• Green_Bay_Guy@midwest.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    31
    ·
    1 year ago

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

    • enthusiasticamoeba@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      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

      • lugal@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        1 year ago

        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.

      • Pinklink
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        1 year ago

        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.

      • redcalcium@lemmy.institute
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        1 year ago

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

    • saltnotsugar
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

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

    • DrQuint
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      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.