indri

[prettygoodword]

indri - n., a large short-tailed aboreal lemur of Madagascar.


In Malagasy, the language of Madagasgar, "indry" means "Look!" or "There (it is)!"

Yeah, exactly what you think happened.

The lemur itself is called babakoto in Malagasy. The French naturalist who misunderstood his native guide was Pierre Sonnerat in a visit some time in the 1770s or 80s. The misname entered English in 1839.

---L.

Comments

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine had a cross-eyed Siamese cat named Guckmal, because he was living in Germany (Army) when he adopted it, and took it home tucked into his coat with its head peeking out. All the children he met squealed "Guckmal!" and pointed, so they decided that had to be the cat's name. (He spoke German fluently, so no the joke wasn't on him.)

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Guckmal would be ... thing-looked-at?

---L.

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

More like "Lookit!"

As in "Lookit, Mom! Kitten! Lookit!"

Very colloquial!

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

*stores pattern vocabulary away for future use*