# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/41 "2026-07-30T13:11:29Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > 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. I think the idea behind the song is that the singer asks an attractive woman what the fox says, and then her response, whatever it is, is implied to be the correct answer, because it is what she, a fox, indeed says. ---
**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, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/42 "2026-07-30T13:14:47Z")
😆 i never actually listened to the lyrics. That’s a much better explanation than i expected. I thought it was just a dumb annoying song about how we don’t have a word for the sounds foxes make. (Or for most other wild animals. What does the raccoon say? The squirrel?) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/43 "2026-07-30T13:27:21Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > But if you ever find yourself talking with someone who doesn’t speak even a few words of your language, making animal noises remains a surprisingly effective icebreaker. If I went to, say, China and started making animal noises at people, I think I would be detained, evaluated, and deported in that order. 🤣 ---
**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, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/44 "2026-07-30T14:07:47Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > The other extreme was the cat. It makes essentially the same sound (meow) in every language. I suspect the vowel sound that follows the “m” varies, even if it is hard for those us raised in a specific language culture to hear it (literally, we lose the ability to discriminate language sounds that are not salient in our language). The “m” sound that we all hear in cat sound though is universal early babbling, especially associated with a baby complaining, such as when hungry (and of course the parent with milk at the ready responds, hence universally baby talk for mother has a “m” sound in it …) Interesting on the rooster. I am sure you are right about its sound not tracking into any phonemes common between languages. ---
**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, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/45 "2026-07-30T14:25:20Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > The other extreme was the cat. It makes essentially the same sound (meow) in every language. > > I suspect the vowel sound that follows the “m” varies, even if it is hard for those us raised in a specific language culture to hear it Leopold Bloom’s cat in _Ulysses_ famously said “Mrkrgnao!” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/46 "2026-07-30T16:11:29Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > 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. Most of them learn to meow at us in frequencies we can hear. An occasional cat doesn’t figure that out, and produces what humans tend to call the “silent meow”. It probably isn’t silent; it’s probably just too high frequency for us to hear, as cats’ hearing and vocalizations have a wider range than ours. > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Leopold Bloom’s cat in _Ulysses_ famously said “Mrkrgnao!” I’ve heard cats say something very like that. ---
**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, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/47 "2026-07-30T16:17:44Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > The other extreme was the cat. It makes essentially the same sound (meow) in every language. > > I suspect the vowel sound that follows the “m” varies Yes, the vowel sound was slightly different from country to country. That’s why i said, “essentially”, and not “exactly”. But they were all similar vowel sounds. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > > > Leopold Bloom’s cat in _Ulysses_ famously said “Mrkrgnao!” > > I’ve heard cats say something very like that. I have, too, but my current cats all sound more like “meow”. Two have a weirdly high pitched meow, but they are far from silent to humans. 😆 ---
**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 30, 2026, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/48 "2026-07-30T16:40:34Z")
But the ice would be broken, no? It’s contextual. Better to make chicken noises while pointing at a menu than when talking to a soldier. ---
**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, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/49 "2026-07-30T16:55:47Z")
And, as at that multi-cultural party i went to, it is a good ice breaker. Learning animal sounds is something people do around the world, the differences are entertaining, and it doesn’t touch on politics or other potentially awkward subjects. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/50 "2026-07-30T17:19:18Z")
Squirrels chatter. Raccoons chirp and curse. My Siamese cats can both make the most irritating “meow” that’s long, drawn out “murffffffffffff”! Will break your brain after about 3 times. I have a cat thats “meow” is broken. He sounds like clickety click. Teaching children animal sounds is a way to increase their vocab and begin learning about the natural world. It is one of the first ways my grandkids learned ASL. You make the cat sign and add the sign for making a sound. And finger spell m-e-o-w. It soon shortens to a quick sign of pulling whiskers and everyone knows you mean “meow”. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/51 "2026-07-31T18:35:10Z")
Facebook just showed me this image [![](https://i.ibb.co/YF8fd62N/FB-IMG-1785521514788.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/YF8fd62N/FB-IMG-1785521514788.jpg) From [_Orbis Sensualium Pictus_ - or _The World of Things Obvious to the Senses drawn in Pictures_](https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/in-the-image-of-god-john-comenius-and-the-first-children-s-picture-book/). ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972/52 "2026-08-03T12:41:05Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > It’s contextual. Better to make chicken noises while pointing at a menu than when talking to a soldier. Jasmine (in detention cell): Darn, yeah, that definitely would have worked better! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-too-much-effort-spent-on-learning-animal-noises/1031972.md?page=2)