Ikea word games

The other day we went to Ikea and bought, among other things, a lazy susan. My daughter had never heard of such a thing, and she commented, "Ikea has some really weird names for its stuff, like Lazy Susan, and Billy."

Indeed. And the Ikea game drives home just how unmoored the sign of the name is from the signifier of the actual object.

When I explained to my son what a lazy susan does, he said, "It's like the thing they have at that Chinese restaurant we went to that time!" Why 4 year-olds can remember things from six months ago, yet can't keep track of where their other shoe has gone, is a complete mystery to me.

[To the tune of Bob Ostertag, "Like A Melody, No Bitterness 7," from the album "Like A Melody No Bitterness".]

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