h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

which means what it sounds like it means.

As some light Christmas fun, please join me in what I was doing in the shower the other day.

I started listing all the verbs that have animal names. It would seem that nearly all of them have something to do with the animal in question, or at least with a characteristic traditionally attributed to that animal. The only exception that I could think of was "fly" - although flies do fly, so do so many other things that I think the verb was there first in that case.

To d*g
to snake
to bug
to wolf
to hound
to hog
to pig (on)
to hamster
to worm (one's way in to something)

there must be lots more. If not, it might be fun to invent some!

To Weasel.
To Ferret.

mini

Squrrel. Rat. Ape.

BADGER!

mini

can only think of ferret at the moment - to ferret about for something meaning delving through the undergrowth like wot they do.


But I'm also interested in the ones with no clear link.

Like 'to badger' - I've lived near badgers and they never pestered me for anything.
Similarly, I've never heard a Snipe make a derogatory or unpleasant comment about anyone.

ah yes, weasel too - never met a weasel with any negative personality traits

Although if we are relating verbs to the creature involved surely 'to roger' should instead be 'to cassanova'?

Swan. Duck. Goose.

Cow. (Bully?*) Monkey. Lark











*Taururise

Rabbit. Beaver.

Hare. Lion(-ise).

I've just started reading 'The Secret Life of Words' by Henry Hitchings. It's about English vocabulary and where all the words came from. It's tremendous! There are more interesting facts than you could shake a stick at. one example is the Russian for train station being 'vokzal', because a Russian delegation saw a sign for Vauxhall station and thought it was the generic name for stations. I'm sure everyone here would thoroughly enjoy it.

Damn! Now I'm trying to remember the Turkish word for something railway-related which is taken from something in German.

brb...

Musk comes from the Sanskrit for scrotum, via Persian.

Bugger! That's going to prey on me. It's something like the guard's German cry of (something like) 'Off we go' becoming the name of the guard.

And in French, a fanlight window above a door is called 'un vasisdas' (from 'Was ist das?')

Avocado is from thge Nahuatl for 'testicle'.

Which reminds me...I haven't done the 'fascinating' story for a while:

When Roman boys came of age, they were presented with a 'bulla' - a leather pouch to be hung around the neck. This contained a 'fascinum' - a miniature model of the boy's erect penis.

'Fascinum' became the generic word for a magic charm.

Anything that charms or transfixes us can said to be 'fascinating'.


And that's why fire engines are red...

In Spanish we use:

- torear: to bullfight. It´s a very common verb meaning to make someone move from one place to another unnecessarily; like it happens to any citizen in a burocratic matter.

-ratear: to rat. What mean people do.
-marranear: from marrano, cerdo: to pig. Mess and dirty anything.
etc.
:::
Pedro, that book sounds really good. I´ll have to read it.
:::
Musk, is extracted from the male glands that some rumminants have to atract their females. Funny coincidence that of scrotum.

and, going on with that lyrical topic, I wonder what could be, if there is any, the equivalent fascinum now for teenager boys.


It wouldn´t be a bad idea to recover those items. They are a bit obsessed about their penis ( I can tell you, I work with them)maybe they would feel a bit more confident. It could be natural to show the figure to the girlmates, they could joke about it and make the boys feel a bit more relaxed about the matter that Mother Nature has so graciously gifted them with.
hmmm, don´t see it yet... something is failing...


back to work

These days, neckties serve a similar purpose.

<>

I don't think it's a coincidence.

>>Musk, is extracted from the male glands

So is cheese.