On 5/24/2025 12:03 AM, Jeff Barnett wrote:
Many years ago, I would drive by the Los Angeles International airport
on the my way to work. Near there, visible from the freeway, was a
billboard advertisement for some SUV or pickup truck - I don't
remember which or the manufacturer. It caught my attention with these
three simple lines:
Climb mountains
Carry plywood
Comb beaches (a play on beachcomber)
It has stuck in my mind like a little poem. I present it to you all as
a simple puzzle on what makes it coherent. I'll post my observation
after a while. BTW, I assume that many or most of the regulars in
these groups will catch on more quickly than I did.
It seems that the Hen was the only one curious about this. It took me a
while to become conscious of a phone trick: The place of articulation of
the first phonemes of the first words of each of the three lines is
velar; The place of articulation of the first phonemes of the second
words of each of the three lines is bilabial.
On 5/26/2025 10:11 PM, Peter Moylan wrote:
On 27/05/25 10:01, Jeff Barnett wrote:The problem with your version as opposed to the original, is the
On 5/24/2025 12:03 AM, Jeff Barnett wrote:
Many years ago, I would drive by the Los Angeles International airport >>>> on the my way to work. Near there, visible from the freeway, was a
billboard advertisement for some SUV or pickup truck - I don't
remember which or the manufacturer. It caught my attention with these
three simple lines:
Climb mountains
Carry plywood
Comb beaches (a play on beachcomber)
It has stuck in my mind like a little poem. I present it to you all as >>>> a simple puzzle on what makes it coherent. I'll post my observation
after a while. BTW, I assume that many or most of the regulars in
these groups will catch on more quickly than I did.
It seems that the Hen was the only one curious about this. It took me a
while to become conscious of a phone trick: The place of
articulation of
the first phonemes of the first words of each of the three lines is
velar; The place of articulation of the first phonemes of the second
words of each of the three lines is bilabial.
I did notice the pattern, but the pattern looked wrong to me. In my mind
the natural sequence of the bilabials is m, b, p, so the slogan should
have been something like
Climb mountains
Carry broomsticks
Cuddle pigs.
I'm still not sure about the sequence of vowels in the first words.
former was trying to advertise vehicles.
I'm curious: Why are you mention vowels in the first words? If the > vowels did match in some way too, we would have some variation of >rhyme but of first syllables along with rhythm.
Think of "ding dang dong" and notice
how impossible it sounds if you say "dong ding dang". I could add that
Huey, Dewey, and Louie in Danish are called Rip, Rap and Rup.
Snip snap snude
Many years ago, I would drive by the Los Angeles International airport
on the my way to work. Near there, visible from the freeway, was a
billboard advertisement for some SUV or pickup truck - I don't remember
which or the manufacturer. It caught my attention with these three
simple lines:
Climb mountains
Carry plywood
Comb beaches (a play on beachcomber)
It has stuck in my mind like a little poem. I present it to you all as a simple puzzle on what makes it coherent. I'll post my observation after
a while. BTW, I assume that many or most of the regulars in these groups
will catch on more quickly than I did.
Jeff Barnett wrote:
Many years ago, I would drive by the Los Angeles International airport
on the my way to work. Near there, visible from the freeway, was a
billboard advertisement for some SUV or pickup truck - I don't remember
which or the manufacturer. It caught my attention with these three
simple lines:
Climb mountains
Carry plywood
Comb beaches (a play on beachcomber)
It has stuck in my mind like a little poem. I present it to you all as a
simple puzzle on what makes it coherent. I'll post my observation after
a while. BTW, I assume that many or most of the regulars in these groups
will catch on more quickly than I did.
There are three important features that are at work. The c is repeated,
the rhyme is the same in each line, and the vowels follow a
well-established pattern - i a o. Think of "ding dang dong" and notice
how impossible it sounds if you say "dong ding dang". I could add that
Huey, Dewey, and Louie in Danish are called Rip, Rap and Rup.
On 5/24/2025 12:03 AM, Jeff Barnett wrote:...
Many years ago, I would drive by the Los Angeles International airport
on the my way to work. Near there, visible from the freeway, was a
billboard advertisement for some SUV or pickup truck - I don't
remember which or the manufacturer. It caught my attention with these
three simple lines:
Climb mountains
Carry plywood
Comb beaches (a play on beachcomber)
It has stuck in my mind like a little poem. I present it to you all as
a simple puzzle on what makes it coherent. I'll post my observation
after a while. BTW, I assume that many or most of the regulars in
these groups will catch on more quickly than I did.
It seems that the Hen was the only one curious about this. It took me a
while to become conscious of a phone trick: The place of articulation of
the first phonemes of the first words of each of the three lines is
velar; The place of articulation of the first phonemes of the second
words of each of the three lines is bilabial.
As to the Hen's question "is the 3rd line... like a punch line?" I'd say
no. However it is somewhat contrived which suggested that the copywriter
had to search for something somewhat relevant that followed the pattern.
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