# WTF, Bow-Lingual?!?!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bow-lingual/213744>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 17, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bow-lingual/213744 "2003-11-17T18:56:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bow-lingual/213744/1 "2003-11-17T18:56:08Z")

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I thought this was a joke, but no.

[Bow-Lingual](http://www.takara-usa.com/bowlingual.html)

I can’t imagine that it’s very accurate. As long as my dog gives me the peepee face when he needs to go out, points to his bowl when he’s hungry, barks when somebody is in the yard, that’s all I need to know. I can tell if something’s bothering him by his actions.

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**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bow-lingual/213744/2 "2003-11-17T19:30:40Z")

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Don’t forget [Meow-Lingual](http://home.kyodo.co.jp/all/newproduct.jsp?news=20030804223823).

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bow-lingual/213744/3 "2003-11-17T19:41:08Z")

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And why is it “For use in USA only”? Are they afraid that translating foreign barks will scare the US populace?

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bow-lingual/213744/4 "2003-11-17T20:11:04Z")

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I doubt that it is very accurate either…when you _first_ use it. If it does work I would wager that it doesnt work as much by analyzing the dog’s voice to determine what it wants as by, rather, the _dog_ analyzing its barks versus what it gets when it barks in a certain way.

For instance, if a device were to give a human an apple every time we said “orange”, it wouldn’t mean that “orange” meant “apple,” but we’d still do it if we wanted an apple 🙂

Then again , I could be wrong, have there been any scientific studies on this?