05 November 2009

Today's word is description

21 comments:

P.D.S. said...

Funny you saw that as hair, Ross... I instantly saw it as a hat.

Hilarious as usual!

Ross Horsley said...

Actually, I think it IS a hat... Dammit, they'll never catch him now!

Soole said...

Then, are you a rapist Ross ? :D

Nacho said...

I think you're starting to lose the glorious subtlety I fell in love with MFD for. Maybe you don't have to put rapist in there, instead you could just hint somehow that there was a rapist, and so the definition wouldn't appear as humorous. That was what I liked so much: every definition looked like it could actually be from a very disturbing child's book.

Anonymous said...

Seconded.

Ross Horsley said...

OK, I'm taking it all onboard, thanks. Something else I was trying to do here was get away from the "punchline" feel of many entries... Anyway, don't mean to start a big discussion -- having trouble finding the time to post at the moment, never mind reply!

Amerloc said...

It speaks to the unspeakable as it is, Ross.

Whether yellow hat or yellow hair (carefully coiffed by an obviously professional stylist), the salient fact remains: if the dude with the big red nose shows up, run away as fast as you can.

Subtle? Not really. But show me a subtle clown...

Aliquant said...

I'm more concerned about that freakishly innocuous mouse o_O

Harry Campbell said...

I think I can see what you might be trying for by dropping a shockingly brutal word (rapist, abortion etc) into an incongruous setting. But I agree with the comment that it's funnier when it's indirect, eg "the nasty man", "the operation". Not being prudish, just that the more innocuous the word and the more you have to read between the lines, the "nastier" and more effective it is. I love "wait" for example, brilliantly understated.

Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Actually, I see the nice man instructing his gerbil on what direction it should jump.

irve said...

Ross, Alma's story needs a name-tag in case you want to continue it.

Actually I wanted to write something about the clown taking children home in his pants.

Ross Horsley said...

You're right! Thanks, Irve, and Harry and Amerloc for their insights.

Clare said...

Made me chortle out loud as usual!

Unknown said...

What an excellent blog! Haven't laughed so much in ages.

Good stuff :)

Anonymous said...

I'm with those who think the word "rapist" makes this post more jarring than funny. Do you ever do rewrites? Because there are friends who I think would really enjoy this blog, but it's hard to find the funny when it comes to rape.

Em said...

Little did Alma know that the suspect is actually an inflatable balloon held by the real rapist...

JBiscuit said...

Agree on the use of rapist, removes some of the subtlety that I like in your other work but you could still drop a shock word in at the end.

'Alma gave a description of the man she encountered in the park. He had yellow hair, big shoes, a red nose and a ten inch cock.'

Anonymous said...

Rape is the sex, you didn't know you wanted.

High Tower said...

Come on Ross, we're counting on you here ... the word "rapist" doesn't make this funnier: it makes it less funny and harder to share the joy that is this site with friends and family. What would it take to take it out?

I'm Jet . . . said...

Straight from Sons of Anarchy . . .

Nimravid said...

I agree with High Tower and JBiscuit. The effect is the same as for the old mask definition where Tommy wears a mask when he rapes Kitty- just vulgar for shock value and not really subtle.
I love the definitions that on the surface are cheerful but suggest something darker indirectly. The way this is written suggests that using the word rape is funny on its own...which is probably why you are getting praise from the people who think "rape is the sex, you didn't know you wanted" is the height of humor- it's in the same vein as those jokes. I think JBiscuit's alternate definition may be closer to what you were trying for?