Splooting, Bleps, and Boopable Snoots: Your Guide to Modern Pet Slang

Sploot

A sploot occurs when an animal plops down on the ground with his back legs behind him rather than under him. Chances are you've come across a dog who's lying on the ground like this and squealed with delight — there's something too-cute about seeing a sleeping puppy splooting! If his or her paws are out in front, a splooting pup will look like he or she is in the Superman position.

Animals sploot for a variety of reasons: They're tired, they're hot, or they just find it more comfortable. Small- and medium-sized dogs like corgis, pugs, and French bulldogs often sploot, but any flexible pup can adopt this adorable position.

Doggo

Doggo — which is another word for dog — has skyrocketed in popularity recently. In fact, even Merriam-Webster acknowledged doggo, putting it on its "Words We're Watching" list. There are two schools of thought when it comes to pronouncing "doggo." Some people say it like "dog-o," simply adding an O to the end of the word "dog." Others say "dug-o," and this is generally the more popular pronunciation.

All dogs are doggos, but so are other furry animals, like fennec foxes (special doggos), seals (water doggos), horses (clip clop neigh doggos), and even chickens (cluck cluck doggos). When it comes to doggos, they're all good boys.

Puppers

Puppers, aka puppies, are small doggos. When you have an extra-small pupper, it's considered a yapper. Eventually, a yapper will grow up to be a big ol' yapper, thus becoming just a pupper. And when a pupper gets older and becomes a big ol' pupper, he or she is just called a doggo. Make sense?

Another name for puppers is pupperinos. Pupperinos are technically just puppers, but you can use the former if you see a dog that's particularly "smol" (small) or just plain cute.

Blep

Have you ever looked over at your cat and noticed she's sticking out her tongue — except it's not the same as if she were sticking out her whole tongue, because all you can see is the tip? This is called a blep. Often you'll see a cat cleaning itself only to look up and blep. Experts aren't sure what causes blepping, but some believe the behavior is related to the Flehman response (which means that essentially, your cat is just sniffing the air with its tongue.)

It's important to note that bleps are different than a mlem or a derp. But don't worry, we'll cover those later.

Mlem

A mlem, unlike the blep, is when the tongue goes in and out. Think of it this way: A mlem is active and a blep is passive. An animal will mlem when he or she is drinking water, or eating food, or cleaning. If you have unconventional housepets, like bunnies, lizards, or even snakes, they all mlem, too.

Derp

You're probably pretty familiar with the term "derp," because you can use it to describe humans, too. Derping is when someone — or some animal — does or says something silly. When it comes to our pets, derping usually involves making a funny face or having the dog zoomies.

Boop the Snoot

The snoot is a cuter way of saying snout, and booping is the act of lightly tapping something. Booping the snoot is when you lightly touch the snoot of a dog (or any other animal you find cute!). Of course, the most important part is that you must always say "boop," preferably in a high-pitched voice, when you tap a snoot.

Humans often find themselves with the irresistable urge to boop a snoot, but apparently, so do other animals. If you have some free time, go on YouTube and type in "animals booping." Trust us — you're in for a treat!

Toe Beans

Do you remember squeezing those puffy stickers from childhood? Squishing the pads — also called the toe beans — on your pets' paws is a similar feeling. There's something soothing about lightly rubbing your pets' toe beans; it's almost like a stress ball. Of course, don't squeeze too hard — you might get a fist full of claw.

Most housepets have toe beans, but we're partial to kitty toe beans. Why? Well, dogs' toe beans are often calloused or dirty from constantly running around in the backyard and digging things up. On the other hand (or paw!), cats tend to have soft, squishy toe beans, because they spend most of their time indoors sleeping.

Teef

Teef, also called "teefies," are pretty self-explanatory. Teefs are similar to bleps in the sense that they're rarer than a mlem or a derp. Sometimes you can catch your dog showing off his teef during a belly rub that hits the spot. Cats also show their teefies when you're giving them a really good head scratch. If you ask us, the cutest sight we've ever seen is when our pets look up at us and give a little smile with teefies. So sweet!

Purrito

Not to be confused with a burrito, a purrito is a cat wrapped in a blanket. While this version of a Mexican favorite isn't edible, it will make you smile. But then again, who needs rice, beans, and cheese when you can have a sweet, snuggly kitten swaddled in a blanket? Sure, burritos are delicious, but they can't purr like a purrito.