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submitted 1 month ago by xkcdbot@lemmy.world to c/xkcd@lemmy.world

xkcd #3184: Funny Numbers

Title text:

In 1899, people were walking around shouting '23' at each other and laughing, and confused reporters were writing articles trying to figure out what it meant.

Transcript:

Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com

Source: https://xkcd.com/3184/

explainxkcd for #3184

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[-] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yeah I remember that, saying 42 is the answer to everything was what I called nonsense, as I could just as easily say 42 meaning everything is is the product you get from, 6 7 (meaning nothing). Poof, now everything is a multiple of nothing, and at the end of the day none of it made any sense or had any meaning

[-] melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Funny enough, there's a point in a later book in the series where they suggest the "ultimate question'" that 42 is an answer to could be "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?"

[-] MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 month ago
[-] atopi@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 month ago

Im 93% sure that 6*9 doesnt equal 42 in base 6227020800

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

which, when a mathemagician occasionally asked adams about it, he would respond along the lines of "oh fuck"

this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2025
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