When does an object become a toy?
My friend says, an object becomes a toy when it was intended to be a toy from its inception.
Thus, children playing with rocks and sticks is not children playing with toys. Toys must be conceived as toys before they are ever manufactured into physical reality.
I don’t know how I feel about this. How do you feel about this?
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Response moderated (Obscene)
No, seriously, there was this conversation me and a friend had about when something becomes pornography. Is a shoe store catalogue pornography for a foot fetishist? How about horse riding stores?
Some things can be manufactured as such, but then others become such.
I say that it does not depend on the intention of the manufacturer, but on the intention of the user.
An object becomes a toy when it is played with.
Hmmn… I’ve always thought of toys as things created to be entertainment, things not alive, necesseties or tools. I know, I know- my dog was bred specifically for no other reason than human entertainment but I don’t qualify him as a toy.
Or, it is inserted into your orifice.
When I first read this question, I would have said that your friend is incorrect. The more I think about it, though, maybe it is just a matter of semantics.
Take a pot and a wooden spoon. Hand them to a toddler, and they become a drum. The child is playing with them, but it doesn’t make it a toy. Or what about using sheets and blankets draped over furniture to make a fort? They allow for imaginative play, but they aren’t toys.
On the flip side, we’ve used Tinker Toys, Matchbox cars, and many other toys/games in our training classes to deliver an educational lesson in a fun way. They are still toys.
“but it doesn’t make it a toy”
Sure it does. If I take a tinker toy and use it to hold a door open. It becomes a door stop.
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