What do you call those slobber marks that dogs leave on the inside of car windows? Some of our favorites are woofmarks, dog schmear, and snot kisses. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Dog Marks”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Good afternoon.
Hi, who’s this?
This is Carl in Norwood, New York.
Well, what can we help you with today, Carl?
Well, you requested some listener feedback about a month ago on pet family, pet words, private expressions, little uses of language, and I phoned in one and promptly forgot I did. It’s called Woofmarks.
Woofmarks?
Woofmarks.
Woofmarks?
That dates back 40 years ago with us when we had our first dog. It’s the little smudges he would leave beautifully on the car windshield or door.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
What kind of dog are we talking about?
Oh, Heinz Heavenly 57.
-huh.
Heinz 57. Those mutts are great.
Oh, yeah. It’s wonderful. I particularly like the image of you and your dogs running your errands, you know, on a warm day. Dogs got his nose against the windshield, interested in the world? Because they really are, aren’t they? We could learn well from them.
Well, the dogs in the nose on the glass. Hey, Carl, do you know anybody else who uses that term?
Wolf marks?
My ex. We coined it 40 years ago. You know, young and foolish and just having fun. And I’ve not heard it to my recall ever since. But when I do say it to selected people, they immediately get it, you know, by context.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wolfmarks. You don’t even have to explain it, right?
Oh, I was just cleaning up the car, you know, washing off the wolfmarks from the glass.
Yeah. I have a friend in New York who calls that stuff dog schmear.
Dog schmear.
And so I’ve always called it either dog schmear or I have another friend who has a lot of Yiddish in her vocabulary, Liz, who calls it schmutz, or like schmutz, you know, like Yiddish, only she spells it S-C-H-M-U-T-T-S.
Very good.
I kind of like that.
I kind of like that, too.
Yeah.
I’m not going to order a dog schmear next time I have a bagel.
Or snot kisses.
I kind of like that, too.
Well, if I order food, it’s for the dog.
Right. I understand that.
When I order food, it’s for my son. I don’t ever get my whole meal to myself.
Well, I wonder if anybody else calls it wolf marks.
We’ll have to find out.
You know, I love the term, Carl. We’re going to share this with everyone. Everyone, if you’ve got a word that you’ve coined for your pet, for the smudges or the things or the behavior or whatever it is that they do, they’re a part of your family, what kind of language do they generate?
Or send your words to us an email to words@waywordradio.org.
Carl, thank you for calling. This is a great little addition to my vocabulary.
Well, woof, woof, and thank you. It’s super doggative.
Bye-bye.
Bye, Carl.
Bye.
Call us, 877-929-9673, or send an email to words@waywordradio.org.
