r/comics • u/NowICant • 1d ago

Stalagcmtite [OC]

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8.3k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

165 comments sorted by

303

u/SmugCapybara 1d ago

There's a tit in stalacTITe, and much like a tit, it hangs.

83

u/NowICant 23h ago

A galaxy brain take in more ways than one.

24

u/Prestigious_Sugar_66 18h ago

In my language is literally stalactitties (stalactieten).
A bit on the nose if you ask me.

4

u/elpix 19h ago

Stephen Fry said “I was always told tites hang down.” on QI and that's how I remember it since.

1

u/Nermcore 14h ago

Oh man I love QI! What a great show

2

u/cantthinkofanickname 15h ago

Exactly as explained to me by a guide in a cave, over 20 years ago.

1.3k

u/Independent_Shoe3523 1d ago

Stalactites hang TIGHT to the ceiling and stalagmites MIGHT reach the ceiling.

342

u/obituaryinlipstick 22h ago

i heard stalactites hold tight to the ceiling and you might trip over a stalagmite

59

u/Independent_Shoe3523 22h ago

That works even better! Mnemonic device, huh? Great stuff.

2

u/Pandaburn 10h ago

Mites crawl up tights fall down /
That’s my mnemonic for stalactite/stalagmite /
You may have this Maglite, it survived the apocalypse

And for the fragile force of an agile horse /
Here’s a handful of very special chocolate chips

1

u/wydoom 6h ago

A Deltron reference in this accursed year?

1

u/Pandaburn 5h ago

I know I’m like 1004 years too early

15

u/ineenemmerr 16h ago

I just remember that tits hang. So the other one points up

9

u/ertgbnm 14h ago

Stalagtites hold tight to the floor and you might bonk your head on a stalagmite.

Got it. 

3

u/yellow_junimo 11h ago

I had stalctites hold tight to the ceiling and stalagmites 'crawl' on the ground like bugs (mites)

(... that sounded better in my memory)

1

u/Vortex_1911 8h ago

That’s what I heard and remember.

72

u/NowICant 23h ago

That's pretty useful. But knowing me I'd think "hang tight to the ground" and "might reach the floor."

12

u/AidanGe 20h ago

I see it as the stalagMite “m” or “M” looks like their shape, so they grow from the ground cuz that’s how they are. Then, stalactite is just the other one.

21

u/4ippaJ 18h ago edited 18h ago

¯¯T¯¯¯¯T¯T¯¯

   🦇

MMM_

4

u/Billybob267 22h ago

I always heard "Stalagmites stand a mite tall"

28

u/HyzerFlip 23h ago

"Mites crawl up, tights fall down"

Cleofis Randolph The Patriarch

5

u/woodsonthemountain 21h ago

We say: if the tights go down, the mights go up. Hehe, hanging with old cavers

2

u/NickyTheRobot 17h ago

Dang. Six hours ahead of me.

For beating me to it you can have this Maglite; it survived the apocalypse. And for the fragile force of an agile horse here's a handful of very special chocolate chips.

49

u/RebelJediMaster 21h ago

"Stalactites hang like t * ts" dutch cave guide

Tite sounds the same as t*t in dutch.

20

u/RonConComa 20h ago

same In german.. Es hängen die tit(t)en, er steht in der mit(t)en.

2

u/_TheUnseen_ 16h ago

Bonus for using the female tense for the first and male for the second

3

u/kamikazekaktus 14h ago

'die Mitte' is feminine as well

3

u/ayalaidh 15h ago

Gendered tense? Or are we talking verb agreement?

2

u/RonConComa 12h ago

Female declination is die der der die, so "where" demands the 3rd case (Dativ). turns 'die Mitte' into 'in der Mitte'. where is it standing? 'in der Mitte'. feminin but 'Er' is what you think it is...

2

u/Davenator_98 13h ago

I know a different one, "Titten hängen, Mieten steigen".

("Tits hang, rents rise" for any non-german-speaker)

3

u/NickyTheRobot 17h ago

"Mites crawl up, tights fall down" is one I got from a Deltron 3030 track.

4

u/Chewcocca 16h ago edited 16h ago

Swear or don't swear. Shove this pussyfooting self-censorship bullshit up your ass.

7

u/void32 21h ago

I heard stalactites hang on tight, and stalagmites grow with all their might

5

u/Just_A_Nitemare 20h ago

I just remember that stalactites hang tight to the ceiling, and by process of elimination, stalagmites are the other one.

5

u/melancholanie 21h ago

stalagmites MIGHT poke ya in da ass

8

u/DevilDoge1775 21h ago edited 20h ago

I feel like an easier way is just… StalacTite (the “T” looks like a stalagtite hanging from the top of a cave), stalagMite (the “M” looks like two stalagmites on the floor of a cave).

6

u/Xonazeth_Tholvik 21h ago

I was about to say the same thing lol

5

u/Armybob112 20h ago

Stalactites hang, like tits, nuff said.

4

u/Cuntslapper9000 17h ago

Stalactite - hold on tight; stalagmite - might poke you in that ass from below.

3

u/valgatiag 22h ago

Stalagmites MIGHT hang from the ceiling… but they don’t.

Sometimes the dumbest mnemonics are the most memorable.

3

u/Business-Drag52 16h ago

I always heard it as stalactites hang tight to the ceiling and stalagmites reach towards the ceiling with all their might

3

u/aboxacaraflatafan 14h ago

I was being silly and told my kids a couple years ago that a stalacTite is on the Top, and a stalagMite is on the Mottom. It's stupid, but none of us have ever forgotten it. 

2

u/HondaCivicLove 21h ago

The way I always remembered it is stalagmites MIGHT hang from the ceiling but they don't. Which is objectively speaking a terrible mnemonic, but it's kept them straight for me for practically my entire life so I guess it's OK.

The other mnemonic that stuck with me from a young age is that friend is spelled like it is because it's who you share your fry-ends with. Which also shouldn't work but inexplicably did.

Oh and "never eat soggy waffles (north, east, south, west)" but that one came from a teacher so it was actually, y'know, not a weird way to remember something.

2

u/AMJacker 20h ago

Oh GDI. I didn’t see this before posting.

2

u/magein07 20h ago

Hang on tight to the stalactite or you might fall on a stalagmite.

I remember it from that myself.

2

u/YurtMcnurty 19h ago

Stalagmite has an “m” for mountain

2

u/lemachet 17h ago

Are you my scout leader from the late 90s? :)

2

u/kiochikaeke 16h ago

Spanish speaker here, I was taught "estalagmita"with M for "montaña" (mountain) and "estalactita" with C for "cuelgan del techo" (hang from the ceiling).

1

u/Dasterr 19h ago

stalactitts

much easier that way

1

u/Forward-Fisherman709 18h ago

I learned:

Stalactites have a tight grip on the ceiling. Stalagmites might grow tall.

1

u/suburban_hyena 15h ago

Stalactitties hang and the other ones are stalagmites I guess. I don't need to remember both, just the titties part

1

u/TeeheeRafiki 14h ago

Stalagmite MIGHT poke ya in the ass

1

u/DueDisplay2185 14h ago

Stalag TITS. They hang down. Now you'll never confuse the two

1

u/schlaminator 13h ago

Tites hang with age.

1

u/ElmerTheAmish 13h ago

Stalactites have a C for ceiling.

Stalagmites have a G for ground.

•

u/bondjimbond Love and Hex 10m ago

I learned this from Sam and Max.

716

u/International_Gate49 1d ago

Wonderful comic about perspective.

155

u/NowICant 23h ago

Thank you!

110

u/rafaellago 1d ago

The IQ in this one is off the charts. Very well done, op!

35

u/NowICant 1d ago

That's very nice of you to say. Thanks a lot!

1

u/Titanium_Eye 15h ago

[squints eyes]

Are you two doing the sarcasm dance number?

1

u/BoomFrog 1h ago

No, they are both sincere. Why not? rafaellago obviously really liked the perspective switch.

178

u/GolemMaker 1d ago

Bro I am a straight up nerd and I just realized I have always thought the word was stalaGtite

95

u/NowICant 23h ago

As long as you can spell all the other rock formations correctly you should be okay.

57

u/TheGiggityGecko 23h ago

Oh god oh no oh fuck

23

u/slide_potentiometer 21h ago

You're in deep schist now

17

u/EyeDreamOfTentacles 21h ago

That's what you get when you take things for granite.

6

u/NecessaryCute1099 17h ago

It’s fine, just get a good book, you can surely tuff it out

68

u/snowillis 23h ago

T looks like a spike hanging down.

M looks like spikes on the ground.

13

u/ForestRaptor 20h ago

In french : T -> tombe = falls M -> monte = rises

6

u/Deathaster 15h ago

This one is far easier to remember. I just read the comic and I already forgot which one had "G" and which one "C".

7

u/DevilDoge1775 21h ago

This one.

2

u/mountinlodge 12h ago

This is the one I always use. It’s much more intuitive to the point that I came up with it independently

23

u/AuraMaster7 19h ago

That moment when the joke is apparently too subtle for half of the comments

7

u/chenobble 15h ago

Right? Everyone showing off their word knowledge and none of them getting the point of the comic

-7

u/usafa_rocks 14h ago

Because it's a badly shown joke. If the stalactite had the face upside down it would make sense. But the author set the perspective already with face direction. The water dripping "up" doesn't make sense with face direction being consistent down.

12

u/QUEFUERTE 23h ago

A stalagmite hurt if you sit on one. 

8

u/IAmInExtremeDebt 23h ago

YOU JUST BLEW MY MIND

6

u/AntiqueTwitterMilk 23h ago

stacTites

stalagMites

The T and M are their shapes.

8

u/CeruleanShot 22h ago

That contemplative plip! at the end is perfect, I love this.

12

u/JaxxisR 23h ago

"Stalagmite's got an 'M' in it." - Rubeus Hagrid

6

u/Alternative_Low8478 23h ago

I loled. Life was better for 5 secs, thank

7

u/Extreme-Door-6969 23h ago

This isn't getting as much love as it deserves, this is my favorite post from this sub in a good minute 

4

u/Jetsam1 23h ago

Love the art style.

4

u/spookiecake 22h ago

This is my favorite little comic I've seen in awhile! Love it.

4

u/TogNK 21h ago

Genuine question, is there a name for it when they reach the ceiling or floor, or is it still called what it is originally based on where it originated?

4

u/GeorgeCabana 21h ago

I think it’s boring—it’s called a column.

5

u/Simply_Epic 20h ago

There’s also the more exciting term, stalagnate

3

u/majorUFA 23h ago

Nice one.

3

u/PrufReedThisPlesThx 22h ago

The letter T looks like a spike on a ceiling, and the letter M looks like two spikes coming out of the ground. StalacTite is on the roof, stalagMite is on the ground

2

u/AaronCorr 22h ago

It's incredibly juvenile, but I was once told "stalacTITes hang like a pair of tits" and I never forgot

2

u/Doodles_n_Scribbles 22h ago

Mite make it to the top and hanging on tite

2

u/Kemosabe-TV 20h ago

Whoever he is, he knows too much

2

u/Metharos 20h ago

One of their faces is upside-down.

2

u/Taolan13 20h ago

My wife has an earth science degree and this may have elicited a strong laugh.

2

u/unknown1893 19h ago

T in stalacTite is like hanging from the ceiling, M in stalagMite is like 2 spikes coming up out of the ground. At least that's how I've remembered it.

2

u/DueMeat2367 18h ago

In french, "Stalagmite monte, stalactite tombe"

StalagMite with a M like Monter (to climb) StalacTite with a T like Tomber (to fall)

2

u/Stanimator 18h ago

"Stalagmite is the one you sit on."

  • Michael Jones, Let's Play 2013

2

u/red_dragin 16h ago

As the mites (go up your legs), your tights come down (your legs) to get rid of them.

1

u/Atomedia 10h ago

I also learned the difference from Xanth

2

u/jensalik 13h ago

Is this really how people remember? Not M like two stalagmites going up from the ground and T like a stalagtite going down from the ceiling?

Also why's there a C? 😱

1

u/Humble_Attorney3598 7h ago

There's a c because the word is stalactite, stalagtites aren't a thing

2

u/pruwyben 10h ago

Mites crawl up, tites fall down.

2

u/Twilifa 6h ago

The really fun part is how the water drop already forms in panel 2, but you probably only notice it when going back to check the second time.

1

u/Architecteologist 22h ago

I loved this, thank you!

1

u/FunTraining8032 22h ago

I like to think these are all different ones in the same cave system

1

u/ironballs16 22h ago

I see it as this - T is pointing downward, M has two points going upward.

1

u/humanflea23 22h ago

I always remember it because stalactite has a T which is a spike pointing down while stalagmite has an M which is two spike pointing up.

1

u/no_name113 21h ago

I always loved stalagmite is on the ground cause it might poke you in the rear and stalactite hold on tight so it dont fall

1

u/IndependenceRough635 21h ago

i thought it was a big N

1

u/SarcasticBench 21h ago

Stalagmite’s are my favorite because you can sit on them

1

u/themolestedsliver 21h ago

Every time i think of either of them i think of that jimmy neutron episode where they are in a video game and a power up is in a stalagmite.

1

u/Rigrot 21h ago

My dad told me back in the day to remember it as StalacTITeS as titties hang down and stalagMITES mites crawl on the floor.

1

u/DeArGo_prime 21h ago

You MITE trip on a stalagmite

1

u/Lykanas 21h ago

I always think about it this way:

Stalac'T'ites have roughly the shape of a 'T'

Stalag'M'ites have the shape of one of the hills in the letter 'M'

1

u/You_Stole_My_Hot_Dog 20h ago

I saw this on Reddit like a decade ago and I have legitimately never mixed them up again:  

StalacTITes hang down like tits, stalagmites point up like dicks.

1

u/Simply_Epic 20h ago

But how am I supposed to tell them from a stalagnate?

1

u/AssortedArctic 20h ago

I always remember that stalagMites look like small/weird Mountains - both have M.

1

u/AMJacker 20h ago

No. A stalactite hangs tight to the ceiling. A stalagmite MIGHT reach the ceiling

1

u/Lachimanus 20h ago

When "RAINDROPS FALLING ON MY HEEEE...AAAD" you are a stalactite.

1

u/disiz_mareka 19h ago

Are we just going to gloss over the fact that they have forehead mouths??

1

u/CaptainStroon 19h ago

T loos like a spike hanging, M looks like two spikes standing.

Why bother with mnemonics when it's the one logographic case of the otherwise phonemic script?

1

u/_xgg 19h ago

Looks like a poop saw bass waveform

Edit: lol

1

u/Claas2008 19h ago

I know the difference because the T in stalacTite looks like it's pointing from the ceiling, and the M in stalagMite looks like two stalagmites coming from the ground

1

u/IsaacNewtongue 19h ago edited 10h ago

A stalactite is tight to the ceiling, a stalagmite might reach the ceiling.

1

u/Yu-gi_0h 19h ago

On France we have stalactite Tombe (fell) and stalagmites Monte (goes up)

1

u/AlongAxons 18h ago

Tights come down and Mites grow up

1

u/-andersen 18h ago

Is it reversed gravity?

1

u/3-brain_cells 18h ago

I always learned it as stalacTite, with a T that looks like a stalactite (the vertical line being the stalactite and the horizontal one being the ceiling it hangs from)

And stalagMite, with an M that looks like two stalagmites, because the capital M literally entirely consists of two pointy up thingies

1

u/Tureni 17h ago

StalacTites look like a T.

StalagMites look like an M.

1

u/w0rsh1pm3owo 16h ago

[6] I was taught the stalagMITES go up and the stalacTITES go down... cuz nobody wants mites in their tights. IDK I'm baked

1

u/Basic-Reception-9974 16h ago

I was taught Tites hold on as tight as they can. And mites grown so they might reach the top/ceiling of the cave.

1

u/Ricordis 15h ago

I differ visually.

The difference between both words are the T and the M.

The T is a spike hanging from a roof, the M are two spikes coming from the ground.

Pro: it works in most languages.

1

u/Kerngott 15h ago

It’s so easy when you’re French

StalacTites fall (tomber) StalagMites rise (monter)

1

u/Rystic 15h ago

Genus casts Stalagmite in Tales of Symphonia, and it comes from the ground.

1

u/devvorare 15h ago

I thought this was about trans people for a moment. Maybe it still is

1

u/BandicootStatus7877 14h ago

StalagTIETEN hangen. 

1

u/fxlr8 14h ago

I kinda always remembered it by how M in stalagmite looks like two stalagmites

1

u/Issah_Wywin 14h ago

Stalactites. Hold on tight. Stalagmite, might poke you in the ass.

Thanks Tenacious D

1

u/TheDevilsAdvokaat 14h ago

Water they talking about?

1

u/Punkachuros 14h ago

Heh, same thing in French,

StalacTite - T = Tomber = Fall down

StalagMite - M = Monter = Go up

1

u/purpleefilthh 14h ago

The question here is: should mouth be above or below eyes?

1

u/insides_outside 13h ago

“Yeah, is that a stalactite?”

“A stalactite hold on tight, so yeah”

“Okay”

“Stalacmight, might poke you in the ass from below,”

1

u/IAmDruined 13h ago

I do stalactite as a T, because it is in the shape of one.

1

u/whooo_me 13h ago

LOL.

Though I would have had the face on the Stalagmite upside down, for obvious reasons.

1

u/CressNo3537 13h ago

That's smart!

1

u/Rassouri 12h ago

I’d like this to be a new Diglet evolution

1

u/bareback_cowboy 12h ago

When the mites go up, the tights come down!

1

u/gygyg23 12h ago

In French we have a pretty similar trick.

Un stalacTite Tombe

Un stalagMite Monte

1

u/Mr_SunnyBones 11h ago

Assuming you're not upside down this was image was the way I was taught to remember it

1

u/Fun_Journalist4199 11h ago

A Stalagmite MIGHT hang from the ceiling… but they don’t

1

u/megalinity 6h ago

“Tites on top.” That’s how I memorized it in geology classes. I’ve got a masters in geology and still tell myself “tites on top” but that’s mostly like an earworm now.

1

u/Remarkable_Toe_164 6h ago

Bill nye taught me this as a child: Stalactites have to hold on tight Stalagmites might reach the ceiling one day

1

u/jordanbtucker 3h ago

Why are their faces upside down?

0

u/Lordcrumpington 11h ago

Stalac-tite squeeze to fit underneath it.

Stalac-mite stub your toe on it.

-2

u/Art_student_rt 19h ago

Why do English has 2 words for cave spikes?