# What's it called: paintings you stand behind and stick your face in **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667 "2011-06-07T21:28:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/21 "2012-12-12T12:02:29Z")
> [@gatorslap](#): > > The -esque suffix means it’s an adjective. Not always. [burlesque](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/burlesque), _noun_ 1. an artistic composition, especially literary or dramatic, that, for the sake of laughter, vulgarizes lofty material or treats ordinary material with mock dignity. … ---
**Author:** ![Pas2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@Pas2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pas2)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/22 "2012-12-12T13:59:32Z")
The Finnish word for this kind of thing is tintamareski and the origin is given in various places as coming from the French théâtre tintamarresque which supposedly means a theatrical performance done with this kind of a setup. [Finnish wikipedia](http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintamareski) cites a newspaper article from 2006 as the source, but I recall seeing a comedic play done in this style called a “tintamareski” in [Antero Vipunen, a Finnish book of games, plays and distractions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antero_Vipunen) for children first printed in 1950 (although my copy is a later printing, so don’t know if the first printing had that bit). A Google image search for tintamareski provides plenty of examples of this word being used in this fashion. I can’t find any evidence of théâtre tintamarresque used to mean a performance like this, but tintamareski also doesn’t sound like a word with Finnish origins, so I’m guessing it’s either a funny word just made up for Antero Vipunen or inspired by some imagery related to early [Tintamarre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintamarre) celebrations and someone has just made up a foreign origin for it later. ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/23 "2012-12-12T19:06:16Z")
> [@ed\_anger](#): > > a lot must annoy you then. > > the facts are never out of style. Right [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658295) is a thread in ATMB where people complain about old threads being revived, one of many no doubt ([here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=643163) is another; both include suggestions like automatic locking of old threads). It really IS annoying to have years or even decades old threads revived, largely by people you sign up ONLY to make a post in them (so far JK55092 only has one post, last visit date same as their sign-up date). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/24 "2012-12-13T22:16:30Z")
[Cassius Marcellus Coolidge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassius_Marcellus_Coolidge#Comic_Foregrounds), whose other claims to fame include the “Dogs Playing Poker” paintings, created what he called > [@Wikipedia](#): > > “Comic Foregrounds,” novelty photographs which combined a portrait of the sitter with a caricatured body, produced by the sitter holding between two sticks a canvas on which Coolidge drew or painted the caricature, the final product being similar to the photographs produced at midways and carnivals when sitters place their heads into openings in life-size caricatures. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/25 "2012-12-14T09:47:34Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > That’s nice, but where’s the proof that either the noun or the adjective mean anything connected with the subject of this thread? Did you do an image search on tintamarresque? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/26 "2012-12-14T10:57:39Z")
Interesting. A Google Images search gives this: [http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=664&q=tintamarresque&oq=tintamarresque&gs\_l=img.3..0i24.20393.20393.0.23099.1.1.0.0.0.0.119.119.0j1.1.0...0.0...1ac.SdF1MBT8Vj0](http://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=664&q=tintamarresque&oq=tintamarresque&gs_l=img.3..0i24.20393.20393.0.23099.1.1.0.0.0.0.119.119.0j1.1.0...0.0...1ac.SdF1MBT8Vj0) One website that I found is this: [http://www.getcrafty.com/forum/freestyle/3803-what-called.html](http://www.getcrafty.com/forum/freestyle/3803-what-called.html) However, none of the regular dictionaries or the online ones that I’ve been able to check define the term in the sense that we’re talking about here. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/27 "2012-12-14T11:53:09Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > However, none of the regular dictionaries or the online ones that I’ve been able to check define the term in the sense that we’re talking about here. I don’t think it’s a directly translatable word. It’s like “Vaudeville”; It’s a very commonly known term, of course, but a literal translation would not stand up to casual scrutiny (it’s apparently derived from the name of a town in France, “the valley of Vire”), but we all know it refers to music hall entertainment, not an obvious leap of logic to formulate. I’d take **Pas2** ’s post as a reasonable cite for “tintamarresque”. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/28 "2012-12-14T12:17:14Z")
There are lots of cases of words in one language (call it language A) which can only be translated into a second language (call it language B) using a long and clumsy phrase. That doesn’t mean that dictionary makers for dictionaries giving the equivalents in B of words in language A get to just skip the word entirely. If the word is sufficiently common in language A, they have to include it (and, in practice, they do always include it) in their dictionary. They just give that long and clumsy phrase as the translation. Anything else would be bad dictionary practice. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/29 "2012-12-14T13:57:14Z")
Well the Google images search certainly suggests that there is a link between the word and pictures with holes for people to put their faces in. I wonder if the Fins borrowed the French word prior to it becoming associated with pictures with the heads cut out, i.e, you won’t find that meaning in French but its Finnish version was originally from a French word meaning hurly burly, clanger, or din. [This wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calle_Lindstr%C3%B6m) makes mention of “tintamarresque theatre” involving pictures with holes for actors to place their heads. ---
**Author:** ![JDBentcam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@JDBentcam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDBentcam)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/30 "2015-04-01T13:01:26Z")
Carnival cardboard cutouts , carnival cutouts, Comic foregrounds, “your face here” cutouts, tintamarresque (French), photo cutouts, take your pick. Slim pickings on this one. The use of " standee" as in “cardboard cutout standee” usually refers to a famous or particular person. I was researching this subject for a friend and thought I would post all the seemingly valid information I found here. Happy April Fool’s Day Michael63129!! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/31 "2015-04-01T16:57:11Z")
I know this is a zombie but since it’s alive again … > [@Kimstu](#): > > AFAICT, “standee” in the sense of “life-size standalone photo portrait” generally refers to an image of some celebrity **with** that celebrity’s own face attached. Not to a life-size portrait setting with a “your face here” hole cut in it, which seems to be what the OP is referring to. > > From [dictionary.com](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/standee): > > > [@](#): > > > > 1. standee - a lifesize cardboard cutout (usually of a celebrity); “he had his picture taken with a standee of the president” > > What the OP’s talking about would have to be called a [“paste your face (or place your face) standee”](http://www.shindigz.com/catalog.cfm?cat=51291) (although that seems to refer more to a custom-made standee incorporating a photo of the individual’s face rather than a cutout with a face-shaped hole in it). Or better, a [“faceless standee”](http://www.stockcutouts.com/). Here is a nice (recent) example of a standee: [The Most Interesting Carpool-Lane Ruse in the World – Lowering the Bar](http://www.loweringthebar.net/2015/03/the-most-interesting-ruse.html) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/32 "2015-04-01T18:00:24Z")
zombie or no stick your face in! not the ones i have. ---
**Author:** ![staightouttacompton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@staightouttacompton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/staightouttacompton)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/33 "2020-03-27T13:12:05Z")
> [@Michael63129](#): > > Also, note the date of the last post; its annoying when people revive an old thread just to post (and why did you sign up just to do so?). On the 9th of December 2012, did someone get out of the wrong side of their bed? :eek: I guess this is revived each time someone is trying to find out the term for “put your face through a hole take a picture”. About every 3 years it would seem! Btw, google - and wikipedia - suggests ‘Photo stand-in’. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/34 "2020-03-27T16:26:23Z")
I’d call it “You’re in the Picture”. I’m sure a show based on it would be a big hit. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/35 "2020-03-27T18:03:40Z")
Considering how many really stupid gameshows have lasted, I am shocked that “You’re in the Picture” bombed and was scrubbed after one airing. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/36 "2020-03-27T18:28:12Z")
> [@staightouttacompton](#): > > On the 9th of December 2012, did someone get out of the wrong side of their bed? :eek: Agreed, it’s a great answer. Shame the poster didn’t stick around, he might have had useful answers in other threads. Not that Michael is likely to see this, either. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/37 "2020-03-27T22:47:23Z")
“You’ll never know how good you look, until ya gits yer pitchur took.” ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/38 "2020-03-28T16:30:04Z")
Sorry to drag this zombie out just a little bit longer, but hurly-burly-esque is a mighty fine word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667.md?page=1)