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In the wild, all three are territorial, aggressively horny, and articulate enough to be known to kill their own young at times. So not particularly.
I'm having a hard time with "articulate" in this context...?
Perhaps it means "aggressive" in Autocorrectese?
What I meant by "articulate" is most species wouldn't fathom killing their young as a form of expression of angst. However, in elephants, seals, and walruses, this isn't an uncommon thing to see in the wild, in fact a large percentage of the ones in zoos have been victims of the elephant/walrus/seal equivalent of unexplained child abuse that were "adopted" by zookeepers.
I'm really confused then, since "articulate" to me means clear, distinct speech, being good with words, or having the power of speech. I don't know what it means in this context.
"Articulate" as in a rough synonym of expressive. Art is articulate. Gaming can be articulate. Or at least that's what I'm going by. I learned full English later in life, which may explain why some people say my word choice isn't 100% analogous to its closest counterpart.
Ah, I see where you're coming from with that interpretation, thanks for the clarification! (For what it's worth, for this English speaker, "articulate" has a very strong connotation of speech.)
To me it has a connotation of the individual connections clearly established. Hands are articulate mechanisms because they’re highly divided down into small pieces.
Articulate can relate to physical flexibility, jointedness, which isn't a strong point for seals on land, and may contribute to their tendency to squash their pups. Speaking clearly is also not a strong point.
Or, or what if a seal could make a few human noise yeah? Or?
They don't just squash their pups, they often outright slaughter.
Deft perhaps? Able to catch little nimble ones such as your human self or their own offspring?
Are you asking whether you're having a hard time? I see the interrogative, and it parses like that.
Well, I was asking whether they meant another word or whether I was misunderstanding their use of this one. They did indeed choose articulate, and were using it in a way that is foreign to my experience.
I think people assume they're friendly because they can be pretty curious, which can appear like friendliness, but I've heard they're aggressive biters when messed with.
They have a high bar as well. You could do so much as try to get too comfortable near their flock and they'll attack you. All three animals have a known altruistic side, but this is balanced by a heightened degree of erraticness.