Vocabulary Evolution

by Carlee Marrer-Tising

There seems to have been a vocabulary evolution in the companion animal world in recent years, especially if that companion is a Sphynx cat! There are many taboo words these days. We have to deal with a phenomenon known as ―political correctness, something past generations of English speakers did not have to be concerned with. The words ―pet, ―owner, ―buy and similar ones seem to have become very problematic words among companion animal lovers.

Animal rights groups tell us we should not call our pets ―pets, even though this word has exclusively positive meanings, also when translated into other languages. According to Webster, the word ―pet is a Scottish word originally meaning ―small. This purportedly discriminatory word refers to 1. ―an animal that is tamed or domesticated and kept as a companion or treated with fondness and 2. ―a person who is treated with particular affection or indulgence; favorite; darling.Not being able to call a pet a ―pet makes writing about pets somewhat difficult!

In researching for my various articles, reading posts on the various lists, articles in magazines and books, I have noticed that people are more and more using vocabulary and turns of speech which were not used at all by former generations of animal lovers, and that they avoid certain words which used to be a matter of course. Just to give a few examples, let's have another look at the word, "pet." The word is often accompanied by the words, "just a as in "just a pet," which implies that the "pet" is either no great beauty or is not worth much money. And yet when we look at the definition, we see that a pet is an animal kept for companionship and enjoyment as opposed to the livestock, laboratory animals or working animals kept for economic reasons.

Are we cat and dog lovers circumventing this issue by calling our ―pets our ―kids and our ―babies instead of our pets, or is our perception of our animals changing radically? And do we Sphynx lovers even substitute the word ―cat with ―kid and ―baby because we no longer perceive our animals to be ―mere animals? In cards, letters, and e-mails, people send special greetings to "the kids," meaning, in many cases, the cats. Many people refer to themselves as the cat's "mom, mum, mama, or mommy," and "dad, daddy, or papa." Interestingly, I almost never see the words "mother" or "father" used in this way. Furthermore, instead of referring to the cat's "owner"--nowadays almost considered an insult, if not a heinous crime, and, most definitely, politically incorrect--many people use the words, "adopter" and/or "human." Some people jokingly call themselves the "can opener" (this is used a great deal in the German language!) or the cat's servant or even slave, albeit willing servant or slave.

It also seems to be in very bad taste in some circles today to talk about "buying" a cat or kitten. Instead, we ―place them if we are breed-ers, and we ―adopt them if we are buyers (rescuers adopt them, too, of course, but this is easier to understand and accept for the average person (who is not an animal person).

We talk about our "girls" and our "boys" more often than we call them females and males, and referring to a cat as "it" seems nothing short of totally ignorant and gauche! Going hand in hand with this phenomenon in the language used to refer to and talk about our dogs, cats, and most particularly, our Sphynx, is the way we treat them. We coddle and spoil them as a matter of course, we wrap them up in their own little (designer) blankets, we tuck them into bed (usually our own bed!), we put little sweaters and dresses, coats and jackets, and even pajamas on them, we sometimes put jewelry on them, and we completely adore them!

A lot of us who have multi-cat households even sacrifice vacation and holiday trips just so we don't have to be without them. If we have only one or two, they, of course, accompany us on our trips. We willingly sacrifice visits to museums, concerts, tours of famous, old buildings and the like, because we don‘t want to leave our precious darlings behind in the hotel. If we decide we "need" a second cat, we don't get her or him for ourselves! We get this new cat or kitten for our cat! "She needs a little kitty friend!" we tell ourselves and anyone else who wants to know. Now while I would be the first to agree that a lot of this is not new behavior, I do observe it even more with the "owners" (!) of Sphynx than with those of a lot of other breeds. Maybe these naked cats, having no fur, seem more vulnerable to us or even more like us? Why else do so many of us have stickers and posters proclaiming, "If it's got fur, it's just a cat!"
And this thinking does not stop with adults, either! Brittney Gobble reports the following behavior of her little 10-month old daughter:
" We have haired outcross kitties and she pretty much ignores them. But when a hairless walks by her she yells kit-ty‘ (I attached a picture of her ex-cited face)! It is so funny! I love that she thinks hairless are the true‘ kitties."

Still another Sphynx owner on one of the Sphynx lists I subscribe to put things in perspective when she reminded some of the people who were not only pampering their Sphynx, but also trying to keep them safe from normal feline activity, saying, ―and even though our Sphynx are quite different from other cats, they are still cats!”

I must admit that I have taken this a step further. Sometimes, when people tell me my cats are ugly or unnatural or the like, I simply tell them that a Sphynx is the primal cat before fur was added to hide her beautiful figure. This may not convince them, but at least it gets a laugh.

Carlee Marrer-Tising is a breeder living in the Netherlands. She is also the Owner/Moderator for the SphynxFriends Group at Yahoo!

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