1.2K

Hello am business goose.(lemmy.world)

posted
by
Avatar
BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
in
Avatar
memes@lemmy.ml
45 comments
hidereport
Sort:
HotTopControversialNewOld
You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments
Avatar
Green_Bay_Guy@midwest.social
31 points

You could do this all day with Vietnamese. Kangaroo is bag mouse. Orca is assassin fish, giraffe is a long-necked deer. Etc.

permalink
report
reply
Avatar
DrQuint@lemm.ee
1 point
*

Somewhere, out there, there’s a language that does NOT have any funny details like this. Those who speak it have the maximum enjoyment potential when learning out.

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
HotDogFingies@kbin.social
4 points

That’s adorable

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
lugal@sopuli.xyz
4 points

German has Killerwahl (killer whale) for orca

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
nudny ekscentryk@szmer.info
4 points

So does English, no?

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
lugal@sopuli.xyz
1 point

I didn’t know. So the German might be a calque from the English

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
enthusiasticamoeba@lemmy.ml
19 points
*

Dutch has a lot of good ones!

Hippo: Nile Horse (nijlpaard)

Leopard: Lazy Horse (luipaard)

Sea urchin: Sea Hedgehog (zee egel)

Seal: Sea Dog (zeehond)

Skunk: Stink Animal (stinkdier)

Turtle: Shield Toad (Schildpad)

Slug: Naked Snail (Naaktslak)

Porcupine: Spiky Pig (Stekelvarken)

Edit: formatting

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
CurlyMoustache@lemmy.world
3 points
*

Norwegian

Hedgehog: Needle Swine (pinnsvin/

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
redcalcium@lemmy.institute
4 points

So this is why Indonesian names for hippo, sea urchin and seal are weird af. They are actually direct translation from their dutch names!

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
5 points

Hippopotamus comes from the Greek words hippos (horse) and potamos (river). So literally “river horse”.

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
Pinklink@lemm.ee
5 points

While this is kind of fun, it’s also kind of frustrating. Like when Merriam Webster tries to define a word for me by using the word. Frustrating: having a quality or qualities that frustrates.

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
lugal@sopuli.xyz
10 points

Leopard: Lazy Horse (luipaard)

I’ve looked it up and apparently leo is lion and part is leopard or panther. So it’s a lion leopard. English and Dutch have the same etymology, and German too, all your examples are the same in German.

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
napalminjello@kbin.social
5 points

Are you implying that the word for leopard is compounded from the word for leopard??? How did they get the first word for leopard if they didn’t have a word for leopard???

permalink
report
parent
reply
Show more comments
Avatar
saltnotsugar@lemm.ee
8 points

Wow that’s a big bouncing animal! Kind of reminds me of-
“A mouse. Like a big mouse with a bag.”
…Good idea sir.

permalink
report
parent
reply
Avatar
WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world
2 points

Sylvester agrees.

permalink
report
parent
reply

Memes

!memes@lemmy.ml

Create post

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

Community stats

  • 8.2K

    Monthly active users

  • 12K

    Posts

  • 265K

    Comments

Community moderators