Date:  Thu, 11 Aug 1994 08:13:32 -0700

From:  Allen Maberry <maberry[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]U.WASHINGTON.EDU>

Subject: Re: your male type cats



I remember being taught (in Oregon 1950-60s) that cats were refered to

as "she" if their gender was uncertain. Ships and a few other things were

invariably "she", as was almost any vehicle in the stock phrase "She's a

real beauty".



Allen Maberry

University of Washington Libraries



On Thu, 11 Aug 1994, Tim Behrend wrote:



> On Wednesday, 10 August, Tim Frazer (mftcf[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UXA.ECN.BGU.EDU) wrote:

>

>   I have always thought the male/female thing on dogs and cats

>   was pretty universal, not regional. Aren't cats always "she" in

>   nursery rhymes?

>

> Not always so for nursery rhymes and folktales. Remember

> Puss'n'Boots? In our own day, the presence of tomcats like Felix the

> Cat, Fritz, Tom (and Jerry), Topcat, Garfield and other cartoon

> characters pretty strongly affirms feline masculinity. So do such

> expressions as catting around (but not catty), and terms like cat

> (beat culture), fat cat, cat house, cat burglar, cat-o'-nine-tails.

>

> Ideolectically, for me all domestic animals are pretty much "it"s,

> with no sense of discomfort or apology to anthropomorphist owners.

> On the the it-ification of babies, though, while I do find myself

> using it, I always feel dissonance and have a sense that its a bit

> inappropriate.

>

>   Back to "whut"--Don Lance said I'mn asking a complicated

>   question, but I can't resist this simple survey: How many of

>   you out there, just off the top of your head, would regard the

>   "whut" spelling a s eye dialect?

>

> I'm curious what the exact meaning of "eye dialect" is. Any

> definitions handy for a non-dialectologist?

>

> Tim Behrend

> Asian Languages, University of Auckland

>

>

>

> Tim

>