You’d be extra confused if you were Turkish thanks to existence of a province located on the Black Sea coast.
Things You Realized Recently
- Thread starter RatioTile
- Start date
We do have "Hij is wel een rare vogel" ("He is a bit of a weirdo") and "Uilskuiken" (Owl's chick, referring to someone really stupid)
I recently realised why the suckerfish in the Animal Crossing games has a shadow with a shark fin.
Some context for those unfamiliar - in Animal Crossing, you can go fishing. The location of a fish is indicated by a vaguely fish-shaped shadow in the water, which come in a couple variants to give you some indication as to what kind of fish it is, mostly variations in size from very small to very large. One variant, though, has a pointed fin sticking out of the water. Most of the fish that have this shadow type are, obviously, species of shark (eg. great white, hammerhead, whale shark, sawshark) - except one, the suckerfish (as it's called in game - I prefer to call it a remora but that's besides the point).
I had always assumed that the suckerfish used the shark fin shadow because in real life, the species usually associates with large marine animals such as sharks. This is shown in game too - in New Horizons, if you donate both the suckerfish and whale shark to the museum, you can see multiple suckerfish clinging to the whale shark in it's tank. So, I had assumed that the shark fin shadow was intended to represent that there is a shark in the water, but when you tried to catch it, sometimes a suckerfish attached to the shark struck your hook instead of the shark. However, I recently realised that this may not be the intention - rather, it may come from the suckerfish's name in Japanese, コバンザメ (kobanzame). The "ザメ" (zame) part just means shark (コバン, on the other hand, is a historic type of coin, which resembles the sucker on the fish's head which I'm assuming is why the fish is called that). So the suckerfish uses the shark fin shadow because in the game's original language, the species is called a shark.
(However, wouldn't this mean the sturgeon should also use the shark fin shadow, as it's Japanese name - チョウザメ (chōzame) - also refers to it as a shark? Perhaps being called a shark is not enough by itself to warrant a shark fin shadow, and the suckerfish's behavioural association with sharks makes it worthy of finned-shadowhood? Much to consider...)
Some context for those unfamiliar - in Animal Crossing, you can go fishing. The location of a fish is indicated by a vaguely fish-shaped shadow in the water, which come in a couple variants to give you some indication as to what kind of fish it is, mostly variations in size from very small to very large. One variant, though, has a pointed fin sticking out of the water. Most of the fish that have this shadow type are, obviously, species of shark (eg. great white, hammerhead, whale shark, sawshark) - except one, the suckerfish (as it's called in game - I prefer to call it a remora but that's besides the point).
I had always assumed that the suckerfish used the shark fin shadow because in real life, the species usually associates with large marine animals such as sharks. This is shown in game too - in New Horizons, if you donate both the suckerfish and whale shark to the museum, you can see multiple suckerfish clinging to the whale shark in it's tank. So, I had assumed that the shark fin shadow was intended to represent that there is a shark in the water, but when you tried to catch it, sometimes a suckerfish attached to the shark struck your hook instead of the shark. However, I recently realised that this may not be the intention - rather, it may come from the suckerfish's name in Japanese, コバンザメ (kobanzame). The "ザメ" (zame) part just means shark (コバン, on the other hand, is a historic type of coin, which resembles the sucker on the fish's head which I'm assuming is why the fish is called that). So the suckerfish uses the shark fin shadow because in the game's original language, the species is called a shark.
(However, wouldn't this mean the sturgeon should also use the shark fin shadow, as it's Japanese name - チョウザメ (chōzame) - also refers to it as a shark? Perhaps being called a shark is not enough by itself to warrant a shark fin shadow, and the suckerfish's behavioural association with sharks makes it worthy of finned-shadowhood? Much to consider...)
I suppose english has a few words that essentially mean the same thing, but one is used for humans and the other for other animals - eg hair and fur, nails and claws.
I wonder if there are words like this in other languages, and if so, which?
Indeed. And in German, one of my favourite quirks is there is a different verb for 'to eat' on the same basis - 'essen' for humans, 'fressen' for other animals - which allows you to switch to 'fressen' to imply someone is eating messily.
Oh, I suppose there is something kind of similar in English... it would seem strange to refer to a person as 'feeding' (unless it's an infant). But the reverse is not true, it doesn't sound unusual to me to say an animal is eating. I guess there is also the phrase "going for a feed"/"go get a feed", which I think is only really used in Australia, to informally refer to eating out/going to a restaurant.Indeed. And in German, one of my favourite quirks is there is a different verb for 'to eat' on the same basis - 'essen' for humans, 'fressen' for animals - which allows you to switch to 'fressen' to imply someone is eating messily.
Granted I'm sure this varies from person to person, but I personally do actually think of claws and fingernails as two different things for reasons beyond the fact that nonhuman animals humans posses one and humans the other, and I'm sure many other zoological enthusiasts would concur. Most primates have the same flat keratinous fingertip features that we do rather than traditional claws like most other non-hoofed land mammals, and they are typically described as nails regardless of whether they're on a human, a capuchin, or a sifaka.
Oh that's a good point... perhaps claw vs nail was not the best example!
Czech language has the same. It uses different names for body parts of humans and animals. It also uses different verbs for same activity, like giving birth, miscarriage, eating, having sex etc., depending if you speak about humans or animals. And for the most common domestic species, it even have individual verbs used just for one species (of cattle, horse, sheep, cat, ...). Nowadays, when most people own pets instead of keeping farm animals, those specific animal-related verbs are slowly dying out, however.
Wanderer
Well-Known Member
We have a few of those in French as well. Vêler for a cow giving birth, agneler for a sheep. It is only used in a farming context now but was more common in the past.
Strathmorezoo
Well-Known Member
Only became aware of this today, Great Tit's when very hungry will kill small birds and small mammals and eat their brain. Every day's a school day.