Namely, Fish

I've joined the PlecoFanatics forums some time back. Going through the posts, I sometimes get really jealous when these pleco keepers lovingly call their plecos by name. I don't, can't and won't have names for my plecos which is contradicted by an illogical desire to name them because that would make it more 'personal'. And if I've deployed the notion of "maternal sentiments" (please look up), what kind of mother am I if I don't have names for my two babies? Do I slip down the Cancer-ous side of my astrological makeup and worry myself silly that I am unable to have names for them? I can't EVEN begin to imagine what names to call them. How am I suppose to practise motherhood when I can't even take a name to corrupt by cooing and truncating it and therefore make strange unintelligble sounds that's supposed to translate as love for my plecos?

But it's a known issue with me. I have had feline friends (MANY!) and after a while, I can't name any of them. So the motivational message through all this is: Don't name your pets or animals that you care for. Why? And how then do you communicate to your pets/animals? Will you just rudely shout "Oy" or "Hey you"? I can't answer these questions for you. After all, this is my particular neurosis. Not yours.

I just think like this...

1. Do animals really understand human speech and language? They may figure out that a certain sound is associated with our intention to draw their attention. The usual tactic is that the animal is rewarded with food. But Pavlovian association doesn't necessarily mean understanding speech and language as we've created it. Therefore, what's the purpose in inflicting anthropocentric names upon these animals we care for? You think they care? They're probably making snide mental remarks each time they hear strange sounds coming out of our mouths. It's wrong on an animals' rights count. (Yah, I know, I'm heading towards a problematic territory, because why am I even keeping fish out of their natural environment?)

2. I am unimaginative in this aspect. What names could really suit fish or cat? This or that?

3. In spite of having no name to corrupt (say, Elizabeth to Lizzy, Lizbabe, Lil' Liz...you get my drift), I can still make unintelligble sounds and coo just as effectively and nonsensically to my fish, which satisfies my bullying human ways.

Names are just for us. Naming is a fascination.*

*More notes to come later.