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Artist Illustrates Literal Meanings And Clever Puns Found In The English Language (30 New Pics)
Interview With Artist
You may have considered how funny certain words or combinations of words can sound when you take their literal meaning into account. Nadia Tolstoy, an architect and an artist based in Sweden, surely has! She has created an entire collection of doodles that portray literal meanings and puns found in the English language.
"The deluge of doodles that came to me was a complete surprise! I had never done anything similar before. But in hindsight, I realize that there are so many things in this doodle project that are profoundly connected to what I am passionate about. I am very interested in how ideas can be expressed with illustrations, but also in how words and images can support each other where one makes no sense without the other," the artist told Bored Panda.
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Ted Morris 2 years ago
Uh... I could be wrong, but you sure seem to be a menacing duck.
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"I love wordplay and poetry and clever jokes. Carl Jung has said 'The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.' The doodles always originate in words, often compound words, that get my imagination going. I see an alternative meaning for the word in my mind's eye, after that it's usually quite a quick process to get the illustration down on paper. I have considered coloring them in, but I haven't gotten around to it. And to be honest, I quite like the flat simplicity of my doodles. Then again, I experimented with animating some of them and I find that there are a few ideas that only work well when they are animated," Nadia shared with Bored Panda.
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Martha Hopkins 2 years ago
And behind him, you can't see her, but it's the very petite Minnie Driver.
"I truly believe that everyone is creative, it's just a matter of finding a way to access that creativity. And I try to keep a sense of playfulness going in all my work because if nothing else, it makes life more enjoyable!"
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For more punny doodles by Nadia, check out the previous articles on Bored Panda here, here and here! Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment and upvoting your favorite illustrations!
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Epona 2 years ago
I get that this is supposed to be a pun, but PEAK of a mountain and PEEK (as in peek-a-boo) are two different words, that mean two different things. I wish people wouldn't keep getting them both confused. And before anyone asks, yes I do understand puns and when something is a play on words.
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MaximumKarmaSaint 2 years ago
Congratulations. You have won the internet for today.
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Martin Kaine 2 years ago
Pingwen. Penjuin. Peenguen. I don't think he settled on a pronunciation.
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GraphicHealer 2 years ago
I believe it's actually where the term comes from. 'Twas originally a way to make cakes in a pan.
Dustin Miller 2 years ago
My pancakes are basically the same size as mini cakes when they're done; I use a bit extra baking powder to my pancake batter, my mom loves them because 'they're like tiny round fluffy pillows of deliciousness.'. I also use less liquid, I find most recipes call for far too much liquid compared to what's needed for nice fluffy pancakes
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Valerie Reid 2 years ago
I Love seeing ANYTHING with my maiden name in/on/ it! Partee (par-TEE) is my name.
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Dustin Miller 2 years ago
When I was younger I didn't know banana splits were cut lengthwise; I thought people just cut a peeled banana in half, like the picture, and put it in ice cream.
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Epona 2 years ago
Took me a few more seconds than I am proud of to realize what it actually was (normally I'm much more observant). I thought each section of the caterpillar was supposed to be either an @ or a figure eight and I couldn't figure out why it said C@ERPILLAR. Derp. 😵🤪
Annapam 2 years ago
I first read "CATerpillar" and was searching for little cats :D :D
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Ozymandias73 2 years ago
Without color, I automatically thought it was supposed to be a lemon.
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Shard_of_Moon_Glass(she/her) 2 years ago
And those Canadian wildfires… they were terrible! Orange skies, smoke for hours…
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Chihuahua Mama 2 years ago
If a flower could grow on the sun, which would it be? I think it'd be dandelions because they seem so grow everywhere including concrete...
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Mountainslady1 2 years ago
Back in the day, if something was cool, it was called "The bees knees".
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Stein-Inge Kummeneje 2 years ago
Also Van Gogh didn't actually cut his ear off, just FYI.
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Menno Lente 2 years ago
You mean xɔx? (Using IPA: x=sound of clearing throat of phlegm, ɔ=o like in "rot"), as the Dutch pronounce it? One could argue that he is named after the German city of Goch, pronounced in German as gɔx. Or, as he was born in Zundert, the most likely pronunciation would be ɣɔɣ, in his own Brabantish dialect. But as you see, not even close to hock or huck.
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Lorinda Woerner 2 years ago
It is very sad. Not to mention the fact that most take 6 weeks or more to even start working so that's weeks that go by just for it not to work for you.
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