• @AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
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    444 months ago

    The Japanese word for cat, “neko”, apparently etymologically translates as “quadruped that goes ‘nyan’” (which is the Japanese equivalent of “meow”). The Mandarin word for cat, IIRC, is “mao”.

    • The Ramen Dutchman
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      214 months ago

      Also, small birds are “tori” in Japanese, likely after the sing-song sound they make (tri-tri-triii)

      Ducks are named after a quacking sound in English… And Indonesian&Malaysian; “bebek”!

      I could go on for a while but in general it’s not very uncommon for animals to be named like a Pokémon!

    • GingaNinga
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      84 months ago

      hence nyancat but I don’t know where the poptart and rainbow come from.

      • SkaveRat
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        124 months ago

        A rare breed that got hunted to extinction from meme overuse

    • @gandalf_der_12te@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      4 months ago

      I read somewhere that there’s another story of origin (maybe folk etymology though) that “Neko” means something like “star-child” (nagareboshi no ko)

    • @CitizenKong@lemmy.world
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      14 months ago

      In German, children often call dogs “Wauwau” and “Mietze” is another word for cat that’s also onomatopoetic.