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DIR Return to: Questions about the Use of Language
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#Post#: 13792--------------------------------------------------
The Animals Within Us
By: Nikola Date: March 29, 2019, 8:46 am
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This post is not about our wild side, nor is it about actual
parasites in the human body. It's about a phenomenon that seems
to occur across cultures: naming various health conditions after
animals or blaming imaginary animals for them.
In Czech, "houser" (gander, male goose) is a condition resulting
in lower back pain and decreased mobility. Basically, you walk a
bit like a goose.
"Vlk" (wolf) is what you get when your backside gets sore from
wearing the wrong clothes on a hot day. Originally, it meant any
kind of bump, boil or protuberance on the body or even on a
plant. The idea is that the wolf is there, eating your flesh
similarly to "rak" ("rakovina" = the condition) = "cancer" in
English.
In English, the skin condition called "ringworm" is a fungal
infection, often mistakenly believed to be caused by an actual
worm.
Can you think of any more examples? What's eating people in your
country?
#Post#: 13793--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Animals Within Us
By: Truman Overby Date: March 29, 2019, 8:59 am
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Personally, I blame most everything on squirrels. If they're too
big to blame, then I blame their little cousins, chipmunks.
Example: "My stomach hurts, it feels like two chipmunks are down
there duking it out."
#Post#: 13794--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Animals Within Us
By: Nikola Date: March 29, 2019, 9:04 am
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Maybe you're not wrong. You know how they say we swallow insects
and spiders in our sleep... maybe you accidentally swallow
chipmunks.
#Post#: 13795--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Animals Within Us
By: NealC Date: March 29, 2019, 9:15 am
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We don't have chipmunks here. You have to be a big rodent to
make it in NY.
#Post#: 13796--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Animals Within Us
By: Truman Overby Date: March 29, 2019, 9:36 am
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[quote author=Nikola link=topic=937.msg13794#msg13794
date=1553868259]
Maybe you're not wrong. You know how they say we swallow insects
and spiders in our sleep... maybe you accidentally swallow
chipmunks.
[/quote]
If you unwittingly swallow a spider, is that an arachcident?
#Post#: 13797--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Animals Within Us
By: SuKi Date: March 29, 2019, 10:27 am
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I have ( or have had) in no particular order... crows' feet,
pigeon toe, goosebumps, , a bee in my bonnet, butterflies in my
stomach, ants in my pants.
I can be bull-headed, pig-headed, sheepish or just plain
chicken.
#Post#: 13799--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Animals Within Us
By: Alharacas Date: March 29, 2019, 11:08 am
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Ditto for:
cancer = Krebs
crow's feet = Krähenfüße
goosebumps = Gänsehaut (goose skin)
And same as in Czech, we get Hautwolf (skin wolf), or we say
sich einen Wolf laufen (literally: to run yourself a wolf, i.e.
to walk/run until you get sores on your skin).
Additionally, there's the self-inflicted Kater (tomcat), i.e. a
hangover, which even works as a verb: verkatert sein (to be hung
over).
Oh, a man's thick neck is ein Stiernacken (a bull's neck). If
the guy also has Schweinsäuglein (pig's eyes), I'd stay away
from him.
Let's not forget Facies Leonina, or Leonine Facies, Latin for
lion's face, or Löwengesicht. Among other things it's a sign of
leprosy.
#Post#: 13802--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Animals Within Us
By: Nikola Date: March 29, 2019, 11:53 am
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We don't have crow's feet but we do have goosebumps (husí
kůže). Kocovina (hangover) is also related to cats
(kočka, kocour), that's a good one.
Here's another one: psotník (pes = dog) It's an outdated
expression for a disease (more likely multiple diseases) that
were a common cause of infant deaths one hundred years ago. It
involved various cramps and seizures.
And you can have a chicken eye (kuří oko) on your toe =
corn/callus.
#Post#: 13804--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Animals Within Us
By: Alharacas Date: March 29, 2019, 12:16 pm
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Yes, of course, Nikola, how could I forget: Hühneraugen! :D
#Post#: 13864--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Animals Within Us
By: Coligno Date: March 30, 2019, 2:42 am
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In Irish snag is a kind of bird (snag breac "speckled snag" is a
magpie, snag darach "snag of-oak" is a woodpecker), but if you
have a snag on you, it means you have hiccups (incidentally,
snagcheol "snag-music" means "jazz").
If you have a muc (pig) on your brow, then you're scowling.
If a daol (beetle) hits you, you get a sudden urge to do
something.
A cearc (hen) in your armpit is a bubo or swollen lymph node,
but if someone has tinneas na circe ("the hen's sickness") then
they're just fidgety.
If you have a cuil (fly) on you, then you're in an angry mood.
If you have a spideog (robin) on your nose, then you need a
tissue.
If you have gliomóga (lobsters) on your eyes, it means your eyes
are popping out of your head.
In English you can also have a frog in your throat [be hoarse],
a flea in your ear [having been sternly rebuked] or a monkey on
your back [be addicted to something].
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