Baba's Bowser Blabbers (Say This Five Times Fast And You'll Lisp Too)

Barbara Walters, doyenne of ABC’s “The View” claims her dog, Cha-Cha, can talk. Walters shocked a nation last week when she described how Cha-Cha padded into an elevator and blurted out, “I love you.” Cha-Cha uttered the endearment to Walters and a servant who was accompanying the grand lady and her chatty dog.

Since she bragged about Cha-Cha’s prowess, Walters has been held up to some ridicule and scrutiny from late night comics, bloggers, and TV critics who claim “The View” is going to the dogs – all the more since Big Foot Rosie O’Donnell joined the crew in the conversation pit.

But not so fast. We shouldn’t dismiss Walters’ tale as the raving of a dog-demento. After all, many of us who are potty for our pets believe they have their own special language for communicating with us. Yet, actual animal pronouncements in grammatically correct English are rare – even if we yearn for such expression. Novelist Carolyn Parkhurst explored this rich vein in her “Dogs Of Babel.”

Deconstructing Walters’ boast, we must remember the TV host has a slight lisp, an impediment made famous by the late Gilda Radner on “Saturday Night Live.” Radner's “Babwa Wawa” became a pop icon.

Walters’ particular verbal tic comes when she rolls her “rrrrrr-s” and lingers on her “lllllll-s." Let’s imagine how all this has impacted little Cha-Cha. When the dog got on the elevator, mad to get outside to pee on his favorite Park Avenue tree, he tried to speed up the process by barking: “Ruff” When you’re Babwa Wawa’s dog, this comes out as “Wuff" or "Luff," which sounds a heckuva lot like "Love."

Dog Lady offers further translations of what Cha-Cha may have said during the infamous elevator ride: “Get me outta here.” “That blouse doesn’t match your skirt.” “Shouldn’t we try to lighten you up with a new ash blonde?" Or "I miss Pinky Michelle Reynolds."

Posted by Dog Lady at September 16, 2006 10:44 AM