Comments on: "New" members of our animal kingdom

"New" members of our animal kingdom

anjamu — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 19:30:31 -0800

Free Your Imagination : from the furry "Yeti crab" to the almiqui, animals discovered and rediscovered this millenium.

By: Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 19:46:17 -0800

The almiqui looks like a properly-sized "Rodent of Unusual Size" from The Princess Bride.

By: amro

amro — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 19:57:38 -0800

I bet a pygmy elephant would come in handy.

By: furtive

furtive — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 20:10:33 -0800

The yeti crab previously mentioned here.

By: rob511

rob511 — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 20:17:46 -0800

Then there's the dearly departed chupacabra del norte.

By: owhydididoit

owhydididoit — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 20:25:14 -0800

Sweet! Thank you, anjamu!

By: Citizen Premier

Citizen Premier — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:16:06 -0800

The almiqui is now my favorite movie. Or it will be once I learn how to pronounce the name.

By: Citizen Premier

Citizen Premier — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:16:48 -0800

uh......"favorite animal." That's what I get for looking at the tv as I type...

By: anjamu

anjamu — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:49:08 -0800

al-ME-kee. Or that's how I'd say it. I want a pygmy elephant of my own.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 23:13:26 -0800

excellent find, thank you anjamu!

By: sellout

sellout — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 23:23:33 -0800

Great post. Thanks.

By: jacob hauser

jacob hauser — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 00:14:06 -0800

I could totally take on that whale in a fight... seriously teeth don't scare me, in open water, him with teeth, me with, well, with feet... forget it.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 05:19:54 -0800

Or that's how I'd say it. But it turns out you'd say it wrong. About five seconds' worth of googling turned up this story, which says: "almiqui (pronounced ahl-mee-KEE)." I'm not blaming you for not knowing how an extremely obscure word is pronounced, but I'll never understand why people feel they can answer language questions by wild guessing—it happens all the time on AskMeFi. Look it up or wait for someone who knows to come along, is my advice. (I'm sure someone will take this as condescending, but it's not meant to be. If you can think of a way to say the same thing in a different way that would keep you from having that reaction, please let me know.)

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 05:20:14 -0800

Oh, and great post!

By: quite unimportant

quite unimportant — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 05:55:31 -0800

Good lord, that almiqui looks like an Edward Gorey drawing.

By: anjamu

anjamu — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:25:28 -0800

But it turns out you'd say it wrong. You're absolutely correct. Without getting too defensive, though, I do speak Spanish quite competently, so this was a lot less "wild guess" and a lot more "mistake" on my part. I said it correctly to myself, and then proceeded to type the opposite of what I heard. Luckily, you caught me, and so poor Citizen Premier won't be forever mispronouncing almiquí. And don't worry, you weren't condescending. Mostly I'm just embarrassed to be caught in such a mistake; (certain) language questions are actually some of the few I can consider from an informed perspective. Ooof.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:29:53 -0800

Ah, well, I've made plenty of such mistakes myself—thanks for being so gracious about my correction!

By: darksasami

darksasami — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:16:01 -0800

The Almiqui. The Sneak. Concidence?