What does "some type of sheep meat" mean

Question

I read a comment on StackOverflow about "What is depending typing?". And the poster complained about Wikipedia's hard-to-read article about dependent typing. The exact comment is:

Well, the article opens with lambda cubes, which sound like some type of sheep meat to me. Then it goes on to discuss λΠ2 systems, and as I don't speak alien I skipped that section. Then I read about the calculus of inductive constructions, which incidentally seems to have little to do with calculus, heat transfer, or construction. After giving a language comparison table, the article ends, and I am left more confused than when I got to the page

What does "some type of sheep meat" mean? It seems to be "familiar stuff" since the sentence is supposed to introduce what OP can understand and then give the contrasting obtuse stuff next to it.

Could you link to the question, please? You've made me curious... — jamesqf, Mar 02 '21 at 03:32
@jamesqf https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9338709/what-is-dependent-typing — Xwtek, Mar 02 '21 at 05:29

score 49 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 01 '21 at 08:21

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It is a joke

"Lambda cubes" sounds like "lamb cubes" and lamb is the meat of a young sheep. So "Lamb cubes" would be sheep meat cut into blocks.

answered Mar 01 '21 at 08:21

James K

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I think it would be considered a pun, rather than a joke. – jamesqf Mar 02 '21 at 03:31
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@jamesqf puns are a type of joke – user253751 Mar 02 '21 at 10:45
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@user253751 According to Oscar Levant, the lowest type. – Barmar Mar 02 '21 at 13:13
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Just want to add a little more detail and point out that nothing about the phrase "some type of sheep meat" is idiomatic. It's a phrase unique to this very specific situation. – Mike S Mar 02 '21 at 14:00
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@Barmar Aye, one should definitely feel sheepish for stooping so low... – J... Mar 02 '21 at 15:57
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This was a baaaaaaaad pun – Ernest Friedman-Hill Mar 02 '21 at 16:44
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@user253751: Many people would disagree :-) – jamesqf Mar 02 '21 at 18:30
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@Ernest Friedman-Hill - Wool you please stop this silliness. – chasly - supports Monica Mar 03 '21 at 15:13

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 01 '21 at 16:43

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"Lambda Cubes" sounds like "Lamb Cubes", a culinary ingredient.

Additionally, "Some type of sheep meat" refers to inexpensive replacement with meat from an old lamb. Thus, a trick.

Lambs grow up to be sheep.

answered Mar 01 '21 at 16:43

waltinator

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"Lambs grow up to be sheep." Unless they get turned into lamb cubes... – TripeHound Mar 02 '21 at 06:28
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@TripeHound: What a great username for that comment – Flydog57 Mar 02 '21 at 06:58
@TripeHound. Lambs grow up to be sheep, unless you're Tomasz Schafernaker. – TRiG Mar 03 '21 at 00:24
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Lambs ARE sheep. Just as children ARE people. – Dawood ibn Kareem Mar 03 '21 at 02:33

What does "some type of sheep meat" mean

2 Answers2