Three compounds across three languages, all well-motivated, and all referring to the same thing, the runway at fashion shows:
English: catwalk
German: Laufsteg 'run' + 'footbridge'
Mandarin Chinese: T型台 T xing2tai2 'T-form' + 'platform'
Motivated in all three languages:
- E: looks like/forces you to walk like cat walks
- G: runway is set high above the ground like "Steg"
- MC: form of the runway