this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
342 points (99.4% liked)

aww

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[–] samus12345@lemm.ee 18 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago

Nintendo patented this creature and it is now in violation of copyright law.

[–] ExtantHuman@lemm.ee 9 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Well some scientist was feeling pretty lazy the day that thing got "named". That's just a description.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago

For a lot of languages, lots of names are just "descriptions". Like Finnish, German — and I assume — Japanese.

Like capybara is a "water pig" in at least Finnish and German. And English usually just takes loanwords it doesn't understand, and thus English speakers don't think of as descriptors. "Capybara" is originally from Tupi language (spoken by indigenous Brazilians) capiuára , from capĩ ‘grass’ + uára ‘eater’.

Although the names aren't always accurate. Like guinea pigs aren't from Guinea. (And neither are they related to pigs, really.)

"Schwein" (=pig) was used much in the same way "deer" once was in terms of animals and "apple" was in terms of fruit. A general term. Oranges are still etymologically "Chinese apples" in Northern Europe/Nordics; variations of "appelsin" ~applechina.

Languages are fun, aren't they?

[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago

Looks like a flying red panda cat

[–] MNByChoice@midwest.social 4 points 5 days ago

So lower left photo is not a bad photoshop?

[–] nailingjello@lemmy.zip 3 points 5 days ago

This sounds like an animal name that I would have come up with.

[–] WagnasT@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

can reach a length of over a meter

like a water meter? That's normal squirrel size. 🇺🇸

[–] prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago

A water meter is like 1.02 metric yards

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 2 points 5 days ago

I love that when it flies, it's flipping the bird to all beneath it.

[–] cheers_queers@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago

I didnt know chapaas existed irl