‘MA-AH’: Expert shows how to say ‘come here’ in cat language. Does it work?
Sometimes, it feels like cats speak our language—even if they ignore us a lot of the time. But according to this one expert's video, that might actually be true. In this repost by TikTok account Funny Cat 520 (@etelbertomatilda), feline expert Aleca Newman (@alecanewman) shares an ingenious way to call your cats: by feigning a meow. This isn't any ordinary "meow," however. According to Newman, you have to specifically exclaim "Ma-ah!" in order to get your cat's attention because, in "cat language," this purportedly means "come here."
Funny Cat 520 spliced Newman's video with a supercut of people trying out the meow to see if it actually worked—and by the looks of things, it seems like it does. Sixteen clips in total were shared of owners making the noise and their cats dutifully coming, with one of those clips being a huge crowd of cats.
This supercut video has amassed 1.6 million views. Funny Cat 520 didn't immediately respond to the Daily Dot's request for comment via TikTok comment.
@etelbertomatilda MA-AH means “come hear “in cat language #cat #funnyvideos #foryou #fypシ #catlover ♬ original sound - Funny cat 520
Can we really speak cat language?
Trial runs of the "Ma-ah!" method by commenters weren't as successful.
"My cat dgaf," one wrote.
"Is my cat broken?" another asked. "It doesn't work on him."
"My cat ignores me," a third lamented.
"I tried it," a fourth added, "She looked at me, then turned away to look at the birds."
Meanwhile, a fifth remarked: "My cat did NOT 'come here,' but she did look at me with this expression that said 'you have lost your ever-loving mind, woman!'"
Others discovered that this call was effective—but on the wrong pet.
'It summoned my dog," one revealed.
"What does this mean if my cat didn’t come but my dog did?" another asked.
A third echoed, "Why did my dog come running?"
In the description bar of the original video, Newman himself admitted that "Ma-ah!" only works approximately "10% of the time."
Meanwhile, the cat expert site Catster points out that while we aren't able to talk to a cat as we would another person, there are certain ways we can communicate with them, including paying attention to body language, their different vocalizations, and what different things like "slow blinks" mean.
Newman didn't immediately respond to the Daily Dot's request for comment via TikTok comment and email.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post ‘MA-AH’: Expert shows how to say ‘come here’ in cat language. Does it work? appeared first on The Daily Dot.