Cat puns explained

[soc_puppet]

Explaining cat puns for non-native speakers. This is what I have so far; I'll make a proper post over at allthemiraculous after I recover from AnimeIowa, probably.

I'm being as thorough as possible here, so there's bound to be some that are really easy to pick up just from context, but I usually figure being thorough is better than leaving anything out. Anyway, here's what I have so far:


Paws = cat feet; I usually see it at the beginning of “awesome” (something really amazing or cool or just generally appealing), in the middle of "apology" (saying you’re sorry), at the beginning of “pardon me” (an apology), at the beginning of “please” (usually said to be extra polite when asking for something, but sometimes used sarcastically, especially to mean you don’t believe something), at the beginning of "possible" (whether something can happen or not),

Claws = the sharp, pointy things at the end of a cat’s toes; I’ve seen it in “because” (the reason or purpose of something) and also as the beginning of “awesome”, since paws and claws rhyme

Whiskers = the extra long, stiff hairs on a cat’s head, mostly around their snout (the forward-part of their face, including the nose and mouth) and a few above their eyes; I don’t see this one often, but it’s usually part of the saying “to whisk [someone/something] away”; used in this way, “whisk” means to move something quickly. A whisk is also a kitchen tool: a bunch of wire loops with a handle at one end.

Litter = sand, clay, or other material that cats use as a bathroom; I don’t see this one often, but when I do, it’s usually as part of “literally” (meaning something is real or exact, especially when it’s a story told by someone, but used a lot by people to put emphasis on something that is not actually true. Example: “My hair was literally on fire.” In the true meaning of the word “literally”, that person’s hair would actually be on fire and burning; someone using it for emphasis would probably just be saying that their hair was very hot/warm.)

Meow = sound a cat makes, the one that it opens its mouth for; I see it as part of "help me out" and stuck on the beginning of "ow" or "ouch" (things you say when something hurts; usually your body, but a lot of writers have Chat say this sarcastically in response to someone saying something that hurts his feelings)

Purr = happy sound a cat makes, that deep vibrating rumble when it's really content; I see this a lot at the beginning of "please" and "princess" (daughter of royalty), and sometimes as part of persuade (convince, argue, generally try to get someone to change their mind); I haven't seen it yet, but I can imagine someone using it in the middle of exasperated (being really tired of and annoyed by something; if there were three akuma attacks in one day, Chat Noir and Ladybug might be really exasperated by Hawkmoth, and CN in particular might be exas-purr-ated)

Yowl = a cross between a howl (a long, loud, drawn-out sound, especially dogs and wolves) and a yell; I can't say I've seen this one recently, but it would probably be to replace "you will"/"you'll"

Comments

[alexseanchai]

also, Punpedia is an excellent resource (here's their cat puns), but it assumes familiarity with idioms that isn't universal even among monolingual English people. cross-referencing with The Free Dictionary's idioms section helps, but is probably more work than typical readers want to put in.