KY3: ‘We lost everything’: Petting zoo destroyed, all animals killed in fast-moving fire
ENTERPRISE, Ala. (WTVY/Gray News) - A petting zoo in Alabama was destroyed in an early-morning fire, with none of the animals able to be saved. Two BY Two Petting Zoo shared the heartbreaking news on ...
‘We lost everything’: Petting zoo destroyed, all animals killed in fast-moving fire
The word "pet" has a few different definitions (my own paraphrase): n: An animal kept for companionship. v: To affectionately caress. My question is, which of these usages originated first? Do we refer to companion animals as "pets" because we pet them? Or is the act of "petting" so dubbed because it is what we do to pets?
What you are describing is "petting." Although, petting is usually done to animals. It may be insulting in some cultures to do it to people. Some asian cultures might find it disrespectful as this article explains. According to Merriam-Webster, definition 1 (b) of the verb "pet" is "to stroke in a gentle or loving manner."
Students sometimes distinguish between "light petting" and "heavy petting," meaning, by the former term, the milder and more restricted forms of endearment, and by the latter the more intimate, unrestricted and agitating kinds of physical-emotional relations.
etymology - How did the words "petting" and "necking" come to mean ...
- The idiomatic expression " a bit of slap and tickle " meaning amorous frolicking, with kissing, petting etc. is said to have existed since 1910 in the Shorter Slang Dictionary by Paul Beale, and Eric Partridge. The word slap mimics the sound of flesh on flesh, or the sound of heavy breasts slapping together.