The theory of relativity in words of four letters or less
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2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
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HN comment orderReminds me of Yasha Berchenko-Kogan’s excellent answer to the question “What do grad students in math do all day?” https://www.quora.com/Mathematics/What-do-grad-students-in-m... > a bit like trying to explain a vacuum cleaner to someone who has never seen one, except you're only allowed to use words that are four letters long or shorter. > What can you say? > "It is a tool that does suck up dust to make what you walk on in a home tidy."
>Say you woke up one day and your bed was gone. Your room, too. Gone. It's all gone. You wake up in an inky void. Not even a star. Okay, yes, it's a dumb idea, but just go with it. Now say you want to know if you move or not. Are you held fast in one spot? Or do you, say, list off to the left some? What I want to ask you is: Can you find out? Hell…
Not bad. Now do it without the letter "e" and I'll really be impressed. http://www.spinelessbooks.com/gadsby/
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 496
- Total comments
- 257
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-03-22 | The Theory of Relativity in words of four letters or less | dmoney | 9 | 1 |
| 2010-05-06 | Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity In Words of Four Letters or Less | giu | 8 | 0 |
| 2013-05-17 | The theory of relativity in words of four letters or lessFirst breakout | gjm11 | 228 | 126 |
| 2016-01-19 | Short Words to Explain Relativity | bpierre | 1 | 0 |
| 2017-04-25 | Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity – In Words of Four Letters or Less | rodrigocoelho | 2 | 0 |
| 2017-12-03 | Short Words to Explain Relativity | arunc | 2 | 0 |
| 2020-11-11 | Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity in Words of Four Letters or Less | aleyan | 1 | 0 |
| 2023-02-03 | Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity in Words of Four Letters or Less | sambapa | 1 | 0 |
| 2023-06-25 | Theory of Relativity Explained in Words of Four Letters or Less | kkoncevicius | 2 | 0 |
| 2025-03-10 | Short Words to Explain Relativity | Tomte | 2 | 0 |
| 2025-04-14 | Albert Einstein's theory of relativity in words of four letters or less (1999)Hall induction · Best thread · Latest 20+ point return | signa11 | 240 | 130 |