creature/critter

[Jasper Fidget]

It's western US dialect for a domestic or non-predatory wild animal
(contrast with "varmint" which is usually a predatory wild animal).  For
some reason I always associate "critter" with something I need to avoid
stepping on.

On Tue, 2006-11-28 at 18:12 +0200, Ya Sam wrote:
> I've noticed that Pynchon is fond of using the word 'critter' instead of 
> 'creature', as I understand it, 'critter' is a colloquial word, maybe it's 
> also used regionally in the States. I haven't come across it in the works of 
> British writers.
> 
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