Is the Word 'Pet' Offensive?

 That is the assertion strongly promoted in this article at a website called 'Bright Side':

Turns Out Your Cat or Dog Can Feel Offended When You Call Them a “Pet”

The claim made in the headline is not substantiated anywhere within the article and I have not read the study linked to. If your cat or dog is offended at being called a pet, I would suggest you take them to visit Newcastle, where 'pet' is used to address humans as a term of endearment.

From the article: 

"PETA believes that using the term 'pet' evokes associations with an inanimate object and even with an animal being disposable."

PETA may believe that, but I am inclined to believe that this is projection on their part. Let's look at the actual etymology of the word, shall we?

"...'domesticated or tamed animal kept as a favorite,' 1530s, originally in Scottish and northern England dialect (and exclusively so until mid-18c.), a word of unknown origin. Sense of 'indulged or favorite child' (c. 1500) is recorded slightly earlier than that of 'animal kept as a favorite' (1530s), but the latter may be the primary meaning."

So, the earliest recorded usage is in the sense of 'indulged or favourite child', though the ultimate origin is unknown. The only other usage given is what we would take as the literal meaning, to repeat: "domesticated or tamed animal kept as a favorite". 

Presumably, the use of 'pet' as an endearment in North East England (and, I think, elsewhere in Britain) is a survival from the general use of the word to mean 'favourite child'. I would be interested in other theories. 


 

 

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