I’m amazed how much debate the question prompted here even with this framing.
I’m amazed at your amazement.
I’d have expected at least this much out of any such silly comparison, even here. Try:
Raptors vs. Jesus
Twinkie vs. cockroach
Star Trek vs. Pop Tarts
Or any other conflict between trochees.
Most of your amazement can be explained by you thinking that that ‘pirates vs ninjas’ belongs in the same reference class as:
Raptors vs. JesusTwinkie vs. cockroachStar Trek vs. Pop Tarts
That seems utterly ridiculous. Are you being disingenuous or are you serious?
I’m being serious. See http://xkcd.com/856/
I think the relevant reference class is “trochees with a ‘vs.’ between them”, and you can find many such engaging debates on the Internet. I’m skeptical that anyone would care to compare pirates and ninjas if they were called something else.
I don’t think the trochee pattern is so critical to these debates. Cavemen vs. astronauts is a notorious counterexample.
Cavemen is a trochee. Astronauts is a dactyl, which is why it’s less funny, but still close enough to a trochee.
Well cavemen are well-known in the literature for their pterodactyl-defeating skills, so I suppose that would generalize to other dactyls.
I wonder why no one ever phrases it cavemen vs. spacemen.
Oddly, I don’t think I’ve encountered anything vs. astronauts before.
I retract my statement. I’ve seen the entirety of Angel.
Come to think of it the only times I’ve heard the debate is between Angel and Spike and Bones and Booth. I hadn’t caught the easter egg until now.
I’m amazed at your amazement.
I’d have expected at least this much out of any such silly comparison, even here. Try:
Raptors vs. Jesus
Twinkie vs. cockroach
Star Trek vs. Pop Tarts
Or any other conflict between trochees.
Most of your amazement can be explained by you thinking that that ‘pirates vs ninjas’ belongs in the same reference class as:
That seems utterly ridiculous. Are you being disingenuous or are you serious?
I’m being serious. See http://xkcd.com/856/
I think the relevant reference class is “trochees with a ‘vs.’ between them”, and you can find many such engaging debates on the Internet. I’m skeptical that anyone would care to compare pirates and ninjas if they were called something else.
I don’t think the trochee pattern is so critical to these debates. Cavemen vs. astronauts is a notorious counterexample.
Cavemen is a trochee. Astronauts is a dactyl, which is why it’s less funny, but still close enough to a trochee.
Well cavemen are well-known in the literature for their pterodactyl-defeating skills, so I suppose that would generalize to other dactyls.
I wonder why no one ever phrases it cavemen vs. spacemen.
Oddly, I don’t think I’ve encountered anything vs. astronauts before.
I retract my statement. I’ve seen the entirety of Angel.
Come to think of it the only times I’ve heard the debate is between Angel and Spike and Bones and Booth. I hadn’t caught the easter egg until now.