Abstruse Goose & Some Urgent Questions

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I’ve never understood how we go about ascribing character traits to animals. Every cat I’ve known fits Abstruse Goose’s checklist, but aren’t we both just making stuff up?  No dog I ever had could remotely be described as “faithful” or “devoted;” they’re in it for the free lunch, period.

In fact, look at our animal metaphors:  if dogs are so loyal, why is a “dog” someone you’d never trust?  What does “catty” have to do with cats? and I don’t even want to talk about “catting around.”  In what way are sheep “sheepish?”  Sheep just stand around grazing and if your back is turned on a male, he’ll smack you one.  I can see mice as “mousy,” squirrels as “squirrelly,” and rats do seem like “rats” and so do snakes.  But why is a “toad” despicable and a frog just froggy?  Why is a lion “lion-hearted” but a tiger is just a tiger?  Chickens I’ve know are not “chicken,” just stupid and excitable.  This keeps me awake nights.  Is it a great national conspiracy?  Somebody?  Anybody?

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2 thoughts on “Abstruse Goose & Some Urgent Questions

  1. Well, the lack of comments suggests that nobody else knows either. I certainly don’t.

    Wasps are definitely waspish, though. And bees are busy.

  2. I know, I know. Some attributes do fit the creatures, but it’s ones that don’t that I think are weird. Some things in life just don’t get explained, do they.

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