I'm serious about this

[evilbutterfly]

DISCLAIMER: This is not meant as spam or anything like that

Onomatopoeias And They're Incorrectness

I've been thinking about this for some time, and I believe that many onomatopoeias are not true to their described sounds. This especially occurs with noises that animals make (or so is my observation). For example, one that has come to my attention is the noise that cows make. Most, when asked what noise a cow makes, would answer "moo." I disagree with this, and am here to say that cows in fact say "merrr" more often than "moo." It's not that I can really do anything about it, but I'd like to know what you all think of this; whether you agree or disagree, or if you know of other innapropriate sound words.

Again, this is meant as completly serious, as it is the kind of critical thinking that I do on a regular basis. And no, I am not a stoner, though I am told that I act much like one.

[xObserveRx]

Cows, it seems to me, don't really make any specific noise. It's mainly just some low pitch whines or grunts, or the two combined which i guess you COULD say sounds SOMETHING like "moo". But if you actually pay attention and listen, its not really "moo". So i don't know exactly WHAT the sound would be spelled like, but i know its not "moo" or "merr".

[Afrobean]

I voted moo even though the sound of a cow is, in reality, not that close to moo. However, I feel moo is a lot closer than merr or anything that I can think of.

[RobbyZero]

They make noises because they are too fat and they eat too much and they bitch and whine about they're tities

[1-4-4]

Mostly cows always say "Moo".

[talisman]

I think its more like mmRRRRRRrrr.

[BluE_MeaniE]

Well, animal sounds in different languages are usually similar yet different, so there aren't really any perfect animal sounds, but moo or merr or mú is as close as you can get.

[JustJono]

I think it's just a low pitched grunt.
So either: nguhhh
Or: ngurrrrrr

[Omeganitros]

The great part is how this thread is all serious and we're like "Cows go MRRRRrrrr..." and "No, they MoooOOOooo..." and "Youre both wrong they go mmmMMMMnnnn..."

[xObserveRx]

doesn't really matter, as long as we all know they just don't make the exact "moo" or "merr" as stated above.

[Feuergeist]

I say meerr

[evilbutterfly]

Originally Posted by talisman

I think its more like mmRRRRRRrrr.

THATs it! i wasnt sure how to put it, but i believe that's what i meant.

what we could really use here is some actual recorded cow noises...

[dontcareaboutmyid]

That can't be it because there's vowel sounds within the moo

its more like "MurrRRRrr"

[alainbryden]

Horses go neigh

[evilbutterfly]

alain, i must disagee. i would say horses say something else, something that i dont know how to type on the keyboard...when i find a sound clip and can try and onomatepoia-ize the word i will

[perfect_fat]

Well, look at different languages. In french, cats say Miaou or something like that. It's pronounced totally differently and is unrepresentative of the sound. Why doesn't everybody just be like me and mimic the animal *chews cud*

[BluE_MeaniE]

That's what I was saying. So the animal sounds aren't exact, and people just were imitating them, and then eventually turning into a word.

En español, perros hacen <<guau>>

[peregrine]

honestly, I can't say I've been around cows long enough to know for sure... and I'm kinda proud I can say that.

However, I do have lots of experience with cats, and I've never heard any of my cats EVER say something to how we pronounce "meow"... it's always been a "rrrrrRRRROW" or "mrrrrow" sound... heavy emphasis on the r's and that non-hostile-growling sound stringed r's produce.

However, by definition an omena-too lazy to look it up-tapeia is a word that immitates the actual sound... therefore it's not that the omenata-whatchihosits are incorrect... just those words AREN'T omenata-::fingers crash into keyboard::-jdbfajdbfjias. That simple.

(Yes, I know the word. Yes, I know what it means. No, I don't know how to spell it. No, I don't really care to either)

[dontcareaboutmyid]

cats have over a hundred different vocal sounds. any of those could be right.

It's kind of like shakespear. theman came up with the word puke off of the sound. same thing with hurl.

although ifit were me i'd just say praying to the porcelin god or tangoing with the toilet

[evilbutterfly]

i think the different languages thing may have been what got me started on it. in spanish when we learned that cock-a-doodle-do in spanish is qui-quirri-qui (not sure on spelling) i got to thinking. somehow i got stuck on cows and mooing. anywho, yeah, i suppose onomatepoias are one of those things that are "in the eye of the beholder." well, in the ear of the be-hearer, anyways. but, what i'm saying is that i personally think cows dont moo. in fact, most animal noise sounds arent very true to the actual noise they supposedly describe.

ps: lol at the spelling, peregrine