarch wrote:I wonder if I do this? I do find things in odd places in my house - TV remote in food cupboard is a common one - but I thought the most likely explanation was elves and fairies mischievously moving things around. Perhaps it's really me, when I'm on the phone. That's possible. I'm still suspicious of the elves and fairies though.
xtifr wrote:... and orthogon merely sounds undecided.
TheMinim wrote: I don't need a soul anyway.
da Doctah wrote:Finding the TV remote in the freezer is the example I use to illustrate the two different meanings of the English word "why".
When you ask "Why is the remote in the freezer?", you may be expecting an answer where "why" means "what for", such as "keeping the batteries cold makes them last longer". And you may instead get an answer where "why" means "how come", such as "I must have had it in my hand when I went there to get an Otter Pop".
Other languages have two different words or phrases for these two meanings.
xtifr wrote:... and orthogon merely sounds undecided.
da Doctah wrote:Finding the TV remote in the freezer is the example I use to illustrate the two different meanings of the English word "why".
When you ask "Why is the remote in the freezer?", you may be expecting an answer where "why" means "what for", such as "keeping the batteries cold makes them last longer". And you may instead get an answer where "why" means "how come", such as "I must have had it in my hand when I went there to get an Otter Pop".
Other languages have two different words or phrases for these two meanings.
aerion111 wrote:da Doctah wrote:Finding the TV remote in the freezer is the example I use to illustrate the two different meanings of the English word "why".
When you ask "Why is the remote in the freezer?", you may be expecting an answer where "why" means "what for", such as "keeping the batteries cold makes them last longer". And you may instead get an answer where "why" means "how come", such as "I must have had it in my hand when I went there to get an Otter Pop".
Other languages have two different words or phrases for these two meanings.
First off, I don't think Norwegian has two words for it either - though, interestingly in my eyes, our word translates to 'where for', so apparently we've not moved on from the 'wherefore art thou romeo' time linguistically.
Second off... In my eyes, those are the same uses; When you answer 'Keeping the batteries cold makes them last longer' you're implying an unspoken 'And I want the batteries to last longer', and when you answer 'I must have had it in my hand when I went there to get an Otter Pop' you're implying an unspoken 'and so I must have put it there without noticing'
I consider those unspoken parts to be the actual answers, the spoken part is just the context - but because in those two cases the context is more important, it's a better idea to just communicate the context, rather than just the actual answer.
xtifr wrote:... and orthogon merely sounds undecided.
Pfhorrest wrote:I'm not sure I've ever heard an English "why" question (or "how" for that matter) that amounts to an inquiry into the material cause of something.
- What is the stuff that x is made from? (the "material cause")
- What features of x make it x? (the "formal cause")
- For what purpose is x? (the "final cause")
- By what means did x come to be? (the "efficient cause")
Pfhorrest wrote:Ancient Greek had a word usually translated into English as "cause" which has four very different senses. "What ibuis the cause of x?" (or if you will, "Why x?") could mean:
- What is the stuff that x is made from? (the "material cause")
- What features of x make it x? (the "formal cause")
- For what purpose is x? (the "final cause")
- By what means did x come to be? (the "efficient cause")
At least the last three seem to translate fairly well to English "why" questions. The last two you've all been discussing at length enough, but also questions like "Why is this x?" can mean "What exactly is it about this that makes it qualify as x?" Seems like "How is this an x?" also accomplishes that same effect. I'm not sure I've ever heard an English "why" question (or "how" for that matter) that amounts to an inquiry into the material cause of something.
These different senses of the word "cause" were famously expounded upon by Aristotle as "the four causes".
xtifr wrote:... and orthogon merely sounds undecided.
cowpi wrote:Ba'al?? Really... where's the humor in that?
Ba'al was the ancient god they sacrificed infants to.
It was the idol of Carthage and look where they ended up.
orthogon wrote:Pfhorrest wrote:Ancient Greek had a word usually translated into English as "cause" which has four very different senses. "What ibuis the cause of x?" (or if you will, "Why x?") could mean:
- What is the stuff that x is made from? (the "material cause")
- What features of x make it x? (the "formal cause")
- For what purpose is x? (the "final cause")
- By what means did x come to be? (the "efficient cause")
At least the last three seem to translate fairly well to English "why" questions. The last two you've all been discussing at length enough, but also questions like "Why is this x?" can mean "What exactly is it about this that makes it qualify as x?" Seems like "How is this an x?" also accomplishes that same effect. I'm not sure I've ever heard an English "why" question (or "how" for that matter) that amounts to an inquiry into the material cause of something.
These different senses of the word "cause" were famously expounded upon by Aristotle as "the four causes".
So to summarize, it's Material, Plague, Fire and Payton... oh sorry, I'm in the wrong thread.
BlitzGirl wrote:Eutychus wrote:Is this the first time we have a view of what's clearly the back of an xkcd character's head?
Not the first Time.Spoiler:
(If you count "Time," that is.)
da Doctah wrote:Finding the TV remote in the freezer is the example I use to illustrate the two different meanings of the English word "why".
When you ask "Why is the remote in the freezer?", you may be expecting an answer where "why" means "what for", such as "keeping the batteries cold makes them last longer". And you may instead get an answer where "why" means "how come", such as "I must have had it in my hand when I went there to get an Otter Pop".
Other languages have two different words or phrases for these two meanings.
CorruptUser wrote:Umm... Ba'al just means "lord". For example, Baalzebub is "lord of the flies". The soul devourer is going to be pissed.
dg61 wrote:cowpi wrote:Ba'al?? Really... where's the humor in that?
Ba'al was the ancient god they sacrificed infants to.
It was the idol of Carthage and look where they ended up.
Ba'al originally was a word meaning 'lord'(c.f. Akkadian Bel) commonly used as a name for Caananite and other Northwest Semitic deities(often manifestations of the storm god more commonly known as Adad or Hadad), which as a result of references to Baal in the hebrew bible became associated with demonic powers in English usage and in this case is being used as a generic "spooky" name.
leeharveyosmond wrote:CorruptUser wrote:Umm... Ba'al just means "lord". For example, Baalzebub is "lord of the flies". The soul devourer is going to be pissed.
If Baalzebub is "lord of the flies", does that mean BaalZFS is "lord of the files"?
xtifr wrote:... and orthogon merely sounds undecided.
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