Two dog (after a fashion) cartoons: one by Dale Coverly (from his Speed Bump strip), one by Phil Selby (from his blog):
(#1)
(#2)
Coverly. Cartoon #1 has a POP (phrasal overlap portmanteau), but one that works only in pronunciation (not in print): avant-garde + guard dog, referring to what is in this case an avant-garde guard dog.
NOAD2 on avant-garde:
noun (usu. the avant-garde) new and unusual or experimental ideas, especially in the arts, or the people introducing them: works by artists of the Russian avant-garde.
adjective favoring or introducing experimental or unusual ideas: a controversial avant-garde composer.
ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting the vanguard of an army): from French, literally ‘vanguard.’ Current senses date from the early 20th cent.
(There is considerable variation in how this word is pronounced, depending on how close speakers try to get to French and how much they Anglicize the word. My own favored pronunciation is far on the Anglicization side: /ˌæ van ˈgard/, ending in /gard/ as in guard, but spelled garde.)
But in any case the dog in #1 is drawn like the stereotype of a French artist (lacking only a Gauloise), and in a gesture towards experimental art is displaying a sign that says WOOF rather than barking.
Relevant Pages on this blog:
Page for Speed Bump cartoons here
Page for POPs here
Selby. Cartoon #2 plays on the ambiguity of dog: the dog of Pavlov’s dogs, referring to the animal (the vendor is ringing a bell to attract customers to his “mouth watering!” offerings), just as Pavlov rang a bell to get his dogs to salivate); and dog as an abbreviated form of hot dog, referring to the food item (the vendor is selling hot dogs).
An earlier play on Pavlov’s dogs on this blog: “Pavlov’s Cat” of 10/11/15.
Earlier postings on Selby cartoons:
“Penguins and tuxedos” of 4/17/13, where Selby is one of five cartoonists
“Cheeses” of 1/24/15, with two Selby cartoons
