Editor’s note: This month, the Cool Word Club will focus on the holidays with some oh-so-festive words!

That jolly Santa in the mall makes passersby smile. So it’s not surprising that a lot of people think it’s fun to dress up their pets to look like Santa, a reindeer or even an elf.

Americans own about 78 million dogs and roughly 86 million cats. Plenty of these dog and cat owners start shopping for holiday costumes just as soon as they arrive on the store shelves.

But if the animals could talk, many of them might say that it’s not so fun to don these funny-looking clothes. In fact, lots of pets squirm, bark (or meow) or even run out of the room when their owners come at them with the costume in hand.

In these cases, pet owners may decide to give the animal a treat to mollify (see definition below) him/her. It could be a big, crunchy dog biscuit or just a pinch of catnip.

That might work for a minute or two. But sooner or later, Fido and Fluffy will want to shake off that costume and just go back to being a dog or a cat!

Speak your mind: Do you think it’s acceptable for pet owners to dress up their animals for the holidays?

MOLLIFY: To calm in temper, appease, pacify, soothe.