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   sci.lang      Natural languages, communication, etc      297,462 messages   

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   Message 295,531 of 297,462   
   Antonio Marques to Jeff Barnett   
   Re: =29   
   14 Apr 24 00:18:41   
   
   From: no_email@invalid.invalid   
      
   Jeff Barnett  wrote:   
   > While a docent at the Albuquerque Zoo, I was informed that   
   > "hippopotamus" came from the Greek and meant "river horse". Any truth to   
   > that?   
      
   Well, yes, hippo- is horse and potamo- is river.   
   There must be something to it, because in the (portuguese-based) guinean   
   creole it is pis-kabalu, plainly 'horse fish' (by now you'll know english   
   is in the minority in placing qualifiers before nouns).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)   

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