# What's with the name "Foot-Foot" for a cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-name-foot-foot-for-a-cat/582628 "2011-05-20T22:32:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bamboo\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@Bamboo\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bamboo_Boy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-name-foot-foot-for-a-cat/582628/1 "2011-05-20T22:32:16Z")
The BF and I were just talking about this and I have been wondering for some time- The song “My Pal Foot-Foot” by The Shaggs refers to a lost cat named Foot-Foot. In the movie Gummo, there is a cat named Foot-Foot. So- what gives? Pure coincidence? Or is Foot-Foot a normal cat name (Googling actually seems to confirm this somewhat, but I can’t accept it)? Is Gummo obliquely referencing The Shaggs? What the Hell kinda name is Foot-Foot? -BB ---
**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:** [May 20, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-name-foot-foot-for-a-cat/582628/2 "2011-05-20T23:00:12Z")
My guess is that it’s a name for a cat with distinctively-colored paws, like a black cat with white paws. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-name-foot-foot-for-a-cat/582628/3 "2011-05-21T03:09:35Z")
> [@Bamboo\_Boy](#): > > The BF and I were just talking about this and I have been wondering for some time- The song “My Pal Foot-Foot” by The Shaggs refers to a lost cat named Foot-Foot. > > In the movie Gummo, there is a cat named Foot-Foot. > > So- what gives? Pure coincidence? Or is Foot-Foot a normal cat name (Googling actually seems to confirm this somewhat, but I can’t accept it)? Is Gummo obliquely referencing The Shaggs? No coincidence. I haven’t seen Gummo, but on the [IMDB trivia](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119237/trivia) page it says > [@](#): > > Dot and Helen are also the names of the lead guitarist and drummer in The Shaggs. The cat, as well, gets its name from their song “My Pal Foot Foot”. Dot is Chloë Sevigny’s character. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-name-foot-foot-for-a-cat/582628/4 "2011-05-21T12:02:22Z")
The first time I saw that movie and heard the cat called “Foot Foot,” I assumed it was a Shaggs reference - there’s no way Harmony Korine wouldn’t be the kind of person who loves the Shaggs. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-name-foot-foot-for-a-cat/582628/5 "2011-05-21T14:01:47Z")
Seeing ‘Foot-Foot’ in the title and I immediately thought of the Shaggs. Oddly enough, just yesterday I was alerted to this: [The Shaggs off-Broadway](http://www.playwrightshorizons.org/mainstage.asp) ---
**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:** [May 21, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-name-foot-foot-for-a-cat/582628/6 "2011-05-21T17:45:12Z")
> [@Bamboo\_Boy](#): > > The song “My Pal Foot-Foot” by The Shaggs refers to a lost cat named Foot-Foot. It’s not about a cat, although that is a common misconception. Have you seen [the picture](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.shaggs.com/images/shaggs.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.shaggs.com/&usg=__AvUhDmBd8OH5Vw-AQs_JMLIiXYk=&h=201&w=152&sz=13&hl=en&start=1&sig2=Y7djB2encT4TpXTk_Tpt5Q&zoom=1&tbnid=TYNj3Bz4ymb5wM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=79&ei=zPnXTYCuDorcgQedmJRY&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522My%2Bpal%2Bfoot-foot%2522%2Blyrics%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D642%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1)? Foot-foot has the lower half body of a feline, but the head of a shark, awkwardly fused together. Nothing in the lyrics suggests that Foot-Foot is a cat. Rather, Foot-Foot is a child’s imaginary friend, who had previously cohabited a house with humans, and moved out. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-name-foot-foot-for-a-cat/582628/7 "2011-05-21T19:22:42Z")
Never knowingly heard the Shaggs, don’t know the movie Gummo, but I’ve had lots of cats and have never heard the name for any cat. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-the-name-foot-foot-for-a-cat/582628/8 "2011-05-21T19:35:38Z")
Never heard of The Shaggs, do have _Gummo_ on DVD. Prior to _Gummo_ the only time I’d heard the name Foot-Foot was in a ‘bedtime story’ by dad used to tell me. (It was actually a joke, but I didn’t know that when I was four.) It involved Foot, Foot-Foot, and Foot-Foot-Foot waking in a graveyard at night. Foot falls into an open grave, and Foot-Foot says they’d better get him out. Foot-Foot-Foot says, ‘We have one Foot in the grave already!’