BBO Discussion Forums: Geeky math pun I have to share - BBO Discussion Forums

Yesterday a guy with nickname locally was playing on BBO until he was disconnected.

Sounds normal to me.

han, on 2011-May-22, 19:50, said:

What makes it a math pun? Maybe silly geeky ironic joke.

cloa, on 2011-May-22, 21:46, said:

Because locally he was still connected

Someone named locally being disconnected is a math pun in the same way that my response referring to normality is. Or the graffiti slogan Free Abelian Groups. I definitely would recommend against seeking an explanation if one is needed.

We can all quietly move on now.

Clearly, locally was weakly connected.

Much more geeky than the riddle: What's purple and commutes?

cloa, on 2011-May-22, 21:46, said:

Mathematicians are of course keen on rigour, so we had better check whether this is indeed well-defined. A pun is a play on words, invoking two or more separate meanings. "Connected" and "locally connected" are technical terminology in analytic topology, as well as their more common meanings, both of which were alluded to. So I conclude that this geeky ironic joke involved two separate meanings for these words, and therefore is a pun.

As opposed to jocky math puns?

Probably it's just as well he wasn't playing the multi. He might have gotten ramified.

I didn't expect this thread to get an analytic continuation.

han, on 2011-May-25, 00:19, said:

Since he simply couldn't stay connected, we may never agree on that one anyway.

han, on 2011-May-25, 00:19, said:

I fear we have reached a singularity, and no further continuation is possible.

phil_20686, on 2011-May-25, 05:12, said:

I'm sure that can be fixed with surgery.

han, on 2011-May-25, 00:19, said:

I think if you aim any post at the group you aimed this one at you're pretty much assured to get an analytic continuation.

barmar, on 2011-May-23, 23:58, said:

What's yellow and equivalent to the axiom of choice?

The cocky exponential function e(x) is strolling along the road insulting the functions he sees walking by. He scoffs at a wandering polynomial for the shortness of its Taylor series. He snickers at a passing smooth function of compact support and its glaring lack of a convergent power series about many of its points. He positively laughs as he passes |x| for being nondifferentiable at the origin. He smiles, thinking to himself, "Damn, it's great to be e(x). I'm real analytic everywhere. I'm my own derivative. I blow up faster than anybody and shrink faster too. All the other functions suck."

Lost in his own egomania, he collides with the constant function 3, who is running in terror in the opposite direction.

"What's wrong with you? Why don't you look where you're going?" demands e(x). He then sees the fear in 3's eyes and says "You look terrified!"

"I am!" says the panicky 3. "There's a differential operator just around the corner. If he differentiates me, I'll be reduced to nothing! I've got to get away!" With that, 3 continues to dash off.

"Stupid constant," thinks e(x). "I've got nothing to fear from a differential operator. He can keep differentiating me as long as he wants, and I'll still be there."

So he scouts off to find the operator and gloat in his smooth glory. He rounds the corner and defiantly introduces himself to the operator. "Hi. I'm e(x)."

"Hi. I'm d/dy."

jjbrr, on 2011-May-25, 14:27, said:

I posted this one like 3 years ago already.

Forgive me.

I'll submit another joke for your pardon.

Re: Axiom of Choice

What is an anagram of Banach-Tarski?

jjbrr, on 2011-May-25, 19:23, said:

And all four of them are Polish.