Critters and creatures and varmints—oh, my!

Sometimes when I gaze out into the backyard, I see cute rabbits quietly munching on grass, scrunching their cute pink noses, and wiggling their antennae ears.  I think to myself, “What nice critters.”  Sometimes when I gaze out of the kitchen window into the garden and see those same rabbits quietly munching on my garden plants, I raise the window and yell, “Get out of my garden, you varmints!”  Clearly, my personal connotation for the word “critter” involves cute animals, but when those same cute animals offend me in some way, they become “varmints.”  For this blog entry, I decided to investigate the dictionary meanings (denotations) of these words to see how they fit with my own personal conceptions.  Did I ever learn a lot!

“Varmint” is the less complex word to examine, so I will start with it.  Because both words are slang or dialect words, I started with my dictionaries of slang and then moved of course, to the Oxford English Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.  Chambers Slang Dictionary treats “varmint” (or “varment”) very briefly, supplying two entries.  The first meaning of the first entry is familiar:  “any animal destructive of game” (in my case, vegetation). The second meaning of the first entry is actually complimentary and new to me:  “an amateur sportsman who has the skill of a professional.”  The second entry defines “varmint” as “shrewd, knowing” and “fashionable, ‘swell,’ dashing.”  Who knew that a smarty pants (see 22 May 2013) could be termed a “varmint”!  (NOTE:  Sadly, The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang project ended with the H-O volume.)

The OED also has two entries for “varmint,” both marked as slang or dialect.  The first entry is the more familiar “vermin; an animal of a noxious or objectionable kind.”  Of course, it makes sense that “varmint” is a variant of “vermin,” “animals of a noxious or objectionable kind.”  I am amused by the second definition, “an objectionable or troublesome person or persons; a mischievous boy (my bold) or child.”  Sorry guys, I copied it as I found it!  The second entry follows that of the second entry from Chambers regarding the amateur sportsman.  The next entry here, however, is more formal: “knowing, clever, cunning.”  The American Heritage definition of “varmint” is to the point:  “one that is considered undesirable, obnoxious, or troublesome.”  So much for compliments!

While my usage of "varmint" was appropriate, my usage of "critter" was not. Chambers treats “critter” quite briefly with a meaning that is new to me, whiskey, making no mention of any animal meaning of "critter."  “Critter” is a dialectical variation of the word “creature,” which also surprised me initially but made sense once I thought about it.  The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang in its first entry for “critter” gives “liquor, especially whiskey.” (Critter can make you fuddled.  See 12 August 2013.)  The second entry defines “critter” as an animal, especially a horse.”  The third entry defines “critter” as “a person, especially a man.” (My bold.)  While the RHHDAS is objective in calling a man a “critter,” the first entry for “critter” in the OED defines “critter” in “jocular” usage as “an ox or cow; a horse; a chicken” and in disparaging usage “a person.”  At least the OED is gender neutral with this insult.

The American Heritage dictionary in its first entry for “critter” goes back to its original meaning of “a living creature.”  The second entry gives “a domestic animal, especially a cow, horse, or mule.”  A “Word History” note gives some interesting background to “critter.”  At one time around America, the word “bull” was not appropriate for “polite” company, and so people developed many euphemisms to avoid saying the offensive word.  (That’s no bull!)  In the Northeast, people commonly used “critter” for this purpose.  The “Note” notes that back in Shakespeare’s time (Early Modern English, NOT Old English), the word “creature” would have been pronounced very much like the word “critter” and so “critter” developed a life of its own.

Originally, “creature” meant “anything created; a created being, animate or inanimate; a product of creative action; a creation.”  In submeaning c of this definition, the OED cites 1 Timothy 4:4, “every creature of God is good.”  (Submeaning d gives the humourous meaning of “creature” as “intoxicating liquor, especially whiskey.”)  In The Book of Margery Kempe, when Margery refers to herself as a “creature,” she is not being self-effacing but referring to herself as a child of God.

The OED (as usual) offers some fun forms of the word “creature,” including creaturedom, “the realm of creatures”; creaturehood or creatureship, “the condition of a creature”; and creaturize, “to make into a creature, to invest with creaturehood”.  (Obviously, Frankenstein engaged in creaturizing.)

Through all of this research, I learned that the term “critter” as I use it for yard rabbits, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and raccoons is not quite appropriate, as “critter” more appropriately refers to domesticated farm animals.  My usage of “varmint,” though is apt.  I also learned to be careful tippling critter as I may become fuddled.  Finally, I learned that “varmint” can be a compliment.