Comments on: International Onomatopoeia

International Onomatopoeia

Oriole Adams — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 18:24:52 -0800

Onomatopoeia around the world. Wonder no more how a cow's moo sounds in Japan, or a car's engine revs in China.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 19:20:01 -0800

Cool link- we spent a whole Spanish class discussing this very issue once.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 19:23:32 -0800

Yeah, this is one of those things you often discuss with your friends but never tire of. Great link. I love selecting the steering wheel and then rapidly clicking on all of the different ones. Sounds like a traffic jam at the United Nations!

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 19:25:50 -0800

Well, Model UN. Pow Pow Power Wheels! Leading the way!

By: Jumpin Jack Flash

Jumpin Jack Flash — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 19:42:54 -0800

Crank up the volume and play the cat sounds. Works real well in terrorizing the house cats. Ours just climbed the curtains with fear in their eyes.

By: cmonkey

cmonkey — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 21:47:34 -0800

This is fucking awesome.

By: KevinSkomsvold

KevinSkomsvold — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 21:52:48 -0800

Thanks for this link. My wife, who is from Mexico, insists that a rooster makes a sound like "Keek-a-deedle-dee!" or at least thats how they were always taught. Of course for Americans, it's always been "Cock-a-doodle-do!". Its one of those things I never thought much about until it came up in conversation.

By: naxosaxur

naxosaxur — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 22:13:49 -0800

Sorry, but this is not only a double, but a triple post. Also see this post for even more language declensions of each animal.

By: Oriole Adams

Oriole Adams — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 23:14:27 -0800

Sorry, naxosaxur...the URL didn't come up when I searched. My apologies.

By: MadOwl

MadOwl — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 02:24:37 -0800

Interesting to find out which sounds remained relatively consistant and which changed. At least some of the animal examples are influenced by which species are present in the country concerned. A cat sounds very similar everywhere, whereas an owl may say anything from "to-wit-to-woo" to "hooroo" to (as here in NZ) "morepork".

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 03:55:21 -0800

I had a good-spirited argument with a German once about how just about all the German sounds for animals were simply wrong. This confirms it.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 04:22:53 -0800

This just begs for a mash-up.

By: MrFancypants

MrFancypants — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 11:16:25 -0800

Reminds me of David Sedaris. When I saw him in Boston he had a bit about this, and I think it is now in the "Dress Your Family..." book of his as well (it might even part of the "Santa and the six to seven black men" story, which is fantastic by the way).

By: adampsyche

adampsyche — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:37:26 -0800

This is good.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 21:03:38 -0800

It is a double post but no wings were pulled off flies to make it and the topic is of universal interest. To be present when co-workers gasp ah... in surprise at hearing what water buffalos say in different tongues will bring home to you that we are a nation of immigrants.