It’s been a while since we contemplated a Magrittean disavowal, in the tradition of the Belgian surrealist’s paradoxical Ceci n’est pas une pipe, so today’s absurd Wayno / Piraro Bizarro strip is a welcome addition to the genre:
(#1) Surrealistic clandestine warfare (if you’re puzzled by the odd symbols in the cartoon — Dan Piraro says there are 3 in this strip — see this Page)
(There’s a Page on this blog cataloging my postings on Magrittean disavowals)
Verbal camouflage is a novel technique for hiding a tank; the customary approach is visual, as here:
(#2) From a YouTube video on “Tank Camouflage — How Effective Is It?”
I have to admit that I find this approach rather silly, like something out of a Monty Python sketch. My title for #2: “Hide the Treads, man, hide the treads!”
There is, however, (just barely) a place for verbal schemes, in NOAD‘s (metaphorical) sense d for the noun camouflage (understanding actions to cover painting messages on a tank):
noun camouflage: [a] the disguising of military personnel, equipment, and installations by painting or covering them to make them blend in with their surroundings: on the trenches were pieces of turf which served for camouflage | [as modifier]: camouflage nets. [b] the clothing or materials used for disguise: figures dressed in army camouflage. [c] an animal’s natural coloring or form that enables it to blend in with its surroundings: the whiteness of polar bears provides camouflage. [d] actions or devices intended to disguise or mislead: much of my apparent indifference was merely protective camouflage.
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