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Down on the farm

But then came the thought of using certain breeds to their advantage:

nanagi (Rapanui, Easter Island) to mark a chicken as one’s property by biting one of its toes

piya (Kalanga, Botswana) to hold a goat’s leg under one’s knee while milking it

verotouaire (Gallo, France) a woman who helps a boar (vero) to copulate with the sow (tree)

féauðnu-maðr (Old Icelandic) a man lucky with his sheep

Commanding

With this came a new range of calls and cries:

ouk (British Columbian dialect, Canada) a command to a sledge-dog to turn right

koosi (Buli, Ghana) to call chickens by smacking one’s tongue

cethreinwr (Welsh) someone who walks backwards, in front of an ox, prompting it with a combination of a song and a sharp stick

To the hand

The Scots, in particular, have a fine collection of animal instructions:

irrnowt a shepherd’s call to his dog to pursue cattle

who-yauds a call to dogs to pursue horses

iss a call to a dog to attack

hut a call to a careless horse

re a call to a horse to turn to the right

shug a call to a horse to come to the hand

On reflection

Animals online

In these days of intense email use, it seems amazing that there is still no official name for @. It is generally called the ‘at’ symbol. Other languages have come up with all kinds of mostly animal nicknames. Polish calls it malpa, monkey; in Afrikaans it is aapstert, monkey’s tail; in German it is Klammeraffe, clinging monkey. The Finns and Swedes see it as a cat curled up with its tail. Swedish has kattsvans, and Finnish has at least three names for this idea: kissanhäntä, cat tail, miaumerkki, meow sign, and miukumauku, which means something like meow-meow. In French, Korean, Indonesian, Hebrew and Italian it’s a snail. In Turkish (kulak) and Arabic (uthun) it’s an ear, in Spanish it’s an elephant’s ear (elefantora), in Danish it’s an elephant’s trunk (snabel), and elsewhere:

zavinac (Czech) pickled herring

xiao lao-shu (Taiwanese) little mouse

kukac (Hungarian) worm or maggot

sobachka (Russian) little dog

papaki (Greek) duckling

grisehale (Norwegian) curly pig’s tail

kanelbulle (Swedish) cinnamon roll

gül (Turkish) rose

Aw, aw !

As does the Pashto language of Afghanistan and Pakistan:

drhey when addressing sheep

eekh eekh when addressing camels

asha asha when addressing donkeys

aw aw when addressing oxen

tsh tsh when addressing horses

kutsh kutsh when addressing dogs

How to count on your chickens

In the Gallo dialect in France there is some very specific vocabulary about ensuring that there are always enough eggs:

un anijouet an egg left in a hen’s nest to encourage it to lay more in the same place

chaponner to stick a finger up a chicken’s bottom to see if it is laying an egg

Man’s best friend

It’s hardly surprising that that species thought of as closest to humans is described in the most loving detail:

agkew (Manobo, Philippines) to try to snatch food which is hung up out of reach (said of a dog)

manàntsona (Malagasy, Madagascar) to smell or sniff before entering a house, as a dog does

ihdaśna (Dakota, USA) to miss in biting oneself, as a dog trying to bite its own tail

kwiiua-iella (Yamana, Chile) to bite and leave, as a dog does with a strong animal it cannot kill

amulaw (Bikol, Philippines) the barking of dogs in pursuit of game

Roof-gutter rabbit

Our second favourite animal is less loyal and more selfish, but brings us luck if it crosses our path:

lapin de gouttière (French) a cat (literally, roof-gutter rabbit)

echafoureré (Gallo, France) a tickled cat hiding under a table or chair

bilāra-nissakkana (Pali, India) large enough for a cat to creep through

amotóm (Cheyenne, USA) to carry something in the mouth (said especially of a mother cat)

bvoko (Tsonga, South Africa) to spring unsuccessfully at or after, as a cat springs at a mouse which just saves itself

Gee gee

Next up has to be the one that has always helped us get around, and has also let us experience speed, excitement and other