• aaaa@piefed.world
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    12 days ago

    My cat was an “old man cat” for a while before he passed.

    Anyhow, a “man cat” just sounds like a cat who dresses up like a man and fights crime

  • undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch
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    12 days ago

    I’ve read a lot about how dogs have evolved to hit some of the same triggers that human infants do. I’ve also read about how we tend to view pets as children in our minds. I imagine that that all plays a role in it.

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      We totally do.

      You can address a pet like you would politely address an adult, but only in a jokey way. Like “oh, and who’s this handsome gentleman/lady?”, same as with kids.

    • saltesc@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      I dunno. I view my dogs as companions. Yeah, they need me to look after.them like they’re children, but I need them to take care of me in the wilderness, protect the house, cheer me up, entertain guests, tow me on the longboard.

      There’s no association with them and a human child for me. If anything dog ownership has shifted my mentality into the symbiotic relationship of a pack. I think being stuck thinking of them as children would make for some very miserable times and bad behaviour from both the owner and the dog.

  • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works
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    11 days ago

    my cat always acts like she’s a year old and is pretty small for a cat (we assume she’s the runt)
    when we got her the pound said 2 years old (info from previous owner) but when we took her to the vet we got told that she’s actually about 5

    She’s about 7-8 now and still looks just as adorable as when I got her!!

    edit: this image also shows her bent whisker that got messed up when she tried to stick her head in the food container as I was shutting it a couple weeks ago lol

  • InvalidName2@lemmy.zip
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    12 days ago

    Generally speaking, the terms man and woman are reserved specifically for humans. I couldn’t tell you why, but I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

    For pets, the use of boy/girl probably does have a lot to do with how people tend to infantilize their companion animals.

    Additionally, the boy / girl terminology is often generalized to cover all animals, particularly when adults are interacting with children and by extension when children are interacting with each other. It’s not uncommon to have a child ask something like “is that a boy rabbit or a girl rabbit?” but it is a little unusual to hear an adult ask another adult that same question, unless it’s sort of tongue-in-cheek or maybe in the presence of kids.

    • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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      12 days ago

      Adults would generally use actual adjectives, ‘male/female cat’ instead of ‘man/woman/boy/girl cat’

      • toynbee@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        No tire kickers user tag

        I only very vaguely remember applying this tag to you, but it’s making me chuckle. Most likely that’s why I did it.

          • toynbee@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            It varies per client, but for me (Connect on Android), tap a comment to expand it or open a user profile, then tap the three dots, then tap “add user note.” I’ve heard that some other clients call it a tag rather than a note.