Closeteering

Grant, you’re an illurophile.

How dare you?

That’s not an insult. In fact, it’s something wonderful.

I mean, thank you. Yes, you’re an illurophile, meaning you’re a cat lover.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, you have a couple of them, right?

I do. Whopper and Bianca.

Whopper and Bianca. That’s right.

Well, then you will appreciate this email from Audra Yoder in Dallas, Texas. She writes,

One of our cats has a hobby of climbing around in our closets, slithering between boxes, snuffling in our shoes, poking her nose between clothes that are hanging up, and sometimes finding a hidden place deep inside a closet to hide and or take a nap. The more progress she can make vertically, the better.

We call this activity closeteering. A secondary meaning of the word could be digging around in an overcrowded closet in search of something you’re pretty sure you own but haven’t seen in a decade or so.

My cat does the same. Bianca does that. We call it height-seeking, which is not as much fun.

Oh, height-seeking. Height-seeking, which is not as much fun as closeteering.

Yeah, I kind of like closeteering. It reminds me of having a little compass or a GPS or something and finding your way.

But they do that, right? They do, yeah. They get in the closet, and you won’t even know they’re in there until they start meowing later at dinnertime.

Right. How long have you been in there, cat? Open the door, right?

Yeah, and I think there should be another word for the practice that cats have when they just choose a spot and it’s their spot for a few weeks.

Yeah. And then they move on to something else. And never go back.

Yeah. Yeah, they totally do that. I don’t understand what it is.

I assume they’ve just gotten their scent all over the place and they want something unscented. I don’t really know.

Yeah, I don’t know either. But I’ve always thought that there should be a word for that.

What is that? Let us know, 877-929-9673, or send your suggestions in email to words@waywordradio.org.