Bunnies

Bunny is a word used exclusively for rabbits when they are cute. It is a word used to describe the animal itself in a general sense, but also as "pet word" or a "sweet word" of a sort. It is used as the animal's main word, but it denotes their cuteness and them being cute. It is similar to doggy or kitty in this respect, but doggy is usually reserved for children, and kitty has its own implications (including kitten hood). Bunny notes the fluffyness of rabbits, their cute wiggling noses, their beady eyes. It is a word used by adults and children alike, and it used to be more used by children, but is now mostly equally used by adults, even in more general contexts. It isn't used as a species word, all wild bunnies (itself a slightly awkward phrase, but still somewhat natural, denoting the cuteness of them) are, as a silent linguistic rule, are given rabbit (or hare or jackrabbit) in their scientific-y common name. All bunnies are rabbits, and all rabbits are bunnies. However, all bunnies are rabbits first...sort of. If you encounter a scary rabbit, it may still be called a bunny, but as a rabid dog named Fluffy, it's a little contradictory, but not as much so. Like half way there I think.
Bunny is a given name, but it is rare. Due to Playboy Bunnies, there is an association with "Bunny" being a sexual term. As girls can be "cute" which can be interpreted in a specific kind of sexual way. Due to this play on words, bunnies, like cats, are a slightly sexualized animal. Unlike cats and foxes, bunnies- to my knowledge- aren't sexy. Maybe it's because they're considered more round than lean? But anyways, they are a sexualized animal when their traits are anthropomorphized or otherwise put on a human form. This makes anthro bunnies and bunny-girls (human-like characters with a rabbit tail and ears) considered to be cute in the attractive way. There is also a fertility association here as rabbits are considered to have lots of babies. Thus the term "bunny" when applied to the animal is usually just cute, but applied to a female character, especially a humanoid one, it becomes more raunchy.
Category:Rabbits