porpoise

[Ralph Cleminson]

>>> anne marie devlin <anne_mariedevlin at HOTMAIL.COM> 20/07/10 11:05 PM
>>>
 It would also be interesting to find out when the term морская свинка
came into use.  

Remarkably, the word is absent from my etymological dictionaries, but it
is evidently a calque of German Meerschweinchen, which is to be
understood not so much as a sea-pig as an overseas pig.  Different
languages seem to ascribe fairly random origins to these exotic imports,
so the English guinea pig is the French cochon d'Inde.  It's the same
story with the turkey (a name originally applied in English to what we
now call the guinea fowl), индюк, dindon.  The two come together in
Slovak, where guinea pig is morča and turkey is moriak.  The adjective
from both is morčací, which can be quite disconcerting on a menu.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------