powner

powner
 n.— «On the canine crowded street of the East Village, my wife and I play a little game we like to call “powner”–our semantical mash up of the words “pet and owner” Who ever sights a human walking their canine doppleganger gets to loudly proclaim, “powner!” The powner qualification then has to then be mutually confirmed. And as far as we’ve observed, the dynamic of “pownerism” only seems to exist between dogs and humans, though I’m sure we’ll see somebody walking their nutria some day, and get to call out “powner.” No scores are kept nor does either of us get to extract some reward from the other. Like all good games, the playing of it is its own reward, and oh yes, getting to muse on the baffling phenomenon of “pownerism” itself. So if you are ever walking your dog in the East Village, and you hear the word “powner” being called out, consider yourself “pownered.”» —“Dogs and Owners: A Family Resemblance” by Paulino Aboitiz New York Times Aug. 12, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Join the discussion

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Further reading

dog ball

Apple Turnover (episode #1686)

Critters, co-workers, and clothes: What do you call your favorite mixed-breed dog? There are Heinz 57 mutts and Texas brown dogs in the U.S., while in parts of the Caribbean they’re called potcakes and coconut retrievers. Plus, among firefighters...