using an item for something other than it was made for

[pianistimo]

ok.  i'm using an old worn out speaker as a foot rest for my cast (the heel of my foot in the speaker phone).  no, my husband is not home yet to see this travesty.

also, on one of those design shows - the designer used a glass paneled door sideways (and cut in half) for a room divider to seal off a wall that was not completely to the ceiling.

do you ever use something out of it's intended purpose?

[Bob]

Books.  Good for sitting on to adjust the bench height and prop up or hold music.

[lau]

My brother uses everything to massage him

[Dazzer]

this is rated R for sexual content.

no i don't use it. but the topic just made me think of this immediately.

Here

[gorbee natcase]

What are cucumbers for

[danyal]

Please save that for places, well, elsewhere. This is a piano forum.

[gorbee natcase]

Cool your boots man, find your neutral space

[zheer]

What are cucumbers for

Well if you are a women you can use it for you know what, and if you are a man you can also use it for you no what.

[gorbee natcase]

Well if you are a women you can use it for you know what, and if you are a man you can also use it for you no what.

Yes we all like pasta salads

[zheer]

Yes we all like pasta salads

O i see , oops .

[bernhard]

Actually, my wife does use cucumbers occasionaly - and not for eating.

She slices them and put over her eyes to improve her skin.

Although it makes no sense to me: how can you improve on perfection?
(This post should give me some kudos )

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[ted]

I experience frequent desires concerning certain people and objects. The items vary but their use is the same.

[thalbergmad]

During the winter i sometimes use my credit card to scrape ice off the windscreen.

I use the complete Chopin Mazurkas to prop up my piano stool.

Pretty boring compared to other answers.

[Tash]

today i sawed off the ends of a couple of paint brushes in order to stick them on the tip of the divider thingo in my painting space at uni to hang a piece of acetate (spelling? you know, the clear paper you use for overheads) as an artwork. sounds random, cos i had nothing else to hang it from. and it was crap. seriously the dumbest artwork i've ever created, quite seriously, i threw it in the bin once it was assessed....

once we used our sleeping bags as sleds to slide down my friend's staircase...

i used my undies (not the ones i was wearing!) as a rag to get tissue paper off a canvas...

ummmm randomly, my friend used loose tea herb thingys as the basis of her artwork- it was REALLY cool

ahhh can't think what else

[timothy42b]

Actually, my wife does use cucumbers occasionaly - and not for eating.

She slices them and put over her eyes to improve her skin.

Although it makes no sense to me: how can you improve on perfection?
(This post should give me some kudos )

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

My basic tendency towards pedantry forces me to comment on this very instructive quote.

I see the word utilize instead of use constantly, and it drives me nuts.  But above we have a rare case where even I would approve using utilize.

You see, for utilize to be correct usage, there are two requirements.  The object must be used for a different purpose than originally intended, and it must be modified.  Bernhard's wife has met both requirements with the cucumber, therefore it would not have been pretentious to have said she utilized it. 

(My source for this distinction is Hayakawa.) 

[pianistimo]

hmmm.  interesting!