Not Quite Synonyms
May. 26th, 2015 04:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebSometimes we have different words for the same thing based on whether the living creature is still using it or whether people are using it. For example:
* pig vs. pork
* cow vs. beef
* skin vs. leather
But not everything like this gets two words. For example:
* chicken
* fish (and other seafoods)
* fur
Interestingly, this phenomenon also exists in Spanish, but not for the same concepts. Here are some concepts for which they have different words:
* vaca vs. carne (del rez) (cow vs. meat/beef)
* pez vs. pescado (literally fish vs. fished - live fish versus fish for food)
And here's where it seems like they don't have two words:
* pollo (chicken)
* cerdo (pig/pork)
And I just learned two words for leather: cuero (leather) and piel (skin).
On a similar note, I've noticed that people in the US who are from Iran like to refer to themselves as Persians. If they have a restaurant with Iranian food, it is called Persian. Yea for American ignorance keeping them safe!
Craft blog entry of the day
Especially for Texpenguin, I recommend Miser Mom's Well, now I can cross "make penguins" off my to-do list. But it's fun to read even if you don't do crafts and don't love penguins (or canning jars). "Some animals look cute with really big eyes. I pulled out my button stash to do some experimenting, and I decided the large buttons would make my penguins look stoned. So I chose small black buttons for eyes instead."
Illustrated blog entry of the day
You know how little babies are always making hilarious faces at random? Well, Miser Mom has captured a bunch of these faces on her new granddaughter and used them to illustrate her guide to throwing a good party, Ocho de Mayo. "Then we sit down to lots of yummy food: rice, hamburger and beans, cheese, lettuce, bananas, and salsa. How was that salsa, Baby A? [illustration speaks for itself, but is captioned anyway for extra fun] 'Yoicks! Hot! But good!'" [Don't worry--no one fed the tiny new being salsa; she was just the illustrator.]
* pig vs. pork
* cow vs. beef
* skin vs. leather
But not everything like this gets two words. For example:
* chicken
* fish (and other seafoods)
* fur
Interestingly, this phenomenon also exists in Spanish, but not for the same concepts. Here are some concepts for which they have different words:
* vaca vs. carne (del rez) (cow vs. meat/beef)
* pez vs. pescado (literally fish vs. fished - live fish versus fish for food)
And here's where it seems like they don't have two words:
* pollo (chicken)
* cerdo (pig/pork)
And I just learned two words for leather: cuero (leather) and piel (skin).
On a similar note, I've noticed that people in the US who are from Iran like to refer to themselves as Persians. If they have a restaurant with Iranian food, it is called Persian. Yea for American ignorance keeping them safe!
Craft blog entry of the day
Especially for Texpenguin, I recommend Miser Mom's Well, now I can cross "make penguins" off my to-do list. But it's fun to read even if you don't do crafts and don't love penguins (or canning jars). "Some animals look cute with really big eyes. I pulled out my button stash to do some experimenting, and I decided the large buttons would make my penguins look stoned. So I chose small black buttons for eyes instead."
Illustrated blog entry of the day
You know how little babies are always making hilarious faces at random? Well, Miser Mom has captured a bunch of these faces on her new granddaughter and used them to illustrate her guide to throwing a good party, Ocho de Mayo. "Then we sit down to lots of yummy food: rice, hamburger and beans, cheese, lettuce, bananas, and salsa. How was that salsa, Baby A? [illustration speaks for itself, but is captioned anyway for extra fun] 'Yoicks! Hot! But good!'" [Don't worry--no one fed the tiny new being salsa; she was just the illustrator.]