# Is too much effort spent on learning animal noises? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2026, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972 "2026-07-28T03:55:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/21 "2026-07-29T09:13:04Z")
Any pigs running loose in Ankh-Morpork are gonna get et pretty fast. There is a ‘slaughterhouse district’, it’s a fairly major part of ‘Feet of Clay’. IIRC it’s near the city gates, people tend to avoid it, and I think the implication is that livestock generally get driven in on carts rather than driven on foot to minimise sheep accidentally wandering off and dying of shock, honest it was dead when I found it, officer. It actually kind of makes sense with the rest of the Discworld, they have ice cold warehouses as a side effect of some the magic, but no domestic freezers, plus plenty of butchers shops, so there’s little benefit to butchering at home and preserving. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/22 "2026-07-29T10:38:08Z")
Comedian notices a silly thing humans do and distorts it for comedic effect. My question: is too much effort spent on debating comedic riffs? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/23 "2026-07-29T14:11:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > There are efforts to use AI to decode the languages various species use to communicate with each other. Its going to be pretty impressive, maybe we can have more meaningful conversations with various social animals with larger brains (especially mammals) I have zero confidence that this won’t end in disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/24 "2026-07-29T14:27:34Z")
Probably, but what else is the internet for? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/25 "2026-07-29T14:27:55Z")
Disaster for who? In what way? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/26 "2026-07-29T19:14:05Z")
I was told (by a Frenchman) that French pigs said “Gweek Gweek!” Perhaps it varies by location? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/27 "2026-07-29T19:18:47Z")
IIRC it was Dave Barry who wrote a comedic piece on the various noises humans speaking different languages claim that the same animals make. The specific bit I remember is that dogs in China (or at least in Chinese-speaking areas) go “Wang wang.” Which Dave found really disconcerting, but in a very funny way. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/28 "2026-07-29T21:49:11Z")
I heard a comedian say once, "If I could talk to the animals, I wouldn’t… …because they’re animals!" ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/29 "2026-07-29T21:50:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Wang wang.” If I ever get another dog, I have that name penciled in for him. On reflection, I think I would need to see a Chinese-speaking person actually say that. Color me skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/30 "2026-07-29T22:47:55Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I was told (by a Frenchman) that French pigs said “Gweek Gweek!” > > Perhaps it varies by location? I’ve never met a French pig, but yeah, German pigs say something similar, “Quiek, Quiek”. Surely French and German pigs are related, don’t forget that both countries developed from the Karolingers. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/31 "2026-07-29T22:57:51Z")
Say what you will about Harga’s House Of Ribs, in this economy “all you can gobble for a dollar” is tremendous value, worthy of being immortalized in film. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/32 "2026-07-29T23:10:39Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > And I still am happy to know the sound three singing pigs make! [Quality, Freshness, and Flavor?](https://youtu.be/qJwTBSIQ9BQ?si=N3ZF-JvCUlRKmwaE&t=237) (Rifftrax short, should be qued to 3:57) _Slightly_ more seriously, in English at least, it might be helpful to know, because some of the words have further relevance. I mean, knowing that we consider that a snake “slithers” has implications when reading or hearing about someone “slithering” up to you. Or someone mocking a fat person in a show/movie by loudly “oink oink oink” at them. But that’s a very minor edge case for actual utility rather than “Huh, that’s interesting to know” and maybe win a trivia question. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/33 "2026-07-29T23:25:37Z")
I suppose knowing the sounds of your local predators would be useful. The person who walks among rattlesnakes thinking the noise is cicadas lives in a fool’s paradise. Briefly. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/34 "2026-07-29T23:31:34Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > And I still am happy to know the sound three singing pigs make! “La, la, la”? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/35 "2026-07-30T00:20:57Z")
Glad someone is literate! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/36 "2026-07-30T00:21:08Z")
What’s pink, has twelve legs, and goes “baa, baa, baa”? Three pink elephants singing the Whiffenpoof Song. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/37 "2026-07-30T07:46:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The specific bit I remember is that dogs in China (or at least in Chinese-speaking areas) go “Wang wang.” Yeah, and dogs say “wan wan” (with the same a sound as in father) in Japanese. It makes as much sense as “bow wow.” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/38 "2026-07-30T11:52:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’m still waiting to learn what the fox says. That song drove me nuts. We had a fox who regularly patrolled our back yard when it was popular. He made pretty much the same sounds as a small dog. He sometimes barked, sometimes yipped. I’m sure he could growl, and he could probably howl, although i didn’t hear him do those. > [@ParallelLines](#): > > _Slightly_ more seriously, in English at least, it might be helpful to know, because some of the words have further relevance. I mean, knowing that we consider that a snake “slithers” has implications when reading or hearing about someone “slithering” up to you. Or someone mocking a fat person in a show/movie by loudly “oink oink oink” at them. When i was pregnant, i told a coworker that i didn’t enjoy waddling. He was a Russian immigrant. I then had to tell him that’s how a duck walks. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/39 "2026-07-30T12:49:35Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > It makes as much sense as “bow wow.” Which is some sense … animal sounds are not human speech sounds so what we hear and use as their representations in speech are filtered through the basic phonemic units used in each of our languages, the ones kids are learning as fundamental parts of words in the language of the culture. Which get fixed in the culture. I don’t think each language’s animal sounds are just random even if they are arbitrary? The serious response to the comedic riff is that the animal sounds kids learn are a basic tool of learning the sounds important in a specific language (and deemphasizing the sounds that are not used in the language which then result in pruning their recognition and production as development progresses). Which is why singing pigs go la la la all day and night. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/40 "2026-07-30T13:01:02Z")
I once went to a party of graduate students from around the world, and we spent a lot of the evening comparing animal sounds in different languages. The animal whose sound was most different was the rooster. It makes a long and distinctive noise in every language, but the details seemed unrelated. I assume it makes sounds that don’t map well to human phonemes. The other extreme was the cat. It makes essentially the same sound (meow) in every language. I read somewhere that pet cats learn to meow in a way that resembles a baby’s cry, because that sound works really well for getting the attention of humans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972.md?page=3)