Ribbit! (1965)

[Joanne M. Despres]

Regarding "quack":  I believe a duck in Chaucer's Parlement of
Foules at one point intones a "quek."  I'm not sure if  the sound-
change laws would render that as "quack" in modern English, but it
sounds pretty close.

Joanne Despres
Merriam-Webster

On 9 Mar 2005, at 14:22, Tom Kysilko wrote:

> Quoting Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>:
>
> > The late appearance of "ribbit" may be compared with the
earlier, but still
> > surprisingly recent, appearance of  "quack," "honk," and "oink."
>
> What interests me is that "ribbit" has attained this status as
*the* answer to
> the question "What does a frog say?" so recently.  When I was a
child, I
> learned from my mother and Captain Kangaroo that froggies went
"garump".
> "Greedeep" (or some spelling thereof) has also had considerable
currency in my
> lifetime.
>
> It might be interesting to compare the various English
translations of the frog
> noise in Aristophanes, THE FROGS.  I believe Dudley Fitts used
"Brekeke kesh"
> or something similar.
>
> --Tom Kysilko