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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)

#231

Post by School-Cotton »

londons_explore wrote: post #85
WJW wrote: post #12

First 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 in…

I think it's not unlikely that if it were actually important (someone's life depended on it, or a serious amount of money was at stake), this person _could_ be located. It would almost certainly require someone who speaks fluent Chinese to go to China and investigate in person, though.

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#232

Post by replwoacause »

Wow, that Dan Bron sure put in some legwork. Impressive level of investigation. Same goes for many of the other commenters. It’s pretty impressive when people ban together to use their collective talents and minds this way. Are there any groups/subreddits or other places online where people get together to do this kind of stuff?

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#233

Post by jiffygist »

There is a well-known Russian meme called "китайские кубики" https://trinixy.ru/18802-kitajjskie_kubiki_polnaja_versija_7...

That set of toy cubes had everything: letter not matching a word, image not matching a word (like an orc from Lineage 2 for "щука"), made up words like "knifefork" and of course lots of typos.

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#234

Post by thaumasiotes »

School-Cotton wrote: post #230
thaumasiotes wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That isn't a literal translation. That's a translation of an unrelated word. There's a Chinese in-joke, though, where they like to say "day day up", translating 天天 "every day" as if it were just 天 "day" twice in sequence.

I don't get it. What does "every day up" even mean?

It is derived from a famous quotation from Chairman Mao.

好好学习，天天向上

"Study well, [and] improve every day."

Making progress is conceived of as "upwards" movement.

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#235

Post by defanor »

Took me about a minute to identify it is a yo-yo (without reading any of the discussions), and they point out there that the official ball has a yo-yo for Y, so I am quite convinced that it is supposed to be a yo-yo as well. Just not drawn particularly nicely: the yellow bit is a cartoon string, the blue-and-white bit is the yo-yo's "body".

Edit: although now that I finished reading the rest of the investigation, there are quite a few arguments for "yxa" as well. Still seems like an odd coincidence to see a yo-yo there myself, and then to read that it is supposed to be a yo-yo on the official ball.

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#236

Post by appplication »

> Comments are not for extended discussion

Sums up stack overflow moderation. At least in the future any time anyone has any tangential questions about children’s toys, axes, or the letter y, they can point to this and mark it as duplicate.

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#239

Post by rjmunro »

ChainOfFools wrote: post #21

Y 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…

I'm liking the yellow theory as the "axe head" looks a log like the top of a paint tube like the one in this poster: https://www.kingandmcgaw.com/prints/david-booth-malcolm-and-...

Re: Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)

#240

Post by hyperthesis »

replwoacause wrote: post #232

Wow, that Dan Bron sure put in some legwork. Impressive level of investigation. Same goes for many of the other commenters. It’s pretty impressive when people ban together to use their collective talents and minds this way. Are there any groups/subreddits or other places online where people get together to do this kind of stuff?

It's the mods who ban together locked as interesting
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