Fun fact about the etymology of "alligator:" When the Spanish first landed in what is now Florida, they found alligators and simply called them "el lagarto," which literally translates to "the lizard." While there were many reptiles in the swamps and bayous, only one was enough of a problem to be called "THE lizard," and after several mistranslationsbeing borrowed into other languages, "el lagarto" morphed into "alligator"
Good to know! I took years of Spanish classes and my kids are in a Spanish immersion school in California, but I've only ever heard lagarto for smaller lizards and cocodrilo for anything resembling crocodilians
All of this is correct, except that it's not a "mistranslation", it's a borrowing. Boundaries between words and morphemes are commonly lost in borrowing, and borrowed sounds commonly undergo adaptation as well.
Way back in the day in middle America my parents got my Lil brother a pet baby cayman.
Well....it kept getting bigger. Then bigger. Then we got a book and figured out she was sold a bootleg alligator instead. Poor choices caused it to get released at a local pond. Childhood had a lot of bad choices in my family.
According to my Spanish friend, 1st one is a cocodrilo 2nd is a cocodrilo 3rd is also a cocodrilo 4th is a monstruo
Fun fact about the etymology of "alligator:" When the Spanish first landed in what is now Florida, they found alligators and simply called them "el lagarto," which literally translates to "the lizard." While there were many reptiles in the swamps and bayous, only one was enough of a problem to be called "THE lizard," and after
several mistranslationsbeing borrowed into other languages, "el lagarto" morphed into "alligator"Or at least that's what I read somewhere once.
We still colloquially call them lagartos, regardless if its a crocodile or alligator.
Good to know! I took years of Spanish classes and my kids are in a Spanish immersion school in California, but I've only ever heard lagarto for smaller lizards and cocodrilo for anything resembling crocodilians
Thanks for the info
Yeah lagarto literally means lizard, but we use it for pretty much any type of reptilian that looks like a lizard lol
All of this is correct, except that it's not a "mistranslation", it's a borrowing. Boundaries between words and morphemes are commonly lost in borrowing, and borrowed sounds commonly undergo adaptation as well.
Thank you. Linguistics is not my field, obviously
In the northern Territory of Australia we have no alligators. We are however famous for pur salt and fresh water crocodiles.
So whe.n Europens arrived and found this few massive rivers full of crocodiles they called them the West, South, and Aast alligator rivers.
mmmmmmMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Please? Please? Please, please!?
Gelfling essence!
It's time to make... my move.
I hate your whimper
Way back in the day in middle America my parents got my Lil brother a pet baby cayman.
Well....it kept getting bigger. Then bigger. Then we got a book and figured out she was sold a bootleg alligator instead. Poor choices caused it to get released at a local pond. Childhood had a lot of bad choices in my family.
Drink her essence!
Y u leave my boy Gharial out huh?
They are so cute too https://blog.wcs.org/photo/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Don-Boyer-10425-Gharial.jpg
CAIMAN! Ffs, its not an island.
Crocodiles are so scrungly compared to alligators.
I heard that Frank Oz operates all crocodilians.
I'm pretty sure the first one is a caimen and the second might or might not be a crocodile.
Caiman looks the most like a dragon head. Mmm...
A great guide to extant archosaurs!
Isn't the first one an alligator, and the third a crocodile?
no?
No, I also though so at first but a quick google confirms this is right.
If you look up 'freshwater crocodile' you'll see he looks a lot like his mommy.
Actually yes. I think it’s written the wrong way because of the sublemmy?
No. Alligators have a rounded snout and only upper teeth visible. The third one is the alligator