November 14 2000

Gobble gobble

I’ll never understand how this weblogging and communication thing works. Sometimes I post something and expect lots of reaction from my dear readers, but nothing happens.

On other days, I post something silly just to have an excuse to flip the page, and what happens? Everyone comments.

So now I finally know what blivet really means.

Animal sounds

Craig points to Sounds of the World’s Animals.

Okay, here’s a little test for the Germans: Which animals does these sounds in German:

  • tswit, tswit
  • kwrah, kwrah
  • guru, guru
  • huh
  • I don’t think I would have recognized these…

    (Die Lösungen gibt’s hier.)

    The most interesting animal is the rooster, I think. He says ‘Kikeriki’ in German and sounds very similar in most of the other languages, but English and American roosters seem to be more musical; they go ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’!

    Hehe, und Truthähne machen auf Englisch ‘gobble gobble’.

    Gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble…

    Okay, back to work now.

    21 thoughts on “November 14 2000

    1. Andrea Frick

      Kikeriki is an English word? So they didn’t tell me the truth at school. We learned that English-speaking roosters go cock-a-doodle-doo.

      Hmmm…

    2. Andrea Frick

      But maybe that’s because he’s proud of his hens being famous — they’re hit number eight on a Google search for ‘chickens’!

      Yay! That’s indeed something to be proud of. Even if the hens are brainless wonders…

    3. Sean Floyd

      guru, guru

      Also die anderen Viecher kenne ich nicht, aber Gurugurus sind seit ‘Asterix: Die Große Überfahrt’ bestens bekannt. Obelix verdrückt da etliche Truthähne, einen sogar mit Bär gefüllt.

      Sean

    4. Jeff Cheney

      Kikeriki is an English word?

      No, well, I guess so. Babelfish didn’t translate it. If there’s no translation I guess we just adopt the word.

      ‘meriken roosters all say cock-a-doodle-doo—just like in the movies.

      Do German roosters really say Kikeriki? Or is it all in the pronunciation?

      Does it mean anything? Cock-a-doodle-doo doesn’t, except maybe that’s it’s dawn (when the roosters crow)…

    5. Andrea Frick

      Also die anderen Viecher kenne ich nicht, aber Gurugurus sind seit ‘Asterix: Die Große Überfahrt’ bestens bekannt. Obelix verdrückt da etliche Truthähne, einen sogar mit Bär gefüllt.

      Hmmm, lecker!

      Tja, aber leider machen in Deutschland die Tauben guru, guru – zumindest sagt das diese Webseite.

      Die Truthähne machen auf Englisch ‘gobble gobble’, aber einen deutschen Laut gibt es offenbar nicht. Mir fällt auch keiner ein.

      Ach doch! Wie war das noch bei ‘Aschenputtel’? Da gurren doch die Tauben:

      “Rakuuu, rakuuu, Blut ist im Schuh…”

    6. Andrea Frick

      Do German roosters really say Kikeriki? Or is it all in the pronunciation?

      Well, it depends. I mean, American roosters don’t really say ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’, and German roosters don’t really go ‘Kikeriki’.

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      I think American and German roosters sound pretty much the same, like in this little sound file I stole from this page.

      Does it mean anything? Cock-a-doodle-doo doesn’t, except maybe that’s it’s dawn (when the roosters crow)…

      No, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just the sound of a rooster.

    7. Jeff Cheney

      American roosters don’t really say ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’

      I don’t know, it sounds pretty clear to me.

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      Does Germany have anything like Foghorn Leghorn?

    8. Sean Floyd

      Rakuuu???? Ich erinnere mich an “Rubidiguuu, Blut ist im Schuh”, was vom Versmaß auch viel eher hinkommt.

      Ansonsten: die Website ist sehr witzig, besonders habe ich mich über die chinesischen Schweine amüsiert. Aber die deutschen Sounds hören sich nicht unbedingt nach einem deutschen Muttersprachler an.

      Sean

    9. Hal Rager

      That is the “main” meaning. My favorite one is much farther down:

      “It has also been used to describe an amusing trick-the-eye drawing resembling a three-pronged fork that appears to depict a three-dimensional object until one realises that the parts fit together in an impossible way.”

      The only computer-world example I can think of is the blivet on the plugins folder of a Photoshop install (at least on the Mac – I don’t know if there are custom icons on the PC install, I expect there is).

      I read Mad Magazine as a kid and Alfred E. Newman would show up in the margins holding one, looking puzzled. I always thought it was funny. When I found out there was actually a term for it I was thrilled. Though the manure comment often seems appropriate for the weblog. <tongue firmly in cheek!>

    10. Andrea Frick

      Rakuuu???? Ich erinnere mich an “Rubidiguuu, Blut ist im Schuh”, was vom Versmaß auch viel eher hinkommt.

      Jetzt hab’ ich’s: ‘Ruckedigu’ hieß das auf meiner Märchen-Schallplatte. Kann aber auch ‘Rubidiguuu’ gewesen sein. ‘Rakuuu’ kam mir auch etwas seltsam vor…

    11. Andrea Frick

      Hey, I know a blivet! I know the drawing you’re talking about, but I didn’t know there was a name for it. That’s cool!

      I don’t think there is a German name for it.

    12. Andrea Frick

      I don’t know, it sounds pretty clear to me.

      Huh? To me, this sounds like “Oh no no no no, I’m a rooster, not a roster.” :-P

      Does Germany have anything like Foghorn Leghorn?

      Yes. We have almost all the American cartoons, e.g. Disney, Tom & Jerry, Bugs Bunny, and the Looney Tunes.

      I think I’ve seen Foghorn Leghorn cartoons on TV in Germany years ago, but I don’t remember their German names. (All the cartoons are dubbed, and sometimes the names are changed as well.)

    13. Jeff Cheney

      That’s me, always confusing the issue…

      I meant that it sounds to me like the rooster is actually saying "cock-a-doodle-doo". Not really, but that’s what we’re taught, so that’s what we believe, or at least adhere to…

      Foghorn Leghorn is just plain funny.

      I like the old Chuck Jones-era Tom & Jerry shows. They had great music.

    14. Andrea Frick

      I meant that it sounds to li rooster is actually saying “cock-a-doodle-doo”. Not really, but that’s what we’re taught, so that’s what we believe, or at least adhere to…

      Yes, you’re right. Because to me it sounds like the rooster is saying “Kikeriki”! wink:

      It really depends on what you are taught as a child.

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