From Karin Skl
Listed as a "Waldohreule," which translates from German to ~~"Wood Owl,"~~ "Wood(Forest) Ear Owl" but many of us would know it as a Long Eared Owl.
this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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"Waldohreule" translates to "~~Wood~~ Forest Ear Owl".
I was about to comment the same thing, after trying to parse it as two words and then wondering what the bit in the middle was lol (I'm still learning)
We also have the Waldkauz (tawny owl) in German, which would translate to "wood owl". (In German there is a difference between Eule and Kauz while in English and zoology there isn't.)
And Eagle Owl / Uhu gets its own special word. Is there any reason for that, like it's a word borrowed from another language or something?
Edit: Looked it up while it was on my mind and found a wiktionary entry saying it's onomatopoeic:
In a wildlife shelter close by, there was a young flightless Eagle Owl. When you approached his cage, he was quite loudly shouting: "Uhu! Uhu!"
I got to see a pair of Eagle Owls this year, but sadly they were behind glass so I couldn't hear them. They also had hatchlings the week after I was there, so I missed out on all kinds of Uhu fun, but it was still exciting to see them. They were just as big as I had pictured and every bit as beautiful!
Yes, they are impressive and, of course, beautiful. Sadly, as "animal rights enthusiasts" broke into the shelter and released him, this one isn't alive anymore.
It's sadder in some ways when someone thinks they're helping, but actually doing a bad thing. I like my animals wild and free, but a flightless owl stands no chance on its own.
It's also disappointing seeing an animal that could have been rehabilitated, but people tried to help it on their own too long and now they are imprinted and can no longer be returned to nature for their own safety.
Out of curiosity, what's the difference between Eule and Kauz?
I remembered I had discussed this with someone before, and I found the thread here where someone explains it to me a bit. I'm all for more people explaining it though, I learn a lot from these language lessons, it almost makes it worth my feeling embarrassed for getting things wrong to begin with!
Actually I find the explanation of @alleycat@lemmy.world on the difference between Eule and Kauz very plausible.
It was very interesting seeing them have an implied "personality." I don't believe I've seen that anywhere else.
You may also call a grumpy person, especially men, Kauz (der Kauz is male in German). The use of Eule for especially women (die Eule is female in German), is also common, but not exactly as wise, but for strange esoteric women.
I have seen that mentioned before! I'm jealous other languages have owl slang! The French for the round headed owls is chouette, which means cool/superb.
Thanks for the link!!
Of course! Successful_Try 543 added a bunch of useful comments there yesterday and today as well.
I'll make sure I read them all! I really love learning these neat language things
Exactly what I seem to have done! It's so obvious now though, it's hard to imagine messing it up now.
Yeah same here lol
Isn't it rather "Forest Ear Owl" or at least "Woods Ear Owl"? As far as I know, wood without the s rather translates to Holz than Wald.
Thought of that as well, and then opted for OPs version with just adding the word. But you're right.
To me in this context I would naturally interpret wood as a more old-time way of saying forest as opposed to a piece of wood or something made of wood, but going with forest is probably more broadly understandable.
Thank you! I don't know any German, but now that I can look at all the parts, it is very obvious. 🫢
It looks like I prepped this post about 3 weeks ago, so I can't even figure out how I messed it up the first time.
I always appreciate corrections!