Saturday, June 1, 2013

Word play analysis

Your word is "singerie." "singerie, did I pronounce it right?" "Yes, singerie." "What is the part of speech?" "It's a noun." "May I have the definition?" "Singerie is a picture, decoration or design in which monkeys are depicted." "Would you please use it in a sentence?" "The singerie painting Bob bought for one buck at the flea market depicts monkeys in top hats and tails talking about how disgusting their species smell." "Singerie, S-I-N-G-E-R-I-E, Singerie."

One of my favorite shows to watch is the Scripp's annual spelling bee. It provides some hope that not every child is spending all of their time mindlessly drooling while watching looping six second Vine videos on smart phones.

I was surprised. "Singerie" is a real word? Why in the world did we ever need to have a word for a picture depicting monkeys aping human behavior in a painting? I don't have a single painting decorated with monkeys, and don't know anyone who does. I can't even remotely understand why someone would want to have said simian related content on their wall. Now that I'm through insulting both collectors worldwide of singerie based art, my point is don't we have enough words already?