Corgi Dictionary
Like most couples, I think, my husband and I have our own special little language. We also have a specific dog-related lexicon and 90% of them we use with Watson, our corgi. We simply have to say to each other “Honey, kick stand” and it gives us a smile because we know exactly what adorable thing Watson is doing. We thought we’d sit down and write up a small dictionary. Most of these words are collected from other dog or corgi fans, I wish we were clever enough to come up with all of them. Feel free to incorporate any and all of these terms into your daily life.
Derp: This is a look your dog gets on their face where, if they could speak, they’d say “huuuuuuuh?” Maybe an ear is flipped up weird or they’re also doing a “snerk” (see below) or maybe something is stuck to their face that shouldn’t be there. Regardless, derp is when your dog looks adorably silly.
Toe-hawk - a play on the word mohawk. It’s when a dog or cat has such ridiculous fur coming between their toes one is in awe of the cute. As they get older, the fur can become a bit of a problem in wet weather, but it’s nothing some scissors or a clipper can’t make fast work of.
Frap - this is actually an acronym for “Frantic, Random Acts of Play”. It’s when a dog just gets so freaking excited it tears around at top speed, randomly changing direction. We’ve since turned this into an action: “Look honey, Watson is frap-ing around the yard!” While we’re here, let’s talk about zoomies as they’re kind of one in the same. Zoomies are when a dog just starts running as fast as they can, usually with their tail tucked under for optimum speed. Some dogs also incorporate spins into the zoomies if there isn’t much room to run.
Sploot - A good sploot usually follows frap-ing. A sploot is when a dog (or cat, I suppose), lays on the ground, on their belly, with front and back legs stretched all the way out in either direction. Watson is the first dog I’ve had to ever that enjoyed splooting, so I’ve always associated it with corgis, but I’ve heard tales of other breeds doing it as well. Watson has a number of different sleeping positions but his favorite seem to be splooting either on his belly or back. The splooting on the back is perhaps the cutest thing he does, when his little stubs are up in the air like he just doesn’t care. Have you seen our make up bags? We have some really cute splooting corgi ones!
Kick stand - when Watson is following us around, he’ll usually lay down into “loaf” position where he’s got his legs tucked under his body… except one back leg that’s stuck out at 90 degree angle. It makes it especially hard to not try to pinch his little toes, when he does this.
Boof and Bork - Both of these are vocalizations of dogs. A boof is a sort of pre-bark Watson will do to let us know he’s displeased about something. Is dinner late? Is that cat looking shady? Watson will maintain eye contact and bark quietly without opening his mouth. When he does this it’s extremely hard to take him seriously as his little muzzle lips kind of flap out. And a Bork is what happens when you ignore the boof, (it is also frequently said by the Swedish Chef muppet, but both sounds are unrelated). A bork is a bark but without any kind of aggression or malice. For Watson, he pretty much exclusively does it when he’s disapproving about something, but I’ve seen other dogs happily bork about things.
Snerk - In internet slang, a “snerk” is like a small laugh or snicker. In reference to Watson, or any dog, it’s when one or both upper lips get stuck in their own mouths.
Snoot scoop - First, let’s talk about what a “snoot” is: a cuter way of saying “snout”. Coupling “snoot” with “scoop” gives us “snoot scoop” which is when a dog will use their nose to nudge or push you to get attention. In the case of Watson, he’ll come up behind me while I’m sitting on the ground and shove his nose between my elbow and my side, and shove his head in the newly created space. Depending upon how insistent Watson is for snuggles, it could just be a regular snoot scoop or an aggressive snoot scoop. The difference can really be summarized by would he like a little snuggle or “Dammit woman, I need snuggles now”.
Terms for corgi’s butts - There are a lot of terms for a corgi’s hindquarters. Some people call it a “momo” which is peaches in Japanese, since a well groomed corgi butt can resemble the fruit. We call Watson “Bunny Butt” sometimes when he hops around excitedly. A lot of corgis have docked tails which makes their backside resemble that of a rabbit’s. We also refer to the fur on the back of Watson’s back legs his “pants”. Speaking of pants, check out these crazy cute leggings.
Stubs/Stumps - simply they’re a corgi's legs. Corgis are a dwarf breed which means that their legs are shorter in proportion to the rest of their body than a non-dwarf breed. Examples of other dwarf breeds are dachshunds and basset hounds.
Fun Police/Tattle-No-Tail - Corgis are herding dogs and thus can come with a little bit of an attitude about who is in charge at any given time. This trait can manifest in unique ways. In our house, if someone is laughing too loud for too long, Watson will come and bork at you in displeasure. If the cat is getting too into chasing a string, Watson will be there lickitysplit to tell me about how someone is having too much fun. Frequently when we’re in the back yard and our other dog starts to dig where she shouldn’t, Watson will look at me and start barking. It also seems like he has a special bark for when he’s tattling on his pet siblings, but that could just be the crazy corgi lady in me. Just as I’m sitting here, the cat started using his scratching post in the other room and Watson tore off to go see what was going on.
Do you have any words like this? If so, please share in the comments!