# What the fuck is I can? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 17, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546 "2007-09-17T22:11:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/21 "2007-09-18T01:09:14Z")
I realize how frustrating this can be so, Diogenes and Harmonious, I made you a cookie … but I eated it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/22 "2007-09-18T01:19:01Z")
B-but it’s ironical, see? And it’s kitties! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/23 "2007-09-18T01:37:53Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] ETA, nothing personal **bigbabysweets**. This one just isn’t for me. I won’t ruin anybody else’s fun anymore. Please forgive my interruption. [/QUOTE] No offense, I think it’s pretty stupid too… Unfortunately I also find it’s funny. Woe is me. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/24 "2007-09-18T01:43:53Z")
It’s a kind of pseudo-baby talk (projected on cats, for some reason), which I guess was supposed to be cute or amusing, but of course it isn’t either. Baby talk is pointless. If the baby can’t understand regular language, what makes people think s/he will understand gibberish? Many people talk to their pets in baby talk, which, of course, is even more pointless. (C.f. Gary Larson cartoon where the pet owner’s balloon has a normal language chastisement, and the pet’s balloon has verbal static.) All of this, and that some people have turned it into a programing language, just goes to show that they must have too much time on their hands. BTW: “I can has…” is a linguistic construction that no English learner would ever produce, no matter how young. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/25 "2007-09-18T01:44:51Z")
Wasn’t there a thread where **bigbabysweets2000** has a picture of a sign he made where the word “bitches” is spelled “biitckes” or something like that? I think the lolcats might be his spirit animals. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/26 "2007-09-18T01:49:04Z")
I suk at spelling already. Happy? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/27 "2007-09-18T01:52:03Z")
**Diogenes the Cynic** and **Harmonious Discord** , you are my heros. I started the pit thread, but this one has stirred more righteous indignation, just as it should be. Please, make them stop… it hurts ears/eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/28 "2007-09-18T02:10:07Z")
And anyways, it doesn’t make sense. All cats have perfect grammar. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/29 "2007-09-18T02:17:59Z")
Okay, despite my use of a lolcat-ism upthread, the grammarian in me does want to rebel when I see those phrases but the cat lover in me just wants to laugh. I agree that it should be taken in small doses and there are a few too many “I can has …” threads here. But, frankly, I am more annoyed by all the “Ask the \_\_\_\_\_” threads. Oh, and that thread in Cafe Society where someone is ranting about an actor and he can’t even get his frickin’ name right and I have to keep seeing it every time I go into that forum, plus several other people in the thread keep getting other actors names wrong because they can’t even check their facts first!!! _hyperventilates_ Dangit, now I’m more annoyed and I need something to amuse me. _wanders off to look at lolcats_ ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/30 "2007-09-18T02:18:47Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] BTW: “I can has…” is a linguistic construction that no English learner would ever produce, no matter how young. [/QUOTE] Learning English as a first language, yes. However, it might just be possible that a cat might have made a stab at picking up some of the words but not the spelling or grammar and thus produce a motley pidgin of almost-English in an attempt to communicate with a more primitive species. The result is Engrish-like and quite amusing, if silly/stupid (your pick). There. Now I’ve gone and killed the joke. Happy cat has run out of happy. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/31 "2007-09-18T02:21:37Z")
If that kind of grammar goes unchecked, u wanna wash out. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/32 "2007-09-18T02:35:31Z")
I find it to be a harmless bit of whimsy, myself. And the cats are cute. (What can I say, I’m a sucker for cute cats.) ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/33 "2007-09-18T03:30:07Z")
My favorite lolcat has proper grammar, actually. [http://icanhascheezburger.com/category/noir/](http://icanhascheezburger.com/category/noir/) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/34 "2007-09-18T04:00:00Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] Learning English as a first language, yes. However, it might just be possible that a cat might have made a stab at picking up some of the words but not the spelling or grammar and thus produce a motley pidgin of almost-English in an attempt to communicate with a more primitive species. The result is Engrish-like and quite amusing, if silly/stupid (your pick [/QUOTE] Maybe. I wouldn’t know, because my cat speaks Latin, and quite well at that. Doesn’t bother with English. And he’d be appalled if I took a picture of him on put it on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/35 "2007-09-18T11:41:19Z")
Apparently, [Elder Gods can’t spell, either](http://lolthulhu.com/). 😃 \*Edit: Whoops, wrong code. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/36 "2007-09-18T11:52:22Z")
[QUOTE=dotchan] I find it to be a harmless bit of whimsy, myself. And the cats are cute. (What can I say, I’m a sucker for cute cats.) [/QUOTE] Hear hear. [Cats can has grammar](http://www.dashes.com/anil/2007/04/cats-can-has-gr.html). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/37 "2007-09-18T12:00:23Z")
[Pretty good Time article on the phenomenon](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1642897,00.html) linked from that blog. My bold. > [@](#): > > Take a picture of a cat doing something cute. Then make up a caption–something witty that the cat would be saying if cats could talk. Bear in mind that cats can’t spell all that well and that **they’re not so hot on subject-verb agreement either**. > \ > These home-made cartoons seem to lift the veil on a truth that we all quietly suspected anyway: cats are small, childish, sentient beings, mischievous and innocent at the same time. > \ > Are we facing a future without a weird, vital, creative phenomenon like lolcats? Say it with me: “Do not want!” ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/38 "2007-09-18T12:12:04Z")
[QUOTE=dotchan] Apparently, [Elder Gods can’t spell, either](http://lolthulhu.com/). 😃 [/QUOTE] That is nine kinds of funny! Iä baby, iä! ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/39 "2007-09-18T12:17:58Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] And anyways, it doesn’t make sense. All cats have perfect grammar. [/QUOTE] Only part of the time: [QUOTE=Mark Twain in A Tramp Abroad] You may say a cat uses good grammar. Well, a cat does – but you let a cat get excited once; you let a cat get to pulling fur with another cat on a shed, nights, and you’ll hear grammar that will give you the lockjaw. Ignorant people think it’s the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain’t so; it’s the sickening grammar they use. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546/40 "2007-09-18T15:55:58Z")
Geez, I know Lolcats aren’t for everyone but some of you people sound so humourless and angry over this stuff. It’s not like the lolcats are trying to put creationist stickers in your kids’ science books or something. Everyone just calm down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-i-can/419546.md?page=3)