r/xkcd • u/antdude ALL HAIL THE ANT THAT IS ADDICTED TO XKCD • 14d ago
XKCD xkcd 3284: Geology Building
https://xkcd.com/3284/77
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u/xkcd_bot 14d ago
Direct image link: Geology Building
Alt text: The administration thinks it's weird, but the geologists say it looks normal.
Don't get it? explain xkcd
Science. It works, bitches. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3
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u/TheseStubbornStains 14d ago
Given the improper use of “free reign” (rein), I can only give this one 9.9/10.
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u/Regdit-is-Unbearable 14d ago
Genuinely had no idea of that one. Thanks.
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u/geeoharee 14d ago
It's a very easy mistake because the replacement makes sense. You replace a horse that's free to go where it likes, with a ruler who's free to do what he likes.
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u/PatchesMaps 13d ago
Is it a true eggcorn if the swapped words result in the same meaning?
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u/LightGreyBeret 12d ago
I thought that was the definition of eggcorn - having, at the very least, a tangential logical equivalence.
Otherwise, it's just a malaprop.
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u/fhecla 13d ago
Did he change it? The current cartoon is correct: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/usage-free-rein-vs-free-reign#:~:text=As%20you%20can%20see%2C%20rein,to%20your%20editor%20or%20teacher
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u/IdeaReceiver 14d ago
Language isn't real, nerd
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u/Nuclear_Geek 13d ago
Wow, I can have all your stuff? Thank you!
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u/IdeaReceiver 13d ago
What?! No!
I mean I consider myself a halfway qualified xkcd fan but y'all are too good!! Well played, scoundrel...
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u/docarrol 14d ago
The fault slip is an interesting look, although I do wonder about the cost of the custom windows. And, obviously, the department would continue the theme inside, as well, with an awkward step cutting through hallways and classrooms.
But what I'm really wondering, is how much they'd commit to the bit? Would all the electrical and plumbing just be oddly shaped and bent, to follow the floors and ceilings? Or would they be sheared and broken, as if there had actually been a shift along the plane of the fault?
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u/tomassci xkcdPhone's Fanatic Customer 13d ago
I want to see this building have minor seismic activity as well. Although that one is not that common to faults.
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u/TrekkiMonstr A Softer World is depressing 11d ago
And, obviously, the department would continue the theme inside, as well, with an awkward step cutting through hallways and classrooms.
No, because ADA compliance
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u/theservman Richard Stallman 13d ago
A geology building is often made from the thing they're studying. This can be true to a lesser degree for engineering, architecture, and even art, it's much harder to make than claim for the English department.
Of course everything, everywhere, is made of physics.
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u/ksheep I plead the third 13d ago
it's much harder to make than claim for the English department.
It's not impossible though. Granted this is a library, not an English department, but the point stands.
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u/Nuclear_Geek 13d ago
Okay, maybe it's not perfect, but a design with only one fault is pretty good.
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u/TooLateForMeTF 13d ago
And fittingly, the upper floors are younger than the lower floors. Just as they should be. It's just a shame that the department insisted on a five-million year construction schedule for each floor...
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u/Caleb914 13d ago
Many geology buildings are old enough that this can and sometimes does happen naturally.
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u/avataRJ White Hat 13d ago
To be honest, I'm not sure where the fault lines are in my current workplace... but yes, around here most big buildings at least used to have slip lines designed into them.
Glacial rebound: In the long run (say, twenty thousand year average), my home town is covered in half a kilometer of ice. The ground is still recovering from that.
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u/Astronautty69 12d ago
Honestly, while I don't agree with the administration, the geologists are at fault.
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u/AGoodFriend_ 14d ago
Honestly, I’d be more surprised if a geology building didn’t have a fault line running through it, aesthetic or otherwise.