OOTS #1267 - The Discussion Thread

[facw]

There's a partial map, containing dwarven lands and the pole, here. But I see no sign of Anywhere on it.

The map is a bonus in the book/ebook version of Utterly Dwarfed, after the climatic confrontation. It doesn't list any cities in Anywhere though (Nowhere has one city "Middle", but it isn't marked as a capital.)

[drazen]

Clearly the answer is "A".

I was going to go with Anywhere City.

[brian 333]

Clearly, Xykon's answer was correct. But it got me thinking about the names of the other cities in the region.

Somewhere:
Partyville
Rock City
Paradise
Happy Town

Nowhere:
Utopia
Shangri La
Xanadu
Cibola
Atlantis

Anywhere:
Here
There
This Place
That Place
Yonder
Springfield

[facw]

Anywhere:
Here
There

Here and There are actually countries. In addition to Anywhere, Nowhere, Here, and There, the map also shows the locations of Somewhere and Someplace Else.

[Windscion]

Elsweyr:
* Dune
* Mistral
* Rawl'kha
* Rimmen
* Senchal

[Eric the White]

I love Brian's, but I think the capital of Anywhere is clearly a twin city, Anytime, Anyplace.

[Riftwolf]

The capital of Anywhere being What feeds into the Abbot and Costello origins of the joke. Yes would be the capital of Nowhere, No isn't a capital city and This would technically be a town, not a city.
What is the capital city of Anywhere?
Yes.
No, that's the capital of Nowhere.
No isn't the capital of Nowhere.
What?
That's right.
Let's start again... What is the capital of Anywhere?

[Thermophille]

The capital of Anywhere being What feeds into the Abbot and Costello origins of the joke. Yes would be the capital of Nowhere, No isn't a capital city and This would technically be a town, not a city.
What is the capital city of Anywhere?
Yes.
No, that's the capital of Nowhere.
No isn't the capital of Nowhere.
What?
That's right.
Let's start again... What is the capital of Anywhere?

I mean, I'm like 70% sure that the original introduction of Anywhere, Nowhere and such is a reference to that skit in the first place.

[Mike Havran]

I mean, I'm like 70% sure that the original introduction of Anywhere, Nowhere and such is a reference to that skit in the first place.

Make it 99%. The name of the strip is Who's On the Throne?

[alceryes]

Is it just me, or does MitD appear to be an entirely different creature in this latest comic? I'm not just referring to the thought of actively working against Xykon, either.

Using "Huh" as a self interjection?? Calling Xykon "Dude"???

This is not the same MitD.

[Riftwolf]

I'm fairly certain Rich has a map drawn up for the world but never released anymore than he needed to in case it needed retconning. Hopefully once the books done, the full map will be in the bookform release and we'll find out Even Lettered Word is the capital :b

[Laurentio III]

Is it just me, or does MitD appear to be an entirely different creature in this latest comic? I'm not just referring to the thought of actively working against Xykon, either.

Using "Huh" as a self interjection?? Calling Xykon "Dude"???

This is not the same MitD.

It's the adolescence. Next step is erotic magazines.

[Mike Havran]

Is it just me, or does MitD appear to be an entirely different creature in this latest comic? I'm not just referring to the thought of actively working against Xykon, either.

Using "Huh" as a self interjection?? Calling Xykon "Dude"???

This is not the same MitD.

MitD used "dude" speech before, but yeah, he's getting bolder.

[alceryes]

MitD used "dude" speech before, but yeah, he's getting bolder.

Hmmm. Is this the only other time...?
This also isn't directed at Xykon.


Also, yea Greyview! Keep the gloomy going!

[sirgarberto]

What exactly "ave" means varies from country to country. In some countries "ave" means all birds, and "pajaro" means small birds only.

It's not about the size, it's about whether it flies or not. It's not region-dependent either, it's a definition issue, exactly like fowl and bird. Just like in English you should only use "bird" when it's able to fly, the same is true for "pájaro". "Ave", like fowl, is a more general term and can be used for both flying and non-flying.

We can't write english slang words in this forum.

Fair, I just wanted to note it for context.

Over here, we say "el ave" y "el alma" which would make them male. Strange. Maybe, its a regional thing?

Funnily enough, that doesn't actually make them male; it's a grammatical rule based on vowels (you can't use "la" followed by any noun that starts with an "a"). They are still considered female for every other purpose, like any adjective that applies to them, as Clistenes noted (e.g., you say "el ave voladora", not "el ave volador").

[hroþila]

(you can't use "la" followed by any noun that starts with an "a")

With a stressed (h)a. Unstressed a's are fair game (e.g. "la alcoba").

[brian 333]

It's not about the size, it's about whether it flies or not. It's not region-dependent either, it's a definition issue, exactly like fowl and bird. Just like in English you should only use "bird" when it's able to fly, the same is true for "pájaro". "Ave", like fowl, is a more general term and can be used for both flying and non-flying.

I always thought 'fowl' was for birds you eat and bird was for the rest. Penguins and ostriches are birds that do not fly, and I have never heard the word 'fowl' applied to them. Geese and ducks do fly quite well and are usually referred to as 'waterfowl.'

[WanderingMist]

It's not about the size, it's about whether it flies or not. It's not region-dependent either, it's a definition issue, exactly like fowl and bird. Just like in English you should only use "bird" when it's able to fly, the same is true for "pájaro". "Ave", like fowl, is a more general term and can be used for both flying and non-flying.

Uh, pretty sure there are plenty of creatures called "flightless birds". Penguins, ostriches, kiwis, etc. "Fowl" isn't a more general term. "Fowl" is the original term for birds, cognate to German "Fugel", Norwegian "fugl" and so on. "Bird" comes from "brid", which originally meant "young bird". Now they are both pretty much equivalent, though you're likely to only see "fowl" in reference to "waterfowl".

[Provengreil]

MitD used "dude" speech before, but yeah, he's getting bolder.

His speech patterns have recently gotten more confident as a whole. I think pulling the wool over Team Evil's eyes about his deception, and his firm choice to be friends with O'chul, have given him a mental foundation to grow on, and we just haven't been allowed to see a lot of that on camera.

The seeds of this were buried in the escape from Azure City. TPing them out to safety was, I believe, the first time he used his powers for something real, rather than something relatively infantile. Since then, he's engaged in efforts to find O'chul, redirected Team Evil away from the Order at Girard's Gate, and successfully delayed TE about Kraagor's Doors*. He's honestly got to be feeling pretty good about himself right now and without visible mannerisms, speech patterns are the best way to show that.

*I know that his actual strategy was hit or miss if you assume the gate was behind a door, but the newer twist with the quinton has rendered his plan relatively successful: rather than pick up where they were, they're starting at door number 1 again and ignoring all of their past work. Basically, with a few swipes of paint he gave the order as much as half a day.

[Ruck]

The capital of Anywhere being What feeds into the Abbot and Costello origins of the joke. Yes would be the capital of Nowhere, No isn't a capital city and This would technically be a town, not a city.
What is the capital city of Anywhere?
Yes.
No, that's the capital of Nowhere.
No isn't the capital of Nowhere.
What?
That's right.
Let's start again... What is the capital of Anywhere?

I mean, I'm like 70% sure that the original introduction of Anywhere, Nowhere and such is a reference to that skit in the first place.

Make it 99%. The name of the strip is Who's On the Throne?

I certainly thought it was when I wrote this. (Warning: Link to flagrant self-promotion of own article)

[Werbaer]

So, uh, what is the capital of Anywhere?

My guess: "No Clue". But Xykon couldn't say that.

[Quizatzhaderac]

I'm going to say that the capital of Anywhere is Couldbe.

Just like in English you should only use "bird" when it's able to fly

Flightless birds are still birds. A fowl is any bird that's commonly eaten.

[JonahFalcon]

I'm probably the 100th person to note this, but "A parasol." is a sentence with 8 letters.

[Fyraltari]

I'm probably the 100th person to note this, but "A parasol." is a sentence with 8 letters.

The last word of the sentence is the only one that matters.

[Alcore]

You know he just might be correct on the capital name. Perhaps for all the wrong reasons...

[Laurentio III]

You know he just might be correct on the capital name. Perhaps for all the wrong reasons...

Four words... for all the wrong reason... oh my!

[LadyEowyn]

In English, “fowl” refers to two related groups of birds (broadly: ducks, geese, and their relatives; chickens, grouse, quail, and their relatives). Whether or not they can fly is not relevant (in general, they can, though many relatives of the chicken are fairly poor fliers). It’s a much more limited term than “bird” - no one would use “fowl” for a hummingbird, or a sparrow, or a heron, or an ostrich.

“Birds” refers to all birds, whether or not they can fly.

I don’t know if Spanish has a flying/flightless distinction in their terms for birds, but to my knowledge English does not.

[hroþila]

I don’t know if Spanish has a flying/flightless distinction in their terms for birds, but to my knowledge English does not.

Spanish has 'ave' as a general or sometimes higher-register term for 'bird', i.e. the class Aves as a whole. It can be modified by other words - for example, 'ave de corral' (lit. 'pen bird') means '(domestic) fowl'. The most common everyday word however is 'pájaro', which can be used as a general term, but is often reserved for smaller birds and especially for the Passeriformes ('pájaro' comes from colloquial Latin 'passarum', an unattested variant of classical Latin 'passer').

Flightless birds would be called 'aves no voladoras' (lit. 'non-flying birds'). Just like in English, it's kinda tacked on.

[LadyEowyn]

Spanish has 'ave' as a general or sometimes higher-register term for 'bird', i.e. the class Aves as a whole. It can be modified by other words - for example, 'ave de corral' (lit. 'pen bird') means '(domestic) fowl'. The most common everyday word however is 'pájaro', which can be used as a general term, but is often reserved for smaller birds and especially for the Passeriformes ('pájaro' comes from colloquial Latin 'passarum', an unattested variant of classical Latin 'passer').

Flightless birds would be called 'aves no voladoras' (lit. 'non-flying birds'). Just like in English, it's kinda tacked on.

Ooh that makes sense, thank you!

[Vikenlugaid]

The definition of "pájaro" in spanish is "ave, especialmente si es pequeña" (bird, specially if it is small). So tecnicaly it aplies to all the birds, though normally is used to small birds, but a vulture or an ostrich are "pajaros" too.
In zoology pajaro is casually used for birds of order passeriformes only.

EDIT: oh, I didn't read that message which explain this better.