Inexplicable communication from Oxfam

[substitute]

Subject: Camels, Toilets and Other Funusual Gifts from Oxfam!

FUNUSUAL?

I immediately hear Tom Jones singing "It's not funusual to be starving in a waaaar..."

Comments

No fun

[kineticfactory]

We get the same ads in London. I can get them being unusual, or worthy, or even, dare I say, quirky, but in what way is it fun? Perhaps the fun comes from having a laugh at yourself, whilst repressing resentment about the fact that, once the present-opening's over, you'll have a pile of wrapping paper and a worthy-looking piece of paper. "Oh look, my present's a goat for a village in Africa, ha ha! And I thought it was a PS3. Guess the joke's on me!"

It sounds like a neologism in the making: "fun" changing its meaning to mean something that's not particularly enjoyable though one is obliged, by social pressure, to grin and bear it and pretend that it is or else be seen as a no-good shit. ("This village toilet is the best gift ever; so much better than a Nintendo Wii".) Eventually, the implicit sarcasm will seep into the word "fun", and its original meaning will go the way of other words like "gay" and "special": "That sounds totally fun. Let's go do something else instead."

[besskeloid]

Why not have toilets for camels?