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Cats Can Has Grammar [Image macro]
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| April 23, 2007
| Anil Dash
Posted on 04/28/2007 7:50:46 PM PDT by Daffynition
If you spend any time at all observing net culture, then you'll have been unable to miss the recent explosion in popularity of lolcats. This relatively recent phenomenon is the convention of taking pictures of cute animals, most frequently cats, and overlaying absurdist captions on the images.
The core behavior has existed for some time; "Image macro" is a generic term for this kind of folk art, and cats have always featured heavily in these types of Internet in-jokes. But a few distinct categories have sprung up that have helped amplify and popularize the phenomenon.
- Invisible Item. Variations on the seminal Invisible Bike, these are images of cats, usually in midair, with captions that prompt us to fill in imaginary objects or actions that complete the scene. There's something brilliant to these images, speaking to our mind's ability to intuitively extrapolate unseen details.
- Kitty Pidgin. And finally, the newly dominant lolcats, of the family I Can Has Cheezeburger? These seem to be spawning nearly infinite variations, and have exploded in popularity since being named "lolcats" instead of the more general "image macro" or "cat macro".
The rise of these new subspecies of lolcats are particularly interesting to me because "I can has cheezeburger?" has a fairly consistent grammar. I wasn't sure this was true until I realized that it's possible to get cat-speak wrong.
Incorrect kitty pidgin jumped to my attention the first time I saw a reference to Dune being used with a lolcat image. The caption on the linked version of the image, "The spice must flow." is fine, if not particularly cat-like. But the caption on the version I saw first was much more verbose: "I are dunecat. I controls the spice, I controls the universe." Besides being an awkward attempt at overexplaining the punchline (I've never read Dune or seen the film, but the joke is obvious) this was just all wrong. The fact that we can tell no cat would talk like this shows that kitty pidgin is actually quite consistent.
I was having a conversation with Ben and Ben a few weeks ago where I suggested this consistent grammar for lolcats could be a "cweeole". Knowing a bit more about such things now, I realize this isn't a creole but more likely a pidgin language, used to help cats talk to humans. And since "pidgin" is already a cutesy spelling of a mispronunciation, there doesn't seem to be any really cute way to rename it to reflect its uniqueness. "Kitty pidgin" might be the closest thing we have to a name for this new language.
There's a consistent visual vocabulary to the construct, as well. If it ain't Impact or Arial Black or some other nondescript sans serif font, it ain't lolcat. White letters with a black outline are a must. But codifying a design guide for lolcats is well beyond my abilities.
Unfortunately, the evolution of these grammars online can be very difficult to track down; This kind of nascent web culture is generally frowned upon by Wikipedia (witness the deletion of the I'm in ur base article since the Ask MetaFilter thread just a few months ago) and there are no other sites designed to collect definitive collaborative reference material. It's going to take time to document kitty pidgin with any degree of accuracy.
I've just started bouncing the idea of kitty pidgin off of Erin and Grant, two of my favorite word experts, but I'm confident that someday we'll have kitty pidgin dictionaries. Perhaps we'll even get all the niceties that Klingon and Elmer Fudd-speak enjoy, like a Google translation, a Microsoft Word dictionary, or a cat-native version of the Bible or Shakespeare.
I has a links
Okay, go out and look at some of the finest kitty-related content:
TOPICS: Hobbies
KEYWORDS: epigraphyandlanguage; kitty; lolcat
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To: rainbow sprinkles
I am a very devoted lolcats - I Can Has Cheezburger fan.
I've "stolen" quite a few images off of there. ;-)
41
posted on
04/29/2007 2:18:05 AM PDT
by
Allegra
(Hey! Quiet Down Out There!)
To: Slings and Arrows
LOL!
To: rainbow sprinkles
43
posted on
04/29/2007 2:43:35 AM PDT
by
Silly
(http://www.sarcasmoff.com)
To: BlueDragon
44
posted on
04/29/2007 5:39:12 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
(I has memez.)
To: martin_fierro
45
posted on
04/29/2007 5:48:58 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
(I has memez.)
To: KoRn
46
posted on
04/29/2007 5:51:36 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
(I has memez.)
To: Allegra
47
posted on
04/29/2007 5:53:55 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
(I has memez.)
To: All
48
posted on
04/29/2007 5:59:18 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
(I has memez.)
To: rainbow sprinkles
ROFL!! I can really relate to that one!
{stealing it...}
49
posted on
04/29/2007 6:00:12 AM PDT
by
Allegra
(Hey! Quiet Down Out There!)
To: Silly
50
posted on
04/29/2007 6:00:18 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
(I has memez.)
To: Allegra
51
posted on
04/29/2007 6:02:58 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
(I has memez.)
To: kalee
To: Slings and Arrows
53
posted on
04/29/2007 6:53:18 AM PDT
by
Fawn
(Achmed the Dead Terrorist--> http://youtube.com/watch?v=2QXQFTEBqNE)
To: Fawn
54
posted on
04/29/2007 7:06:46 AM PDT
by
Lazamataz
(JOIN THE NRA: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp)
To: Fawn
55
posted on
04/29/2007 7:09:18 AM PDT
by
Slings and Arrows
("I AM A SEXY SHOELESS GOD OF WAR!!!" --http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0439.html)
To: rainbow sprinkles
Rainbow Sprinkles, I always knew were a genius! I think these lolcats are very funny and I cannot get enough of them. I have been wondering who invented this and why is it so funny? I think the walrus is absolutely hysterical. I actually look forward to Caturday. How is it I so readily accept a walrus in this? Why is it I can look at the cat and read the words and so clearly imagine the cat saying that? Have you seen the ones where it is the same picture and sentiment but it is written out in very a very long and proper manner? Should I get outside in the fresh air more? Should I start talking to real three dimensional people?
To: All
Favorite LOLRUS ...
To: A knight without armor
Dunno the answers to your good questions knightster ...but on Wednesday I'm going to be in a pool with a beluga. I'm really looking forward to the experience ... critters like these beautiful, intelligent white whales fascinate me. [Stay tuned for a report.] Walrus and Stellars are cool too!
58
posted on
04/29/2007 11:17:06 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
("Sea canaries" RULE!!!)
To: rainbow sprinkles
59
posted on
04/29/2007 11:48:50 AM PDT
by
Allegra
(Hey! Quiet Down Out There!)
To: Allegra
60
posted on
04/29/2007 11:56:09 AM PDT
by
Daffynition
(Don't call us "gun nuts"! With a government like ours, we'd be nuts not to have guns!)
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