What The Names of Animals Mean

Sometimes, the names of animals have more to them than meets the eye. In this video, we explore the best examples of that.

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The following music performed by Kevin Macleod Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV 1049 [orig. by JS Bach]

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Picture Attributions:

[shellsnbees]

He scratches with the hands, perfection.

[Jamie_van_Brewen]

"Penguin" was originally used to refer to the extinct group of flightless sea birds known as auks. It was applied to the birds we are familiar with now when they were first encountered by Europeans because to them they resembled auks, although the two groups are not related other than being birds.

[quinnhicks]

The word for spider is derived from the Proto-Germanic: spin-þron which means ‘spinner’ (a reference to how spiders make their webs), from the Proto-Indo-European root word: (s)pen, which means ‘to draw, stretch, spin’

[DoloresLehmann]

The Spanish word for platypus is "ornitorrinco", which is derived from Greek, meaning "bird-like beak".

[daledrinnon]

I found out that the IndoEuropean original name for "bee" was *wobzha (obviously also means wasp) and I had a stoke of inspiration that the original form might well have been "buzz-buzz"

[OddWoz]

The similarities between the Native American names and languages compared to those from the old world never ceases to fascinate and amaze me.

[chrislyons]

honestly i like the interpretation of narwhal as "corpse whale". sounds more mysterious, eerie and atmosperic. adds a layer of mystery

[Higfoot]

Walrus-They were used as walls in Russia
Owl-When named it was thought that we had now discovered “Owl” (old way to spell all) of the birds
Dolphin-Thought to look like a doll with fins

[LivingEncyclopedia]

Finding out that one of my favorite animals (armadillo) is called a word that means a combination of two of my other favorite animals, just made my whole day! I’m unreasonably happy right now

[trixrabbit]

You know why you never see crows hit on the road?

They always have a buddy up in the trees yelling car. Car. Car.

[jaynorris]

Thank you so much for this, and all your videos. You make learning fun and interesting.
Give my best to Peanut. I'm sure he helped you best as he could with all the research.☺

[Rockypf]

I like the origin of Raccoon. "he scratches with the hands". Spanish also adopted the indigenous word, using "mapache" from Nahuatl's "mapatzin". The word roots bieng MA meaning hand, PA meaning wash, and Tzin- a diminutive suffix that expreses smallness or endearment like Spanish "ito". So Mapache means little one who washes their hands, or little hand washer.

[pescavelho]

8:47 The name of chamaeleons is a Sumerian calque, Sumerians used "lion" as a generic word for any predator, so they called lizards "earth/creeping lions".

[OsamasStory]

8:18 I learned about etymology of giraffe few months ago, glad to see someone else is talking about it because no one really does that.

[conceptualisingdisapproval]

It is fascinating to see how different languages have such similar sounding words. In my language, Urdu, a cow is called gaa-ay (گائے). Similarly, a bull is called bael (بیل).
An owl is called ullu (اُلُّو). And a giraffe is called zaraffa (زرافہ).

And also, many animal names have the same meanings as in English. The hippopotamus is called Daryaai Ghora (دریائی گھوڑا) which literally translates to river horse. Porcupines are called Khaar pusht (خار پُشت) which translates to spiny back.

Thousands of years of isolation and still these two languages have many things in common due to their ancient Indo-European roots.

[fraggzbN]

In German, Platypus is called "Schnabeltier" which can be translated as "Bill Animal". Because it has a bill... and it is an animal.

[THE-X-Force]

Just fantastic sense of humor .. delivery & timing. 💋

[jaschabull]

I've heard butterflies might actually be named for their buttery poop, hence their Dutch name being boterschijte, which literally means "butter-pooper". Though that might also be the origin of the butter-stealing myth as well.

Also, dolphins may not be called merepigs now, but there are still some cetaceans named after pigs, namely the porpoise, whose name is derived from the Latin "porcopiscis", literally "pig fish".

[LillyP-xsqe]

My favourite is the hairy screaming armadillo, for it is a hairy armadillo that screams

[Leto]

Interesting how in my language we seem to have quite a few animals named after the almost literal translation of the Latin origins.
0:40 River Horse for hippopotamus, which in Dutch is nijlpaard, or Nile Horse when translated back to English.
05:18 Horned Nose for Rhinoceros, is neushoorn in Dutch, or Nose Horn when translated back to English.