Are the words “mannequin” and “manikin” interchangeable? Do you believe that La Pascualita is a corpse bride?
A mannequin is a styled and three-dimensional representation of the human form used in window displays for clothing. Also called a dummy, it is a wooden figure or model of the human figure used by tailors, dress designers, etc., for fitting or making clothes. Yet a mannequin can be a live clothes model, a person employed to wear clothing to be photographed or to be displayed before customers, buyers, etc.
As far as I knew, this was the only way to spell mannequin. I was astonished when I came across it spelled manikin in a short story I was editing. I knew that was wrong, but having learned that some words have alternate spellings I’m not aware of, I looked it up at dictionary.com and at unabridged.merriam-webster.com. Much to my amazement, mannequin was one of the definitions of manikin in both dictionaries. But manikin was not a definition of mannequin in either dictionary. I also noticed that dictionary.com had mannequin and manikin as words that can be confused. If those words could be confused, how could one be a definition of the other?
A manikin is a little man, dwarf, or pygmy. It is also a model of the human body commonly in detachable pieces for exhibiting the parts and organs, their position, and relations. It is used for teaching anatomy, demonstrating surgical operations, etc. An alternate spelling of this word is mannikin.
According to the fourth edition of Garner’s Modern English Usage, manikins are typically more anatomically correct than mannequins, which often have exaggerated or sometimes missing features.
The word comes from the Dutch term manneken, which means “little man.” Mannequin is the French form of this word and was used in English to mean “artificial man.” Mannequins were later introduced in stores to display clothing.
The first manikin was designed the early 1960s by a Norwegian manufacturer of plastic toys, Asmund Laerdal. If you’ve ever taken a CPR class, you’ve met this manikin: Resusci-Anne.
I’m still not completely sure how manikin could be one of the definitions of mannequin, but I’m assuming it’s because they are both artificial humans. Even so, mannequin and manikin are not interchangeable.
I’m going to give you a writing prompt before the “Writing Prompts” section of this article. The girl that had drowned and was pulled from the River Seine has become the most kissed face of all time. They believe she committed suicide. If she did kill herself, why do you believe she did so? Had she just lost someone who was very special to her? Had she been rejected by those of the opposite sex all of her life? Maybe she had been rejected by someone she had her heart set on dating and/or spending the rest of her life with? Write a story about what you think led her to take her own life and become the most kissed face of all time.
Writing Prompts – the Corpse Bride:
Both mannequins and manikins have great potential for a scary story though.
I find the mannequin La Pascualita intriguing. The urban legend said she was killed by a venomous spider bite, but whether she was killed by that or by some other means, how did she end up as a mannequin that doesn’t age? If she wasn’t once alive, how do you explain how her hands look so lifelike? Why does she appear real?
In the below video, a mortician explains why La Pascualita cannot be a corpse bride but must be a really well-made mannequin.
The mortician didn’t take into account the paranormal, witchcraft, dark magic, or anything out of the ordinary. What if before she died, La Pascualita was cursed to live out eternity as a mannequin that couldn’t freely move except at night? Her body would never age, but she would be trapped.
Would you spend a night alone in the store with La Pascualita?
Let’s say that her nails do need to be trimmed and her hair cut and restyled. Does she also need to eat? Bathe? Who takes care of these things? Is it required that their job be kept secret from the public? Will they be cursed if they reveal what they do?
Have one of you characters spend the night alone in the store with La Pascualita. How did your character end up there? As a dare? Trapped? Hiding from someone who was chasing them?
Even if La Pascualita is somehow alive through a curse or magical spell, she would be considered a very special mannequin, one that is both dead and alive at the same time. What do you think?
There are so many possibilities for stories in the legends surrounding La Pascualita. Choose one, two, or more and get busy! Have fun writing a story about the corpse bride.
