6/10/2023 0 Comments Pecunia cattle![]() ![]() The word ‘giraffe’ probably comes from the Arabic zarāfah, which translates to ‘fast walker’. They portmanteaued camel, for the long neck like a giraffe, and leopard for the leopard-like spots. ![]() Giraffe used to be known in English as ‘camelopard’. Which animal did 14th century English speakers call a camelopard?ĪNSWER: A. What’s a word that denotes something similar to ‘piebald’ but meaning patches of white and other colours than black?īald meant ‘white patches’, which is a very white person-centric way to describe the absence of hair. The pie part of magpie also became a term to mean black and white, like in ‘piebald’. The pie of magpie derives from the Latin for magpie, ‘pica’, but the medical condition pica derives from magpie, pica where people eat substances that aren’t foods, another reference to the magpie’s wide-ranging eating habits. Why Margaret though in magpie? The name was used to denote women, yes the concept of women, and why for this bird? Because it chatters! What else chatters? WOMEN! They could have just carried on calling it a pie, but no got to get ole rowdy Maggie permanently added.Īnd the ‘pie’ part might be related to pie, in that the pastry-encased food genre might be derived from magpie, because a pie contains a variety of ingredients just like a magpie collects assortments of things or will eat pretty much anything. Similarly, the magpie was originally just a pie, we’ll get back to that in a sec. The Mag stood for Margaret, and think about it, quite a few common birds had human names, the jenny wren, the tomtit, the robin redbreast - originally robert redbreast - the jackdaw, formerly just a ‘daw’. parakeet, derived from the Italian parrochetto, ‘little priest’. Which creature’s name has the etymology ‘little priest’?ĪNSWER: D. HZ: Humans, have you got the interactive answer sheet open at /creaturequiz? This live show is not available on the podcast, nor is the Problematic Eponym pencil that everyone gets when they attend the show.Īlright, are you ready to quiz? Are you ready to quiz? Whisky, are you ready to quiz? Hurry to /events for information and tickets, because August is now so these shows are soon. HZ: - because today’s episode is a playalong etymology quiz all about creatures! Mammals! Birds! Insects! Sea beasts! Fun for all the family! Pop off to get a piece of paper and pencil, or load up /creaturequiz where there’s an interactive score sheet, but if you’re in Aotearoa New Zealand, stay right here, I have an important message for you, and that is the Allusionist live touring show Your Name Here, all about eponyms, is on this month - this very month of August 2022! In fact the next show is later today from when I’m recording - so come along to see us in Wanaka, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. HZ: This is the Allusionist, in which I, Helen Zaltzman, am hanging out by a pig pen with my new pal Whisky - say hi, Whisky! Go to /creaturequiz to listen to this episode and play along using the interactive score sheet, which includes the text of the answers and extra information given alongside.
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