Today I learnt that Welsh-speaking dogs don’t go woof, they say “bow-wow”

by benbread

20 comments
  1. But what is “Canal & River Trust in Wales” in Welsh?! I HAVE TO KNOW.

  2. Bow Wow is a common term used to describe a dog’s bark around the world with its roots in Latin (Baubor) and Greek (Bauzein).

    The term gained traction in the UK due to the Zelda games from the 80s and 90s that featured a dog-like character called Bow Wow.

  3. Having lived for more than a decade in Wales, I have it on good authority that Welsh dogs go “ych a fi!” when sufficiently enraged.

  4. In German it’s Wow wow but the w is pronounced like a V so it sounds to me really funny and I had to laugh when the kids were small (living in Austria) and I’d bee going all “but dogs go Woof..”

  5. Italian dogs bow-bow, though since their phonetics are different it’s spelt out as bau-bau.

    My daughter (just turned four) speaks a something of an anglo-Itlaian mashup at times and dogs are oft referred to as bau-bau’s

  6. Technically they say “bow-wow” instead of “bark, woof”, apparently.

  7. I mean to be fair. Woof is ridiculous. Dogs don’t really have lips. How could they pronounce an f?

  8. Traditionally, dogs in English went bow-wow. Woof is a recent addition.

    Here is a nursery rhyme:

    Bow-wow-wow!
    Whose dog art thou?
    Little Tom Tinker’s dog,
    Bow-wow-wow!

    The Real Mother Goose, 1916

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