Post by Silentstar on Jan 5, 2011 22:18:35 GMT -7
In General
Cats from different cultures describe their world in different ways even though they share the same language. Often the alternate wording is easy enough to figure out, but sometimes the terms used need to be explained because their meaning is less obvious (kittypets generally don't immediately understand what a Clan cat means by the Cutter, but they know what is meant by Twolegs) or because they describe concepts completely foreign to them (like if a kittypet mentions a kitchen).
Loners and Rogues
Which words these cats use depend on their background and who they're talking to. Cats who used to be kittypets, Clan cats, or a part of any other culture of cats tend to rely on that wording primarily, but if they're familiar with the words used by the cat they're talking to they may use them instead.
Clan Specific Terms
Glossary:
Apprentice - A cat over six moons old, currently in training to be a warrior or medicine cat
Blood-beat - The heartbeat of prey
Camp - A Clan's home
Crowfood - Dead prey that has begun to rot
Cutter - A veterinarian, usually directly referring specifically to one who fixes cats
Den - An enclosed space where cats make their nests. A camp has six of them:
Leader's Den - usually small but comfortable and private
Medicine Cat's Den - large enough to accommodate the medicine cat, an apprentice, and several sick cats and often has a water source
Warriors' Den
Apprentices' Den - usually the worst one
Elders' Den - usually the most comfortable one
Nursery - always in the safest part of the camp, shared by all the kits and queens
Deputy - A warrior who is second in command to the leader, organizes much of the Clan's daily activities, and replaces the leader when they die. They're in charge of organizing patrols, substitute for the leader when needed, and follow the directions their leader gives them. They're also expected to do everything a regular warrior does on top of that.
Dirtplace - A remote, undesirable part of the camp where cats in the Clan make dirt and deposit refuse
Elder - Cats who, do to age or permanent injury, can no longer be a warrior
Fox-length - About a yard in length
Fresh-kill - Prey that has been caught recently enough to not be crowfood
Fresh-kill pile - The place in the middle of the camp where hunters bring fresh-kill for the Clan
Gathering - The monthly meeting between Clans that takes place during the full moon truce
Greenleaf - Summer
Heartbeat - An instant; usually replaces the word "second" in reference to time
Kit - A cat younger than 6 moons old
Kit-hop - About an inch and a half
Kittypet - A cat that's taken care of by Twolegs
Leader - The cat who controls the entire Clan. They perform the various ceremonies of Clan, solve conflicts, punish cats who break the warrior code, lead the Clan in battles, speak for the Clan, and make all the other major decisions. They also perform all the regular warrior duties. StarClan gives them nine lives so that they "can be first in every battle and last to take a piece of fresh-kill". These lives don't make them live longer, but heal them when they would have otherwise died.
Leafbare - Winter
Leaffall - Autumn
Loner - A cat who isn't taken care of by Twolegs but lives outside of the Clan.
Making Dirt - Equivalent to "using the restroom"
Mates - A tomcat and a she-cat are considered mates when they recognize themselves as being "together". There is no ceremony for this, but despite the informal nature of it these relationships tend to be extremely stable except in cases of forbidden love or extreme conflict.
Medicine Cat - The cat in charge of keeping the Clan healthy and interpreting StarClan's will
Mentor - The warrior charged with training a particular apprentice
Monster - A huge beast that eats Twolegs, carries them to another place, and spits them out They have eyes that glow when it gets dark, huge black paws that are very dangerous, and terrible breath
Moon - About a month (but to make things easier, we're going to say it lasts exactly a month)
Half-moon - About two weeks or half a month
Quarter-moon - About a week
Moonhigh - When the moon is directly overhead; midnight during a full moon
Mouse-tail - About an inch
Mouse-length - About two or three inches
Newleaf - Spring
Pawprint - About three and a half inches
Pawstep - About six inches
Queen - A she-cat who is expecting kits or is currently caring for kits. Also refers to those she-cats who choose to remain in the nursery to help other queens care for their kits. Queens are not required to explain who fathered her kits, but if she doesn't then the question can become a matter of heavy speculation by the Clan.
Rabbit-hop - About a foot and a half in length
Rogue - A wandering cat without a territory
Season - A quarter of a year or three moons
Sharing Tongues - A common activity in the evening when cats are resting. One cat talks while the other listens and grooms the talker, and they alternate. A platonic activity, usually between friends, it's a good way to share the latest gossip.
Silverpelt - The large swath of stars in the sky, believed to be the visible manifestation of StarClan
Sunhigh - Noon
Sunrise - One day. (The word "dawn" is used to mean the time of day when the sun comes up.)
Tail-length - About a foot in length
Thunderpath - The extremely strong-smelling path that monsters use
Tree-length - About 40 or 50 feet
Twoleg - A human
Twoleg kit - A human child
Twoleg nest/den - A human's house; a nest would imply a smaller structure than a den
Twolegplace - A town, city, or village
She-cat - A female cat
Tom or Tomcat - A male cat
Warrior - A fully grown and fully trained Clan cat
Insults, Phrases, and Exclamations:
As much use as a dead fox - A strong insult
Bees in your brain - Means the cat isn't making sense
Crowfood-eater - A strong insult
Fishface, Fish-breath - An insult non-fish-eating cats use for those that do
Furball - An insult that is anywhere from friendly to strong depending on the situation
Fox-dung - Both an insult and an exclamation
Fox-hearted - An insult for a cat who is cruel, cold, or evil
Hedgehogs flying - Clan equivalent to pigs flying
You fight like a kittypet - An insult for a bad fighter
You hunt like a kittypet - An insult for a bad hunter
Fight like LionClan/TigerClan - Means that they fight very well
Fluff-brain - An insult for a cat who doesn't understand something
Mouse-brain - Stupid; can be anything from a friendly to a strong insult depending on the situation
Mouse-dung - Both an insult and an exclamation
Mouse-hearted - An insult for a coward
I don't give a mousetail - Means that the cat doesn't care
I would ___ for a mousetail - Means they'd do it for no reward
Sorry catches no prey/fills no bellies - Means that that an apology changes nothing
Great StarClan - A strong exclamation of surprise or anger
StarClan's kits - A strong exclamation of surprise or disbelief
What in StarClan's name? - An exclamation similar to "What on earth?"
Only StarClan knows - Means that nobody knows
Doesn't matter a whisker - Means that the cat doesn't care
Kittypet Terms
Kittypets understand many of the words used by their housefolk and usually use them instead of the words used by the Clan. Additionally:
Housefolk - What kittypets call Twolegs, usually referring specifically to the ones that care for them
Veterinarian - Described by one kittypet as a "Twoleg medicine cat", who seem to be far more effective than a Clan's medicine cat
Workfolk - In the books this specifically referred to construction workers, though kittypets probably generalize the term to mean any human that comes around as a part of their job. Much less likely to be friendly than housefolk.
Tribe Specific Terms
(Note: The following is intended for inspiration for those coming up with different cultures only, as Tribe cats aren't allowed in this forum.)
Beetle-brain - Equivalent to a mouse-brain
Caught-prey - Equivalent to fresh-kill
Cave-Guard - A strong cat whose only jobs are to guard the cave and protect prey-hunters while they hunt
Elder - The same thing as an elder in the Clan
Healer - A combination between a leader and a medicine cat, this is the cat who leads the Tribe
Kit - The same thing as a kit in the Clan
Kit-Mother - The Tribe equivalent of a queen
Prey-Hunter - A quick cat whose only job is to hunt
Time of Freed Water - Spring
Time of Frozen Water - Winter
To-Be - The equivalent of an apprentice, in training to become a prey-hunter or cave-guard. Tribe cats believe that they are born to one duty or the other.
Tribe of Endless Hunting - Similar to StarClan
Other
There isn't much info on other cultures of cats, though there's a taste of it in that the Clan cats of the books have encountered cats who refer to Twolegs as Upwalkers and Nofurs.
Cats from different cultures describe their world in different ways even though they share the same language. Often the alternate wording is easy enough to figure out, but sometimes the terms used need to be explained because their meaning is less obvious (kittypets generally don't immediately understand what a Clan cat means by the Cutter, but they know what is meant by Twolegs) or because they describe concepts completely foreign to them (like if a kittypet mentions a kitchen).
Loners and Rogues
Which words these cats use depend on their background and who they're talking to. Cats who used to be kittypets, Clan cats, or a part of any other culture of cats tend to rely on that wording primarily, but if they're familiar with the words used by the cat they're talking to they may use them instead.
Clan Specific Terms
Glossary:
Apprentice - A cat over six moons old, currently in training to be a warrior or medicine cat
Blood-beat - The heartbeat of prey
Camp - A Clan's home
Crowfood - Dead prey that has begun to rot
Cutter - A veterinarian, usually directly referring specifically to one who fixes cats
Den - An enclosed space where cats make their nests. A camp has six of them:
Leader's Den - usually small but comfortable and private
Medicine Cat's Den - large enough to accommodate the medicine cat, an apprentice, and several sick cats and often has a water source
Warriors' Den
Apprentices' Den - usually the worst one
Elders' Den - usually the most comfortable one
Nursery - always in the safest part of the camp, shared by all the kits and queens
Deputy - A warrior who is second in command to the leader, organizes much of the Clan's daily activities, and replaces the leader when they die. They're in charge of organizing patrols, substitute for the leader when needed, and follow the directions their leader gives them. They're also expected to do everything a regular warrior does on top of that.
Dirtplace - A remote, undesirable part of the camp where cats in the Clan make dirt and deposit refuse
Elder - Cats who, do to age or permanent injury, can no longer be a warrior
Fox-length - About a yard in length
Fresh-kill - Prey that has been caught recently enough to not be crowfood
Fresh-kill pile - The place in the middle of the camp where hunters bring fresh-kill for the Clan
Gathering - The monthly meeting between Clans that takes place during the full moon truce
Greenleaf - Summer
Heartbeat - An instant; usually replaces the word "second" in reference to time
Kit - A cat younger than 6 moons old
Kit-hop - About an inch and a half
Kittypet - A cat that's taken care of by Twolegs
Leader - The cat who controls the entire Clan. They perform the various ceremonies of Clan, solve conflicts, punish cats who break the warrior code, lead the Clan in battles, speak for the Clan, and make all the other major decisions. They also perform all the regular warrior duties. StarClan gives them nine lives so that they "can be first in every battle and last to take a piece of fresh-kill". These lives don't make them live longer, but heal them when they would have otherwise died.
Leafbare - Winter
Leaffall - Autumn
Loner - A cat who isn't taken care of by Twolegs but lives outside of the Clan.
Making Dirt - Equivalent to "using the restroom"
Mates - A tomcat and a she-cat are considered mates when they recognize themselves as being "together". There is no ceremony for this, but despite the informal nature of it these relationships tend to be extremely stable except in cases of forbidden love or extreme conflict.
Medicine Cat - The cat in charge of keeping the Clan healthy and interpreting StarClan's will
Mentor - The warrior charged with training a particular apprentice
Monster - A huge beast that eats Twolegs, carries them to another place, and spits them out They have eyes that glow when it gets dark, huge black paws that are very dangerous, and terrible breath
Moon - About a month (but to make things easier, we're going to say it lasts exactly a month)
Half-moon - About two weeks or half a month
Quarter-moon - About a week
Moonhigh - When the moon is directly overhead; midnight during a full moon
Mouse-tail - About an inch
Mouse-length - About two or three inches
Newleaf - Spring
Pawprint - About three and a half inches
Pawstep - About six inches
Queen - A she-cat who is expecting kits or is currently caring for kits. Also refers to those she-cats who choose to remain in the nursery to help other queens care for their kits. Queens are not required to explain who fathered her kits, but if she doesn't then the question can become a matter of heavy speculation by the Clan.
Rabbit-hop - About a foot and a half in length
Rogue - A wandering cat without a territory
Season - A quarter of a year or three moons
Sharing Tongues - A common activity in the evening when cats are resting. One cat talks while the other listens and grooms the talker, and they alternate. A platonic activity, usually between friends, it's a good way to share the latest gossip.
Silverpelt - The large swath of stars in the sky, believed to be the visible manifestation of StarClan
Sunhigh - Noon
Sunrise - One day. (The word "dawn" is used to mean the time of day when the sun comes up.)
Tail-length - About a foot in length
Thunderpath - The extremely strong-smelling path that monsters use
Tree-length - About 40 or 50 feet
Twoleg - A human
Twoleg kit - A human child
Twoleg nest/den - A human's house; a nest would imply a smaller structure than a den
Twolegplace - A town, city, or village
She-cat - A female cat
Tom or Tomcat - A male cat
Warrior - A fully grown and fully trained Clan cat
Insults, Phrases, and Exclamations:
As much use as a dead fox - A strong insult
Bees in your brain - Means the cat isn't making sense
Crowfood-eater - A strong insult
Fishface, Fish-breath - An insult non-fish-eating cats use for those that do
Furball - An insult that is anywhere from friendly to strong depending on the situation
Fox-dung - Both an insult and an exclamation
Fox-hearted - An insult for a cat who is cruel, cold, or evil
Hedgehogs flying - Clan equivalent to pigs flying
You fight like a kittypet - An insult for a bad fighter
You hunt like a kittypet - An insult for a bad hunter
Fight like LionClan/TigerClan - Means that they fight very well
Fluff-brain - An insult for a cat who doesn't understand something
Mouse-brain - Stupid; can be anything from a friendly to a strong insult depending on the situation
Mouse-dung - Both an insult and an exclamation
Mouse-hearted - An insult for a coward
I don't give a mousetail - Means that the cat doesn't care
I would ___ for a mousetail - Means they'd do it for no reward
Sorry catches no prey/fills no bellies - Means that that an apology changes nothing
Great StarClan - A strong exclamation of surprise or anger
StarClan's kits - A strong exclamation of surprise or disbelief
What in StarClan's name? - An exclamation similar to "What on earth?"
Only StarClan knows - Means that nobody knows
Doesn't matter a whisker - Means that the cat doesn't care
Kittypet Terms
Kittypets understand many of the words used by their housefolk and usually use them instead of the words used by the Clan. Additionally:
Housefolk - What kittypets call Twolegs, usually referring specifically to the ones that care for them
Veterinarian - Described by one kittypet as a "Twoleg medicine cat", who seem to be far more effective than a Clan's medicine cat
Workfolk - In the books this specifically referred to construction workers, though kittypets probably generalize the term to mean any human that comes around as a part of their job. Much less likely to be friendly than housefolk.
Tribe Specific Terms
(Note: The following is intended for inspiration for those coming up with different cultures only, as Tribe cats aren't allowed in this forum.)
Beetle-brain - Equivalent to a mouse-brain
Caught-prey - Equivalent to fresh-kill
Cave-Guard - A strong cat whose only jobs are to guard the cave and protect prey-hunters while they hunt
Elder - The same thing as an elder in the Clan
Healer - A combination between a leader and a medicine cat, this is the cat who leads the Tribe
Kit - The same thing as a kit in the Clan
Kit-Mother - The Tribe equivalent of a queen
Prey-Hunter - A quick cat whose only job is to hunt
Time of Freed Water - Spring
Time of Frozen Water - Winter
To-Be - The equivalent of an apprentice, in training to become a prey-hunter or cave-guard. Tribe cats believe that they are born to one duty or the other.
Tribe of Endless Hunting - Similar to StarClan
Other
There isn't much info on other cultures of cats, though there's a taste of it in that the Clan cats of the books have encountered cats who refer to Twolegs as Upwalkers and Nofurs.