Mad kitty!

Seanette Blaylock wrote:

I don't know where or how I acquired my snake phobia, but I cringe at
pictures of them.

You're not alone. A friend of mine says the same thing - she can't
even look at a photo of one.

I saw some tv show recently that claimed that humans do have an
innate aversion to snakes, but some people either don't have any
additional experiences making them really afraid of them, or are taught
not to fear them. It makes sense that primates would fear snakes in the
wild, so maybe we inherited our negative response to them. We do fear
fire, falling, and darkness innately, so why not snakes?

That said, I don't have a phobic reaction to snakes. I do have a
rational fear of being bitten by a venomous snake, ie, if I ran into
one I knew was, or thought might be, poisonous, I would be afraid -
or at least cautious. But the idea itself of a snake doesn't give me
the heebie jeebies or anything. In fact, if I know a snake is harmless,
I really like them! I like watching tv shows about them, I think
they're pretty, interesting, and, dare I say it, cute.

But lest you think I'm bragging, let me say that I *do* have a pretty
strong reaction to *bugs*. Not all bugs, and not in every situation.
But I would definitely cringe (or worse) to see a swarm of even quite
harmless insects.

Joyce

Seanette Blaylock wrote:

I don't know where or how I acquired my snake phobia, but I cringe at
pictures of them.

You're not alone. A friend of mine says the same thing - she can't
even look at a photo of one.

I saw some tv show recently that claimed that humans do have an
innate aversion to snakes, but some people either don't have any
additional experiences making them really afraid of them, or are taught
not to fear them. It makes sense that primates would fear snakes in the
wild, so maybe we inherited our negative response to them. We do fear
fire, falling, and darkness innately, so why not snakes?

That said, I don't have a phobic reaction to snakes. I do have a
rational fear of being bitten by a venomous snake, ie, if I ran into
one I knew was, or thought might be, poisonous, I would be afraid -
or at least cautious. But the idea itself of a snake doesn't give me
the heebie jeebies or anything. In fact, if I know a snake is harmless,
I really like them! I like watching tv shows about them, I think
they're pretty, interesting, and, dare I say it, cute.

But lest you think I'm bragging, let me say that I *do* have a pretty
strong reaction to *bugs*. Not all bugs, and not in every situation.
But I would definitely cringe (or worse) to see a swarm of even quite
harmless insects.

Joyce

Seanette Blaylock wrote:

I don't know where or how I acquired my snake phobia, but I cringe at
pictures of them.

You're not alone. A friend of mine says the same thing - she can't
even look at a photo of one.

I saw some tv show recently that claimed that humans do have an
innate aversion to snakes, but some people either don't have any
additional experiences making them really afraid of them, or are taught
not to fear them. It makes sense that primates would fear snakes in the
wild, so maybe we inherited our negative response to them. We do fear
fire, falling, and darkness innately, so why not snakes?

That said, I don't have a phobic reaction to snakes. I do have a
rational fear of being bitten by a venomous snake, ie, if I ran into
one I knew was, or thought might be, poisonous, I would be afraid -
or at least cautious. But the idea itself of a snake doesn't give me
the heebie jeebies or anything. In fact, if I know a snake is harmless,
I really like them! I like watching tv shows about them, I think
they're pretty, interesting, and, dare I say it, cute.

But lest you think I'm bragging, let me say that I *do* have a pretty
strong reaction to *bugs*. Not all bugs, and not in every situation.
But I would definitely cringe (or worse) to see a swarm of even quite
harmless insects.

Joyce

Adrian wrote:

In the UK the only meaning for dander is; Temper, anger, indignation.

We have that meaning in the US, too, eg, "Don't get your dander up."
(Meaning, don't get all bent out of shape.)

Joyce

Adrian wrote:

In the UK the only meaning for dander is; Temper, anger, indignation.

We have that meaning in the US, too, eg, "Don't get your dander up."
(Meaning, don't get all bent out of shape.)

Joyce

Adrian wrote:

In the UK the only meaning for dander is; Temper, anger, indignation.

We have that meaning in the US, too, eg, "Don't get your dander up."
(Meaning, don't get all bent out of shape.)

Joyce

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:45:30 GMT, yodeled:

Kreisleriana wrote:

Of course, some of us pronounce it "soder."

Oh, they do that in New York, too? I thought that was a New England
thing.

Joyce

It seems ot be fading, but was pretty prevalent among the Irish here
(i.e. MY family. These are the same people who would go to a movie
at "the local itch."


Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:45:30 GMT, yodeled:

Kreisleriana wrote:

Of course, some of us pronounce it "soder."

Oh, they do that in New York, too? I thought that was a New England
thing.

Joyce

It seems ot be fading, but was pretty prevalent among the Irish here
(i.e. MY family. These are the same people who would go to a movie
at "the local itch."


Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:45:30 GMT, yodeled:

Kreisleriana wrote:

Of course, some of us pronounce it "soder."

Oh, they do that in New York, too? I thought that was a New England
thing.

Joyce

It seems ot be fading, but was pretty prevalent among the Irish here
(i.e. MY family. These are the same people who would go to a movie
at "the local itch."


Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Bev wrote:

When we travelled around the US recently few people could pick our
accents. They always began by thinking we were English, no,
Australian then, nooo, then they gave up

I might have trouble recognizing a New Zealand accent myself. We don't
hear a lot of that in the media in the US, and I don't know any people
from New Zealand (who I know in person, that is, and can actually *hear*
them speak.)

On the other hand, if you watch TV in the US, you hear Australian
accents all the time, as there are several Aussie TV shows being broadcast
on Cable TV (and network, too). Especially Animal Planet for some reason!

When I first started going to my doctor, I had trouble identifying her
accent. It wasn't an accent from a foreign language, but was some
variety of Commonwealth English. I went through the same set of questions
in my head: "English? No. Australian? No... Hmm, what, then?" I finally
noticed a degree on the wall from a South Africa. Ah ha.

Years later, I was walking down the street when I heard two women talking
behind me. One of them sounded just like my doctor. A few minutes later,
by a coincidence, I ended up in a conversation with them. So I asked the
one with the accent if she was South African. She was stunned, couldn't
believe I'd nailed it on the first guess. Which is not to say that I'd
automatically recognize it in another person, this woman just happened to
have very similar speech patterns and word pronounciations as my doctor.
There are probably different accents *within* South Africa, I'd think,
depending on the area someone lives in, and so on. These women were both
white. I don't know any black South Africans, but I would expect their
accents to be quite different.

Joyce