I've majored for years in cracking jokes on Hacker News; often a hazardous undertaking given the capricious and judgemental denizens of this forum. And yet com

I've majored for years in cracking jokes on Hacker News; often a hazardous undertaking given the capricious and judgemental denizens of this forum. And yet comments whose kernel or allusions contain a mode of wit or wry observation have supplied roughly one third of the aggregate approbation tally, for what that's worth (which is, admittedly, very little, but remains nevertheless a useful guide to one's welcome). What's curious is that many folks claim the subthreads of their comment as a personal fiefdom, taking umbrage at any remark they deem unworthy of the continuation, the self-appointed gatekeepers of repartee. Specifically, though, I don't think this is a valid complaint: > there really isn't any need to explain this to me since it follows from: > how does anything you wrote relate to anything I wrote? which is, rhetorical or otherwise, and notwithstanding the pilgarlic territoriality, a clear request for an explanation, which rob74 has elegantly supplied, and to which I'd append only one additional observation, viz. that the image is a plant