Path: news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org>
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang
Subject: Re: A soothing advertisement (Spoiler)
Date: Tue, 27 May 2025 14:11:25 +1000
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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On 27/05/25 10:01, Jeff Barnett wrote:
> 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.

-- 
Peter Moylan       peter@pmoylan.org    http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW