Its not a Y but an X if you combine the stick of the axe with the letter Y.
It probably was an I, before the axe was used on it.
Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
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Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
#82This is most likely the correct answer: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/396624
The answer above it: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/396697
Spoiler: It's axe clipart
Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, although this answer is awesome and very well researched, it cannot match the famous answer to the question about parsing HTML using regular expressions :-) : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1732348/regex-match-open... . BTW, I got curious about the highest scored answer and this meta answer explains how to find it: https://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/266570 . The highest scored answer is this one: https://stack…
The best part about that RegEx answer is the moderator's note at the bottom. > Moderator's Note > This post is locked to prevent inappropriate edits to its content. The post looks exactly as it is supposed to look - there are no problems with its content. Please do not flag it for our attention. From back in the day when Stack Overflow was fun.
Hi lolinder, welcome to HackerNews. Your comment implies that Stack Overflow isn't currently fun. You are of course well within your rights to make that assertion. However, I find that your comment may be improved by removing any implication that Stack Overflow isn't fun. So I invite you to explain your reasons and maybe consider future improving edits to your post.
Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
#84I don't think that's an axe, I think it's a (poorly drawn) tip of a tube of YELLOW paint.
I was convinced of this initially, but then I went back, deeper into the rabbit hole of the stackexchange discussion, and someone tracked down this image as clipart attached to the chinese characters for "axe" - so the illustrator did choose this image as specifically being an axe.
Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
#85First comment on the answer: > This is quite the most extraordinary stack exchange answer that I've ever seen. And I couldn't agree more. Well worth perusing if you (like me) usually only check the comments on HN.
In a way it is disappointing... Almost certainly, the person who drew this axe is still alive today. There are ~8 billion people alive today, so it is a simple matter of figuring out who to ask.
Yet, while everyone might be only 6 handshakes away from everyone else (on average), we do not have sufficient human connectivity to locate this person, even with hundreds of people putting at least a little thought/effort into identifying the artist.
Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
#86First comment on the answer: > This is quite the most extraordinary stack exchange answer that I've ever seen. And I couldn't agree more. Well worth perusing if you (like me) usually only check the comments on HN.
Led me to this, previously unknown-to-me, pot of gold: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_as_She_Is_Spoke
"Nobody can add to the absurdity of this book, nobody can imitate it successfully, nobody can hope to produce its fellow; it is perfect."
Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
#87Ultimate nerd snipe
Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
#88First comment on the answer: > This is quite the most extraordinary stack exchange answer that I've ever seen. And I couldn't agree more. Well worth perusing if you (like me) usually only check the comments on HN.
I wholeheartedly agree as well. The only nitpick I'd have on this incredible dissertation is on the "U" association with "U-boat" - this is an anglicized form of the German word "Unterseeboot" (undersea boat) which was itself shortened to "U-boot" (presumably the etymology of the Swedish "ubåt"). The first known use of the term "U-boat" is 1914, while the Germans and Swedish armed forces were commissioning submarines…
Swedish probably got the word from German, but u-båt is short for the Swedish word undervattensbåt, which is pretty much a straight-forward translation of submarine boat or Unterseeboot. The U- is not from German.
Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
#89Could it be a word play? Axe -> Axis -> Y
Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)
#90Y for yellow, given that's the color of the handle and that you need something to be representative of the color. Even having a yellow square could confuse it with S for square, or having a banana can confuse it with B for banana. Similar problems exist with S for Sun, C for (a yellow) crayon etc. Also the handle is what has been drawn superimposed over the letter. Still, confusion with A for axe isnt any better than…
"Yellow handled axe" is the kind of answer that has seen me banned from playing Scattegories with certain people.
("Poo-Brown" as Colour starting with 'P' was the actual instigator)