And "Lachmöwe" in German does not mean "laughing" gull either, but "puddle" gull, (Lache im Sinne von Pfütze, kleines stilles Gewässer)
Edit: well, egg on my face. Its latin genus name is ridibundus, meaning laughing, and the German name is a transliteration of that.
So it's a false false friend that I (and other biologists I know) seem to have fallen for. Wikipedia references an ornithological work from 1971 for the "laughing" interpretation.
6 Comments
nautevenkidding@feddit.org · 3 pts · 13d
Fyi, it's called a "black-headed gull".
And "Lachmöwe" in German does not mean "laughing" gull either, but "puddle" gull, (Lache im Sinne von Pfütze, kleines stilles Gewässer)
Edit: well, egg on my face. Its latin genus name is ridibundus, meaning laughing, and the German name is a transliteration of that. So it's a false false friend that I (and other biologists I know) seem to have fallen for. Wikipedia references an ornithological work from 1971 for the "laughing" interpretation.
TIL
RebekahWSD@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 13d
I don't know German, sorry! My bird science friend called it a laughing gull so that's what I've called them now!
nautevenkidding@feddit.org · 2 pts · 13d
Curious. Maybe they are called that in some regions after all.
Edit: see parent comment, the following apparently is false.
It's just that "Lachmöwe" is a notorious false friend in German, hence my assumption.
RebekahWSD@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 13d
Now I know a false friend in a different language!
This is the laughing gull I know of! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughing_gull
The bird was seen in New Jersey, so it's probably the L. a. megalopterus!
nautevenkidding@feddit.org · 2 pts · 12d
oh no
So this one is actually called in english what the other is called in both sc. latin and german - and they even look similar enough.
JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social · 2 pts · 13d
I think it just wanted to savor the joke..?