No yak, that's like an ox.

June 30, 2017 7:00 AM

Which word begins with “y” and looks like an axe in this picture?... the english stackexchange investigate (via)
posted by motdiem2 (30 comments total)

This is what the internet is for.
posted by BungaDunga at 7:04 AM on June 30, 2017 [19 favorites]

Holy hells, that was marvelous.
posted by blurker at 7:15 AM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

As soon as I got to the heading "FORENSICS", I knew I was in very good hands.
posted by theatro at 7:17 AM on June 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

My immediate theory was that someone said to do 'yak' for Y and the other person/illustrator misheard it as 'axe'.
posted by widdershins at 7:31 AM on June 30, 2017

"And for Y, we'll do yaks."

"Axe? Sure thing, boss!"
posted by uncleozzy at 7:32 AM on June 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Yellow.
posted by defenestration at 7:34 AM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

I dunno. If it was Y=Yellow, there are less confusing ways to convey it. Like, maybe a paintbrush loaded to overflowing with yellow paint? An axe is such an unusual object to use as to suggest the intent is to depict the axe and not the color yellow.

...no idea why an axe would be drawn with a wavy handle
They exist. Honest.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:43 AM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Team Yellow here -- no idea why an axe would be drawn with a wavy handle

This is a pretty standard axe. It wouldn't be too odd for an illustrator to exaggerate the curves.
posted by Etrigan at 7:46 AM on June 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

Gang, in this instance it's important to actually read the comments. They pretty much definitively solve it as a Swedish transcription error, and not as a "yellow" depiction.
posted by yhbc at 7:52 AM on June 30, 2017 [14 favorites]

Perhaps it's a splash of yellow ink flowing from a blue and white inkwell. Or an axe.
posted by bendybendy at 7:55 AM on June 30, 2017

(Bonus points for throwaway reference to "English As She Is Spoke.")
posted by wenestvedt at 7:56 AM on June 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

It's clearly a yalberd, which is a halberd after autocorrect gets through with it.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:05 AM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

But it's the best theory I've got. Except of course for @Vincent Fourmond's conclusion that we're dealing here with a yakety axe.

FTW
posted by chavenet at 8:06 AM on June 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

The image made me think 'hat' or 'bonnet' instead of axe. The 'handle part' is a ribbon tied around it -- a YELLOW RIBBON. in fact.

Mystery solved, you're welcome.
posted by TwoToneRow at 8:11 AM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

I think the U for U-boat is nearly as odd as the Y for axe. For me, it would certainly flag the design as not by a native speaker.
posted by Azara at 8:49 AM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

I'll settles for "Yikes! It's an axe!"
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:57 AM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

It's clearly a yalberd, which is a halberd after autocorrect gets through with it.

"Yalberd" is just the plural of halberd, and the correct spelling is "y'allberd."
posted by adamrice at 9:12 AM on June 30, 2017 [11 favorites]

My friend used to own a canvas print that he'd found in a vintage shop with a similar pictographic alphabet motif, though the illustrations were completely different.

Funnily enough, one of the letter pictures on his piece was also completely baffling, although in his case it was the illustration for the letter X, which simply depicted a box wrapped with ribbon and tied with a bow (think of a typical cartoon birthday present) with a large question mark — ? — on the side of the box.

To this day, I still have no clue what they were getting at with that illustration. (You could see what's inside the box if you had X-ray vision?)
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:02 AM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

It's obviously a depiction of an old Yakkity Axe. You don't see them much anymore.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:15 AM on June 30, 2017

Atom Eyes, you never heard of an X-box?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:17 AM on June 30, 2017 [13 favorites]

Xmas present?

Maybe just Xob, from the backeards universe.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:39 AM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

To this day, I still have no clue what they were getting at with that illustration. (You could see what's inside the box if you had X-ray vision?)

X meaning "the unknown".
posted by Etrigan at 11:13 AM on June 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

All good theories, but... why not simply xylophone? It's a common child's toy, it's colorful, and it's fun to say!
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:42 AM on June 30, 2017

The truth is out there.
posted by defenestration at 11:43 AM on June 30, 2017

Even xylophone is a compromise from the ideal, a little screen that pops up and plays X Gon' Give It To Ya.
posted by Copronymus at 12:13 PM on June 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

The image made me think 'hat' or 'bonnet' instead of axe. The 'handle part' is a ribbon tied around it -- a YELLOW RIBBON. in fact.

Mystery solved, you're welcome.
posted by TwoToneRow at 11:11 AM on June 30 [+] [!]

Is that you, Mr. Orlando?
posted by Sys Rq at 4:21 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Wow, none of the Related Posts at the bottom of this page are dated later than 2002.
posted by JLovebomb at 5:28 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

A friend posted a similar query on Twitter a few months back with a photo of an alphabet quilt. The illustration for "I" was a lumpy orange thing with what appeared to be a red scarf around its neck. After much speculation ("Idaho potato??"), the mystery was finally solved - it's an ipu heke!
posted by web-goddess at 5:52 PM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

It's a portmanteau illustration to save space, although they later found room for an additional letter anyway. It's quite clear that the picture represents two letters: AXE WHY.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:33 AM on July 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

GenjiandProust: "I'll settles for "Yikes! It's an axe!""

R as in Robert Loggia. O as in "Oh my god, it's Robert Loggia." B as in "By God! It's Robert Loggia."
posted by Chrysostom at 8:49 PM on July 4, 2017