"Rude" gestalt optical illusions

Look closely. This isn't your dad's rabbit-duck illusion. "Rude Illusion Parade" (forgetmori)

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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egocentrik

hah, got it. “rude gestalt” as a replacement for porn mirage.
- David Pescovitz
  
  “Porn mirage” is a great phrase!
nosehat

I stared at that a long time, expecting to see a duck or a rabbit somewhere. :p
- oasisob1
  
  Not even a kitten.
CharredBarn

Wow. Oddly, this post should probably have a NSFW warning, even though everything is only implied. Even implied shit can bite you in the ass anymore.
- syncrotic
  
  That’s not how the word ‘anymore’ works.
  
  But anyway, I too saw the metallic penis.
  - CharredBarn
    
    “That’s not how the word ‘anymore’ works.”
    
    Well, if you’re saying it’s nonstandard usage, you’re right. Of course, you realize the same thing is true of many or most colloquialisms, right?
    
    From a purely logical standpoint, “anymore” should mean precisely the opposite of ”not anymore,” since (obviously) “not” simply negates the word it modifies. So, in that sense, I would say that’s exactly how the word works — but not how it’s normally used.
    - adamnvillani
      
      Well, except I’d never before seen anybody use it that way. So it’s neither standard nor any colloquial that I’d seen before, although I guess with the link to “positive anymore” there are some people who use it that way.
      - CharredBarn
        
        Check the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_anymore
        
        The positive use of “anymore” dates back to at least the 1800s. (Also, whether or not you or I have personally ever heard any given usage before is irrelevant to the question of whether or not it’s standard, right?)
      - Guest
        
        not really. I mean that in a non standard way though.
      - 〠
        
        In its entry for “anymore,” Merriam-Webster states that “in many regions of the United States the use of anymore…is quite common in positive constructions,” and that it is actually “now reported to be widespread in all speech areas of the United States except New England.”
        
        http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anymore
      - ChicagoD
        
        Obviously you don’t live in the U.S. Midwest. Anymore you hear that all the time.
        
        Makes me insane.
    - http://www.wordsSHIFTminds.co.nz Chris Bell
      
      With respect, since you’re now apparently keen to talk logic, “not anymore” wouldn’t make much sense either. It’s not the time element of your sentence that requires modifying. The opposite of the intended meaning would be “Not even implied shit can bite you in the ass any more.” What I assumed you originally meant was “Even implied shit can bite you in the ass now/these days/nowadays.” Even colloquialisms generally require some innate sense for them to be generally adopted.
      - CharredBarn
        
        I don’t know what you mean by “the intended meaning.” Whose intent are we talking about? Because if it’s my intent (and since I made the assertion, it is — right?) then your revised sentence fails to correctly express what I was saying. Well, look. If you reject my logic (fair enough) then I’ll fall back on the fact that people have been using the positive anymore for a hundred years or more, and it’s apparently common usage fairly widely. So to say the word “anymore” doesn’t work that way doesn’t square with empirical evidence to the contrary.
      - CharredBarn
        
        My point is: you didn’t assume what I meant. You understood what I meant, so my usage seems to work, whether or not it’s not logical. (But it is.)
      - http://www.wordsSHIFTminds.co.nz Chris Bell
        
        So you didn’t even mean “Even implied shit can bite you in the ass nowadays”? Then I really am confused.
        
        You have an interesting notion of logic, I will say that.
      - CharredBarn
        
        No — that’s exactly what I meant. I thought the complaint was that I can’t legitimately substitute “anymore” for “nowadays.” Because the word doesn’t “work” that way. Doesn’t work for whom?
      - http://www.wordsSHIFTminds.co.nz Chris Bell
        
        That was syncrotic’s complaint. I wasn’t complaining. I was querying your clarification. I accept there’s a colloquial usage of a positive “anymore” that’s widespread in places other than those I’ve been in. That fact alone doesn’t make it logical. Neither is your clarification:
        
        From a purely logical standpoint, “anymore” should mean precisely the opposite of ”not anymore,” since (obviously) “not” simply negates the word it modifies.
        
        “Even implied shit can bite you in the ass not anymore” makes no sense, although I can elicit possible intended meanings from it. Accurately guessing what someone means isn’t synonymous with a usage working. I can guess what people think they mean when they say something is “very unique”. That doesn’t make it logical.
      - CharredBarn
        
        Ok, I think we’re talking about two different things. You’re right, language isn’t like math — you can’t stick a negative operator into a sentence wherever you like and sound literate. But that has to do with syntax which is (I think) a matter of convention, rather than logic (which is immutable.) But you’re welcome to see things differently.
      - http://www.wordsSHIFTminds.co.nz Chris Bell
        
        Thanks. What about that woman in the car with the legs though, eh?
      - CharredBarn
        
        OK — one last point, since I’m sure this is starting to bore you. “I will die not today” sounds weird. “I will die. Not today.” sounds fine. That’s just syntax. The period does’t change the logical structure of the assertion. It exists merely as a convention. It’s just closer to the way people normally write and speak in English, but not universally. In other languages, the word order would be different. That has to do with syntax. But regardless of language, A=A. That is a matter of logic, and is true in every language and culture. Anyway, IMHO.
      - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BOOM27DBLMZQIJVK4BQLE7K5YA Nagurski
        
        Yeah, but who’s on first?
  - CharredBarn
    
    I guess I could have saved a lot of time just by looking this up first: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_anymore
    
    My friend, you stand soundly corrected!
irksome

Her car must have a heavy clutch.
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Hoskins/1098877309 David Hoskins

The cars interior colour is the same as her skin (see dash). So what looks like a ‘photoshopped’ mess on the right is simply the back of the chair, and her legs are to the left.
retepslluerb

Okay, I don’t get it. What am I supposed to see here, besides a woman sitting in car?
- StetsonG
  
  The seat is similar in color to her skin, and at first glance it can look like she’s sitting with her legs spread.
  - Tim Tate
    
    That’s…. not the illusion. I mean, yeah maybe you’re seeing that but look further up and to the left.
    - penguinchris
      
      Um, pretty sure the thing that might look like a penis is not the intended illusion. Remember the “rabbit/duck illusion”? You see either a rabbit or a duck depending on how you look at it (or if you turn it around, or whatever the case may be). The more well-known one I think is a beautiful girl that turns into an old witch depending on how you look at it.
      
      In this image, you see either her sitting in the car with her legs crossed, or her sitting in her car with her legs spread open (and wearing a sparkly one-piece dance costume apparently), depending on how you look at it. So clearly that’s the intended illusion (whether it was a photo shot with that in mind or not – it seems to just be a photo from an Asian car show and someone spotted that later).
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Sanders/100000011989161 Robert Sanders
        
        They literally mean the rabbit duck image. It’s on her left titty!
- Just_Ok
  
  I don’t get it either. But I see the porn mirage.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Sanders/100000011989161 Robert Sanders
  
  The old rabbit duck drawing, where it changes from rabbit to duck depending on how you look at it. That image is on her left breast. You have to know what you’re looking for though.
Ambiguity

This isn’t your dad’s rabbit-duck illusion.

You didn’t know my dad!
Endeavour 1934

http://www.memecenter.com/uploaded/2b55106589ecc6c013a6a108510695ef.jpg
- irksome
  
  His/her Step-Dad must be SO proud.
Huwman

I think the spread legs thing is the, er, intended unintended illusion but it does kind of look like a metallic penis coming out of her shoulder too. I’m afraid I have the kind of mind that can start to project weirdness onto anything if I look long enough.
Eark_the_Bunny

These are not so much illusions but merely bad photography like when a photographer takes a shot of someone and it looks like there is a tree sticking out of the top of their head. That is bad form unless there actually is a tree sticking out their head. Then it is time for an aspirin and the really big tweezers.
eviladrian

An oldie but a goodie.
- Cowicide
  
  Wow, that one really took a while for me to figure out.
Brian C.

The ultimate “rude” gestalt optical illusion: http://richardwiseman.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/swweeeetpig.jpg
http://repeaterband.com skeletoncityrepeater

Those 2 other examples given in the comments are awesome.
- David Pescovitz
  
  Agreed! These kinds of porn mirages would make for a fun little photo book. I could imagine it on the backs of hipster toilets everywhere. Er, wait.
Cowicide

Perry gets in of the rude action

http://i.current.com/images/asset/907/291/29/FEDvf.jpg
rattypilgrim

Google “The Medium is the Message” and subliminal advertizing. Still going strong after 40+ years.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Smith/714041653 Jim Smith

Charred Barn is right, the wiki entry makes it clear, but to most people it sounds illiterate!
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Sparg-Otyebat/1818893984 Sparg Otyebat
  
  Yeah, we provincials say the darndest things anymore, you bet! Fad saol agat! ;)
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1429636497 Lindsey Rowe

Holly F, I feel incompetent right now. Does anyone else after that debate?
http://profiles.google.com/westcarleton Ray Perkins

There’s always this one…
http://pic.epicfail.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/party-photo-fail-not-what-it-looks-like.jpg
kartwaffles

People on the internet argue about the dumbest things anymore. Don’t yinz know we’ve been talkin like dis in Pittsburgh da whole time n’at?
MDwebguy

That damn sure isn’t anything belonging to my dad. But I sure do wish I belonged to her.
dalesd

Girl(?) on a bicycle.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Fc6Acm4rdp8/S95JWeJ2WNI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/HdNJ9fr-Ldk/s400/saddle1.jpg