How do you say - - ?

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Jo UK
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Re: How do you say - - ?

Post by Jo UK »

Good grief, Liis. The title is so misleading! For instance, there are very many English people who display
acyrology : incorrect diction or pronunciation - and they don't even know they are doing it!!

That list is fun!
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alice44
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Post by alice44 »

Good grief at first look I thought I did not know any of those words but with a longer look it got better, phew!

Have you ever played http://www.freerice.com/
I think that list would be a good study guide for the game. And I notice that they have added a few topics to the "game." I think it started as a vocabulary builder for a national test used as part of college admissions in the US.
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Post by Liis »

What does a bear say in English - like the bow-wow of a dog, sheep's baaa, cat's meouw?
Found this page about animal sounds but there is no bear.
It is brum-brum in Swedish, mõmm-mõmm in Estonian - other contributions, please?
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alice44
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Post by alice44 »

Liis wrote:What does a bear say in English - like the bow-wow of a dog, sheep's baaa, cat's meouw?
Found this page about animal sounds but there is no bear.
It is brum-brum in Swedish, mõmm-mõmm in Estonian - other contributions, please?
Funny I am not really sure -- I think they growl or roar, but as for a sound kind of spelling...

I found this http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 102AAe1f1x
and only one of them has a bear and it is just growl.
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Post by NancyM »

Liis wrote:What does a bear say in English - like the bow-wow of a dog, sheep's baaa, cat's meouw?
Found this page about animal sounds but there is no bear.
It is brum-brum in Swedish, mõmm-mõmm in Estonian - other contributions, please?
Depends what the bear is trying to communicate ... it might grunt or moan or growl. A cub might squeal. What is the context? ( not as bad as those bogs, Liis, but almost ... :mrgreen: )

http://www.bear.org/website/index.php?o ... &Itemid=42

Do bears growl? Depends ...
http://www.bear.org/website/index.php?o ... &Itemid=42
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Post by Liis »

bociany wrote: Depends what the bear is trying to communicate ... it might grunt or moan or growl. A cub might squeal. What is the context? ( not as bad as those bogs, Liis, but almost ... :mrgreen: )
Well, context is that bear lumbering away, looking for - or dreaming of? - heather honey http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/4771, last sentence.
What words there are, and aren't, or at least not much used, in different languages is fascinating.
That bear talk is not much needed in UK English I can understand - when did the last bear disappear from there? - but American? Canadian? Might it be that bears over there are seen as rather dangerous things, and not much stuff for friendly tales? After all, the cuddly teddy bear is actually a koala, from Australia ...
But mostly every Swedish child with some background of zoo visits and traditional kids' books recognises "brum-brum" as bear talk (except, maybe, those from motor enthusiast families :mrgreen: )
Brum / Mõmm corresponds to contented grunts, I guess. So the bear is generally expected to be in a good mood, too: curiously bears who have injured and slain far more people in recent times than wolves have, still have an image of friendly, slightly comic things.
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Post by alice44 »

I think we might also sometimes say "grunt" for a bear sound, but that is a little negative for bear talk.

When I came almost face to face with a bear in the Tetons, I think I heard the bear sort of hufff like a big breath, but honestly all I remember was grabbing my sister's arm so she could not run and backing up as quickly as we could.
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Post by NancyM »

Liis wrote: Well, context is that bear lumbering away, looking for - or dreaming of? - heather honey http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/4771, last sentence.
Would bears really talk to themselves? 8-)

When I read "brmm-brmm" it meant nothing to me in terms of bears or humans, but it did remind me of revving an engine (before the engine goes zoom-zoom, it goes brmmm, brmmm)

That last sentence could also apply to the writer of the article thinking about honey ... so the phrase could be "yum, yum"
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Post by Liis »

bociany wrote:
Would bears really talk to themselves? 8-)
When I read "brmm-brmm" it meant nothing to me in terms of bears or humans, but it did remind me of revving an engine (before the engine goes zoom-zoom, it goes brmmm, brmmm)
Actually, I think they do, occasionally, a kind of sniff and grunt when they feel safe and not in need of hiding, or hunting.
Yes, well, what did I write about brum-brum and kids from motor enthusiast families ... :innocent:
bociany wrote: That last sentence could also apply to the writer of the article thinking about honey ... so the phrase could be "yum, yum"
Perfect!
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Post by Liis »

Grass of Parnassus http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/4735 - what a grand name for a small, although very pretty flower.
Sounds like a made-up name to me, for a rather rare plant, but actually it seems to be not uncommon in UK: http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/parnass ... rnpalv.jpg
So is that really a name that is used? "Oh, look there is that lovely grass of Parnassus".
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Post by alice44 »

Liis wrote:Grass of Parnassus http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/4735 - what a grand name for a small, although very pretty flower.
Sounds like a made-up name to me, for a rather rare plant, but actually it seems to be not uncommon in UK: http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/parnass ... rnpalv.jpg
So is that really a name that is used? "Oh, look there is that lovely grass of Parnassus".
Wikipedia does user the name grass of parnassus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_of_Parnassus
with the alternate name "bog stars" -- neither is familiar to me.

(As to bears I am wondering if we do not simply think of them as "talking.")
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Post by Liis »

alice44 wrote: Wikipedia does user the name grass of parnassus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grass_of_Parnassus
with the alternate name "bog stars" -- neither is familiar to me.

(As to bears I am wondering if we do not simply think of them as "talking.")
You are excused, Alice - the grass of Parnassus doesn't occur where you are. :innocent:
To me, an unwieldy name suggests a rather rare plant (bird, etc.), or at least one that is for some reason not much noticed or talked of.
Grass of Parnassus is a "correct" name, in that authoritative UK floras use it. But it is neither a grass, nor does it look like one, nor does it grow on Mount Parnassus. So why that name? Were there no everyday names to choose from?
Bears: no, agree, probably no long lonely monologues. They certainly "talk" to each other (scream, threaten ...), and to other animals, as all animals do. But even bears on their own occasionally sniff or grunt or growl. For the much simplified "humanised" animal sounds usually only one of an animal's vocalisations has been picked to represent it. The bear's mõmm-mõmm is, I think, basically meant to show that rather neutral grumble/growl, that isn't always even directly a communication to anyone - so it is "talking" to itself. Any bear experts around?


EDIT: PS. Actually, Alice, you could meet the Grass of Parnassus in Oregon too, a northern race (subspecies?) of it :D, looked at the wrong distribution map first.
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Post by Liis »

About mushrooms http://www.looduskalender.ee/node/4925:
Cortinarius praestans (Estonian hiidvöödik; Swedish jättespindling) - any common English name for it?
My two English mushroom field guides are full of Latin (scientific) names, and fascinating but useless, from the kitchen point of view, mushroom species.
Do people in UK, US, Canada ... go out mushroom hunting?
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Post by alice44 »

People definitely go out mushrooming. Some years are great and lots of people do, but also some people make a large part of their income from finding mushrooms in the national forests so they try to keep others from finding their spots.

My favourites are Morels "Morchella conica"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morchella
and really they are the only wild ones I know

I found the name Goliath Webcap for "Cortinarius praestans"
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/ ... efault.asp
at the Rogers site. I think of Rogers as good identification books.

In defense of Latin names -- even if we rarely use them -- if you had used the term Sponge mushrooms which wikipedia says is an other common name for Morels, I would have had no idea what you meant. On the other hand if you used "Morchella conica" I could look it up and feel comfortable that I will really know what was meant.
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Post by macdoum »

Liis wrote:What does a bear say in English - like the bow-wow of a dog, sheep's baaa, cat's meouw?
Found this page about animal sounds but there is no bear.
It is brum-brum in Swedish, mõmm-mõmm in Estonian - other contributions, please?
I think this bear is speaking Finnish .. :rolleyes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7TT9FAlZ5o
Also saw a beautiful documentary on the work of Charlie Russell to re-introduce bearcubs into Kamchatka (?siberia ). A wonderful story but have not found any videos YET. :wave:
Carmel a member of SHOW .. I hope you love birds too. Its economical. It saves going to heaven.
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Post by alice44 »

macdoum wrote: I think this bear is speaking Finnish .. :rolleyes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7TT9FAlZ5o
Also saw a beautiful documentary on the work of Charlie Russell to re-introduce bearcubs into Kamchatka (?siberia ). A wonderful story but have not found any videos YET. :wave:
Do you get a sense that there is a bunch of sound there that is too low for humans to hear?

I think I have seen some video of Charlie Russell (but maybe I imagined it.)
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Post by Liis »

alice44 wrote:People definitely go out mushrooming. Some years are great and lots of people do, but also some people make a large part of their income from finding mushrooms in the national forests so they try to keep others from finding their spots.
My favourites are Morels "Morchella conica"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morchella
and really they are the only wild ones I know
Early summer or autumn morels? In Scandinavia at least the early summer ones are very much appreciated. And all are somewhat under a "beware - might be toxic" cloud, it is said that drying or preboiling isn't 100% effective.
Are mushrooms picked "wild" sold in shops or markets too? How can one be sure that only "good" ones are brought along?
alice44 wrote:I found the name Goliath Webcap for "Cortinarius praestans"
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/ ... efault.asp
at the Rogers site. I think of Rogers as good identification books.
Thanks! :bow: :bow: there is sure to be more mushrooms to translate!
alice44 wrote:In defense of Latin names -- even if we rarely use them -- if you had used the term Sponge mushrooms which wikipedia says is an other common name for Morels, I would have had no idea what you meant. On the other hand if you used "Morchella conica" I could look it up and feel comfortable that I will really know what was meant.
Quite agree - in this group from a lot of nations Latin names are actually easier to handle - although we tend to see them as offputtingly scientific - than sometimes very uncommon "common" English ones. If only the Latin weren't being changed all the time ... :cry:
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Post by alice44 »

I think a lot of mushrooming here is spring. Our falls are often quite dry.

Some mushrooms only grow wild and they are sold -- often to restaurants rather than stores. Some sell for like 700$ a pound in Japan (matsutakes) so they are mostly all sold -- most mushroom hunters could not afford to eat them. I have never heard of problems from ones sold in the stores or eaten in a restaurants, but every 10-15 years you do hear of a terrible accident due to someone eating a poison mushroom they picked themselves.

As far as I now all Morels are wild and occasionally they can be found in stores. I had not really heard of the toxin until the research I just did. Mostly I hear of frying them in butter. A couple years ago my dad had several pounds in the freezer -- but he or or friend got them -- they did not buy them.

But Chanterelles and Oyster Mushrooms are now cultivated on small "farms" in the mountains.

Google makes latin names less off putting. It is a really amazing thing.
As DNA work is done I suppose even more Latin names might change.
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Post by Liis »

:wave: Moving over to the Picnic grounds - and I hope there will be a long nice discussion on mushrooms!
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Post by Liis »

No problem with words for once, just enjoyed the title Alison and Robin. Slightly less romantic maybe with the full name of Alison (aka Berteroa incana): Hoary Alison. :D
PS. Grey Stuttering Plant and Redbreast in Estonian
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