Showing posts with label monkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monkey. Show all posts

Monday, 25 February 2013

Stuffed monkey

In the Guardian at the weekend, Jane Goodall did the Q&A regular feature. One of the questions is 'What is your most treasured possession?', and she answered: 
My mascot Mr H, a stuffed monkey that I have had for 19 years.
Generally, 'a stuffed monkey' means something like this:
But is that what 'stuffed monkey' means here? It could also be this: 


Given that Goodall worked with chimps in Africa, it's entirely possible that she has an actual monkey that has been stuffed, perhaps a favourite pet. It wouldn't be a chimp, because as an expert she would not call a chimp a monkey, but still a possibility, no? 

This ambiguity is not normally present, because the first meaning is so much more accessible, so this is an example of how context can make a big difference to the salience of a secondary reading. 

In case you're curious, it is a toy:


And she made no mention of whether she made the chimps work in a diamond mine, as her fictional counterpart did in the Simpsons.