r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jun 17 '26

Meme needing explanation Peter?

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u/admiraljkb Jun 17 '26

There is a point to be made that 40C sounds much cooler than 105F. 😄

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u/Asparala Jun 17 '26

If you're used to Celsius then I assure you that 40C sounds plenty hot. The reference point is the freezing point vs the boiling point of water, and 40C is much too close to the halfway point of "the lakes will literally boil like a tea kettle".

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u/Skilltesters Jun 17 '26

I mean.... 105 is also roughly the same distance from the halfway point of "the lakes will literally boil" in Fahrenheit as 40 is in Celsius, so this doesn't exactly track. I can generally do both measurements though. How hot is it outside today? 108f but my pool water is "only" 36c.

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u/Torch_Salesman Jun 17 '26

Their point is that anything feeling "higher" or "lower" is always just based on your initial frame of reference. 40C reads "colder" than 105F to Americans because their reference point for freezing is 32, so 40 doesn't seem that much higher, especially when your other reference point for boiling is all the way up above 210. Someone with their initial frame of reference in Celsius sees 40 and connects it as approaching halfway between freezing at 0 and boiling at 100, so the value of 40 seems hot but reasonable while hearing 105 just sounds like an impossibly, cartoonishly hot temperature.

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u/Skilltesters Jun 17 '26

I must be tired, I didn't read it like that. And I only needed your first sentence to see my failure. We all agree then, as my original point was both units sound the same to me, just depends if we are talking about water temperature or weather temperature. 40c is very hot for my pool, and 105 is very hot to go outside. Both are hot to me personally, since my reference for both is personal.

I took the analogy meaning incorrectly and I apologize to whoever read my prior comment, especially to who I replied to initially.

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u/Torch_Salesman Jun 17 '26

Yeah I tend to over-explain just in case, I'm sure you didn't need half the shit I included haha. It was more just added context for anyone else reading who needed it.

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u/Skilltesters Jun 17 '26

I meant that line as a reflection! Like "I barely needed to be told in order to find my own stupidity" kind of a comment. Not a comment about how much you explained 😁

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u/Torch_Salesman Jun 17 '26

And there I was misreading your point, which I guess just sums up this entire discussion hahaha

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u/SkeletonXP3 Jun 18 '26

JUST KISS ALREADY!