If you love puns and often chuckle at the drollness of NPR shows—or if you’ve just always thought a miniature statue of the world’s pre-eminent linguist and anarcho-syndicalist would spruce up your lawn—you’re in luck. Though the descriptor sounds like something generated by a game of Mad Libs, Just Say Gnome is a purveyor of artisanal garden gnomes. Their flagship product, Just Say Gnome sculptor Steve Herrington explains, was first thought up over a decade ago but is newly getting attention online. Gnome Chomsky The Garden Noam, named, naturally, for linguist, philosopher, and political activist Noam Chomsky, runs between $75 and $195, plus shipping, depending on which of two versions a buyer wants and whether it’s ordered unpainted or painted.


Gnome Chomsky sports its namesake’s appearance, but the proportions, cap, and boots of a standard-issue garden gnome. Both versions are currently out of stock, though Herrington says on the Just Say Gnome website that interested buyers can e-mail him to see about getting one once he prepares more. He’s also already a step ahead of you in terms of thinking up more puns on public intellectuals: Also featured on the site is Howard The Zinn Monk (“Get it?!” the grad school cortex of your brain is currently shouting). Not featured are hypothetical garden gnomes Jacques Dorito, Jockey Lacan, or, uh, something something Slavoj Žižek.