A Michael Broad Blog
The research seems to show that cats can assign a meaning to a word in minutes. Moreover, they did this without special training or the prospect of being rewarded, which mirrors how infant humans learn languages. – The Times newspaper Oct 24, 2024. This Japanese study confirms what observant cat caregivers know namely that …
The answer that I have provided is simple and straightforward. You’ll probably see different answers to the question because the exact origin is a bit of a mystery still. I trust this one as it comes from Dr Morris writing in his book ‘Catlore’, although I knew this answer already. In the 1920s and …
‘Superlatives’ in the context of the cat breeds are adjectives describing the: You see superlatives in respect of the cat breeds a lot because they interest people who are thinking of adopting a purebred cat. Buyers/adopters are researching the cat breeds and they want guidance. So, the website owners ask their authors to come …
In the context of the theft of your cat, there are three different types of stealing: plain stealing i.e. theft, robbery and burglary. What’s the difference between them? It’s quite useful to know because there’s lots of thievery occurring in Great Britain today not infrequently of dogs and cats. Stealing/theft: in essence, this is …
‘Floof’ is an onomatopoeic word. It originates in the way that it sounds when it is said. It’s also a version of the word “fluffy”. But fluffy is an adjective and “floof” is a noun. It appears to be a social media creation derived from the fact that many domestic cats have nice fluffy …
The unfortunate and unpleasant phrase used in government and business ‘dead cat strategy’ needs to be discarded and never used again. Currently, in the UK, there is an enquiry into how the UK government dealt with the Covid-19 crisis (very badly by all accounts). It will cost a staggering £200m! What a waste of …
You see it often: cat show judges and even Wikipedia describing the Maine Coon cat as a “natural breed”. In fact, Wikipedia opens up with the statement that the Maine Coon cat is “one of the oldest natural breeds in North America”. It seems to me that the phrase “natural breed” is an oxymoron, …
The term ‘ram-cat’ is an early name for a male cat. An alternative name at the time was ‘boar-cat’. Both these very old-fashioned terms were superseded by ‘tomcat’ in the 18th century. Today the word tomcat actually means an unneutered male cat; a street cat doing what tomcats do which is establish and defend …
