Wednesday, December 16, 2009

tak tak!

Woody the Woodpecker in 1961, Wikipedia

I'm doing some homework and found a good excuse to take a break and blog.

Woodpecker - it is a cute word in English, right? What is a woodpecker? Why, it is that bird out there who pecks at wood all day long!

I just learned the word in Crimean Tatar, and it's такътакъ къуш (taq taq kush), or "tak tak bird." What a great name for such a noisy bird! A bit excited, I looked up the word in Turkish (ağaçkakan, which is a near-literal translation from English) and Russian (дятел), but the words were no where near as exciting.

Oh, but a bird by any other name would be just as adorable...even this "black-rumped fireback" tak tak bird I found on Wikipedia:

Anybody have any other cute animal names they're dying to share?

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