Basically, it relies on a few of the most hackneyed connections in the "A is for Apple" genre...
Then, when the images reappear (after the actual meat of the book), new labels give the images new names and assign them to new letters of the alphabet.
I imagine it would be fun to put one of these together for the whole alphabet, coming up with three or four different solutions that relied on different levels of the lexicon, different degrees of specificity, or different languages. But I have two micro-minis to prepare, plus the next Matteu strip, so I don't think I'm going to engage in any more elaborate wordgames today.
I think it's funny! I would love to see a full-length version.
ReplyDeleteThat is a fun thing, and I'd love to see it develop along the lines you've suggested... though yeah, later, not now--you have enough goin' on!
ReplyDeleteWhen I see masted ships I think "caravel"--not sure that without your visual prompting I would have been able to distinguish a carrack from a coracle (tho' I've been to the crusader castle of Karak!) ...but the French apparently used the term caravelle, among other terms, for the carrack (or so Wikipedia claims).
A brilliant conceit! (Another by Cates.) And boss cartooning...all bow, comrade!
ReplyDeleteI had originally thought I'd put a caravel or a catamaran in as my "boat," but when I looked at reference images of those crafts, I didn't find myself thinking "boat." Catamarans are too obviously what they are, and caravels (with their larger, grander scale) look more like "ship" to me than like "boat."
ReplyDeleteReally, the carrack is pushing it. But it was the best I could do.
Anyway, I'm glad you found the conceit enjoyable. I imagine this is the sort of goofery that Mike and I might indulge in again some time.