And I was surprised to see that there were more similarities between the corporate ladder and monkey bars
The inventor, Sebastian Hinton, patented the first set of monkey bars in 1920. In his patent application (Ref: US1471465 A) he explained his inspiration and logic for creating this piece of equipment.
‘As exercise for children, climbing has in it conspicuous-features of advantage. It is an exercise wherein all the muscles of the whole body are used. Climbing is the natural method of locomotion which the evolutionary predecessors of the human race were designed to practice, and is therefore almost ideally suited for children…
Again and importantly, the monkey instinct strong in all human beings and perhaps more clearly displayed in children, makes climbing a sport to which children by a psychology about the same as that of a kitten at play with a ball, which of course is practice for hunting.’
And now for a bit of fun, let’s change the word ‘children; with ‘businessman’ and tweak a few choice words
‘As exercise for ambitious businessmen, climbing the corporate ladder has in it conspicuous-features of advantage. It is an exercise wherein all the muscles of the whole body are used. Climbing is the natural method of locomotion which the evolutionary predecessors of the human race were designed to practice, and is therefore almost ideally suited for the want-to-be CEO…
Again and importantly, the monkey instinct strong in all human beings and perhaps more clearly displayed in businessmen, makes climbing the corporate ladder a sport to which businessmen by a psychology about the same as that of a kitten at play with a ball, which of course is practice for hunting.’
Well, I’m a bit surprised and bit not – ‘Selfie’ originates from Australia!
According to the Oxford dictionary, which has now put its definition onto their online website (“A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to social media website”), the first documented version of a selfie appeared in an online ABC forum.
A drunk (must be Australian clue #1) wrote
“Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.”
The fact that it ends in ‘ie’ rather than ‘y’ is a second clue lending towards an Australian origin. Apparently we like to end words in ‘ie’ to make things more endearing and in this case, turning a possible narcassitic action into something cute and fun.
And final supporting argument, even our former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd helped to promote the expression, by sharing selfie pictures of himself while shmoozing the public.
Well, no – not for me, but don’t worry – lucky for you!
This is a self indulgent trip down memory lane showing the three cartoons I submitted into the 40th Piracicaba International humor festival (but I posted them first here on this website for you all to enjoy!). You may recall, my first modest submission two years ago (if not, take a peak here).
Well, here are my 2013 entries (maybe Brazilians don’t get Aussie humour). And they all come with bonus Portuguese captions too!
If you want to see who the winners were, click on here. My favourite is the archery shooting one – What’s yours?
