Anthropomorphism
Discussion
In most facets of life I try to practice tolerance. Live and let live. But when people insist on referring to their cars as ‘he’, ‘she’ or by human names, it inevitably triggers in me an episode of abject misanthropy.
I know it doesn’t harm anyone. I’m a grumpy codge who ought to chill and have more respect for others’ right to live their lives differently. But can anyone help me justify why it winds me up as much as it does?
I know it doesn’t harm anyone. I’m a grumpy codge who ought to chill and have more respect for others’ right to live their lives differently. But can anyone help me justify why it winds me up as much as it does?
Olivergt said:
What about animals, if someone talks to and treats their pet like a human, how do you feel then?
There’s a school of thought that humanising pets is actually dangerous for them. But it doesn’t bother me, no. Dressing up your pets in human-style clothing is odd. But it doesn’t fill me with the overflowing desire to lash out that invariably occurs when people refer to their cars by human pronouns or names.I can overlook the odd ‘she’ but when a human pronoun or name is used repeatedly to describe a car, my inner Bruce Banner comes out.
plenty said:
In most facets of life I try to practice tolerance. Live and let live. But when people insist on referring to their cars as ‘he’, ‘she’ or by human names, it inevitably triggers in me an episode of abject misanthropy.
I know it doesn’t harm anyone. I’m a grumpy codge who ought to chill and have more respect for others’ right to live their lives differently. But can anyone help me justify why it winds me up as much as it does?
I think you need to stop letting other peoples strangeness bother you so much, you’ll drive yourself potty if you dont, what with people calling their cars names, people treating animals like they are their children, people insisting that you call them ‘they’.I know it doesn’t harm anyone. I’m a grumpy codge who ought to chill and have more respect for others’ right to live their lives differently. But can anyone help me justify why it winds me up as much as it does?
Just let people do whatever makes them happy and do whatever makes you happy
slopes said:
I think you need to stop letting other peoples strangeness bother you so much, you’ll drive yourself potty if you dont, what with people calling their cars names, people treating animals like they are their children, people insisting that you call them ‘they’.
You’re absolutely right. It’s just that I have no problem at all with those other two things yet the first is like nails on a blackboard, and was hoping for some insight as to why.Indeed, it is rather odd when someone chooses to name and assign a gender an inanimate object. Naming a car is wholly an addition suitable for the council thread.
Ships and sailing vessels on the other hand were historically named after or dedicated to goddesses or women or national importance, and that has stuck.
My dad spent a number of years working out in Japan and learned to speak it fluently, a country which also uses some gendered words in the language. If I were to be in the garage with him now and ask him where a particular tool is, he would occasionally say 'he' is on the top shelf, or over there, or wherever. It gets rather irritating sometimes when he refers to a plant in the garden or a glass in the kitchen as 'he'.
Ships and sailing vessels on the other hand were historically named after or dedicated to goddesses or women or national importance, and that has stuck.
My dad spent a number of years working out in Japan and learned to speak it fluently, a country which also uses some gendered words in the language. If I were to be in the garage with him now and ask him where a particular tool is, he would occasionally say 'he' is on the top shelf, or over there, or wherever. It gets rather irritating sometimes when he refers to a plant in the garden or a glass in the kitchen as 'he'.
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