# Talking to your pet in their "language" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 24, 2000, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115 "2000-03-24T22:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/1 "2000-03-24T22:58:00Z")
I know most of you out there have, at one time or another, "meow"ed at a cat or "woof"ed at a dog. What are the odds that we are actually saying something they understand? Do you think a cat thinks we just have a bad accent or something? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/2 "2000-03-24T23:04:00Z")
You know what, Trumpy. I think maybe you’re right. The dog always gives me that same look I get in Paris when I try to speak French. ---
**Author:** ![A\_girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@A\_girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_girl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2000, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/3 "2000-03-24T23:18:00Z")
I used to be quite proficient at speaking “horse” and “chicken.” “Duck” too, come to think of it. Fowl languages are very easy to master. I can speak “cat” pretty well; however, they try not to give any encouragement whatsoever to my endeavor. (By “speak,” I mean that when I’d imitate their sounds, they’d answer back to me. I did not say I could translate!) 🙂 A girl ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/4 "2000-03-25T00:14:00Z")
Not only do I “meow” back to my cats, my male cat has a mmmph sound and kind of rolls his head when he wants attention. I do that to him and on occasion he bounces up and comes over to me in a happy fashion. The dog on the other hand, I think the only time I speak dog speak is when we are rough housing. \< just woke up from a nap, can’t believe I am telling you people this, hehe \> ---
**Author:** ![MadPoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@MadPoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPoet)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/5 "2000-03-25T00:43:00Z")
I speak fairly fluent cat, but my dog understands English better than most callers I get, so I never learned Dog. * * * [http://www.madpoet.com](http://www.madpoet.com) “I never meant to hurt you,” you said, And buried yourself in lies instead. Next time I would rather be slain, Than forced to bear your mercy again. ---
**Author:** ![Dirty\_Devil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Dirty\_Devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dirty_Devil)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/6 "2000-03-25T00:47:00Z")
No matter how much I talk to my signifigant other, she never seems to understand me. Does anybody have a man-woman translation book? Oh, that’s not what this thread is about, is it? Nevermind then. ---
**Author:** ![A\_girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@A\_girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_girl)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/7 "2000-03-25T00:50:00Z")
One of my cats understands English so well it’s kinda scary… :eek: A girl ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/8 "2000-03-25T01:06:00Z")
I like pets, they don’t talk back. ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/9 "2000-03-25T01:10:00Z")
handy, you’ve obviously never met my cat. She \*\*does[\b] talk back – well, she tries, anyway. I can scold her and she’ll stomp off into another room, meowing quietly under her breath. It’s hilarious. * * * “There are more things you don’t know than there are things that I do know. I despair of the imbalance.” – Dr. Morgenes, _The Dragonbone Chair_ ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/10 "2000-03-25T01:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I like pets, they don’t talk back. But my cat’s been talking to me all day! Why just now she suggested tha… Oh dear. Where’s my medicine? 🙂 -Steve * * * “Heyyyy sexy mama! Wanna kill all humans?” -Bender, Futurama “Your game shows reward knowledge. Ours punish ignorance!” -The Simpsons ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/11 "2000-03-25T01:12:00Z")
My dog understands English so well it’s almost eerie. She VERY rarely barks but she “talks”, i.e. mutters, mumbles, yodels, moans, croons, etc. So I echo her sounds back to her. When she’s lonesome and wants some attention she “murps”; I can’t really reproduce the rest of the sounds well in print but we communicate well. It’s a blast to use dog body language. If we’re playing all I have to do is tuck my head down and hunch over. She promptly goes into the Lurking Pups of the Serengetti crouch. We growl at each other, pounce, play tag, wrestle and generally have a ball. Sigh. Animals are great. Veb ---
**Author:** ![Shadowfox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Shadowfox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfox)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/12 "2000-03-25T01:13:00Z")
## The only language my cat understands is the rattling of the potato chip bag. Shadowfox “The dead have risen, and they’re voting Republican!” - Bart Simpson ---
**Author:** ![Byzantine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@Byzantine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Byzantine)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/13 "2000-03-25T01:25:00Z")
I have to agree with MadPoet on this one; my dog understand English better than most Americans! Most of the time I don’t even have to talk I just snap my fingers and she knows what to do, like get her butt back in the house. Now, if I could only teach the cats to be so smart… 🙂 * * * Best! Byz Voted most sex obsessed. (Yeah, blow me smart ass!) ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/14 "2000-03-25T01:31:00Z")
I speak _great_ cat. A few years back, before we got the cats “fixed”, I was able to mess with their minds by imitating a cat in heat. Id be sitting there in the living room, then start with the “Mrowr,…mrowooower… **MROOOOOOWR!!!** ” stuff. The cat would come running in, with this really hopeful look on its face. Then she’d look at me and I just **knew** she was cussing me out. Fun times…fun times. * * * You say “cheesy” like that’s a **BAD** thing. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2000, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talking-to-your-pet-in-their-language/15115/15 "2000-03-25T02:43:00Z")
My dog speaks English very well, thank you. I ask her what’s on top of the house, and she says “Roof, roof!” If I ask her what kind of vegetable a potato is, she says “Root, root!” If I ask her how her day went, she will reply “Rough, rough!” She’s a pretty cool dog. She’ll come up to me an whine, and I’ll start asking her questions like “Do you need to go out? Are you hungry? Thirsty?” When I come to the right question, she bows, stretching out her fron legs, and lowering her chest to the floor. It’s the neatest thing.