Subject: Freedom Of Speech
>I wonder just how big a part the ferrets 'accents' play in these stories,
>and whether if they suddenly learned to talk properly they wouldn't gain a
>lot more friends and followers.
 
Hi!  Shredni and Scooter here.  Our human slave says she thinks (and we
agree) that the fert communications at the pooter are a hoot, but they're so
difficult to read we tend to give up after one paragraph (or 8 lines,
whichever comes first).
 
Our human refers to a famous writer from the 1800s (around the time of the
Civil War, she believes) who wrote phonetically, and it was sheer torture to
understand what he was saying.  Dialects can be rich with meaning, but they
work best when spoken, not written.  Our brains expect to *hear* all kinds
of strange sounds and happily translate them instantly into conversational
English.  Her eyes, *the ones needing new reading glasses.  again.* (our
weezil eyes are fine) refuse to cooperate with anything that doesn't look an
awful lot like standard-if-boring English.
 
So, our vote is give those ferts more pooter time, but make them head for
night school remedial English-as-she-isa-spoken.
 
Love and hugs to the blushing brides, the nervous grooms and all the wedding
party in general.
 
Shredni (thanks for mixing the Hershey's in with the icky medicine, Mom)
Scooter (how come he gets chocolate and I get this crummy asparagus?)
and their humans, Rainey and Stormin (it's 2 am, why is there a weezil in
bed with us??)
 
*** the more i see of people, the more i love animals ***
*** if you haven't grown up by age 35, you don't have to! ***
[Posted in FML issue 1615]