xkcd cartoons

*Postings on Language Log (with initials of poster plus date of posting) and on AZBlog (with a date but no initials), plus some linguistically relevant xkcd postings not yet blogged on. xkcd postings are identified by their number plus their title on xkcd; an xkcd posting with number N can be viewed at http//xkcd.org/N/ .

Comments in square brackets are from me or Dave Sayers (from an 11/14/14 posting of his on the variationists’ mailing list, VAR-L) (Note: a few of the postings from Language Log Classic are missing images, but these can be seen by using the number of the posting.)

…..

ML, 7/20/06: Getting on the map:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003371.html]
114: Computational Linguists [computational linguistics]
26: Fourier
37: Hyphen [syntax]

☛ [http://xkcd.com/145/]
145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics [standard language ideologies]

☛ [http://xkcd.com/148/]
148: Mispronouncing [standard language ideologies]

☛ [http://xkcd.com/166/]
166: Misusing Slang [language change]

ML, 2/3/07: Charm school (and battling logicians):
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004139.html]
207: What xkcd Means

ML, 2/14/07: Choice and meaning:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004194.html]
222: Small Talk

ML, 4/10/07: The labyrinth guards:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004393.html]
246: Labyrinth Puzzle

ML, 8/5/07: Emotional code:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004789.html]
297: Lisp Cycles

AZ, 9/26/07: Hyphen migration, cartoon style:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004963.html]
37: Hyphen [image missing]

ML, 10/8/07: Shooting down ‘amateur grammar nazis’:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004997.html]
326: Effect an Effect [grammar / standard language ideologies]

AZ, 11/13/07: Like a ring in a bell:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005110.html]
342: 1337: Part 2 [image missing]

ML, 10/20/07: To what after shampooing?:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005042.html]
329: Turing Test

☛ EB, 12/6/07: Speak xkcd or die:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005191.html]
84: National Language [national language ideology, US specifically]

EB, 12/31/07: Proxy debates:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005274.html]
[about “Speak xkcd or die”]

ML, 1/11/08: In the funny papers:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005310.html]
369: Dangers

BPo, 2/07/08: Unicode humor:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005372.html]
380: Emoticon [image missing]

ML, 2/22/08: Just in case…:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005406.html]
386: Duty Calls

ML, 3/3/08: Someone’s word order is wrong on the internet:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005424.html]
[more on 386]

ML, 3/14/08: Cognitive therapy for word rage:
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005457.html
385: How It Works

AZ, 3/22/08: Something wiki this way comes:
[http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005482.html]
285: Wikipedian Protester [image missing]

ML, 4/25/08: Closer, my ex, of you:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=85]
415: Restraining Order

ML, 6/13/08: Linguistic purity?:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=238]
435: Purity

ML, 7/18/10: Ranking fields by the difficulty of imposter detection:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=376]
451: Impostor

ML, 9/3/08: Lists, comprehensive and otherwise:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=558]
468: Fetishes

ML, 9/11/08: Supercollider? I hardly know her:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=580]
474: Turn-On

AZ, 9/25/08: Return to the dwarf planet Pluto:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=634]
473: Still Raw

ML, 9/27/08: No comment:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=643]
481: Listen to Yourself

ML, 10/9/08: Munroe’s Law:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=698]
483: Fiction Rule of Thumb

ML, 11/12/08: Eastward is as eastward does:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=826]
503: Terminology

ML, 12/4/08: I’m rich!:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=880]
512: Alternate Currency

ML, 12/19/08: Messing around:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=926]
519: 11th Grade

☛ [http://xkcd.com/529/]
529: Sledding Discussion [language acquisition]

ML, 1/13/09: Too many communication modalities:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1019]
530: I’m An Idiot

ML, 2/4/09: Statistically significant other:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1107]
539: Boyfriend

ML, 5/5/09: Wait, what?:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1407]
508: Drapes
163: Donald Knuth
437: SUV
108: M.C. Hammer Slide
518: Flow Charts

AZ, 7/17/09: Erdős?:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1583]
599: Apocalypse

AZ, 7/21/09: Cross-modal interference:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1591]
604: Qwertial Aphasia

ML, 7/23/09: Conversational incongruence:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1598]
611: Disaster Voyeurism

ML, 8/20/09: Levels of misunderstanding:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1679]
625: Collections

ML, 9/2/09: Illustrating the maxim of quantity…:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1710]
630: Time Travel

ML, 10/4/09: God speed the plow:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1789]
643: Ohm

ML, 10/9/09: Time and the river:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1804]
647: Scary

BZ, 4/9/10: Revenge, literally speaking:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2239]
725: Literally

ML, 4/22/10: Hypothesis-driven research:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2272]
54: Science

ML, 5/5/10: Sex and color language:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2298]
[http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/]
on xkcd blog: results of online color survey

ML, 5/12/10: 22 arguments:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2314]
739: Malamanteau [portmanteaus]

ML, 5/22/10: Unce:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2342]
740: The Tell-Tale Beat

ML, 5/26/10: I kept doingn it wrongn:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2352]
745: Dyslexics

☛ [http://xkcd.com/762/]
762: Analogies [rhetoric]

DB, 7/11/10: Count on xkcd:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2439]
764: One Two

ML, 7/23/10: “Context is everything” again:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2476]
770: All the Girls

ML, 8/15/10: Period speech:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2554]
771: Period Speech [language change / historical linguistics]

GP, 9/27/10: Obscene intensificatory adverb frequencies:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2663]
798: Adjectives [corpus linguistics]

ML, 10/26/10: Just add “intelligent” and “informed” …:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2736]
810: Constructive

ML, 11/6/10: Once more into the malamanteau:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2758]
more discussion on malamanteau

ML, 1/20/11: Getting real:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2914]
849: Complex Conjugate

ML, 2/4/11: Digitoneurolinguistic hacking:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2944]
856: Trochee Fixation

ML, 2/8/11: What does “even” even mean?:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2943]
156: Commented

ML, 2/21/11: Collegiate learning:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2984]
863: Major in the Universe

ML, 3/6/11: They almost non-metaphorically never complain about this!:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3007]
725: Literally

ML, 3/10/11: Adspeak:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3020]
870: Advertising

ML, 3/15/11: Eigenfeet, eigenfaces, eigenlinguistics, …:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3030]
872: Fairy Tales

5/5/11: Idiocracy:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2011/05/05/idiocracy/]
603: Idiocracy

ML, 5/6/11: Bonferroni rules:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3074]
882: Significant

ML, 5/20/11: No word for Rapture:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3151]
900: Religions

BZ, 6/28/11: The pleasures of recursive acronymy:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3227]
917: Hofstadter

ML, 7/1/11: Hated words:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3236]
919: Tween Bromance [word rage, word aversion]

ML, 7/11/11: Important editorial advice:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3260]
923: Strunk and White

GP, 8/12/11: Password strength:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3360]
926: Password Strength

ML, 9/28/11: Integration of knowledge:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3458]
957: Development

ML, 11/6/11: Kids today yesterday:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3544]
973: MTV Generation

GP, 12/3/11: Grayton support down by 19%:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3601]
985: Percentage Points

ML, 1/23/12: The sustainability bubble:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3723]
1007: Sustainable [corpus linguistics]

1/23/12: Fucking ambiguity:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/01/23/fucking-ambiguity/]
90: Jacket

1/23/14: Fiction rule of thumb:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/01/23/fiction-rule-of-thumb/]
483: Fiction Rule of Thumb

1/30/12: Etymology-Man:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/01/30/etymology-man/]
1010: Eymology-Man [etymology]

ML, 3/19/12: A non-mathematical theory of communication:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3854]
1028: Communication

3/30/12: Formal logic:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/03/30/formal-logic/]
1033: Formal Logic

5/7/12: xkcd back-formation:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/05/07/xkcd-back-formation/]
1052: Every Major’s Terrible

ML, 6/13/12: Your typical sentence:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4019]
1068: Swiftkey

7/13/12: Person or robot?:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/07/13/person-or-robot/]
773: University Website

☛ 7/29/12: Amazing app:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2012/07/29/amazing-app/]
1085: ContextBot

BZ, 9/14/12: A cautionary vision of things to come:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4184]
1108: Cautionary Ghost [on literally: semantics / language change / standard language ideologies]

ML, 11/21/12: It’s worse than you thought:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4333]
1137: RTL

ML, 12/14/12: Hydrated and delicious:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4368]
replay of 919: Tween Bromance [word rage, word aversion]

4/10/13: Ups and downs:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2013/04/10/ups-and-downs/]
1197: All Adobe Updates

5/2/13: The 12-inch pianist:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2013/05/02/the-12-inch-pianist/]
532: Piano

7/16/13: Internet enlightenment:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2013/07/16/internet-enlightenment/]
1238: Enlightenment

8/23/13: Means of communication:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2013/08/23/means-of-communication-2/]
1254: Preferred Chat System

ML, 11/14/13: xkc-infix-d:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=8463]
1290: Syllable Planning

BZ, 11/18/13: Can “[adjective]-ass” occur predicatively?:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=8542]
37: Hyphen

1/18/14: Academic purity:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/01/18/academic-purity/]
435: Purity

ML, 1/27/14: A stick tower by any other name:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=10015]
1322: Winter

1/28/14: xkcd vocabulary:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/01/28/xkcd-vocabulary/]
another posting of 1322

2/11/14: Messing with my mind:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/02/11/messing-with-my-mind/]
559: No Pun Intended

3/24/14: My Hobby Comics:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/03/24/my-hobby-comics/]
559 again
326: Effect an Effect
174: That’s What SHE Said
259: Clichéd Exchange
1340: Unique Date
75: Curse Levels

ML, 6/18/14: (Prosodic) foot fetish:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=13040]
1383: Magic Words

ML, 8/25/14: Teenage Mutant Turtle Metrics:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=14262]
1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

10/11/14: Strunk & White and Strunk/White:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/10/11/strunk-white-and-strunkwhite/]
reposting of 7/11/11 cartoon (923)

11/6/14: Language nerd:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/11/06/language-nerd/]
1443: Language Nerd

11/7/14: Adverb and Adverbial:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/11/07/adverb-and-adverbial/]
follow-up to “Language nerd” posting

ML, 11/19/14: The Insular Islands:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=15864]
1449: Red Rover

12/14/14: Small Moon:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2014/12/14/small-moon/]
1458: Small Moon

GP, 2/6/15: Linguists get tough on promoting language change:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=17563]
1483: Quotative Like

2/6/15: Data on xkcd:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/02/06/data-on-xkcd/]
1429: Data

2/10/15: technically:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/02/10/technically/]
1475: Technically

3/13/15: leg-jiggling:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/03/13/leg-jiggling/]
228: Resonance

3/16/15: xkcd on science and math:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/03/16/xkcd-on-science-and-math/]
1489: Fundamental forces; 287: NP-Complete

3/28/15: na na na:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/03/28/na-na-na/]
851: Na

4/17/15: Sevens:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/04/17/sevens/]
1417: Seven

ML, 4/17/15: Style guide:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=18670]
1513: Code Quality

5/6/15: Disciplines in competition:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/05/06/academic-disciplines-in-competition/]
1520: Degree-Off

5/27/15: Association by bracketing:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/05/27/association-by-bracketing/]
1529: Brackets

ML, 5/29/15: The BDLPSWDKS Effect:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=19252]
1531: The BDLPSWDKS Effect

ML, 7/3/15: Ancestors:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=19592]
1545: Strengths and Weaknesses

ML, 7/22/15: Spice lists:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=20140]
1554: Spice Girls

7/28/15: Going on in Antwerp:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/07/28/going-on-in-antwerp/]
slides for Traugott/Zwicky IPrA paper on My Hobby xkcd cartoons

☛ ML, 7/29/15: Recursive romantics:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=20288]
1557: Ozymandias

ML, 8/10/15: Orthography and meaning:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=20630]
1562: I in Team

9/4/15: Two from xkcd:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/09/04/two-from-xkcd/]
1571: Car Model Names
1572: xkcd Survey

ML, 9/11/15: Caring, more or less:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=21170]
1576: I Could Care Less

9/13/15: Caring:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/09/13/caring/]
1576 again

ML, 10/21/15: Describing events:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=21811]
1593: Play-By-Play

ML, 11/9/15: Take a Hint:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=22175]
1601: Isolation

ML, 11/11/15: Linguistics Club:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=22211]
1602: Linguistics Club

ML, 11/18/15: Nicholas Wade’s DNA decoded:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=22384]
1605: DNA

1/6/16: The New Year’s resolution:
[http://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/01/06/the-new-years-resolution/]
about xkcd cartoons; Eugene Chan tribute to xkcd

ML, 2/12/16: The gravitational internet:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=24057]
1642: Gravitational Waves

ML, 2/19/16: Brilliant:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=24199]
1645: Toasts

ML, 2/26/16: Scrambled pairings:

Scrambled pairings


1648: Famous Duos

ML, 3/7/16: Pedantic about biscuit conditionals:

Pedantic about biscuit conditionals


1652: Conditionals

ML, 3/26/16: Good question:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=24880]
1660: Captain Speaking

ML, 3/29/16: Semantic differential: Podium or lectern?:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=24937]
1661: Podium

ML, 7/8/16: The Legend of Gnome Ann: The Legend of Gnome Ann
1704: The Legend of Gnome Ann

ML, 7/21/16: Pictographic English?: Inflection
1709: Inflection

ML, 7/29/16: PolitiFact says: Politifact
1712: Politifact

8/6/16: xkcd mansplaining:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/08/06/xkcd-mansplaining/]
1716: Time Travel Thesis

8/11/16: Collatz days:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/08/11/collatz-days/]
710: Collatz Conjecture (3/5/10)

ML, 8/27/16: Rexthor: Linear Regression
1725 Linear Regression

ML, 9/16/16: Some kind of strict police: Fashion Police and Grammar Police
1735 Fashion Police and Grammar Police

11/16/16: Placenames of the British isles:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/11/16/placenames-of-the-british-isles/]
1759 British Map

12/13/16: Three from xkcd:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/12/13/three-from-xkcd/]
1767 US State Names
1770 UI Change
1771 It Was I

ML, 12/19/16: Adjective foods:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=29900]
1774 Adjective Foods

12/22/16: Edible adjectives:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2016/12/22/edible-adjectives/]
1774 Adjective Foods

3/22/17: An outrageous but colorful pun:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/03/22/an-outrageous-but-colorful-pun/]
1814 Color Pattern

4/26/17: The geological vocabulary bluff:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/04/26/the-geological-vocabulary-bluff/]
1829 Geochronology

ML, 5/8/17: Lunch order::
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=32574]
1834 Lunch Order

5/9/17: For want of an A, the world was saved:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/05/09/for-want-of-an-a-the-world-was-saved/]
1834 Lunch Order

GP, 5/11/17: Similes for quality of computer code:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=32604]
discussion of three cartoons:
1513 Code Quality
1695 Code Quality 2
1833 Code Quality 3

ML, 5/17/17: Machine learning:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=32743]
1838 Machine Learning

5/27/17: Memorial Saturday 4:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/05/27/memorial-saturday-4/]
#4 1841 Who?

ML, 6/2/17: Slightly unfair, but funny:
[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=33024]
1845 State Word Map

6/7/17: The word came down on Pentecost:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/06/07/the-word-came-down-on-pentecost/]
#8 1845 State Word Map

7/8/17: Words on a wall:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/07/08/words-on-a-wall/]
1860 Communicating

8/2/17: Adventures in compounding:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/08/02/adventures-in-compounding/]
1681 Laser Products

8/5/17: This way to the regress:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2017/08/05/this-way-to-the-regress/]
1872 Backup Batteries

4/3/18: Research Risks and Name Dominoes:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/04/03/research-risks-and-name-dominoes/]
1904 Research Risks
1970 Name Dominoes

5/4/18: Initialisms off the rails:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/05/04/initialisms-off-the-rails/]
1989 IMHO

7/22/18: Rubber and glue:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/07/23/rubber-and-glue/]
#2: 1139 Rubber and Glue

12/20/18: Sports commentary:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2018/12/20/sports-commentary/]
904 Sports

6/2/20: Cereal adjectives:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/06/02/cereal-adjectives/]
#2: 1774 Adjective food

8/31/20: Synonyphilia:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/08/31/synonyphilia/]
2352 Synonym Date

10/19/20: The xkcd dialect quiz:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2020/10/19/the-xkcd-dialect-quiz/]
2372 Dialect quiz

1/12/21: Two from xkcd:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/01/12/two-from-xkcd-2/]
2381 The True Name of the Bear; 2390 Linguists

2/6/21: OBH and xkcd:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/02/06/obh-and-xkcd/]
2421 Tower of Babel

5/7/21: Research papers:
[https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/05/07/research-papers/]
2456 Types of Scientific Paper

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