Cute Overload Blog's Readers Create Rules and Slang for Cuteness

Posted on April 26, 2006

Time has an article from ex-Wonkette Ana Marie Cox that analyzes the cuteness found on the Cute Overload blog. Cute Overload provides readers with just what its name promises -- an abundance of cute animals like cute bunnies, kittens and hedgehogs. The blog covers unusual animals that are cute as well including some non-furry creatures.

But what to make of the other images on Cuteoverload.com? A tiny snail. A lizard curled up in the palm of someone's hand. Giant plush-toy versions of the e. coli and Gonnorhea viruses. And, genius though the concept may be, one suspects that Hallmark stores will not be featuring an aisle devoted to "cats'n' racks" - the site's term for the photo genre featuring felines nestled between breasts - any time soon.

Ana Marie Cox says Cute Overload's avid readers refer to themselves as cutologists and they have created their own rules and lingo for what is cute.

The site's fans call themselves "cutologists," and they have composed a careful list of cute rules, including "small ear to head ratio" (rule #15) and "a thing, accompanied by a smaller version of that thing, is always cute" (rule#7). That slang has grown out of the commenting community of cutologists is not surprising; that someone compiled a list of definitions is slightly more so. (I admit I have incorporated "redonk" - the comic-book sound-effect version of "ridiculous" - into my own vocabulary.)

Clearly, there is a big demand for cuteness in the blogosphere. Cute Overload has quickly accumulated over 4,700 inbound links since it was launched by Meg Frost last September. Cute Overload also had four Bloggies nominations and is up for a Webby in the Blog - Cultural/Personal category. Not bad for a blog that is still less than a year old.

Note: Cute Overload shut down in 2016. It has an entry in the Library of Congress.