Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Far Side cave formations

In today’s Daily Dose of The Far Side, cavemen in conversation: “Oo! Grog run into a . . . a . .  dang! Now which kind stick up and which kind hang down?”

I know three mnemonics, by way of a recent Newsday crossword:

Stalactites have to hold on tight! (So they don’t fall off.)

Stalactites hold tightly to the ceiling, stalagmites might get tall enough to reach it.

C for ceiling; g for ground.

[The first two are from my friend Stefan Hagemann and an anonymous reader.]

comments: 6

Anonymous said...

I miss Far Side cartoons! Years ago an engineer friend and I were in DC and noticed the Smithsonian (?) was having an exhibit of the original drawings. We immediately went over and had a glorious time laughing so much that others started avoiding us!!

I bought a t-shirt he created for the exhibit-- one of the dinos being driven in a limo with the license plate I 8 DC with the Capitol in the background and blooming cherry trees.

it was 1987! https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/far-side-science-cartoons-gary-larson-event-exhib-2229 and here is what was on the shirt: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Gary-Larson-The-Far-Side-of-Science-Framed-33-x-25-Poster-Smithsonian-1987-/202711204557?_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

Kirsten

Michael Leddy said...

I like the idea of a dinosaur having a vanity plate. It makes sense!

For many years I (son of a tile man) had this one on my office door.

Kirsten, you’d be such a good blogger. (Hint, hint.)

The Crow said...

I bet your Dad got a great laugh out of that cartoon!

Michael Leddy said...

He was a big fan of The Far Side. I think he may have sent it to me.

Anonymous said...

The mnemonic device that I use to differentiate between stalactites and stalagmites, the shape of the letter: stalacTites, The “T” appears to hang while stalagMites, the “M” appears like mounds.

Michael Leddy said...

Neat — thanks for sharing that here.