Animal adjectives
Anthony Berno
Here is a question to ponder:
If cows are bovine, horses are equine, mice are murine, and bears are
ursine...
What the hell are OTTERS??
Seriously, I'd like to know, and given the rather astounding knowledge
some people in this group have about word origins, I figured this might be
a good place to find out. "Otterine" just doesn't quite sound right, and
I've been unable to track down the Latin term for "otter".
-Anthony
Wayne Hughes
>
>If cows are bovine, horses are equine, mice are murine, and bears are
>ursine...
>What the hell are OTTERS??
Well, I'm no authoritarian, but the above are derived either from
the genus or the family name. Otters are of the genus _Lutra_
which would suggest LUTRINE (*that* doesn't sound good!) or perhaps
LUTRAINE (which is vaguely pharmacological in appearance).
So let's go to the family name, which is the Mustelidae, them ones
of the weasels and minks. This would suggest MUSTELINE, which I
personally favor as sounding rather mysterious and fragrant.
I propose MUSTELINE.
wayne
Wayne Hughes
> Well, I'm no authoritarian,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
While this may be true, and while it may have caused some
anticipatory gasps, I'm sure "authority" is more
contextually agreeable.
wayne (i make no promises)
Steve Dyer
--
Steve Dyer
dy...@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
Jess Anderson
Ask Jack Hamilton; he otter know.
--
Jess Anderson <> Madison Academic Computing Center <> University of Wisconsin
Internet: ande...@macc.wisc.edu <-best, UUCP:{}!uwvax!macc.wisc.edu!anderson
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Room 3130 <> 1210 West Dayton Street / Madison WI 53706 <> Phone 608/262-5888
Jack Hamilton
>
>Ask Jack Hamilton; he otter know.
I think more people remember that posting than everything else I've ever
written put together.
Anyway, here are some animal adjectives, mostly from Verbatim magazine (the
folks from whom the Verbatim disk company licenses its name):
acarine mite
accipitrine hawk
alaudine skylark
alcidine auk, puffin, etc.
alcine auk
alcine elk
alectoridine crane, rail, etc.
anatine duck
anguine snake
anopheline mosquito
anserine goose
antelopine antelope
apian bee
aquiline eagle
asinine ass
aspine asp
avine bird
basilicine basilisk
bisontine bison
bobovine gaur (asian wild ox)
bombycine silkworm
bovine cow
bubaline hartebeest
buteonine buzzard
caballine horse
cameline camel
canine dog
capreoline roe
caprine goat
cathartine vulture
cervine deer
ciconine stork
clathrine kind of primitive sponge
colubrine kingsnake or gartersnake
columbine dove
coralline coral
corvive crow
cricetine hamster
crocodiline crocodile
crotaline rattlesnake
cuculine cuckoo
culicine mosquito
cygnine swan
cyprine carp
dacelonine kingfisher
dasyurine dasyure
delphine dolphin
delphinine dolphine
didelphine opossum
didine dodo
elephantine elephant
equine horse
falconine falcon
feline cat
fistuline kind of fungus
formicine ant
fringilline finsh
fulicine coot
fuliguline eider
furciferine animal having a forked appendage [!]
galline domestic fowl
garruline jay, magpie
gazelline gazelle
giraffine giraffe
gruine crane
herpestine mongoose
hippopotamine [you can guess this one]
hippotigrine zebra
hircine goat (especially applies to strong odor or lustfulness)
hirudine leech
hirundine swallow
homarine lobster
hominine human
hyacinthine hyacinth
hyenine hyena
hylobatine gibbon
hystricine porcupine
ibidine ibis
lacertilian lizard
lacertine lizard
laridine gull, etc.
larine gull
lemurine lemur
leonine lion
leporine hare
lumbricine earthworm
lupine wolf
lutrine otter
lyncine lynx
macropine kangaroo
macropodine kangaroo, wallabee, etc.
manatine manatee
megacerine irish elk (extinct)
megacerotine irish elk (extinct)
megapterine humpback whale
megatherine american sloth (extinct)
meleagrine turkey
mephitine skunk
milvine kite
monadine flagellate protozoan
moschine musk deer
murine mouse
musteline weasel, mink
nestorine kea, kaka [some kind of bird - the kaka bird?]
noctilionine bat
octopine octopus
oscine songbird
ostracine oyster
ovibovine musk ox
ovine sheep
panorpine scorpion fly
pantherine panther
pardine leopard
passerine perching songbird
pavonine peacock
phasianine pheasant
phocaenine porpoise
phocine seal
picine woodpecker
pieridine another kind of butterfly
pierine particular family of butterflies
piscine fish
porcine pig
procynonine raccon, kinkajou, etc.
psittacine parrot
pteropine bat
pulicine flea
ralline rail
rangiferine caribou
ranine frog
rhinerocerine rhinoceros
rucervine indian swamp deer
rupicaprine chamois
sabelline sable
salamandrine salamander
sciurine squirrel
scolopacine woodcock, snipe, sandpiper
serpentine serpent
simian ape
sittine nuthatch
soricine shrew
sphingine sphinx
sphinxine sphinx
strigine owl
struthionine ostrich
sturnine swallow
suilline hog
suine swine
sylphine slender garceful woman or girl
sylvicoline warbler of family Parulidae
talpine mole
taurine bull
tetraonine grouse, ptarmigan, etc.
tigrine tiger
tolypeutine armadillo
trigine sandpiper
trochilidine hummingbird
trochiline hummingbird
turdine thrush
ursine bear
vaccine cow
vermian worm
vespine wasp
viperine viper
vituline calf
viverrine civit
volucrine bird
vulpine fox
vulturine vulture
zebrine zebra
Someone with an online OED should be able to correct and expand this
listing.
-----
My mouth cannot be controlled. It will flap in the wind like legs in sex,
not driven by the mind.
-Cherrie Moraga
--
------------------------------------
Jack Hamilton j...@netcom.com
Kate Gregory
>dasyurine dasyure
>delphine dolphin
>delphinine dolphine
>fringilline finsh
??? What is a daysure? Or a finsh for that matter.
I can help on this one though:
>nestorine kea, kaka [some kind of bird - the kaka bird?]
From a scrabble game long, long ago: KEA, a green parrot of
New Zealand that kills young sheep to eat their kidney fat.
It always seemed like such a waste to kill a whole sheep (quite
how a parrot kills a sheep I don't know) and then eat only the
kidney fat, but what would I know? I'm not a parrot.
Kate
ter...@ocfmail.ocf.llnl.gov
Hamilton) writes:
Anderson) writes:
>>
>>Ask Jack Hamilton; he otter know.
>
>I think more people remember that posting than everything else I've ever
>written put together.
>
>Anyway, here are some animal adjectives, mostly from Verbatim magazine (the
>folks from whom the Verbatim disk company licenses its name):
>
>acarine mite
>accipitrine hawk
>alaudine skylark
>alcidine auk, puffin, etc.
>alcine auk
>alcine elk
Wait-a-minute!..."auk" and "elk" are both "alcine"???? (I don't deny the
possibility; stranger things happen in English ten times before breakfast...but
this is *weird*. Sorry, no OED, so I can't check.)
>------------------------------------
>Jack Hamilton j...@netcom.com
Terri
--
The above opinions are my own and do not represent those of the University of
California, LLNL, or any other Right Thinking Person.
Endure pain, find joy, and make your own meaning, because the universe
certainly isn't going to supply it. Always be a moving target. Live. Live.
Live. -- Lois McMaster Bujold, _Barrayar_
Vincent Manis
Otters. It is of course, `Ottorino', as in `Ottorino Respighi', the
author of `Pines of Rome', `Roman Festivals', `The Whores of the Spanish
Stairs', `Elegies for Horny Catholic Priests', and other works which are
evocative of Rome and Italy in general. (Respighi also wrote two suites
of `Ancient Airs and Dances', which are not about dizzy queens at '70's
tea-dances.)
To the best of my knowledge, Respighi did not have phocine tendencies.
He did, however, tape a nightingale (listen to the 3rd movement of
`Pines'). I don't really know whether a nightingale is considered
percussion or wind, though.
--
\ Vincent Manis <ma...@cs.ubc.ca> "There is no law that vulgarity and
\ Department of Computer Science literary excellence cannot coexist."
/\ University of British Columbia -- A. Trevor Hodge
/ \ Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1W5 (604) 228-2394
Jess Anderson
In article <1992Feb11.0...@cs.ubc.ca>
ma...@cs.ubc.ca (Vincent Manis) writes:
>I don't really know whether a nightingale is considered
>percussion or wind, though.
Well, the tooting, hooting, and piping parts would tend to
define the nightingale as a wind instrument. On the other
hand, the silky rustling could define it as a percussion
instrument. Oh. Dear me, I think I have it mixed up with
the farthingale (a bargain I picked up in Filene's basement
in 1962)!
"Hissing sharply, she slapped her farthingale and swept out."
This is a line from a terrific medieval mystery play,
discovered in an anonymous folio in the cell of a nameless
monk in the 14th century. All that has survived is that
line (spoken by HM the Queen) and a fragment of the dramatis
personae (of which, for all I know, the proper genitive
could be dramatae personis). Apparently there were at least
these characters:
Penis Rex, the King
Vagina Regina, the Queen
Scrotum, a Wrinkled Old Retainer
Urethra, a Purveyor of Questionable Liquors
Sputum, a Flemish Outcast
Richard Poppen
gre...@csri.toronto.edu (Kate Gregory) writes:
>I can help on this one though:
>
>>nestorine kea, kaka [some kind of bird - the kaka bird?]
>
>From a scrabble game long, long ago: KEA, a green parrot of
>New Zealand that kills young sheep to eat their kidney fat.
>
>It always seemed like such a waste to kill a whole sheep (quite
>how a parrot kills a sheep I don't know) and then eat only the
>kidney fat, but what would I know? I'm not a parrot.
A friend and I went tramping (Kiwi for "hiking") in Milford Sound, N.Z.
(one of the most beautiful places on the planet, IMHO), where there were
flocks and flocks of these enormous parrots. They were very fond of the
black rubber trim on our rented Honda City, tearing great holes in every
bit of it that they could get their beaks at. (Have you ever filled out
a damage report on a rented car with "eaten by parrots" under "cause"?)
New Zealand is a strange and wonderful place, just the sort of place
where you find birds that live on lambs' kidney fat and Hondas.
--Rich, who would much rather talk about New Zealand than work tonight
Joseph Francis
>
>If cows are bovine, horses are equine, mice are murine, and bears are
>ursine...
>
>What the hell are OTTERS??
>
>Seriously, I'd like to know, and given the rather astounding knowledge
You act as though you have never seen 'Li'l Rascals'.
O-tay, as in "He's very O-tay, dear".
--
| Le Jojo: Fresh 'n' Clean, speaking out to the way you want to live
| today; American - All American; doing, a bit so, and even more so.
Elf Sternberg
>
> Here is a question to ponder:
>
> If cows are bovine, horses are equine, mice are murine, and bears are
> ursine...
>
> What the hell are OTTERS??
>
The proper term for the Otter is *Lutra Lutra*. Now, if you can
make an adjective out that that seems romantic (Lutrine?) feel free.
>
> -Anthony
Elf !!! (Who's in love with an Otter, doncha' know?)
--
Elf Sternberg Through a bureaucratic error, you are made county coroner.
You seriously consider the job because it gives you:
e...@halcyon.com (1) Lots of unclaimed wedding rings and watches.
e...@polari.uucp (2) Lots of gold fillings and bridges.
e...@lorbit.uucp (3) Free blood.
e...@pismo.uucp (4) A constantly changing array of new friends who aren't
at all stuffy about what happens to their genitalia.
Brent Davies
>In article <1992Feb10....@macc.wisc.edu> ande...@macc.wisc.edu (Jess
>Anderson) writes:
>>
>>Ask Jack Hamilton; he otter know.
Well, otters are of genus Lutra; maybe it's "lutrine"?
--Brent
Tim McDaniel
> From a scrabble game long, long ago: KEA, a green parrot of
> New Zealand that kills young sheep to eat their kidney fat.
>From what I recall of a Gerald Durrell book, that is an outright lie
that has endangered the kea (as in "endangered species"). Farmers use
it to justify slaughters of the bird. Farmers also used to slaughter
eagles and hawks, on the grounds that they carried off lambs or small
children.
What did kea eat before sheep were brought to the island with the
Europeans? Why would an insectovore attack one type of animal in a
specific way to get just a smidgen of energy -- surely there's fat in
other local animals too? How did they learn about the location of
kidney fat? I don't know of any large native quadrupeds in New
Zealand -- why would any kea suspect the existance of kidney fat on
sheep?
ObMotss: Gerald Durrell is a bear and a daddy, and quite supportive of
gayfolk.
--
"Life is hard, and hardness is caused by desire." -- Buddha
Tim McDaniel Applied Dynamics Int'l.; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Internet: mcda...@adi.com UUCP: {uunet,sharkey}!amara!mcdaniel
Frederic Maffray
Really? So what are the Japanese complaining about?
---
FA
>A friend and I went tramping (Kiwi for "hiking") in Milford Sound, N.Z.
>(one of the most beautiful places on the planet, IMHO), where there were
>flocks and flocks of these enormous parrots. They were very fond of the
>black rubber trim on our rented Honda City, tearing great holes in every
>bit of it that they could get their beaks at. (Have you ever filled out
>a damage report on a rented car with "eaten by parrots" under "cause"?)
No, but my mother once had to file an insurance claim for
replacing an antenna. A llama ate it.
No, really. My mother, my sister, and I were at Northwest Trek,
near Seattle. It's an open-air zoo, where the animals roam free
and the people stay in the cages (i.e., their cars). Some llamas
came up to investigate. One thought the antenna was particularly
interesting, wrapped its mouth around it, and <break>! That was
the end of that.
-- Louise Penberthy
--
Louise Penberthy | "I don't care what you do with your
College of Computing/ Georgia | crayons. Just don't call it art."
Tech/ Atlanta, GA 30332 |
lou...@pravda.cc.gatech.edu | -- Jess Anderson