Showing posts with label etymology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label etymology. Show all posts

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Animal Etymology - Random Trivia Answers

  • A6. Algonquian (American Indian) - chipmunk & muskrat. The chipmunk is a squirrel-like rodent whose name means "one who descends trees headfirst". The muskrat is a large, aquatic rodent named for its red color.
  • B1. Arabic - albatross & gazelle. The albatross is a large diving bird known as the "sea eagle". The gazelle is an antelope with less speed but more endurance than a cheetah.
  • C18. Australian Aboriginal - taipan & wombat. The taipan is a highly venomous snake that can reach lengths of nine feet. The wombat is a short, three-foot-long marsupial.
  • D7. Chinese - chow chow & shar pei. The chow chow is a small, "puffy-lion" dog whose name means either "mixed" or "food". The shar pei is a blue-black tongued "sand skin" dog.
  • E3. Congolese - basenji & zebra. The basenji is a barkless hunting dog. The zebra is the horse's black and white relative (white stripes on black, if you were wondering).
  • F17. Dutch - meerkat & walrus. The meerkat is a small mongoose made famous by Timon in The Lion King movies (from the word for "monkey", although it looks like "lake cat"). The walrus is a semi-aquatic mammal that was either a "whale horse" or a "shore giant".
  • G5. French - caterpillar & porpoise. The caterpillar is a "hairy cat" butterfly or moth larva. The porpoise is a large dolphin-like "pork fish" named for its piglike nose.
  • H10. German - dachshund & rottweiler. The dachshund is a short-legged badger-hunting dog. The rottweiler is a large working dog named for a town in southern Germany.
  • I11. Greek - dinosaur & rhinoceros. The dinosaur is a "terrible lizard" that did not coexist with cavemen. The rhinoceros is a large "horn-nosed" ungulate.
  • J4. Indonesian - cassowary & komodo dragon. The cassowary is a large, flightless bird that lives in tropical forests. The komodo dragon is the largest lizard, named for the Indonesian island that it is native to.
  • K12. Malay - gecko & orangutan. The gecko is a small to medium-sized lizard named for its chirps. The orangutan is a reddish-brown great ape "man of the woods".
  • L14. Maori (New Zealander) - kiwi & moa. The kiwi is a small, flightless bird that gave its name to a similar looking fruit. The moa is a large, extinct, flightless bird native to New Zealand.
  • M9. Nahuatl (Mexican Indian) - coyote & ocelot. The coyote is a prairie wolf whose scientific name Canis latrans means "barking dog". The ocelot is a painted leopard or McNenney's wildcat ("jaguar").
  • N15. Old Norse - lemming & skate. The lemming is a vole and muskrat relative, falsely believed to regularly commit mass suicide by a staged scene in Walt Disney's 1958 documentary White Wilderness. The skate is a flat, carnivorous, bottom-dwelling fish.
  • O13. Sanskrit - jackal & mynah. The jackal is a scavenging "howler" related to the dog. The mynah is a starling relative known for its ability to imitate sounds.
  • P8. Spanish - cockroach & mosquito. The cockroach is a extremely adaptable insect whose Spanish name is well known from the song "La Cucaracha". The mosquito is a "little fly" whose female feasts on human and other mammal blood.
  • Q2. Telugu (Indian [state of Andhra Pradesh]) - bandicoot & mongoose. The bandicoot is a omnivorous, marsupial "pig-rat", made famous by the video game character Crash Bandicoot. The mongoose is a small, cat-like carnivore, heroically represented by Rudyard Kipling's snake-fighting Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
  • R16. Tupi-Guarani (South American Indian) - macaw & piranha. The macaw is a colorful parrot, possibly named for the tree whose fruit it eats. The piranha is a carnivorous fish named for its scissor-like teeth.

You can look up your other favorite animals at the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Animal Etymology - Random Trivia Questions

When my nephew was single, he used to joke about borrowing his friend's pet dog to help him attract women. This week's themed quiz features a different kind of lending; all of these animal names have been imported into English from a foreign language. Your task is to match the animal pairs in the second column with their originating languages in the first column. (I've tried hard to avoid multiple possibilities, but when in doubt go with the oldest source.)

Animal Etymology Questions

LanguageAnimals
A. Algonquian (American Indian)1. albatross & gazelle
B. Arabic2. bandicoot & mongoose
C. Australian Aboriginal3. basenji & zebra
D. Chinese4. cassowary & komodo dragon
E. Congolese5. caterpillar & porpoise
F. Dutch6. chipmunk & muskrat
G. French7. chow chow & shar pei
H. German8. cockroach & mosquito
I. Greek9. coyote & ocelot
J. Indonesian10. dachshund & rottweiler
K. Malay11. dinosaur & rhinoceros
L. Maori (New Zealander)12. gecko & orangutan
M. Nahuatl (Mexican Indian)13. jackal & mynah
N. Old Norse14. kiwi & moa
O. Sanskrit15. lemming & skate
P. Spanish16. macaw & piranha
Q. Telugu (Indian [state of Andhra Pradesh])17. meerkat & walrus
R. Tupi-Guarani (South American Indian)18. taipan & wombat