#67068
04/23/2002 10:18 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Ooo! stales used a great word.. colonies of Australia's only endemic (that is, occurs nowhere else in the world) pinniped - the Australian sea lion - are found there.
pinneped(s) are sea lions, not seals.. how do i know? Their very name tells me so!
and its so interesting!
Pinna--(or pinnae or pinnas) comes from the latin word for feather-- (and is related to the word PEN) --but anatomically it means an external ear; botanically it is the term for the primate division of a pinnately compound leaf (ie, something like a fern); zoologically, it means a feather, wing, fin or similar structure.
Now my Websters (shame on it!) says a pinniped is so named because it has pinnipeds--winged feet!
but sea lions, unlike seals have external ears! gottcha! the anatomical defination is the one that is most significant, not the webbed feet! and that's how you tell a seal from a sea lion at the zoo! (or aquarium)or if you are lucky enough, at the shore!
Did i mention i grew up with in walking distance of the Bronx Zoo-- and when i was a kid, it was free? In family group photos, i am never facing the camera, i am reading the informational plaque on the exhibit!
I am sure there are other great words associated with cats and dogs, domestic animals and non-domestic animals.. not adjectives.. but lovely great words--like pinnipeds-- so haul them on out! other wise i am going to feel like are a real word geek!
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#67069
04/23/2002 11:04 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
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#67070
04/24/2002 4:35 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
I agree with Max (not saying either of us are correct) - I thought it meant finned feet.
Chambers says "...paddle footed Carnivora - the seals, sea-lions and walruses".
So what about otters Mr Chambers?
stales
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#67071
04/24/2002 11:37 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
*MY Chambers (hi, sweet Jo!  ) doesn't even HAVE the word pinniped! But it says that pinna is: "a leaflet of a pinnate leaf, or similar expansion; a wing, fin (EA), feather, or similar expansion; the outer ear, esp. the upper part. Ooh, I feel like one of the big boys, now! :-) Here's a weird word with a weird meaning: " pinnatifid: pinnately cut nearly or about halfway down." Now--what in the world could have prompted the need for a word for that?? One thing that may be adding to the confusion: we US'ns have been, for whatever reasons, taught to think of sea lions as seals, and vice versa. Probably the movies. I cannot (speaking of hard-wired learning) now picture a seal and think "seal"--I have to first picture, say, the starring animal in 'Sammy, the Way Out Seal', and THEN think, "Oh, yeah--that's really a sea lion". Sigh. I see stales has posted something else that fits this category: right whale. (stales, are you bringing out the 'animal' in us ladies?  )
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#67072
04/24/2002 3:34 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>right whale
the same carousing seamen, on board Greenland whaling ships, for whom the word mallemaroking was coined named the "right whale" -- that being the type of whale that they wanted to catch, as opposed to the "wrong whale".
-joe (non) whalo
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#67073
04/24/2002 3:56 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
the type of whale that they wanted to catch, as opposed to the "wrong whale".
No, no, Namu...they named it that, because, setting sail from Greenland, they had to make a right turn to get to where these whales were.wink
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