Saturday, December 28, 2013

Anthropo-what?

I used to have a roommate who was a psychologist.  She told me that I anthropomorphize a lot.

an·thro·po·mor·phize

[an-thruh-puh-mawr-fahyz]  
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), an·thro·po·mor·phized, an·thro·po·mor·phiz·ing.
to ascribe human form or attributes to (an animal, plant, material object, etc.).

I forgot to ask if this is a bad thing.  Also, who cares? She never did it and I found that quite boring.  So I can translate what the rabbits are thinking by just looking at their facial expressions.  They aren't moving stuffed animals.  I never put batteries in them. Something must be going on in there.  I didn't say I thought they were human.  I just choose to believe they are thinking about something when they look at me.  They have feelings after all.  I know when they are scared, angry or hungry.  So I just put a voice to it.  Why I have decided that Squirtford's nose ends every sentence with "pellets pellets pellets" (always three times), well I don't know.  He likes pellets! So sometimes he looks at me and says "What are you doing? Let me out. pellets pellets pellets."  When I check my purse repeatedly for my keys and phone in the morning, he stares at me, clearly thinking "You have them!  You already checked!  Get out already!!!! pellets pellets pellets!"  Well, there's no need to yell but he does make a good point.


"Did somebody say pellets pellets pellets?"


McFlurry appears to just be thinking about escaping at all times, oh and snacks.  We have basically figured out all her escape routes so now she just stares at us. When she looks at my husband, I translate "Let me out.  I'll be good this time...I promise" but she is clearly lying.  Plus she stands up everytime he walks by and says something like "bananas?" "snack?" "escape?"  She just always wants stuff.  I don't know how I know.  I can't explain it.  Its just obvious!
"I'm dressed up so you might as well let me out.  I'll be back by ten."


Actually, I don't understand people who don't anthropomorphize.  They're missing out. 

4 comments:

  1. I actually believe that animals think we are not so bright because we do not understand their language. It is very possible that they all speak languages, but we just do not understand them. For instance, I heard a guy on an NPR show once, probably on the Diane Rehm Show, who I believe has been deciphering the language of Wolves and is probably making some breakthroughs. I really don’t remember his name, but if it was the show I think than it may be possible to get a transcript. I really am clueless on this subject, but I know that my cat always comes to me for his needs because he can communicate with me pretty easy. Great article! Maybe you can start researching the language of rabbits.

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  2. I think most pet owners would agree that their pets are communicating, or at least trying to. Well, I can't speak for all pet owners. Seems to me that goldfish have nothing to say but I could be wrong. So your cat not only communicates but also knows who to go to. Brilliant!!! Here's a website of the language of bunnies: http://language.rabbitspeak.com Somebody has got them all figured out already!

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  3. My cat speaks to me all the time. I fully understand him too.

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