@dgelessus [archived]

"overstand" is a great word and has many potential uses

As proposed by alex norris of webcomic name:

https://webcomicname.com/post/758899080600715264

transcription of the linked comic, for the screen readers

Three-pane comic titled "learning", from "webcomic name" (alex norris):

  1. Pink blob is sitting in a pile of books. Their face is obscured by the book they are currently reading, and only their oversized head is visible, implying a huge brain. Orange blob smiles and says: "you must understand the world so well".
  2. Pink blob puts away the book, revealing their expressionless face with hollow eyes (idk how to put it, but pink blob looks like they've seen some shit). Pink blob replies: "the more I learn, the more confusing and complex everything is to me". Orange blob is no longer smiling.
  3. Pink blob starts emitting smoke, raises their arms in despair, and their face turns ever so slightly angry, as they say: "I overstand". Orange blob: "oh no".

Examples:

  • someone who "overstands Unicode" will be unable to answer a question like "how do I count the number of characters in a string"
  • I "overstand CDs" ever since I figured out how to create a complete disc image of a CD-RW on Linux
  • the Myst community "overstands Myst lore": when you ask an innocent question about the red and blue books, you'll get 25 replies citing something a developer once said in the 90s on a defunct mailing list

... I'm actually having a hard time coming up with good examples, because most of the ones I can think of are complicated or obscure enough that I can't explain them in one sentence 🙃

#overstand#webcomicname#webcomic name#alex norris#oh no
jckarter (@jckarter) [archived]

shuppy (@delan) [archived]