Nah

I realized I never posted these here on tumblr! 2020 did unspeakable things to my mind and body…I staggered away from lockdown with a whole pitch of how I would make an animated Cats adaptation. I got the whole thing up here *taps skull*—it would be Very Good. I can’t think about it too much lest I awaken my sleeping obsession…still want to finish Old Deut and Macavity one of these days.

Fun fact: The term "Jellicle Cat" is actually the cats’ mishearing of the term "Dear Little Cat" (this gives me much joy)

These are the illustrations of mine that get reposted the most without credit lmao so if you’ve seen these in the wild, it me

Hi so this phenomena is whats known as a sinkhole. For those of you that dont know let me lay it out for you.

“In hospital” -> Americans say “in the hospital.”

“Motorway” -> highway.

“Crisps” —> “chips” but he knew that haha a lot of this is jokes

“Shite” -> “shit” but I think he knew that, this is clearly jokes

But most tellingly there’s an interesting one:

“Slippy” (“the road was slippy”)

British, Irish, and Australian people have a part of the dialect where describing something, and they make it “verb-y”. Examples are “squirty cream” (aerosol whipped cream), or “wheelie bin” (the big trash can with wheels that you park outside). A viral picture of a door with a sign: “Caution: door is slammy.” Filtered honey that stays stable at room temp is “runny honey.” “Slippy” comes in quite naturally before “slippery.” However, most of the time it’s spontaneous: you apply the verb instantly in the situation and are understood even if it isn’t part of the normal lexicon. Doors are not commonly labelled “slammy” but everyone gets it.

It is only something you really notice when part of the dialect and I don’t really know what it’s called - I’m not a linguist - but it would be called something like “compulsive verb dimunitizing” or something. And Americans don’t do it. An American in this conversation might say “the road was icy/slippery”, but would be more likely to describe the situation: “he went into black ice!” “He took a pothole at 80!”

To Americans, “the road was slippy” in a conversation like this sounds borderline deranged and slightly disrespectful - absolute baby talk, like saying “the road was slippy-wippy and Chad got very silly! Now he’s deady-weady!”

Being American but also raised by gnomes, I personally love it. Let’s make verbs diminutive and use them as adjectives! Yeah! Let’s be little freaks!

Fizzy drinks (carbonated soft drinks)

Dippy egg (soft boiled egg served in an egg cup. Fun fact: the thin strips of toast that you dip into the egg are traditionally referred to as 'soldiers')

Time to go home

Some people say that cats don't make expressions but you can see the thoughts in this boy's head plain as day