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[-] Klear@piefed.world 15 points 11 hours ago

BTW, "bear" means "the brown one", which is more or less "the animal that must not be named". This is true in a bunch of languages (Czech has "the honey eater").

It might be the oldest known euphemism.

[-] Hegar@fedia.io 11 points 9 hours ago

This is sometimes called the Indo-European Bear Taboo, because it's observed in many IE languages, mostly northern and central ones.

In some areas without bears it looks like mountain lions get the same treatment. So it may stem from a common IE tradition of euphemizing the largest predator and that tradition changed as IE groups moved into new areas.

But it may just be a human tendency to avoid speaking the name of dangerous or hateful things - many use euphemisms instead of saying trump's name.

[-] hakase@lemmy.zip 3 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Also happened with "beaver" in at least Germanic, Celtic, and Balto-Slavic, so not just apex predators.

[-] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago

Can you supply a link re the mountain lions? Not bc I disagree, just want to read more

[-] Hegar@fedia.io 2 points 6 hours ago

I can't remember where i heard it, i think it was mentioned maybe in a video by stefan milo or crecganford?

All i could find in a few minutes of googling is this paper on polish etymologies of bear, lynx and wolf as possibly taboo zoonyms.

[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

That certainly explains all of the “pet names” I’ve given myself over the years.

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 15 points 10 hours ago

one day I will say the true name of the bear and summon The Brownest One

[-] Klear@piefed.world 11 points 10 hours ago

You'd better eat all your honey beforehand or you'll lose it.

[-] jaybone@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

Mmm. Honey filled snack.

[-] hakase@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

That's only for the Slavic "bear" euphemism, medved "honey-eater"

[-] jaybone@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

Is there a Russian tennis player with this name?

[-] Mac@mander.xyz 2 points 9 hours ago

You assume the honey is for me and not an offering

[-] hakase@lemmy.zip 2 points 7 hours ago

From a similar thread on the other website hypothesizing what the Modern English word would be if it survived:

After the later metathesis to *h₂ŕ̥ḱtos, it could have become Proto-Germanic *urhtaz, which might have taken any number of forms in Old English, *urht, *orht, *roht. Probably at the extreme it could have become English *rought, pronounced like 'wrought' or 'rout'.

Good luck with your summoning!

[-] 0x0@infosec.pub 1 points 8 hours ago

If i remember correctly bear isnt even the actual name but another nickname, the real name is long forgotten and replaced by winnie the pooh

this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2026
617 points (97.2% liked)

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