this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
339 points (99.4% liked)

aww

25173 readers
1128 users here now

A place with minimal rules for stuff that makes you go awww! Feel free to post pics, gifs, or videos of cats, dogs, babies, or anything cute and remember to be kind to others.

AI posts must be labeled [AI] in the title and are limited to one per week.

While posting and commenting in this community, you must abide by instance-wide rules: https://mastodon.world/about

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 11 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] samus12345@lemm.ee 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

Nintendo patented this creature and it is now in violation of copyright law.

[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago

Looks like a flying red panda cat

[–] ExtantHuman@lemm.ee 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Well some scientist was feeling pretty lazy the day that thing got "named". That's just a description.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago

For a lot of languages, lots of names are just "descriptions". Like Finnish, German — and I assume — Japanese.

Like capybara is a "water pig" in at least Finnish and German. And English usually just takes loanwords it doesn't understand, and thus English speakers don't think of as descriptors. "Capybara" is originally from Tupi language (spoken by indigenous Brazilians) capiuára , from capĩ ‘grass’ + uára ‘eater’.

Although the names aren't always accurate. Like guinea pigs aren't from Guinea. (And neither are they related to pigs, really.)

"Schwein" (=pig) was used much in the same way "deer" once was in terms of animals and "apple" was in terms of fruit. A general term. Oranges are still etymologically "Chinese apples" in Northern Europe/Nordics; variations of "appelsin" ~applechina.

Languages are fun, aren't they?

[–] MNByChoice@midwest.social 4 points 4 months ago

So lower left photo is not a bad photoshop?

[–] nailingjello@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 months ago

This sounds like an animal name that I would have come up with.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 2 points 4 months ago

I love that when it flies, it's flipping the bird to all beneath it.

[–] WagnasT@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

can reach a length of over a meter

like a water meter? That's normal squirrel size. 🇺🇸

[–] prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

A water meter is like 1.02 metric yards

[–] cheers_queers@lemm.ee 2 points 4 months ago

I didnt know chapaas existed irl