Saturday, April 25, 2020

Doggolingo goes mainstream

I've been seeing more and more DoggoLingo references in the mainstream press in recent weeks. It seems to have percolated down into the general consciousness from its hipster millennial online origins, and is now no longer solely encountered in those excruciatingly twee animal-based social media sites (sorry, I let my opinions take over there - my daughter would, and does, tell me that it's just that I don't understand the subtleties of millennial humour, and who's to say she's not right).
DoggoLingo is an internet "language" based on adapted English words, heavy on cute-sounding diminutives and onomatopeia, which is implicitly (although not explicitly) supposed to mimic how a dog (or cat or other animal - it is not limited to dogs) might think or speak, in their relentlessly joyful, scatter-brained way. It all seems a bit trite and pointless to me, but many people seem quite sold on it.
This is not intended as a definitive or comprehensive dictionary, but just to give a flavour of it:

  • Doggo - dog (duh!)
  • Pupper (pupperino) - puppy or small dog
  • Yapper - small yappy dog
  • Smol boi - a tiny dog
  • Boofer - big loud dog
  • Woofer (big 'ol doggo) - even bigger loud dog
  • Longboi - long-bodied dog like a greyhound or Saluki
  • Hot doggo (smol longboi pupper) - a Dachshund
  • Floofer - fluffy dog like a Pomeranian
  • Thicc boi - chubby or overweight dog
  • Chonker - chubby, chinky or overweight
  • Bork - bark
  • Boof - a kind of whispered or partial bark
  • Awoo - howling
  • Mlem - a doggy lick
  • Blep (blop) - when a tired dog or cat's 's tongue hangs out just a little
  • Sploot - stretched out with legs behind
  • Snoot - a dog's nose
  • Boop - a light tap or touch on the nose
  • Tocks - a dog's buttocks
  • Toe beans - the pads of a paw
  • Heckin' bamboozled - totally confused (in a doggy sort of way)
  • Doing me a frighten - anything that scares a dog
  • Fren' - a canine friend
  • Zoomies (maximum borkdrive) - running so fast that it's just a blur
  • Tippy-taps - dancing with happiness
  • Catto - cat (duh!)
  • Snek (danger noodle) - snake

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