cowsay

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What is this?

If you are familiar with cowsay on the cli, then you know what this is, but for R. If not, read below. Why? Why not?

History

cowsay was originally written by Tony Monroe, with the first code released in 1999. The version of cowsay you get via homebrew is a fork by Andrew Janke at https://cowsay.diamonds/ (code repo). The code for the original can be found at tnalpgge/rank-amateur-cowsay and the original website can be seen on the Wayback Machine. Both the original and version by Janke are both written in Perl. The cowsay you get with apt on Linux machines is the last version Monroe released in 2016 (v3.0.4 or possibly v3.0.3).

This R package has some additional features the orginal cowsay doesn’t have, but also lacks some features the original has. This package doesn’t yet support custom eyes and tongue for the cow or any other animals.

Contributors (alphabetical)

That’s right, it takes 18 people to make cowsay - it’s that hard.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md

Where to find ASCII animal art

Sources to look in:

Permissions

In the ascii art mailing list https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.ascii-art they say:

 As for posting other people's ASCII art,
    after a discussion in news:alt.ascii-art       _     ___
    the following rules were agreed upon:         #_~`--'__ `===-,
    1.  If an ASCII ART picture has initials      `.`.     `#.,//
        on it, leave them on when posting it      ,_\_\     ## #\
    2.  If an ASCII ART picture doesn't have      `__.__    `####\
        initials on it,  mention  that  you            ~~\ ,###'~
        didn't  draw  it  when  posting  it.              \##'
    3.  If somebody  posts a picture without                  [nosig]
        initials and you have an original copy
        with initials on, feel free to re-post the original version.
        *   The re-post ought not to be taken personally, as we all
            know that ASCII art often loses proper credits.
            Responses to the re-post are not necessary.

    One contributor, name of Krogg, suggested the following:

    1.) Ultra polite:...ya make yer own ascii and use it.
    2.)  Very polite:...Ya contact the author and ask if ya
                        can use it...
    3.)       polite:...Ya use it but you keep the Credits
                        in there like they should be.
    4.)         rude:...Ya use it and strip credits.
    5.)    Very rude:...Ya use it and claim that it Is
                        _Your_ very own creation...

So, let’s go with this rule: Let’s include found (on the web) ascii art in this pkg, include signature if there, and if no signature, put in a [nosig] (see above).

Quick watch start

Asciicast: https://asciinema.org/a/7745

Install

From CRAN

install.packages("cowsay")

Dev version

# install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("sckott/cowsay")
library("cowsay")

The animals

sort(names(animals))
#>  [1] "alligator"    "ant"          "anxiouscat"   "bat"          "bat2"        
#>  [6] "behindcat"    "bigcat"       "buffalo"      "cat"          "chicken"     
#> [11] "chuck"        "clippy"       "cow"          "cow_borg"     "cow_dead"    
#> [16] "cow_greedy"   "cow_sleepy"   "cow_tired"    "cow_wired"    "cow_young"   
#> [21] "daemon"       "duck"         "duckling"     "egret"        "endlesshorse"
#> [26] "facecat"      "fish"         "frog"         "ghost"        "goldfish"    
#> [31] "grumpycat"    "hypnotoad"    "longcat"      "longtailcat"  "monkey"      
#> [36] "mushroom"     "owl"          "pig"          "poop"         "pumpkin"     
#> [41] "rabbit"       "shark"        "shortcat"     "signbunny"    "smallcat"    
#> [46] "snowman"      "spider"       "squirrel"     "squirrel2"    "stegosaurus" 
#> [51] "stretchycat"  "trilobite"    "turkey"       "whale"        "wolf"        
#> [56] "yoda"

Say Something

say("time")
#> 
#>  ---------------------------- 
#> < 2024-12-04 20:33:12.064934 >
#>  ---------------------------- 
#>       \
#>        \
#> 
#>         ^__^ 
#>         (oo)\ ________ 
#>         (__)\         )\ /\ 
#>              ||------w|
#>              ||      ||
say("ain't that some shit", "chicken")
#> 
#>  ---------------------- 
#> < ain't that some shit >
#>  ---------------------- 
#>       \
#>        \
#>          _
#>        _/ }
#>       `>' \
#>       `|   \
#>        |   /'-.     .-.
#>         \'     ';`--' .'
#>          \'.    `'-./
#>           '.`-..-;`
#>             `;-..'
#>             _| _|
#>             /` /` [nosig]
#>

Add some color:

library(crayon)
say("boo!", "ghost",
  what_color = "cyan", by_color = "saddlebrown"
)

ghost 

say("I love hooo you are!", "owl",
  what_color = rgb(0, 1, 1), by_color = "#FF0000"
)

owl

String styles together crayon-style:

say(
  what = "rms", by = "rms",
  what_color = yellow$bgMagenta$bold,
  by_color = cyan$italic
)

rms

This doesn’t preclude you from adding extra crayon colors to your what string directly - but the results are not super pretty:

say(
  what = paste0("hello ", crayon::yellow("there "), crayon::underline("world")),
  by = "trilobite"
)

trilobite

Vary type of output, default calls message()

say("hell no!")
#> 
#>  ---------- 
#> < hell no! >
#>  ---------- 
#>       \
#>        \
#> 
#>         ^__^ 
#>         (oo)\ ________ 
#>         (__)\         )\ /\ 
#>              ||------w|
#>              ||      ||
say("hell no!", type = "warning")
#> Warning in say("hell no!", type = "warning"): 
#>  ---------- 
#> < hell no! >
#>  ---------- 
#>       \
#>        \
#> 
#>         ^__^ 
#>         (oo)\ ________ 
#>         (__)\         )\ /\ 
#>              ||------w|
#>              ||      ||
say("hell no!", type = "string")
#> [1] "\n ---------- \n< hell no! >\n ---------- \n      \\\n       \\\n\n        ^__^ \n        (oo)\\ ________ \n        (__)\\         )\\ /\\ \n             ||------w|\n             ||      ||"

Catfacts!!!!

From the catfacts API at https://catfact.ninja

say("catfact", "cat")
#> 
#>  -------------------------------------------------------- 
#> / In ancient Egypt, mummies were made of cats, and       \
#> | embalmed mice were placed with them in their tombs. In |
#> \ one ancient city, over 300,000 cat mummies were found. /
#>  -------------------------------------------------------- 
#>          \
#>           \
#> 
#>             |\___/|
#>           ==) ^Y^ (==
#>             \  ^  /
#>              )=*=(
#>             /     \
#>             |     |
#>            /| | | |\
#>            \| | |_|/\
#>       jgs  //_// ___/
#>                \_)
#>

Long cat

From the a Boing Boing tweet on 2014-05-10 “twitter.com/BoingBoing/status/465170473194512384” (post may be gone)

say("it's caturday", "longcat")
#> 
#>  --------------- 
#> < it's caturday >
#>  --------------- 
#>  \
#>   \
#> 
#>     .ﾊ,,ﾊ
#>     ( ﾟωﾟ)
#>     |つ  つ
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     |    |
#>     U "  U
#>         [BoingBoing]
#>

Grumpy cat

say("NO!", by = "grumpycat")
#> 
#>  ----- 
#> < NO! >
#>  ----- 
#>      \
#>       \
#> 
#>       ﾊ _ ﾊ
#>       ಠ X ಠ
#> 
say("WOKE UP TODAY, IT WAS TERRIBLE", by = "grumpycat")
#> 
#>  -------------------------------- 
#> < WOKE UP TODAY, IT WAS TERRIBLE >
#>  -------------------------------- 
#>      \
#>       \
#> 
#>       ﾊ _ ﾊ
#>       ಠ X ಠ
#> 
say("I HAD FUN ONCE, IT WAS AWFUL", by = "grumpycat")
#> 
#>  ------------------------------ 
#> < I HAD FUN ONCE, IT WAS AWFUL >
#>  ------------------------------ 
#>      \
#>       \
#> 
#>       ﾊ _ ﾊ
#>       ಠ X ಠ
#>

Bunny Holding a sign

say(by = "signbunny")
#> 
#>  -------------- 
#> < Hello world! >
#>  -------------- 
#> \
#> \
#> 
#> (\__/) ||
#> (•ㅅ•) ||
#> /   づ
#>           [nosig]
#>

Fish

say(by = "fish")
#> 
#>  -------------- 
#> < Hello world! >
#>  -------------- 
#>        \
#>         \
#> 
#>   ><((((º>  ><((((º>  ><((((º>  ><((((º>  ><((((º>
#>       Kiyoko Gotanda
#>

R fortunes

library(fortunes)
say("fortune", "cat")
#> 
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#> / Maybe you should contact Microsoft, and get them to     \
#> | modify their tools so they work on the R sources?       |
#> | Duncan Murdoch answering the question if there is a way |
#> | compiling the R sources using VisualC++ R-help April    |
#> \ 2004                                                    /
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#>          \
#>           \
#> 
#>             |\___/|
#>           ==) ^Y^ (==
#>             \  ^  /
#>              )=*=(
#>             /     \
#>             |     |
#>            /| | | |\
#>            \| | |_|/\
#>       jgs  //_// ___/
#>                \_)
#>

You can also pick a particular fortune by number or regex search - if the fortune parameter is not NULL you don’t have pass anything to the what parameter (the 1st parameter)

say(fortune = 100)
#> 
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#> / I'm not sure I'd trust any computer recommendation from \
#> | 1976, no matter how famous the authors are.  Peter      |
#> | Dalgaard after Samuel Edward Kemp cited a               |
#> | recommendation about nonlinear least squares computer   |
#> \ programs from 'Box-Jenkins, 1976' R-help January 2005   /
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#>       \
#>        \
#> 
#>         ^__^ 
#>         (oo)\ ________ 
#>         (__)\         )\ /\ 
#>              ||------w|
#>              ||      ||
say(fortune = "whatever")
#> 
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#> / Tom Backer Johnsen: I have just started looking at R,   \
#> | and are getting more and more irritated at myself for   |
#> | not having done that before. However, one of the things |
#> | I have not found in the documentation is some way of    |
#> | preparing output from R for convenient formatting into  |
#> | something like MS Word. Barry Rowlingson: Well whatever |
#> | you do, don't start looking at LaTeX, because that will |
#> | get you even more irritated at yourself for not having  |
#> | done it before.  Tom Backer Johnsen and Barry           |
#> \ Rowlingson R-help February 2006                         /
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#>       \
#>        \
#> 
#>         ^__^ 
#>         (oo)\ ________ 
#>         (__)\         )\ /\ 
#>              ||------w|
#>              ||      ||

Trilobite

say("Hi there :)", by = "trilobite")
#> 
#>  ------------- 
#> < Hi there :) >
#>  ------------- 
#>        \
#>         \
#> 
#>           _____
#>        .'` ,-. `'.
#>       /   ([ ])   \
#>      /.-""`(`)`""-.\
#>       <'```(.)```'>
#>       <'```(.)```'>
#>        <'``(.)``'>
#>    sk   <``\_/``>
#>          `'---'`
#>

Shark

say("Q: What do you call a solitary shark\nA: A lone shark", by = "shark")
#> 
#>  ------------------------------------------------------ 
#> < Q: What do you call a solitary shark A: A lone shark >
#>  ------------------------------------------------------ 
#>            \
#>             \
#> 
#>               /""-._
#>               .       '-,
#>                :          '',
#>                 ;      *     '.
#>                  ' *         () '.
#>                    \               \
#>                     \      _.---.._ '.
#>                     :  .' _.--''-''  \ ,'
#>         .._           '/.'             . ;
#>         ; `-.          ,                \'
#>          ;   `,         ;              ._\
#>           ;    \     _,-'                ''--._
#>           :    \_,-'                          '-._
#>           \ ,-'                       .          '-._
#>           .'         __.-'';            \...,__       '.
#>         .'      _,-'        \              \   ''--.,__  '\
#>         /    _,--' ;         \              ;           \^.}
#>         ;_,-' )     \  )\      )            ;
#>              /       \/  \_.,-'             ;
#>             /                              ;
#>          ,-'  _,-'''-.    ,-.,            ;      PFA
#>       ,-' _.-'        \  /    |/'-._...--'
#>      :--``             )/
#>   '
#>

Buffalo

say("Q: What do you call a single buffalo?\nA: A buffalonely", by = "buffalo")
#> 
#>  -------------------------------------------------------- 
#> < Q: What do you call a single buffalo? A: A buffalonely >
#>  -------------------------------------------------------- 
#>                 \
#>                  \
#> 
#>                    _.-````'-,_
#>          _,.,_ ,-'`           `'-.,_
#>        /)     (                   '``-.
#>       ((      ) )                      `\
#>         \)    (_/                        )\
#>         |       /)           '    ,'    / \
#>         `\    ^'            '     (    /  ))
#>           |      _/\ ,     /    ,,`\   (  "`
#>           \Y,   |   \  \  | ````| / \_ \
#>             `)_/      \  \  )    ( >  ( >
#>                        \( \(     |/   |/
#>           mic & dwb  /_(/_(    /_(  /_(
#>

Clippy

say(fortune = 59, by = "clippy")
#> 
#>  -------------------------------------------------------- 
#> / Let's not kid ourselves: the most widely used piece of \
#> | software for statistics is Excel.  Brian D. Ripley     |
#> | 'Statistical Methods Need Software: A View of          |
#> | Statistical Computing' Opening lecture RSS 2002,       |
#> \ Plymouth September 2002                                /
#>  -------------------------------------------------------- 
#>  \
#>   \
#> 
#>     _
#>    / \
#>    | |
#>    @ @
#>   || ||
#>   || ||
#>   |\_/|
#>   \___/ GB

Yoda

say("fortune", by = "yoda")

Bats!

say("hi, i'm a bat", by = "bat")
#> 
#>  --------------- 
#> < hi, i'm a bat >
#>  --------------- 
#>                \
#>                 \
#> 
#>         __.--'\     \.__./     /'--.__
#>     _.-'       '.__.'    '.__.'       '-._
#>   .'                                      '.
#>  /                                          \
#> |                                            |
#> |                                            |
#>  \         .---.              .---.         /
#>   '._    .'     '.''.    .''.'     '.    _.'
#>      '-./            \  /           \.-'
#>                       ''mrf

See also bat2

Monkey!

say("fortune", by = "monkey")
#> 
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#> / I'm not sure I'd trust any computer recommendation from \
#> | 1976, no matter how famous the authors are.  Peter      |
#> | Dalgaard after Samuel Edward Kemp cited a               |
#> | recommendation about nonlinear least squares computer   |
#> \ programs from 'Box-Jenkins, 1976' R-help January 2005   /
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#>                \
#>                 \
#> 
#>                   .="=.
#>                 _/.-.-.\_     _
#>                ( ( o o ) )    ))
#>                 |/  "  \|    //
#>                  \'---'/    //
#>            jgs   /`"""`\\  ((
#>                 / /_,_\ \\  \\
#>                 \_\_'__/  \  ))
#>                 /`  /`~\   |//
#>                /   /    \  /
#>           ,--`,--'\/\    /
#>           '-- "--'  '--'

Daemon!

say("fortune", by = "daemon")
#> 
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#> / What sort of editor would overlook this clear and       \
#> | demonstrable message leaping out from the data in       |
#> | favour of some arcane argument about "types of sums of  |
#> | squares"? Several answers come to mind: A power freak,  |
#> | a SAS afficianado, an idiot.  Bill Venables R-help July |
#> \ 2007                                                    /
#>  --------------------------------------------------------- 
#>                  \
#>                   \
#>             ,        ,
#>             /(        )`
#>             \ \___   / |
#>             /- _  `-/  '
#>            (/\/ \ \   /\
#>            / /   | `    
#>            O O   ) /    |
#>            `-^--'`<     '
#>           (_.)  _  )   /
#>            `.___/`    /
#>              `-----' /
#> <----.     __ / __   \
#> <----|====O)))==) \) /====
#> <----'    `--' `.__,' \
#>              |        |
#>               \       /
#>         ______( (_  / \______
#>       ,'  ,-----'   |        \
#>       `--{__________)        \/ [nosig]

Egret

say("je ne regrette rien", by = "egret")
#> 
#>  --------------------- 
#> < je ne regrette rien >
#>  --------------------- 
#>         \
#>          \
#> 
#>            _,
#>       -==<' `
#>           ) /
#>          / (_.
#>         |  ,-,`\
#>          \\   \ \
#>           `\,  \ \
#>            ||\  \`|,
#>  jgs      _|| `=`-'
#>          ~~`~`

See also bat2

Endless horse

endless_horse()
## -----
## Hello world!
## ------
##    \
##     \
##      \
##       ,
##    _,,)\.~,,._
##     (()`  ``)\))),,_
##      |     \ ''((\)))),,_          ____
##      |6`   |   ''((\())) "-.____.-"    `-.-,
##      |    .'\    ''))))'                  \)))
##      |   |   `.     ''                     ((((
##      \, _)     \/                          |))))
##       `'        |                          (((((
##                 \                  |       ))))))
##                  `|    |           ,\     /((((((
##                   |   / `-.______.<  \   |  )))))
##                   |   |  /         `. \  \  ((((
##                   |  / \ |           `.\  | (((
##                   \  | | |             )| |  ))
##                    | | | |             || |  '   [endless.horse]
##                    | | | |             || |
##
##                    | | | |             || |
##                    | | | |             || |
##                    | | | |             || |
##                    | | | |             || |
##                    | | | |             || |
##                    | | | |             || |
##                    | | | |             || |
##                    | | | |             || |
##                    | | | |             || |
##                    | | | |             || |

Using pipes

library("magrittr")
"I HAD FUN ONCE, IT WAS AWFUL" %>% say("grumpycat")
#> 
#>  ------------------------------ 
#> < I HAD FUN ONCE, IT WAS AWFUL >
#>  ------------------------------ 
#>      \
#>       \
#> 
#>       ﾊ _ ﾊ
#>       ಠ X ಠ
#>

I just want the animals!

Okay, hold your endless horses. Just use the exported vector animals, and you can select the animal you want by name.

animals["clippy"]
#>                                                                        clippy 
#> "\n    _\n   / \\\n   | |\n   @ @\n  || ||\n  || ||\n  |\\_/|\n  \\___/ GB\n"

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