1 Topic by William (edited by William 2022-04-05 12:30:24)

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Topic: Beatnik

I remembered a cartoon that I saw in a newspaper in probably around 1960 I think.

Two neighbours at their garden gates, each facing the newspaper reader.

An elderly one at the left has a round notice on the gate, with "No circulars" on it.

The young one at the right has a square notice on the gate, with "No squares" on it.

https://www.lexico.com/definition/square meaning 5

Has that phrasing gone out of fashion?

It reminded me of the word 'beatnik', is that now a word of its era, not used today except in historical contexts?

https://www.lexico.com/definition/beatnik

Had younger readers here ever known the word 'beatnik' before now?

William

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Re: Beatnik

William wrote:

An elderly one at the left has a round notice on the gate, with "No circulars" on it.
The young one at the right has a square notice on the gate, with "No squares" on it.

Isn’t that the wrong way around? I would expect the “No circulars” campaigner to eschew the use of a circular notice, and vice versa for the other one.

"Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?"
― Tennessee Williams
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Re: Beatnik

Alfred, but then there would be no joke.
Surely, it is the unexpected conjunction which makes (tries to make) it funny.

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Re: Beatnik

To my way of thinking, you could reasonably leave the shape of the notice out of it completely! The thing about a circular is that it’s almost always rectangular; the joke here is really about the phrase “no squares” not actually referring to geometrical shapes.

"Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?"
― Tennessee Williams
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Re: Beatnik

But circulars are pamphlets, brochures flyers and the like. No circulars is a common notice to find on a garden gate.

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Re: Beatnik

Alfred wrote:
William wrote:

An elderly one at the left has a round notice on the gate, with "No circulars" on it.
The young one at the right has a square notice on the gate, with "No squares" on it.

Isn’t that the wrong way around? I would expect the “No circulars” campaigner to eschew the use of a circular notice, and vice versa for the other one.

As I have remembered it from around sixty years ago, maybe I have got the shapes the wrong way round.

William