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I'm just out of curiosity. Why people here (TeX.SX users) love ducks so much? What's wrong with other animals, like dogs, cats, birds, fishes, geese, swans, marmots, penguins, or much more other animals? They are all very friendly and lovely!

enter image description here

I just make this picture myself after spending an hour learning how to use the TikZlings and the TikZpeople package! :))

Minimal working example, as usual:

\documentclass[margin = 2cm]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{tikzlings, tikzpeople}
\tikzset{every node/.style = {align = center}} 
\usetikzlibrary{shapes}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\bear[
    3D,
    scale = 2,
    sign post = {\large\color{blue}Hello guys!\\\color{brown!50!black}It's very nice\\\color{brown!50!black}to meet you!},
    speech = {Hey, why am I\\not in the list?},
    sign colour = brown!50!black,
    sign back = yellow!30
]
\node[name = me, person, minimum size = 3cm] at (-10,2) {Me};
\node[
    ellipse callout, 
    fill = black!15,
    yshift = 2cm,
    xshift = -6.5cm,
    callout absolute pointer = {(me.mouth)}
] {Oh, I'm sorry,\\that's my mistake!};
\node[name = bearx] at (-1.5,2) {};
\node[
    ellipse callout, 
    fill = black!15,
    yshift = 1cm,
    xshift = -3cm,
    callout absolute pointer = {(bearx)}
] {I'm so lovely,\\you see.};
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

PS1 -- I'm sorry, bears :))

PS2 -- I recommend @samcarter to make a little change in the TikZlings package, so that the size of the board and the speech change automatically depending on the text written on it.

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  • 3
    Very important question :) About the automatic size change -- I once considered it (and there is even some code written by @loopofpsace) but I think that without it the user has more possibilities. If I would automatically scale things, there is not much the user can change. Without it he/she/it can choose a font size they like, put their text into a scalebox etc. If you want automatic resizing of the speech bubbles, I highly recommend the tikz shapes library, this is also what I used for chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/48214260#48214260 Jan 5, 2019 at 12:59
  • 2
    @samcarter making the auto sizing optional wouldn't be too hard, would it?
    – Skillmon
    Jan 5, 2019 at 13:19
  • 2
    @Skillmon Maybe, I'll put it on the ever growing to-do-list :) Jan 5, 2019 at 15:09
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    Ducks are the most-loved animals because marmots are beings. ;-)
    – user121799
    Jan 5, 2019 at 15:43
  • @marmot :)) Yes but... what do you mean? I'm confused.
    – user156344
    Jan 5, 2019 at 15:47
  • 1
    Marmots cannot be the most-loved animals because we are no animals. ;-)
    – user121799
    Jan 5, 2019 at 15:49
  • @marmot Oh! I got it! ;-)
    – user156344
    Jan 5, 2019 at 15:50
  • 1
    Related: The Many Memes of Meta
    – Werner Mod
    Jan 5, 2019 at 18:39

2 Answers 2

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We love any animal, see "The duck pond": showcase of TikZ-drawn animals/ducks!

But some of them have a special meaning here.

Duane Bibby's lion is the "trademark" of TeX, there are also Meta the lioness and the Hummingbird logo of LaTeX(3) project, for more info see LaTeX mascots/associated animals and Why does TeX have a lion as mascot?.

Marmots are the favorites of our TikZ expert marmot.

Bär (a teddy bear) is a very valuable member of Ulrike Fischer's team.

Skillmon is a rabbit, and he likes rabbits, especially with pepper cream sauce :) And his avatar is kind of a rabbit.

Ducks, in particular, and birds, in general, are Paulo Cereda's favorites. He is the author of the the tool arara ("arara" means "macaw", which is a parrot, btw).

He started loving ducks when he made friends with a hearing-impaired girl. To impress her, he mentioned that he studied ASL (American Sign Language), even if he remembered only: "I love you" and "duck". Since saying “I love you” to a just-met girl was not very appropriate, he chose “I love ducks”. The girl, of course, started laughing, and since then the duck mania has become to spread all over the world.

You can find the complete story at Section 2 "Origin and evolution of the duck mania" here. The article is by Herr Professor Paulinho van Duck, of course! He writes the DuckBoat columns on the TUGboat.

Our moderator Joseph Wright is a duck as well.

However, as a proof that we are not biased against other animals, you can see this video.

We love donkeys, too: I need a TeX-donkey

P.S. = there are also users who think all this is insane.
Nevertheless, Johannes_B is Señor Pingüino (mister penguin).

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    Please tell me if I forgot something (no, David, I don't mean Chinese duck).
    – CarLaTeX
    Jan 5, 2019 at 8:30
  • Professor Paulinho van Duck forgot a "h" in "text dept" in the linked article…
    – TeXnician
    Jan 5, 2019 at 8:40
  • @TeXnician Ops!
    – CarLaTeX
    Jan 5, 2019 at 8:42
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    Oh, thank you! I don't know about the story of Paulo Cereda :)) No matter the story on chat is true or not, this is really the reason why ducks have been so popular so far.
    – user156344
    Jan 5, 2019 at 15:17
  • @Skillmon Added!
    – CarLaTeX
    Jan 5, 2019 at 19:55
  • @JouleV You're welcome! Of course, this is the reason.
    – CarLaTeX
    Jan 5, 2019 at 20:00
  • You forgot Joseph Wright (our mod) who is a duck as well.
    – yo'
    Jan 6, 2019 at 13:13
  • @yo' Added! Thanks!
    – CarLaTeX
    Jan 6, 2019 at 13:28
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    Is this community going insane?
    – Johannes_B
    Jan 6, 2019 at 14:31
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    @Johannes_B Going? We're well past that point I think.
    – Alan Munn
    Jan 6, 2019 at 14:33
  • @Johannes_B Added!
    – CarLaTeX
    Jan 6, 2019 at 15:15
  • I just had to ask. After all, i am Señor Pingüino.
    – Johannes_B
    Jan 6, 2019 at 15:45
  • @Johannes_B Added :):):)
    – CarLaTeX
    Jan 6, 2019 at 16:55
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    @CarLaTeX You forgot the Ulrike Fischer's donkeys: I need a TeX-donkey... ;-) Jan 16, 2019 at 16:22
  • @PaulGaborit Added! :):):)
    – CarLaTeX
    Jan 16, 2019 at 18:59
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Dogs and cats don't taste so nice, but Duck is very versatile. Roast Duck, Crispy Duck Pancakes, Duck burgers, ....

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    Haha... you made my day :))) RIP those ducks who are in those food :(((
    – user156344
    Jan 5, 2019 at 15:03
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    Actually I really like duck meat or goose meat. But I also like dog meat too (although it is weird and crazy to most of you, but... I'm from Vietnam, and dog meat is a kind of Vietnamese traditional food) :))
    – user156344
    Jan 5, 2019 at 15:05
  • @JouleV one doesn't eat dogs, those are hunting companions. You wouldn't eat your cousin, would you?
    – Skillmon
    Jan 5, 2019 at 16:56
  • @Skillmon Yes. In many countries, dogs go hunting with people. But in Vietnam and some southeast (I don't mean SE) asian countries, dogs become a guard of houses, or a pretty pet, instead. ;-) Hunting dogs are rare here, I just know about them by watching some movies :))
    – user156344
    Jan 5, 2019 at 17:10
  • @JouleV one doesn't eat ones guard, too!
    – Skillmon
    Jan 5, 2019 at 19:37
  • @JouleV -- it's probably apocryphal, but i've heard there may be some relevance in the name of the dog breed "chow". Jan 5, 2019 at 19:41
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    @DavidCarlisle Excellent answer. ahahahahah
    – Sebastiano
    Jan 5, 2019 at 23:09
  • Having eaten dog meat other dogs come to me and bark due to my body odor. Jan 18, 2019 at 0:05

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