That is clever.
this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2025
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Could you explain it for the thickos like me?
The answer is that you type 2 characters to make a heart, which are the less than symbol < and 3, when together make a heart <3 And that's only 2 characters, which is less than 3. So the answer is both the instructions on how to type a heart and the number of characters required to type a heart.
<3
<3 looks like a heart on its side. Mathematically speaking, it means less than 3. And since it's 2 characters, that means the heart is less than 3, or <3
Edit: I love how three of us decided to explain at the same time in three different ways.
How many lemmings does it take to explain a joke? At least 3, it seems!
We are all so helpful! <3
~3
Man that just looks like a softie.
This feels like something Neil deGrasse Tyson would write.
You can kiss yourself in the mirror. But only on the lips.
E>
🫀
(OpenBoard android)
♥
(Alt+3)
♡
♥
(Compose Key → < → 3)
Ɛ>
Mark that NSFW man, geez!
Looks even more centered
When I met the woman who is now my wife, instead of using <3, she would use <&. This reminded me of the graphic of the mouse from the classic game Rodent's Revenge. As a result, sometimes instead of saying more traditional expressions of love - textually or verbally - we will simply say "mouse heart."
It vaguely looks like an anatomical heart that way
True!
I’m old enough to remember when S2 was the common way to draw a heart..
..which ironically is also less than three characters!
♡
I wish I could double up-vote this. It deserves it.
No the shift key counts too, it takes 2 to make the ‘<‘ plus one more for ‘3’.
Characters, not keystrokes
Plus, I'm a programmer and type <>, (), {}, and [] enough that I have them bound to non-shift keys. So even if we were counting keystrokes, it'd still be fewer than three on my keyboard.
You also have to include how many mouse clicks/keys you used yo bind them to non-shift keys
What, are you saying we're counting one-time configuration costs? If so, the hundred or so configuration clicks are still utterly dwarfed by the tens of thousands of saved keystrokes. Statistical noise.
Anyway, I ruined the joke by correcting the grammar. "Less than 3" is "<3", whether it took a hundred keystrokes to type or not. "Fewer than three" breaks the joke.
All previous clicks should be counted, including installing linux, opening firefox/a firefox fork and arguing with strangers only about how many clicks are needed to type "<3"
Good point, but I think it doesn't go far enough. I think we need to include all of the key clicks and mouse movements needed to develop the Linux kernel and GNU tools, plus everything that went into designing and delivering the keyboard to you.
Dont forget about the invention and evolution of the computer
How many clicks do you think were needed to cause the Big Bang?
I feel like the clicks before the Big Bang shouldnt count. That would make it too long of a timespan
Clicks in parallel dimensions should count though