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The joy of pets

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Topic:	6) The joy of pets (1 of 8), Read 199 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Barbara Wallraff ([email protected])
Date:	Wednesday, January 27, 1999 04:35 PM

Kevin Taylor, of Boise, Idaho, writes: "As somebody whose allergies prevent close contact with many domestic animals, I'm constantly aware that I've been denied the joys -- and the headaches -- of pet ownership. I'm also aware of a phenomenon that seems to cry out for a word to describe it -- namely, the state of being amused (irrationally so, it seems to me) by the antics of one's pets. Shouldn't this state have a name?"

Topic:	6) The joy of pets (2 of 8), Read 192 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Jim Ennis ([email protected])
Date:	Wednesday, January 27, 1999 05:30 PM

petaphilia or pestaphilia depending on your perspective

Topic:	6) The joy of pets (3 of 8), Read 191 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Heidi Schroeder ([email protected])
Date:	Wednesday, January 27, 1999 09:27 PM

I'm also aware of a phenomenon that seems to cry out for a word to describe it -- namely, the state of being amused (irrationally so, it seems to me) by the antics of one's pets. Shouldn't this state have a name?"

I call it love. ;-)

Heidi

Topic:	6) The joy of pets (4 of 8), Read 139 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Colin Rudd ([email protected])
Date:	Friday, February 05, 1999 09:52 PM

One certainly wouldn't be possessed of irrational joy at watching one's pet's antics if he didn't love his pet. But when you scold your cat for sticking his nose in an electrical socket, that, too, is love. Love is not quite specific enough a word, and suggested a bit righteously it seems.

Any -phelia suffix connotes sinister qualities, and one might indeed use such a suffix if he is not comfortable with being amused by his pet, or doesn't love his pet.

Since we are trying to describe such a wonderfully silly moment, lets try "galoopy", which gives me a little irrational joy just saying it.
Colin

Topic:	6) The joy of pets (5 of 8), Read 141 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Tracy Durden ([email protected])
Date:	Saturday, February 06, 1999 01:42 AM

How about "dote on"? However, since "dotage" is something entirely different (although pets are very therapeutic for folks in their dotage), we'd need a different form for the noun: "doting", "dotiness"?!
;-)
Tracy Durden

Topic:	6) The joy of pets (6 of 8), Read 64 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Jason Taniguchi ([email protected])
Date:	Friday, February 19, 1999 05:15 PM

From the Prodigal Toronto Serial Diners Collective:

We approve of "galoopy". It sounds quite apt.
Also, we like "cata-strophy"; "cutespotting"; "purripstruck" (a "purrip" being, like "galoopy" an onomatopoetic way of getting at the cuteness of animal antics); "fur-schlugginer"; "petaleptic"; "A.P.S. (Amusing Pet Syndrome)"; and (my personal favourite) "owner-ousness".

Topic:	6) The joy of pets (7 of 8), Read 60 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Glenn Werner ([email protected])
Date:	Friday, February 19, 1999 10:09 PM

I vote for petaleptic, as in petaleptic fit. That's what I get when my puppy needs fussing.
So thank God people in Toronto eat.
P.S. When one gets particularly engrossed with ones pet, especially in the presence of others it's called being... Petantic.

Topic:	6) The joy of pets (8 of 8), Read 34 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Steven Chostler ([email protected])
Date:	Thursday, February 25, 1999 11:36 PM

At the risk of seeming too obvious: petantic? (This would apply especially well to "pet antics" that seemed to suggest great wisdom).

How about "furriphilia" for the cats, dogs, mice, hamsters, etc.?

Fish, lizards, snakes -- "scaliphilia?"

Susan Prince
(Both a furriphiliac & a scaliphiliac)

I suppose if i had a bird it might make me raptorous. In our case, we are definitely catatonic. I just listened to a poem read by Frank Bidart, in the audio section, with my cat and then asked her how she liked it and mentioned that was the first poem we had listened to together. Perhaps goofy is the word for which we are searching.

denny

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Topic:	For Various Pets (1 of 1), Read 61 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Susan Prince ([email protected])
Date:	Saturday, February 06, 1999 03:21 PM

Topic:	No Topic (1 of 1), Read 44 times
Conf:	Word Fugitives, with Barbara Wallraff
From:	Denny Stein ([email protected])
Date:	Monday, February 15, 1999 11:41 PM