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#179088 - 09/11/08 05:56 AM Monkfish or Sea Devil
BranShea Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 5249
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
Back below sealevel. Monkfish( Lophius piscatorius )

I like to watch the BBC 2 program "Trawler".
Yesterday there was a boat with catches of loads and loads of monkfish.When they gave a close up I saw that this is the rather expensive fish we call sea devil. (zeeduivel)
What a strange controversial (?) outcome for two languages so closely connected.

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#179089 - 09/11/08 06:23 AM Re: Monkfish or Sea Devil [Re: BranShea]
Faldage Offline
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Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13657
Local names vary widely even within the same language. I can't think of any examples as good as the monk/devil dichotomy offhand but I'm sure someone will come up with some.

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#179102 - 09/12/08 03:17 AM Re: Monkfish or Sea Devil [Re: Faldage]
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2154
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
Anyone know of the origin of the two names?

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#179104 - 09/12/08 06:56 AM Re: Monkfish or Sea Devil [Re: Zed]
BranShea Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 5249
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
Well, there's information enough about the monkfish,
monkfish and it has other( goosefish ) and local names as well, but what surprised me was that the English names are so undescriptive.
I'm a visuality addict and I look at the creature and try to see the monk in it. No way.
Seadevil, Yes! just look at it! (link) The other Dutch name Hozemond (Hugemouth)(or maybe Heavemouth) definitely yes. Online etymology has no aswer (so maybe there isn't) Sobeit!

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#179106 - 09/12/08 09:23 AM Re: Monkfish or Sea Devil [Re: BranShea]
zmjezhd Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3269
Loc: R'lyeh
Some details about the sea monk (link) which may or may not help. It seems that amongst the fish called monkfish in English are included two genuses: Lophius (anglerfish) and Squatina (angelsharks).
_________________________
Ceci n'est pas un seing.

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#179111 - 09/13/08 03:18 AM Re: Monkfish or Sea Devil [Re: zmjezhd]
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2154
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
Erk! I knew it was ugly but I hadn't realized it was BIG. It grows to 5 feet long!

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#179112 - 09/13/08 05:14 AM Re: Monkfish or Sea Devil [Re: Zed]
BranShea Offline
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Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 5249
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
\:\) It was the word. I didn't choose it for ugliness' sake.
If you take a look at zmjezhd's link the monk they thought the fish looked like is equally ugly. (Thanks for that link, zmjehzd)).
A somewhat farfetched resemblance , but they may have had Savonarola in mind who was actively brandishing sinners a little before that time and was as ugly as a monkfish indeed.

Savonarola

Well, that monk ended up fried like a monkfish.

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