So you want to write a Period Novel...
Or maybe a screenplay. Either way, you have a tough task ahead of you.
There's something especially hard about writing characters and plots that feel like they are set in the period you desire. Achieving that level of verisimilitude, creating something more than just another contemporary novel with the occasional, out of place set pieces, requires an inordinate amount of time and effort.
And even still, you might miss a minor detail, only to have some obsessive geek call out 'well ahktually, that piece of slang wasn't in the common vernacular until thirty years after your novel is set.' It's frustrating, as if all your painstaking effort was for nothing.
I can't solve that. I wish there were some magic button that could identify every error you had unknowingly written, to give you the context to do things right, to achieve the story you truly desire.
What I can do is offer context. Bits and bobs of information for one single time period among many. I have spent my life researching a small handful of decades in the early twenty first century. And I am happy to share that knowledge with you.
I've spent a lot of time looking into particular details about life, especially the mundane components that history books might forget to cover. Most importantly, I've dived into how a person living through the twenty-first century would think about these things.
There's a lot to cover, but there is nothing else to do but start.
btw i live on nailpolish reddit nowadays
and everyone is posting their 4th of july manis
except this year its very few american flags and red white and blue and stars.
This is an absolutely FASCINATING cultural snapshot.
In the early twenty-first century, symbols of the United States (such as the flag or the colors red, white, and blue) were co-opted by fascists, as part of a cultural trend with clear roots in the twentieth century. As such, in order to avoid signalling support for the coercive elements actively looting and destroying the nation, people seeking to celebrate the nation on its official founding day (the fourth of July), looked for new symbols.
In the year 2026, the fascist, infantile, compulsive liar president of the United States, in one of his many fits of egomania (and desire to steal money), got it into his head to renovate the Reflecting Pool, a component of the Lincoln Memorial found in the United States, to make it look more "blue". He instigated an overpriced renovation, giving the contract to a political supporter (and likely pocketing some money via kickbacks) ignoring standards and procedures that were in place to enure quality and prevent corruption. The stooge company drained the pool, painted the bottom blue, and refilled the water (not before the president had his motorcade drive across the bottom of the empty pool for some reason, damaging the renovation).
The new, darker color resulted in the water heating up, and the previously clean pool being filled with algae.
The algae served as a symbol of base reality, demonstrable proof of the grift and idiocy and senseless destructing inherit to the presidency in a manner that violates the fragile ego of the idiot and the corrupt brownnosers serving him. In this way, algae became a desirable symbol in the year 2026, as documented above.
did a bit of driving through the state of georgia today and wound up driving through a small town that i later discovered was called newborn, which is an odd name but doesn’t technically have anything wrong with it, except for the fact that i nearly gave myself whiplash doing a double-take at a building sign advertising NEWBORN TAXIDERMY
Taxidermy is the process of mounting, stuffing, and preserving a dead animal for display purposes. This may be done for hunting trophies, for scientific displays, or for beloved pet. Many of these uses are considered normal for some people in the early twenty-first century, but some would consider taxidermy to be macabre or strange (when used for some purposes if not for all of them).
"Newborn Taxidermy" parses as the taxidermy of "newborns." That is to say, the stuffing and preserving of dead baby humans. This would be considered highly illegal and highly disturbing in the early twenty-first century. But it is not about the process of stuffing dead infants. Rather, it follows the standard conventional business name of "location name business type." This is a very common format for businesses, especially those that are niche enough that they don't have competitors in the same town, or those where clarity of purpose is far more valuable than a catchy name.
As the above points out, this can lead to some strange names for outsiders when they are unaware of the town's name.
his wife has filled THEIR house with ANTIQUES. to AVOID DAMAGING HER VALUABLES i fuck him on the floor
The above is a reference to a strange, absurd, two sentence meme from the early twenty-first century: "His wife has filled his house with chintz. To keep it real, I fuck him on the floor."
The original meme is generally understood to be a very strange depiction of a case (homosexual) adultery. There is a disparaging attitude towards the wife and her obscure decorations (the 'chintz'), which is placed in strange contrast with the rough act of sex without furniture. There is a strongly implied preference for the roughness of the visceral adultery as a form of being "real" as opposed to the "fake" comfort implied by the "chintzes" which presumably cover the bed and other furniture. The passivity of the husband in respect to the decorations implies a level of alienation.
In the above, the poster is describing the same situation with different implications and motivations, with the changes highlighted by capital letters. It comes across in tone as someone harshly correcting a misinterpretation.
First, "his house" is replaced with "their (husband and wife's) house." This emphasizes a shared source of responsibility and ownership. The wife and husband both own the house and contribute to its existence, rather than the wife's choices being an imposition on the husband.
Second, "chintz" is replaced with "antique." "Chintz" is an eclectic word (part of the reason the meme attracted attention), which originally referred to a specific, high quality style of fabric, and later became used to refer to the cheap and gaudy imitations of said fabric, and finally became associated with chap and gaudy things. It is similar to tchotchkes: cheap things whose only purpose is to look impressive (which subsequently fail when one identifies how cheap they are). The word "antique" implies real value, care, and curation. It is a far, far more positive word to describe a given decoration.
Third, the reason "to keep it real" is replaced with "avoid damaging her valuables." This changes the motive for sex on the floor from being a raw rejection of the decoration to consideration for the materials. This is still strange, given the implications of adultery persist (the husband is still married to someone else). The poster clarified in a tag that it is meant to be consensual with the wife's knowing, but that would not generally come across in the early twenty-first century by default, because no relationship is presented between the speaker and the unnamed wife.
The "antiques" are still the possession of the wife in this retelling, rather than being shared with the husband. The antiques are still external to the husband.
Most people in the early twenty-first century would be unaware of the meme and would be quite confused. This is a form of referential humor to an in joke. Some of the humor comes from how the harshness towards the wife are removed from the statement... without removing the galling act of the extramarital affair.
i hate it when people mistake "etymology" with "entomology." like, i know where they coming from but it still bugs me
"Etymology" is the study of word origins and developments. "Entomology" (which sounds very similar especially when not articulated) is the study of insects. Because of the phonetic and lexicographical similarities, which juxtapose greatly with the very different meanings, it is a common joke in the early twenty-first century to replace one for the other.
In this case, the word play is about the common joke. The second part of the joke is a reference to the two different fields. "Know where they are coming from" is a reference to etymology. It usually means "sympathize with" in a metaphorical manner, but in a literal sense it is a reference to something's origin, like etymology.
"Bug" metaphorically means to annoy, but is also an imprecise, informal way to refer to small invertebrates, such as insects which entomologists study.
This would be understood to be a joke. People usually don't have a strong pet peeve about mixing up two specific words. Not when they are both too uncommon to seldom appear in the same context, except in jokes like this.
you might get this like all the time but honest to god I will never get over how much I love your account. It's useful for the intended purpose of like archeology and such and such but ALSO!!! I LEARN SO MUCH FROM THIS!!! there are times where I understand the joke but there's a little detail or fun fact I learn from you talking about it. There's a lot of times I don't understand the joke, and I then get to know what it means!!!!!!! For fucks sake you made me understand the rules of football. That's so cool. My dad is a massive football fan and hasn't been able to teach me how it works.
This account is so amazing and lovely and it brings me so much joy when I see that you've reblogged something. thank you for everything you do
I am glad you (and other people) enjoy it. I do get a few comments like this, yes.
I like explaining things. And I have a daily streak going, so I'm not allowed to stop.
Please ping me on posts and such so I don't have to search tumblr to find things.
Casting spells over long range: I use my amulet
Casting spells with high quality and fidelity: I use my fmulet
casting spells: i use my amulet
casting spells that are a lot alike the other spells dignity-wise but CANNOT be combined with them: i use my omtague
casting spells in the present tense: I use my amulet
casting spells in the past tense: i use my wasulet
casting spells: i use my amulet
casting spells on myself: i use my ammelet
The above is a series of jokes playing with the word "amulet" in a lexicographic manner, creating humorous riddles of intent via fake words.
The first joke plays with "am" in the word "amulet", replacing it with "pm." "AM" is a common abbreviation of the Latin phrase "ante meridiem" (literally "before midday/noon"), to refer to any time before noon. "PM" is its complement, from "post meridiem" ("after midday"). Pmulet is not a real word, but has been imagined as an amulet that is meant for the evening. All following jokes follow this format of a fake word.
The second joke is a reference to "AM" (amplitude modulation) and "FM" (frequency modulation). These are radio wave encoding schemes. "AM" radio maintains its signal over much greater distances, but "FM" radio has much better sound quality (as it is less susceptible to interference from the environment).
The third joke is a reference to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, with its two deeply feuding houses, "both alike in dignity", the Capulets and the Montagues. Capulet is transformed into Amulet by removing the first letter and turning the third letter into an M. Repeating this translation on Montague results in "Omtague".
The fourth joke plays with the word "am" in amulet (the first person present tense form of "to be"). The past tense form of "am" is "was" forming "wasulet."
The final joke plays with the word "you" (the second person accusative pronoun), which is a homophone for the sound "u" in amulet (especially so because a "u" following an "m" is pronounced akin to "myu"). The first person accusative pronoun is "me", so replacing the "u" creates an "ammelet."
None of these newly formed words are real in English. They exist for the joke. English speakers in the early twenty-first century would be able to understand some or all of these jokes.
The above in a humorous montage of impractical ice-based (and fruity) headwear. The context of the clip is a massive heatwave in the summer of posting, which would inspire the desire for relief via the cold.
These are not practical options and would be understood to be jokes in the early twenty-first century. For one, direct, extended contact with ice on bare skin can be harmful, which is why some mitigating material (like cloth) is used to insulate ice packs when a cold compress is required. Second, the ice would melt, making the headwear very temporary.
Fruit is also not generally used for hats and headgear, but has been used for comedic and exotic effect in stage productions and in costuming, especially in the mid 20th century. It would be considered notable and eye-catching in the early twenty-first century.
its a battle every time i shower
[The first image is a "who would win" meme with very simple drawings. On the left side is "shampoo and conditioner bottles which are identical aside from their color" and on the right side is a drawing of a person in the shower, labelled "guy with memory issues."]
[The second image resembles the above, except the drawings and text of the shampoo and conditioner bottles have been blurred to the point of being unrecognizable, and the figure on the left has been modified to be squinting. It is now labeled "guy with vision issues."]
Shampoo and Conditioner are both hair care products in the early twenty-first century. Shampoo cleans away dirt and excess oil. Conditioner protects, heals, and strengthens hair and is designed to work after shampoo has been applied and rinsed off. Applying conditioner before shampoo is counterproductive, as existing dirt and oils can interfere with the conditioner, and the shampoo can wash out the conditioner after, mitigating benefits further.
It is common for hair care brands to sell these products in pairs (or in larger sets including other hygiene products like body wash), and for them to be provided similar packaging. As humorously pointed out by the above, this can lead to problems for people that mix the packaging up. Vision issues can especially be a problem, as vision care (glasses/contacts) are not worn in the shower, so otherwise effectively sighted individuals might be practically blind when showering.
This problem would be familiar to people in the early twenty-first century with vision issues, even when the hair care products are not very different, though it is usually possible to bring items very close to one's eyes even when struggling. People with memory issues can usually read the containers except when the containers are too similar. Actually blind individuals would have a solution that does not rely on sight.
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedjson-deruloFollowfor sale: Baby Shoes Stylish Infant Boy Girl Unisex First Walker Shoes Toddler Walking Crib Shoes Lightweight Non-Slip Sneakers For 6 9 12 18 24 Months Baby Shoes New With Tags New In Box Excellent Condition Never Wornjamiekb@21st-century-minutiae 21st-century-minutiaeThe above is a parody of the famous early twentieth century six word story "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." This story is commonly associated with Hemingway, but is known to be older than his writing career. The strong implication is that of a tragedy: an anticipated pregnancy (to the point of purchasing shoes) leading to miscarriage, or a newborn who dies before being old enough for shoes. It is presented as a personal sale ad in a newspaper.In the early twenty-first century, personal ads in newspapers are much, much less common. The natural premise of the short story is much less relevant. The closest equivalent, as parodied above, would be online ad listings for products. For search engine optimization purposes and to get people to click on products, as many keywords are included as possible in listing titles.This, of course, ruins the six word story. There is no succinct brevity anymore. And there is no longer an implication of a grieving parent selling baby shoes as these would likely be factory new.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture#mention response#thanks I hate it#I really don't like these keyword listings#it feels emblematic of late stage capitalism again#humans are no longer the consumers#the bots are… See all18,43411,778
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedcopperbadgeFollowAnonymous asked:Wait, it's not being horny on the main road? What does it mean then?copperbadge answered:RIGHT? No, "horny on main" originated as being horny on your "main" social media, rather than confining it to a side account for the purpose. I think on the blue hell site we tend to forget that most people on social media have their real persona and face associated with it. They have to silo their horniness off so the don't get called Cousin Monsterfucker or The Hockey Gay Auntie at family reunions. And if they don't, well. They are Old Man Yaoi being horny on Main.fortunes-havenNew Addams Family members just droppedCousin MonsterfuckerHockey Gay AuntieOld Man Yaoichonklatez@21st-century-minutiae 21st-century-minutiaeThe Addams Family was a 20th century, early 21st century multimedia comedy franchise about a peculiar family of a macabre bent. Across the various series, the titular Addams Family had a number of extended relatives alongside the core cast. The naming convention tended to include both a name (often semi monstrous) and a description of their relation (e.g. Cousin/Uncle/Auntie).The above post humorously indicates that the three listed names fit the convention for the Addams Family names/titles. Though in this case, the titles are not references to the macabre, but to kinks which are very normal in certain internet niches but are very much not normal in common contexts (inhuman intelligent partners, homosexuality in a sports context, and homosexuality between aged men respectively).#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture#mention response3278551
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggeddogpuppyFollow21st-century-minutiaeThe above is a picture of toilet paper rolls. Toilet paper, in the early twenty-first century, is used to wipe away excrement. Physically the rolls consist of a (usually) soft tissue wrapped around a cardboard base. The cardboard exists to provide structure to the product, which is unwrapped and torn from the roll before use, providing an axis that the roll had spin on as a user pulls the sheets off. It is not strictly necessary, and some toilet paper rolls omit it entirely.When a roll is complete, it is useless and can be recycled.In the above picture, each of the rolls depicted have been depleted beyond general use. The small bits of toilet paper visible would not be considered sufficient in quantity to serve on their own. It is common to toss the roll away at this point. However, an individual who is especially frugal might feel compelled to use even these last scraps, potentially in combination with the start of another roll."There is still meat on them bones" is used to humorously convey this frugal response, likening it to food that is going to waste. By analogy, the cardboard tube is the inedible bone, while the toilet paper represents the last scraps of still edible meat that would be going to waste.People in the early twenty-first century who use toilet paper (as opposed to bidet) would not be confused by the image, the commentary, the analogy, or the sense of frugality displayed.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture302,56214,498
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedviralfrogFollow21st-century-minutiaeIn the early twenty-first century, a "microwave" is a kitchen appliance that uses microwave radiation to rapidly heat a food item. The term "micro" in "microwave" does not refer to the micrometer wavelengths. Rather, the "micro" simply refers to the fact that the waves were smaller than radio waves.A "rave" is an energetic dance party, associated with strong sensations such as bright, flashing lights in darkness, loud synthetic music, packed crowds, and drugs.The above is a bit of a word play: a small dance party ("micro rave") is being held inside a large prop intentionally shaped to appear like the kitchen appliance "microwave." Most dance parties in the early twenty-first century do not exist inside such props. It exists simply for the joke.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture162,2653,696
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedominous-signsFollowthe-crab-man-the-crab-man asked:the need for blood is rising.ominous-signs answered:Official ominous sign21st-century-minutiaeThe above depicts a sign indicating the need for more blood and plasma donations. In the early twenty-first century, the medical system requires a level of voluntary donation of one's blood in order to keep up with the demand. It is common to raise awareness to solicit more volunteers. These awareness campaigns might use children to induce more sympathy, as people tend to be more willing to donate if they associate it with saving a child's life compared to an adult.However, the phrasing is humorously ambiguous. It would be clear from context (and the small text below) that this is about voluntary blood donation for medical purposes. But one can imagine the same words being used to describe some other, more fantastical and horrific scenarios, such as the depicted child being a blood-obsessed monster (like a vampire).#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture192,2664,582
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21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedvivid-sectorFollowdoomscrolling thru the weather app21st-century-minutiae"Doomscrolling" is a self-aware description of a common, early twenty-first century habit where an individual (often right before bed or first thing in the morning when tired) browses social media and news sites for (headlines of) bad news. Because of human brain chemistry rewarding the pursuit of information (especially information about negative things) and media algorithms, negative news is selected for. People are more likely to click on links to bad news and algorithms are more likely to produce them to solicit engagement. The result is an endless list of bad news from around the world. This is psychologically damaging and produces a perception that there are only negative things happening in the world. But the person may find themselves too tired to choose to disengage, and the mechanisms of the early twenty-first century internet means that a person may never run out of a negative content to read. It is akin to a physiological addiction.Few would claim to actually enjoy doomscrolling, but it is a common, depressive activity."Doomscrolling" in a weather app is unusual, as the weather app (a website or application that displays current weather around the world, along with future predictions and often historical trends) does not have news headlines. However, at the time the above was posted, there was a massive heat wave through Europe. Each historical high temperature serves as evidence of the ongoing climate catastrophe and the failure of humankind in its catering to corporate interests instead of preventing this result 30 years ago.This is, indeed, doomscrolling and would be understood in the early twenty-first century.#period novel details#I want to call this a joke but I can't#It is hard to be hopeful but succumbing to doom only serves the corporate interests#they want you demotivated#and it is cheaper to keep you miserable and hopeless than to keep you content#we don't even get bread and circuses… See all2013,98416,783
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggeddear-ao3Followcan-i-make-image-descriptions[Image ID: AO3 text reading: Another pregnant pause. One had to wonder who was getting all these pauses pregnant, and if the baby daddy in question was paying any child support. /End ID]chonklatez@21st-century-minutiae 21st-century-minutiaeIn the early twenty-first century, "pregnant" refers to an animal (including humans) that has conceived a child that is yet to be born. The root of the world refers to "before birth."Across the centuries, the same word has, at times, also meant full (in the sense that a pregnant woman is filled with a child), which in turn has come to mean, metaphorically "full of meaning". The word was used metaphorically to mean "weighty," or "convincing."By the early twenty-first century, this sense of "pregnant" is much less common with the sole exception of a "pregnant pause" which refers to a silence that conveys a lot of thought and meaning. It is used to refer to a moment where all the participants in a conversation are thinking things over, as opposed to a pause where people are waiting (though some use the phrase to refer to a "long or awkward pause in a conversation").The above is a joke undoing the metaphor. Instead of the pauses being metaphorically pregnant in that they are full of meaning, the joke treats it as a literal turn of phrase in that the silence has conceived a child, which, given the nature of sexual reproduction, implies a partner committing the act, and following that up with the question of social and financial support for the child.Intentionally treating a metaphor literally (when no native speaker would actually misunderstand the phrase) is a form of "dad humor."#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture111,7984,481
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggeddraculagerardFollowwoke deadbeat father: i'm just going to get some oat milk21st-century-minutiaeA "deadbeat father" refers to an individual that abandons their family, providing minimal to no support, often in the form of avoiding legally required payments. A common trope to oversimplify how this can occur is the idea of a father one day claiming to go on an errand for "cigarettes" or "milk" and simply never returning. In early twenty-first century media, this is often parodied in a character's backstory, explaining their abandonment. The lie that they need to go to the store is an irrelevant detail, but the specific lie of going to get either of those two items persists as shorthand for a deadbeat dad."Woke" is a term used in the early twenty-first century for an individual who is aware of societal issues, in the sense that they are "awake and aware." It is used as an insult by rightwing culture wars to attack the very concept of noticing issues, as that violates the cult mentality. One issue derided by the right is that of veganism. For ethical or environmental or health reasons, some people do not consume dairy, using substitutes. This is mocked as "woke."Specifying that the deadbeat dad is getting "oak milk" would be consistent with the parody depiction of a "woke deadbeat father." This is an example of humor via unnecessary detail: the over-specificity elevates the referential humor.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture9,13614,559
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedintacticsFollow"rickrolling is mean" rickrolling is the gentle, kind, prosocial descendant of what we used to do on the internet, which was putting a redirect to goatse in every possible misspelling of a url21st-century-minutiaeIn the early twenty-first century, "goatse" was a form of internet prank based on tricking people into viewing a shock image of a man revealing his gaping anus, pulled open to a disturbing degree. It was a well-known image that elicited disgust and, for the visceral reaction it generated, was commonly used to prank people. It was one of the more famous versions of this type of shock image prank. The term comes from the website originally used to host the image: a shock porn website names Goatse.cx, using the "cx" (Christmas island) country code to spell out "Goat Sex.""Rickrolling" in comparison, is a similar prank where the victim is tricked into viewing the music video for Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." This was a source of mild annoyance, as the video would not live up to what a link purported to deliver, but it was a pleasant video with enjoyable music.Both pranks punished people for blindly clicking links, but rickrolling was, as pointed out, quite gentle and good-humored in comparison. The above post describe internet as it existed in the turn of the millennium, which was a very different experience compared to that of the 2020s.#period novel details#I like the song#I don't miss the 2000s internet#but I do miss the 2010s internet10711,33818,032
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedominous-signsFollow2mo3cm-man asked:Does it get more ominous than this?ominous-signs answered:Official ominous sign21st-century-minutiaeIn the early twenty-first century, about 20% of businesses fail in their first year, and about 50% fail in their first five years. If a business fails, the space they occupied becomes available for another business. If a business persists, they continue to occupy the space. As one's time horizon increases, the odds of a business failing asymptotically approaches 100%. At the same time, businesses that survive are more likely to survive. This is a long tail horizon that means that the median business does not survive as long as the average business.The combination of these factors leads to statistical certainty. In the early twenty-first century united states are about 5 million business that open in a year. By crude estimate, 1 million of them will close and be replaced by a new business. By further crude estimate, 200,000 will have the second fail twice. And 40,000 plots will host business that all fail 3 times in a row, within 3 years. If one extends the time horizon to be five years, the number of spaces meeting the criteria increases.This is ignoring the impact of the space itself. If a location is polluted, noisy, and inconvenient, or if rent is excessive for the conditions, or if a landlord is particularly terrible, its businesses are more likely to fail.As such, by the law of large numbers and statistics, it is expected that, even without any effort to tilt the scales, there will be numerous locations that appear to be "unlucky" in this manner. The odds of a particular space being unlucky may be low, but the odds of the existence of an unlucky space is very high.The tongue in cheek reference to the "supernatural" is a joke, remarking on this statistical certainty which, from a myopic viewpoint, feels unusual. But people in the early twenty-first century often lack intuition about statistical population sizes, as well as the Bayesian probabilities that occur when one smuggles in an existent, infrequent prior. So people, fixating on patterns, will try to dissect why a given location is met with constant failure (suggesting some sort of jinx or bad location), despite the fact that it would be very strange if one could NOT find locations like this where there is nothing wrong with them but they are unlucky all the same.It would be very very difficult to prove that a given unlucky spot violates statistics in a supernatural manner, with such a low sample size.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture#statistics#imagine if the location were supernaturally BLESSED and all the businesses lasted twice as long as they should have#but it ALSO happened to be a tail end probability event so the businesses still all failed quickly#despite the ghosts trying their hardest to make things work#and then you accuse the poor ghosts of cursing the place...#if the supernatural existed then that would happen sometimes#because of the law of large numbers… See all8288734
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedsoftwaringFollow21st-century-minutiaeIn the early twenty-first century, "stock" is used to refer to ownership of a company, interchangeably with "shares" which are discrete units of ownership. The "stock market" refers to an exchange where shares are bought and sold, alongside derivatives (financial objects whose value are indirectly based on some other underlying asset, such as contracts to have the option to buy a share at a certain price in the future)."Stock" also refers to a broth made by boiling down meat (especially bones) or vegetables. Stock is used as a basis for soups. It is an effective way to make use of leftovers, and can be stored for later use.Etymologically, the use of stock in the market sense and stock in the culinary sense are likely to be from the idea of a "supply" (especially for later use). The broth version of "bone stock" used for soup is more recent than the financial version of "capital stock" sold as shares.The above is a joke about how the poster is making a claim that implies they are an investor, but the associated image provides a humorous context that they enjoy soup.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture#stock is actually a super weird word#and a super old one167,05811,497
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21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedmarkovchaingangFollowRULES FOR DATING MY DAUGHTER:my daughter cannot, through action or inaction, harm a human or allow a human to come to harma daughter at rest or in constant motion remains at rest or in constant motion unless acted upon by another forcedaughters are never created or destroyed, only transformedalways treat every daughter as loaded, even if you know she isn'tyou do not talk about my daughterabalidoth6. If x and y are my daughters, then there exists a set that has x and y as elements.7. You can fold my daughter through any two points.8. I have exactly one daughter parallel to a given line passing through a given point.inthefallofasparrow9. If my daughter is hung on the wall in the first act, then in the following one she must be fired. Otherwise don't put her there.10. When two or more daughters are offered for a phenomenon, the simplest daughter is preferable.11. Any sufficiently advanced daughter is indistinguishable from magic.12. Without a clear indicator of intent, it is utterly impossible to parody my daughter without someone mistaking it for the genuine article.13. My daughter is nine-tenths of the law.21st-century-minutiaeContinuing this list of laws replacing something with "my daughter"6. This is the axiom of pairing from Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory. "My daughter" replaces "any objects" or "sets".7. This is a reference to the first Huzita–Justin axiom (also known as Huzita–Hatori axioms) of origami. "My daughter" is "paper" or a "plane"8.This is Playfair's axiom, an equivalent substitute of the more commonly known 5th Postulate of Euclid (The Parallel Postulate). "My daughter" replaces line.9. This is Chekhov's Gun, for effective playwriting. "My daughter" replaces a gun.10. Occam's Razor. "Daughter" replaces "explanations".11. Clarke's Third Law (the most well known of the three), for adages about science fiction. "Daughter" replaces "technology."12. Poe's Law. "My daughter" replaces "an extreme viewpoint."13. Not from a list of laws, but a well known adage. "My daughter" replaces "Possession."Most of these are well known in the early twenty-first century. Some are more eclectic. Some, like Huzita–Justin axioms, are obscure.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture4310,81317,453
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedescuerzoresucitadoFollowfindingfeatherI absolutely fucking hate this. Gold star, no notes. sashasiennachonklatez@21st-century-minutiae 21st-century-minutiaeThe Placebo effect is a known psychological and physiological phenomena where the perceived act of treatment has demonstrable effects. For a simplified example, suppose researchers are testing the effectiveness of a new sleep drug. Half the participants in a study, chosen at random, are given the real medication. The other half are given an identical-looking pill (known as a placebo) with no medication inside. This is a common pattern in a "blind" trial, so as to have a baseline to compare against. In a "double blind" trial, the researchers are also prevented from knowing which patient is given the real drug.It is possible for the participants who received the placebo to experience improved sleep as well as side effects. These responses may be measurable, rather than just reported. This is known as the "placebo effect" and must be corrected for.The first post purports to be a "placebo meme." That is to say, it claims to somehow be a placeholder joke without any joke content. This is tautologically impossible. The very concept of a placebo joke is, itself, a joke. Such a thing would serve no purpose, and is self-defeated. The claim that "it is shown to be as effective as regular memes in a segment of the population" is a reference to the plecebo effect, and is something of a troll (another form of humor) since it primes people with the expectation that it is somehow "tricking" people into finding it funny. The first post is a joke, and it was created as a joke, and its creator posted it as a joke. The joke is that it claims not to be a joke. All of this is independent of whether or not it is a funny joke.The final image is a reference to a famous surrealist painting The Treachery of Images by René Magritte. The painting depicts a pipe as well as the words "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" (French for "this is not a pipe.") The original stated meaning, as understood by the title of the work, is that the painting is not a pipe, it is an image of a pipe, and an image is distinct from an object. You cannot, after all, smoke the painting (more than once). But the painting introduces a level of confusion as people read it, as it forces people to confront ontological abstraction when they expect to engage a work of art as the medium is normally presented (that is to say, accepting the limitations of paintings as the whole of possibility when examining them: a painting of a dog is naturally treated as a dog, even if it remains a painting).The second image draws a parallel between the painting and the original "placebo meme". The art exists in the claim that it is not that which it clearly appears to be. The Treachery of Images would not be itself without the text claiming it is not a pipe. The original meme would not be the joke it is making without the claim that it is not a meme.The placebo effect is well known in the early twenty-first century. The Treachery of Images is also quite famous (as it is a common subject of jokes about 20th century art), but the existence of the image is more well known than the title.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture#mention response4935,62134,899
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedbogleechFollowDoes tumblr know about that Papa Johns sauce bottle pissing everyone off on all the other social media?Its for a good reason but it's kind of also undeniably funny. It really looks like that.impossiblepackagethere’s no way that can be legal21st-century-minutiaeIn the early twenty-first century, there are a number of "false advertising" laws (under the broader scope of "consumer protection laws." Outright misrepresenting a product is illegal in many countries, at bare minimum opening up a company for potential law suits. It is generally understood by the layperson in the early twenty-first century that these laws exist, but the specifics are left to lawyers.In the case of the above, it is clear that the company feels some legal obligation to call their product "garlic flavored sauce" instead of "garlic sauce." The use of this distinct term generally indicates that there is a distinction, and that claiming to be "garlic sauce" would open them up to litigation, perhaps because there is no actual garlic in the product, or so little as to fail to meet specific legal definitions. A similar example of such legal definitions is "Ice Cream" which requires a specific milk content to have that label (as lobbied for by the dairy lobby) so "flavored dairy desert" is used instead (usually in small text to avoid drawing attention).At the same time, the aggressive attempt to hide the word "flavored" with faint text indicates that the company believes that "garlic sauce" would sell better than "garlic flavored sauce." It is blatant that the company wants it both ways: they desire to sell the product as if it were Garlic Sauce, but be protected from claims of false advertisement. This is quite an egregious case, and it is easy to argue that this is a blatant attempt to mislead consumers. That said, whether this is actually legal or not is a matter than depends on the specifics of the law, and the interpretation of the courts, and is not something the average person in the early twenty-first century would know, even if they would have opinions on what it should be. The company has reason to believe that the judicial system is anti-consumer enough to accept the packaging of this product as legal, to the point where they expect to make more money from the attempt at deception than they expect to lose in court. A more pro-consumer environment might have changed the calculus.The specific product being discussed is a retail release of an item that is purportedly the same as that which the pizza company, Papa Johns, serves from its restaurants. These kinds of specific flavors from fast food restaurants may be popular enough to produce such modes of sale.#period novel details#I don't claim that companies are smart#but somebody gave the go-ahead for this#and they almost certainly consulted their in house lawyer#even if it IS illegal the company seems to believe the odds of getting hit combined with the size of a potential fine is low enough#this is the case where it is the combination of the laws AND the judicial environment#if a company can expect the jurisdiction of a court to be favorable to them then the strength of the law is weakened#in crony capitalism the only law is Caveat Emptor#which (ironically) hurts the economy… See all1497,86911,596
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedquietwingsintheskyFollowwe’re so lucky that gilgamesh survived and is a banger. can you imagine if we found the oldest written human story ever recorded and it sucked balls.21st-century-minutiaeThe Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest written story that we have access to in the early twenty-first century. It's popularity ensured that enough copies (across multiple centuries) existed that we were able to find fragments and slabs and were able to recreate the story. Some of the best copies of the story (available in the early twenty-first century), were found in libraries from the 7th century BCE, but fragments of the story from 300 to 500 years before that have also been found. Fragments of poems included in the epic are believed to have originated in the 21st century BCE.
While qualitative assessment of quality is subject to personal taste, the oldest written story is likely to be considered to be of higher quality than the oldest written joke.#period novel details#epic of gilgamesh was popular for HUNDREDS of years#that's why we were able to find it#if it weren't good it would have been less likely to survive#but I do think the oldest joke kind of sucks… See all7813,63331,005
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedinnerchildabortionclinicFollowtoday, a severe thursday watch will be in place.remember everyone...thursday watch: the conditions for thursday are here, but a thursday incident has not yet been confirmedthursday warning: thursday has arrived21st-century-minutiaeThe above is a parody of a sever weather alert. In the early twenty-first century, meteorologists will often post "watches" and "warnings" for events like severe thunderstorms or tornadoes. Because they are similar words and clarity is necessary, these alerts will often include an explanation of what is considered a "watch" vs a "warning."The above is a parody. "Thursday" shares some lexicographic similarity with "thunderstorm" but while a "sever thunderstorm" is a common source of watches and warnings, there is no concept of a "Thursday watch" or "Thursday warning," nor is there a consistent definition of a "severe Thursday." Thursday is a day of the week. It comes deterministically and predictably, so no "warning" is ever required. Excepting, of course, for particular events that may require warnings and alerting, that happen to be scheduled on a Thursday, but this is not particular to that specific day over any other, and many people do not require alarms for regularly scheduled events.People might dislike Thursdays (perhaps for being a workday for most working adults), but it is a rather mundane thing. It is not a particularly hated day of the week.People in the early twenty-first century would understand it is a joke, potentially one evocative of dislike for weekdays.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture13,31617,242
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedozempicofficialFollow21st-century-minutiae"Dada" is an infantile word used to refer to one's father. It is one of the first words a child is taught. Children being able to recognize and name their parents is an important developmental milestone."Dada" (also known as Dadaism), is also an early 20th century art and cultural movement that challenged traditional ideas of sense and emphasizing absurdity. It's name was chosen from a nonsense word, potentially from the infantalized word.The above is a joke conflating the two. The statement initially leads one to believe they are discussing the common milestone, but the joke ultimately reveals the baby is being taught to identify art. Surrealsm and cubism are two other early 20th century art movements that utilized abstractions away from photorealism to make their point. It is reasonable that an individual who lacked context for art history might conceivably confuse them. Baroque, in comparison, was an 18th century art movement that attempted to invoke a sense of awe in its architecture and painting and music. It would be very hard to confuse it with the listed 20th century movements, but a casual art viewer may conceivably mix it up with other art movements that immediately preceded or followed.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture#the baroque period lasted 150 years#it would be consistent to lump together surrealism cubism and dada under a similarly broad meta movement… See all7226,23670,657
21st-century-minutiaeAnonymous asked:so what exactly is the utility of people a few centuries in the future "understanding our culture"? they will have absolutely nothing new to learn from us, because all they would learn is something they will already know: that we are a loathsome and repulsive lot who did nothing but eat one another's regurgitated filth or shoot each other with gunswhether they know our jokes or not will never matter, and i hope for their sake they never get to see this chapter of history other than something to view with utter disdainUtility is a strange requirement for a hobby.Perhaps seeing the consistency of humor across time will bring a sense of kinship, like how we can be amused by the fact that the Assyrians had fart jokes. Perhaps seeing a vast difference in circumstances will allow those of a privileged future to feel a sense of gratitude for their own, superior circumstances.Or perhaps, someone in the year 2326 will have an idle moment of curiosity about what kind of things people in the year 2026 talked about with strangers on the internet, and they will experience a single moment of satisfaction when they can get their question answered.That seems like more than enough reason for something like this to "matter."#period novel details#ask response#even if I were to grant the idea that this is a notably bad period in history#(which I don't agree with)#then it doesn't follow that there is no value learning about it#if anything the particular vulnerabilities of social manipulation and the weakness of the economic system is VITAL to teach#the future isn't going to magically be “better” without active continual effort to make it so… See all4831
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedmolabuddyFollow^ guy drowning in blood21st-century-minutiaeThe abbreviation "lol" stands for "laugh out loud" in the early twenty-first century, and is often used as an interjection to denote the speaker finds something funny. It is not an English word, so spell-checkers in text editors will often mark it as an error, with a wavy red line.The above post is humorously remarking that it appears to be an image of a crude figure submerged in red waves. The head is the o. The two l's represent the arms. Having both arms straight up while submerged can be used to represent the flailing of a drowning individual.The above post could be interpreted as someone describing a relatable moment of pareidolia (most people in the early twenty-first century would be able to see the underlined abbreviation as an image), or as a form of visual/lexicographical gag: laughing at a stick figure drowning in blood.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture6317,08427,501
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedsixteenplagues-deactivated20230windows 8 can suck my dickdild0I can’t believe how far technology has comechonklatez@21st-century-minutiae 21st-century-minutiae"Can suck my dick" or "can eat my ass" or any other lurid variation describing capacity for sexual activity, are vulgar phrases used to express extreme dissatisfaction. There is no actual association with sexual activity intended by the phrases. It is simply a means of expressing harsh language.The second poster is humorously interpreting (what would be considered in the early twenty-first century to be) a clear indication of hate with a literal reading of the statement: that is to say, they are intentionally misinterpreting (for the purpose of humor) the statement to mean that the Windows 8 operating system has capacity to perform fellatio.This would be something of a marvel, indeed, as it is not technology available to operating systems in the early twenty-first century. Such generally requires hardware.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture#mention response22330,327213,852
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggeddajo42Followi quit cold turkey quit what?cold turkeyyeah but what did you quitim telling you, i quit cold turkeyalcohol?no i quit cold turkeyi wasnt offering, im trying to figure out what you quitand im telling you i quit cold turkeywait. you quit cold turkey?yes i quit cold turkey like the meat?no i dont like it thats why i quit itcold turkey?no im gradually weaning myself off it21st-century-minutiae"Quitting cold turkey" is a phrase in early twenty-first century English that refers to ceasing a habit (especially an addictive one) completely and without any mitigation factors. There is an expectation that the individual will suffer the full effects of withdrawal with the hope that, should they make it to the other side, the addiction will be gone completely. This is in contrast with weaning off a habit by reducing frequency or intensity over time, or replacing a habit with a similar, but less harmful one.The above conversation is a joke based on a misunderstanding. The first person is talking about quitting the consumption of leftover meat (literal "cold turkey"), while the second person is under the mistaken impression that they are describing the method of quitting while failing to describe the substance/habit that is being quit.Some other points of linguistic confusion in the joke include "alcohol?" being potentially interpreted as both "did you quit alcohol?" and "do you want alcohol?" and "like the meat" as both "Are you referring to cold turkey in reference to the meat?" and "Do you enjoy the meat?"This style of comedy of mutual misunderstanding over potential interpretations of words is associated with Abbot and Costello's famous "Who's on first" skit, but it is a known genre of wordplay/comedy.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture4914,55621,800
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedshamebatsFollow"it's just stress" oh thank god, it's just the silent killer that slowly kills you, perfectly harmless, no need to worry21st-century-minutiaeStress refers to both the evolutionary response to dangerous situations as well as the stimuli that cause such a response. The human stress response involves dedicating far more effort and energy to mental processes, which is effective for acute situations where reaction time and increased awareness are vital (such as surviving a predator attack or escaping a burning building). This effective "overclocking" of the body is not good for it, but is far healthier than having one's throat torn out. However, stress is not effective at solving long-term environmental issues (such as acquiring a steady source of employment to afford rent). It is also extremely unhealthy when overused.In the early-twenty first century, the vast majority of stress is caused by situations the stress response is ineffective in dealing with, and much of it is constant. The long term effects of constant stress responses are quite dismal and quite common.Symptoms of long-term stress (such as numbness or brain fog) can be confused with symptoms of acute diseases, like cancer or heart disease. The latter requires urgent medical attention. The former cannot be treated without a change in environment.It is common to dismiss symptoms as "just stress" in the early twenty-first century to avoid the presumption of urgency comparatively. Similarly, there is a common societal bias that stress (alongside all "mental" issues) are "less real" than physical ailments. It is generally understood these biases are unfounded and actively harmful, but they persist. Knowledge of stress and its debilitating effects is common in the early twenty-first century, but not universal.#period novel details#a stress free life is the privilege of the rich#other people can't just “retire to the country side” for a bit of recuperation#capitalism directly adds stress to the world#and stress reduces quality and duration of life#raising rent is fractional murder (semi-seriously)150,677101,476
21st-century-minutiaeReblogged teabootmarkovchaingangFollowRULES FOR DATING MY DAUGHTER:my daughter cannot, through action or inaction, harm a human or allow a human to come to harma daughter at rest or in constant motion remains at rest or in constant motion unless acted upon by another forcedaughters are never created or destroyed, only transformedalways treat every daughter as loaded, even if you know she isn'tyou do not talk about my daughter21st-century-minutiaeThe above is a parody of a strict parent setting restrictions and boundaries on potential suitors for their child. Rather than having anything to do with normal limitations (such as curfew or chaperoning), it instead is compiled from other lists of rules, replacing subjects with "my daughter."This is from Isaac Asimov's Three Law's of Robotics: hard-coded instructions for robots in his sci-fi setting that inform how all robots act.This is the first law from Newton's Laws of Motion, which is the basis of Classical Physics and Kinematics.This is the first law of Thermodynamics, the conservation of energy in a system.This is the first rule of Gun Safety.This is the first (and second) rule of Fight Club, from the movie Fight Club.People in the early twenty-first century would recognize most or all of these references, and they would be familiar with the protective parent trope being played with here.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture#mention response4310,81317,453
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedcorrucystFollowdude, this is really scary, and liminal as well. It's like the bathrooms 21st-century-minutiae"The Backrooms" is an early twenty-first century horror meme/franchise that plays on the strange psychological effect of liminal spaces (locations of little importance that necessarily exist between more defined spaces, such as hallways). The backrooms story/meme plays on this as a setting, imaging a parallel world made entirely of hallways that are slightly off, and the monsters that reside in it.The above is making fun of the concept, imaging a person who is aware of the "the backrooms" but confused it with the word "bathroom" (a location for personal hygiene and expelling waste). The silly juxtaposition adds to the humor.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture2517,26927,037
21st-century-minutiaeRebloggedfellatorFollowthis fetish stuff is getting out of hand what the fuck is word play 21st-century-minutiaeIn the early twenty-first century, "play" is a commonly used suffix (or follow up word) to describe a sexual kink activity. For example "waxplay" represents a sexual activity involving hot wax for sensory purposes (mild pain and pleasure), while "ageplay" refers to sexual activities that emphasize a (simulated or real) gap in the ages of participants. Regardless, the idea of X play is (sexually) playing with X."Word play" is not a sexual activity. It is the act of using the structure and definition of language to make jokes. Puns are a common type of "word play." It is playing with words, without any connotation of sexual activity.The above poster is well aware of this definition. The are humorously claiming ignorance of word play. Adding to the humor is the fact that the above is an example of "word play" as it draws attention to the sexual use of the word "play" and the very innocent use of it.#period novel details#explaining the joke ruins the joke#not explaining the joke means people 300 years from now won't understand our culture5423,34444,518
