Jacob ScharmbergDec 4, 2024
ThatSexToyGuy
I found out the other day that "penguin" in Mandarin Chinese is literally "business goose" and I haven't been able to think about anything else
Dec 4, 2024 at 8:37amWeb
Show threadInsecurity Princess 🌈💖🔥Dec 4, 2024
@hungry_joe
In German:
Skunk is "stink animal" (Stinktier)
Sloth is "lazy animal" (Faultier)
Turtle is "shield toad" (Schildkröte)
Raccoon is "wash bear" (Waschbär)
Turkey is "threatening chicken" (Truthahn)
Bat is "flutter mouse" (Fledermaus)
Show threadJohan SköldDec 4, 2024
@saraislet @hungry_joe In Swedish turtle, raccoon and bat are the same. But also:
Hippopotamus is "river horse" (flodhäst)
Sloth is "late walker" (sengångare)
Platypus is "beak animal" (näbbdjur)
Armadillo is "belt mouse" (bältmus)
Porcupine is "spike swine" (piggsvin)
Show threadZeborahDec 4, 2024
@rhoot @saraislet @hungry_joe hippopotamus is from the Greek for river horse too, though platypus I think is flat foot. Armadillo I think Spanish, I wonder if cognate with 'armour'? Porcupine is some kind of Romance language, porc=pig and (without checking actual etymology) I'd guess pine may be from something to do with penna which was Latin for feather but gave us pen when a pen was still a quill: so quill pig.
Show threadAndy TonksDec 4, 2024

@zeborah

Is it actually true that penguin is from Welsh?

"White head" is the claim.

@rhoot @saraislet @hungry_joe

Show threadAerlissDec 5, 2024

@apt12 @zeborah @rhoot @saraislet @hungry_joe it was originally used for the now extinct great awk (their story is a tragedy and a crime, and instead of mammoths we should be looking to return them). It may be "white head" in Welsh, but might also be "fat, juicy, heavy" from Latin.

Auk, not awk 😅

Show threadAerlissDec 5, 2024

@zeborah @rhoot @saraislet @hungry_joe pine is spike. Spikey pig.

Sloth is laziness. Racoon means "he scratches with his hands", and skunk is urinating fox in Powhatan.

Bat is from Old Norse for flapper.

There are many animal words in English that we don't have origins for, like dog and turtle, or have been used almost unchanged for thousands of years, like cat. But many have descriptive origins similar to those in other languages.

Show threadDerPumu (he/him)Dec 4, 2024
@rhoot @saraislet @hungry_joe German again:
Flusspferd (river horse)
We had the lazy animal
Schabeltier (beak animal)
Gürteltier (belt animal)
Stachelschwein (spike swine)
Show threadChris 🤩 ReinbotheDec 5, 2024
@rhoot @saraislet @hungry_joe In German: „river horse“ (Flusspferd), „beak animal“ (Schnabeltier) and „spike swine“ (Stachelschwein) as well. Armadillo is „belt animal“ (Gürteltier).
Show threadVon XylofonDec 5, 2024

@rhoot @saraislet @hungry_joe In Czech,

sloth is "lazy motion" (lenochod)
rhinoceros is "one of a nose horn" (nosorožec)
platypus is "bird lips" (ptakopysk)
manatee is "one of cabbage" (kapustňák) or a sea cow "mořská kráva"

Show threadClaudius LinkDec 4, 2024

@saraislet @hungry_joe

You sent me on a wild goose chase (or rather a turkey hunt 😜 ) looking for the origin of Truthahn.

It looks like there are several possible origins of the "trut":

  • it is an echoism (TIL) on the sound the turkey makes. Sidenote: echoism in German is Lautmalerei (sound painting)
  • comes from droten („drohen“ / threaten, or altnordic þrutna / inflate)

    • 🙏🏻 for letting me learn new English and German words 🙂

    Show threadMartijn VosDec 4, 2024

    @realn2s @saraislet @hungry_joe

    Now you made me look up where the Dutch word for turkey, "kalkoen", comes from. Apparently it comes "rooster from Calcutta" -> "Calicoetse haan" -> "Calcoense haan" -> kalkoen.

    Please ignore the fact that turkeys come from America and not at all from India. Our ancestors clearly did.

    The other listed animals are basically the same in Dutch as in German.

    Show threadersatzmausDec 4, 2024

    @mcv @saraislet @hungry_joe @realn2s Turkeys are hilariously misnamed in most languages afaik.

    turkey - obviously wrong, not from Turkey.
    kalkoen - bzzt, not from Calcutta
    dinde - nope, not from India
    peru pakshi - *sigh* not from Peru

    Show threadAlex, the Hearth FireDec 4, 2024
    @ersatzmaus @mcv @saraislet @hungry_joe @realn2s I believe they're called turkeys in English because they reminded Brits of guinea fowl, which *were* brought to Europe by Turkish merchants
    Show threadInsecurity Princess 🌈💖🔥Dec 5, 2024
    @realn2s @hungry_joe neat! Thanks for sharing!
    Show threadtiny_mDec 4, 2024
    @saraislet @hungry_joe lots of these make sense to me but why is a raccoon a wash bear, do they wash often? are they very clean? do they look like they are washing? we need answers
    Show threadSabrina Web  📎Dec 4, 2024
    @saraislet @hungry_joe wash bear for a raccoon is something that exists in Italian as well (actually it's little washer bear, orsetto lavatore)
    Show threadWilliam PietriDec 4, 2024
    @sabrinaweb71 That is a delight! @saraislet @hungry_joe
    Show threadalvin 👍 🥉Dec 4, 2024
    @sabrinaweb71 @saraislet @hungry_joe sounds like a mafia boss's name!
    Show threadStop ThatDec 5, 2024
    @sabrinaweb71 @saraislet @hungry_joe And same in Japanese, アライグマ (araiguma - wash bear)!
    Show threadI AM BANKSY ☕ / 🗑‍🔥Dec 4, 2024

    @saraislet I was going to mention Dutch names, but those are mostly basically the same.

    There's also snail (Slak) and slug (Naaktslak)

    Snail and naked snail.

    @hungry_joe

    Show threadFunky BobDec 5, 2024
    @saraislet @hungry_joe Aren't there also a large number of pig variations for animal names?
    Show threadChris 🤩 ReinbotheDec 5, 2024
    @FunkyBob @saraislet @hungry_joe Meerschwein (guinea pig), Stachelschwein (porcupine), Wildschwein (boar) come to mind.
    Show threadFlorian 'floe' EchtlerDec 5, 2024
    @phneutral @FunkyBob @saraislet @hungry_joe Apologies, but now I'm obliged to post this linguistic gem:
    Show threadChris 🤩 ReinbotheDec 6, 2024
    @floe @FunkyBob @saraislet @hungry_joe love it!
    Show threadLeoDec 5, 2024
    @saraislet turkey ain't right. Trut doesn't mean anything, really. And "Hahn" is not "chicken", rather "rooster".
    Show threadStefan EissingDec 5, 2024
    @saraislet @hungry_joe Somehow, the Flutter Mouse Man Movies were never fully translated here. 💁🏻‍♂️
    Show threadCat PanderingDec 5, 2024

    @saraislet 企業 = enterprise, business

    企鵝 = penguin

    The second character in penguin does in fact mean Goose, but the first character in both words means to stand on tiptoe or anxiously expect.

    If they were homophones in Mandarin then maybe the gag would make sense, but they’re not. The business one ends in (IPA) “je” and the penguin one ends in “ə” … and they’re different tones.

    I wonder if the original poster knows this and it’s a flavor of engagement bait, or if they’re just reposting a meme they saw do numbers before (I have seen this strange claim before).

    Show threadFlorian 'floe' EchtlerDec 5, 2024
    @coxn @saraislet Nice explanation, thanks! TBH, "tiptoeing goose" may be even better than "business goose" 👍
    Show threadEstarriol, Terrorist DragonDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe I rather like that.
    Show threadcpkimberDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe and blue jeans are cowboy pants. Heck, some people call avocado “alligator pear”. Lots of good words in Chinese.
    Show threadLorenzoDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe I like also panda 熊猫 which is "bear cat" and owl 猫头鹰 which is "cat head eagle"
    Show threadenoch_exe_incDec 4, 2024

    @hungry_joe Turkey in Mandarin is “fire chicken” (火雞).

    Also, some place names, like Yellowstone and Yellowknife, are translated literally: 黃石 (“yellow stone”) and 黃刀 (“yellow knife”). Others are just based on how they sound in other languages: Toronto is 多倫多.

    Show threadMagnus AhltorpDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe This is either shitposting or both incorrect and exoticising.
    Show threadThatSexToyGuyDec 4, 2024
    @ahltorp Take your pick.
    Show threadtiny_mDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe why pick one? why not go for all 3, live your dreams, be the change you want to see in the world!
    Show threaddoomy 🦀Dec 4, 2024
    @ahltorp @hungry_joe im going for "boring and lazy". like brother. almost every animal in chinese is some interesting mash of charcters, you had to make one up then present it as fact? weird redditor behavior imo.
    Show threadSpeculation FictiveDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe unfortunately this seems not to be true: https://www.chineseboost.com/blog/chinese-penguin-business-goose-tip-toe-goose/
    No, the Chinese word for "penguin" does not really mean "business goose"

    There's a meme that the Chinese word for "penguin" literally translates as "business goose", but sadly this is not true.

    Chinese Boost
    Show threadThatSexToyGuyDec 4, 2024
    @speculationfictive buddy i knew that before i posted it.
    Show threaddoomy 🦀Dec 4, 2024

    @hungry_joe @speculationfictive oh got it so you are just making one of those "jokes" where you actually just lie, then pretend that you were obviously joking when someone looks into it. (Let's be adults. Everyone replying to you believes you, because you're intentionally deceiving people).

    Enjoy the points for spreading random false information! Cool racket you got there. You know, there's plenty of actually entertaining things about Chinese linguistics, if you cared.

    Show threadAcroamatis 🇨🇦Dec 4, 2024

    @doomy @hungry_joe @speculationfictive

    Thank you for calling out someone on spreading misinformation. Even if it's charming, there's more than enough false info sloshing around. We need to be working _against_ it.

    Show threadJL Johnson Dec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe @pluralistic I wanted this to be true. alas, it’s not. https://www.chineseboost.com/blog/chinese-penguin-business-goose-tip-toe-goose/
    No, the Chinese word for "penguin" does not really mean "business goose"

    There's a meme that the Chinese word for "penguin" literally translates as "business goose", but sadly this is not true.

    Chinese Boost
    Show threadThatSexToyGuyDec 4, 2024
    @User47 @pluralistic You just have to believe.
    Show threadSteveDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe A translator friend says it's more like 'standing goose', but the character is related to 'enterprise'.
    Show threadPhil BettsDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe I've been screenshotting this and sending to friends, and they all are thinking "thanks @ThatSexToygGuy"
    Show threadThatSexToyGuyDec 4, 2024
    @philbetts Hey it's not just dildos over here at Hungry Joe HQ. It's vaguely suspicious facts too.
    Show threadRook Queen Dec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe I also don't know why 企's in the world either even though my mother tongue is Chinese. Upon searching for a few sources, I found an article that has a pretty good explanation for it. TL;DR, 企 in cantonese is related to the word "Standing", and since penguins like to stand and do nothing, they are called 企鵝.
    source: https://dailycold.tw/2018/08/11/%E4%BC%81%E9%B5%9D%E7%82%BA%E4%BB%80%E9%BA%BC%E5%8F%AB%E4%BC%81%E9%B5%9D%EF%BC%9F/
    企鵝為什麼叫企鵝？

    你知道嗎？【企鵝為什麼叫企鵝？】 #本日冷知識1508 大家好，我是Mr Holiday。 夏日炎炎，除了開冷…

    每日一冷
    Show threadRDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe uhh, which term? we'd use 企鹅, which is just a "standing goose"
    Show threadRDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe oh, uh, did you run into 企 being interpreted as "abbreviation for 企业"? the core of that term which means "business/enterprise" is 业 and not 企. 企 by itself just means "to stand (on tiptoes)", especially in my language of Cantonese where it's the ordinary word for "to stand"
    Show threadPhil Thane ✅Dec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe
    Penguin comes (allegedly) from the Welsh Pen Gwyn ie White Head. But penguins have black heads. However Great Auks did have partly white heads and were designated 'penguinus' by scientists. They became extinct but not before sailors exploring the southern oceans had named Penguins because they resembled Great Auks from the North.
    @Maker_of_Things
    Show threadARGVMI~1.PIFDec 4, 2024

    @hungry_joe

    Seems like an apt description. 👍

    Show threadGooseDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe More languages should define everything by their relationship to geese.
    Show threadThatSexToyGuyDec 4, 2024
    @Goose I feel like you might be biased
    Show threadI AM BANKSY ☕ / 🗑‍🔥Dec 4, 2024
    @Goose around our house we call swans "murder honks" when honks are, obviously, geese. @hungry_joe
    Show threadGooseDec 4, 2024
    @xinit @hungry_joe yes. And props for focusing on swans’ behavior, instead of their unfair advantage in the majestic beauty department.
    Show threadReayDec 4, 2024
    @hungry_joe @kimlockhartga Dammit, it SHOULD be true.
    Show threadAndy TonksDec 4, 2024

    @hungry_joe
    Common meme, but fake news, sorry 😂

    企鹅 “penguin” means “standing goose” / “tip-toeing goose”

    企业 “business” means “stand-up enterprise”. Like start-up I guess.

    They share a common root, rather than one being based on the other.