Twitter’s Dad, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Corrects Us on Leap Day
I love Neil deGrasse Tyson. I love his sweet style, his passion for science, and yes, even his good-natured pedantry. I actually laughed out loud when I saw today’s example:
The Leap Day is misnamed. We’re not leaping anywhere. The calendar is simply, and abruptly, catching up with Earth’s orbit
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) February 29, 2016
Obviously he’s stretching it at this point, which has only opened the door for a whole host of hilarious responses. Here are just a few that I’ve spotted thus far:
I would be extremely surprised to learn that anyone in the world ever thought that on "leap day" the Earth makes a scheduled hyperspace jump
— Arthur Chu (@arthur_affect) February 29, 2016
"See you later, alligator."
Neil DeGrasse Tyson: "Just so we're clear, you're aware I'm not an American alligator and such an assumption wou— Brandon ? (@bnowalk) February 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/tesseraconteur/status/704343262308409344
[P] Also, Easter is no farther to the east than any other holiday. https://t.co/URCLnKLu6A
— Paul and Storm (@paulandstorm) February 29, 2016
@paulandstorm Christmass is abut 70 kilos.
— Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) February 29, 2016
Flag Day isn't a time to lose energy, i.e. the verb, to flag #holidaymisconceptions https://t.co/6QT6L1rVQt
— Rebecca Watson @SF Sketchfest (@rebeccawatson) February 29, 2016
On Groundhog Day, groundhogs take up no more space on the surface of the Earth than a comparably-sized animal. https://t.co/S6nQ8MtzuJ
— Adam Rogers (@jetjocko) February 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/leyawn/status/704344300797218816
Did you know the sun appears every day, not just Sunday. Hi, I'm Neil deGrasse Tyson and
— YES…HA HA HA…Y?E?S?! (@NotFaulty) February 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/runofplay/status/704347374022332416
It's me, Neil deGrasse Tyson. Your childhood dog didn't go live on a farm, and your parents, partner, and children don't love you at all.
— Gabriella Paiella (@GMPaiella) February 29, 2016
But it doesn’t make any sense! If anything, we should call all the Feb 29ths that we skip over leap days!
On the 19th floor of Wayside School, it really is Leap Day.
And lunar calendars often have a leap month.
Why are there leap seconds, but no leap thirds?
There are leap thirds, but only when you’re really hungry and frog legs are being served.
In Danish it is called at “shotyear”. To shoot can mean, besides shooting a projectile, to move, or delay.
I prefer to think of Leap Day as us leaping ahead a day and then the orbit takes 4 years to catch up. Lead from the front right?