Stupid Cute Rant

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Tue January 11th, 2011, 4:31 am

I was just thinking this while about to fall off to sleep....

Why are little kids called Rugrats? Rats are awful, ugly, evil creatures!

Why not Rugbunnies, rugpuppies, rugkitties, anything but rats!

SM

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Tue January 11th, 2011, 5:29 am

I'm not real fond of the term, which I suspect is more often used by the male of the species. Not having kids myself, I haven't had to do a lot of baby-related chores, so I tend to see more of their charming side. But parents of babies at the crawling stage, much as they may love their children, are only too aware of some of their less charming qualities. I suspect the term is a not-too-veiled outlet for letting off steam about the more annoying characteristics of babies - it's kind of taboo to complain openly about one's children, and this is a way to get away with it.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Tue January 11th, 2011, 5:44 am

I associate the term indelibly with the cartoon series of the same name, which I hated. I'm not sure why, because it was clever enough, but I think just the way the characters were drawn creeped me out. I found them repulsive to look at.

Oh, it's coming back to me now--the kids talked in baby talk, which irritated me too.

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Tue January 11th, 2011, 11:53 am

I used to keep rats as pets when I was a kid! Seriously, they may not be as cute as mice but domestic rats are clean and well tempered as long as they are regularly handled. I never had one of my rats bite me - but I can't say the same for the gerbils we had. As a pet, they are no different to any other rodent. Though rodents in general are kind of boring pets.

That said, I have no idea where the term came from.

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Tue January 11th, 2011, 6:39 pm

[quote=""Mythica""]I used to keep rats as pets when I was a kid! Seriously, they may not be as cute as mice but domestic rats are clean and well tempered as long as they are regularly handled. I never had one of my rats bite me - but I can't say the same for the gerbils we had. As a pet, they are no different to any other rodent. Though rodents in general are kind of boring pets.

That said, I have no idea where the term came from.[/quote]

I know some people have great rat pets, but their my biggest phobia, I can't even stand looking at animated ones, watching "Ratatouille" was a bit of a torture.

SM

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Wed January 12th, 2011, 10:18 am

[quote=""SonjaMarie""]I know some people have great rat pets, but their my biggest phobia, I can't even stand looking at animated ones, watching "Ratatouille" was a bit of a torture.

SM[/quote]

LOL My Nan was like that, the tails creeped her out apparently. The only thing that terrified her more was water and to be fair, she did almost drown once. I don't know, maybe she was attacked by rats once too.