3 ms·

I have a personal hobby of trying to find one of these thoughts that only can be thought of in one language and not another and I have yet to find one. All mode

I have a personal hobby of trying to find one of these thoughts that only can be thought of in one language and not another and I have yet to find one. All modern languages seem to be able to be used to express all human thoughts that can be expressed with any language.

Swizec 11y ago
In english it is very common to say that you are a "mommy" or "daddy" of your pet. It sounds normal and acceptable. In Slovenian it sounds like you're a mental patient who thinks they gave birth to a dog. So most people switch to English to express said sentiment since we imported it from US television. Even though we have a direct translation for the word "mommy", all the submeanings do not directly translate. So we sometimes use them as separate different words.
- danieltillett 11y ago
  I have to say even in English you sound like you are unhinged if you say you are the mommy or daddy of a pet. The concept here that is trying to be expressed is that you are the loving owner of the pet - loving like a parent is of a child. I am sure that this concept exists in Slovenian even if expressed using different words.
- panglott 11y ago
  People have begun to say this in the US, and it drives me nuts as a native speaker of English. I do not find it normal or acceptable. If you want kids, have kids or adopt them. Don't take an animal and twist it into filling your own emotional needs by treating it like a human infant.
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    > People have begun to say this in the US I encountered it first in the 1970s -- when my age was in the single digits. It might have been new then, but few people seemed to think it was noteworthy, so I doubt it. So, I think "have begun" is somewhat of a misrepresentation. > Don't take an animal and twist it into filling your own emotional needs by treating it like a human infant. IME, virtually none of the people who use this language treat their pets "like a human infant", and many of them have either biological or adopted children as well as pets.
  - panglott 11y ago
    My only anecdata is that I have only noticed it in the past few years, and it makes my skin crawl. Don't know how to get good data on the extent or prevalence of this practice, sounds like a lot of work. I'm describing an extreme, but I reckon it's the case that in American society there has been a significant increase in the use of animals for emotional work. As in treating domestic animals as pets and members of the family rather than work animals (for deterring vermin, hunting, guide work, &c.). Referring to pets by familial terms is a linguistic reflection of that.

Swizec 11y ago

In english it is very common to say that you are a "mommy" or "daddy" of your pet. It sounds normal and acceptable. In Slovenian it sounds like you're a mental patient who thinks they gave birth to a dog. So most people switch to English to express said sentiment since we imported it from US television. Even though we have a direct translation for the word "mommy", all the submeanings do not directly translate. So we sometimes use them as separate different words.

danieltillett 11y ago
I have to say even in English you sound like you are unhinged if you say you are the mommy or daddy of a pet. The concept here that is trying to be expressed is that you are the loving owner of the pet - loving like a parent is of a child. I am sure that this concept exists in Slovenian even if expressed using different words.
panglott 11y ago
People have begun to say this in the US, and it drives me nuts as a native speaker of English. I do not find it normal or acceptable. If you want kids, have kids or adopt them. Don't take an animal and twist it into filling your own emotional needs by treating it like a human infant.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > People have begun to say this in the US I encountered it first in the 1970s -- when my age was in the single digits. It might have been new then, but few people seemed to think it was noteworthy, so I doubt it. So, I think "have begun" is somewhat of a misrepresentation. > Don't take an animal and twist it into filling your own emotional needs by treating it like a human infant. IME, virtually none of the people who use this language treat their pets "like a human infant", and many of them have either biological or adopted children as well as pets.
- panglott 11y ago
  My only anecdata is that I have only noticed it in the past few years, and it makes my skin crawl. Don't know how to get good data on the extent or prevalence of this practice, sounds like a lot of work. I'm describing an extreme, but I reckon it's the case that in American society there has been a significant increase in the use of animals for emotional work. As in treating domestic animals as pets and members of the family rather than work animals (for deterring vermin, hunting, guide work, &c.). Referring to pets by familial terms is a linguistic reflection of that.