creature vs. critter

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:54 AM -0500 5/24/05, Jim Parish wrote:
>Mark A. Mandel wrote:
>>  I've used "critters" (http://filk.cracksandshards.com/filks2.html#critters)
>>  to refer to nonhuman animals of any kind. I concede, though, that when I set
>>  up the listing that that use refers to, most or all of the referents were
>>  indeed small and/or  cute.
>
>Is the existence (or past existence; I haven't seen it in years) of Krispy
>Kritters relevant? "The one and only cereal that comes in the shape of
>animals" - said animals including lions, as I recall.
>
>Jim Parish

But cute lions, no doubt, which is consistent with the above
analysis.  My son reminds me about "Creepy Critters", one of those
fruit snacks from a while back (and for all I know still on the
market) that are bad for your kids' teeth but do have "real fruit" in
them--they included shapes of scorpions, snakes, spiders and such.
So maybe it is indeed "small or cute (or both)", as Mark argues.

Larry