User:Benwing/catflap

survey on usage
"Appeal to dictionary" doesn't seem to help much here.

I'd suggest a survey to try and see what people's actual usage is. Admittedly this is unscientific but so is searching through random dictionaries, and this will tell us something about actual usage.

So, please fill out the following questions.

1. What is your native dialect of English? Be specific, indicate the state or region where you were living during the formative years (4-12??) that established your speech patterns. If you currently live elsewhere, note that, and note anything else you think might have led you to speak differently from the "canonical" version of your native dialect. (e.g. "I obsessively watch South African shows about cat and dog care, so my cat repertoire may have been influenced.")

DON'T LOOK AT QUESTIONS 5 AND ON UNTIL YOU ANSWER 2 THROUGH 4.

2. What do you normally call an opening cut into a door (possibly but not necessarily with some sort of covering over the hole) to let cats out? (Note: allowable answers to these and following questions include "i don't know" and "i don't think there is a specific term for this in my dialect") 3. Repeat the question, but for dogs. 4. Repeat the question, but for pets in general.

DON'T LOOK AT THIS SECTION OR ANYTHING FOLLOWING UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED 2 THROUGH 4.

For each term, below, indicate:

[a] its usage in your area, by choosing one of the following:

[1] "normal word for the object in question" (note, it's possible there may be more than one such word); [2] "often used for the object in question" (but another term may be more normal); [3] "occasionally used for the object in question" (but there's definitely another more common term); [4] "rarely or never used for the object in question.

[b] your own familiarity with the term: (you can add extra comments if need be)

[1] "totally familiar with term" [2] "vaguely familiar with the term; heard it a few times; know basically what it means, but might mess up trying to use it in speech" [3] "heard it once or twice, probably a vague idea of its meaning but probably can't use it properly" [4] "never heard it in my life" (outside of Wikipedia), but can guess its