this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
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637
Ocean Hedgehogs (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 44 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

In portuguese, it is still the same:

Sea urchin = ouriço do mar

Hedgehog = ouriço cacheiro

Porcupine is porco-espinho; literally, thorn pig.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

French

Sea urchin: oursin ("small bear" kinda)

Porcupine: Porc-épic (epic pork!) which sounds like porc et pics (pork and spikes)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

French is rich with playful words.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Hérisson kinda sounds like oursin, I wonder if it evolved from it. (The word not the animal)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Oh right, the image was talking about hedgehogs and not porcupines so the hérisson (probably from hérissé?) and not the porc-épic!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah :)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

In Latvian it's just

Hedgehog = Ezis

Sea urchin = Jūras ezis (Literally sea hedgehog)

Same almost for the porcupine tho, it is called dzeloņcūka, which basically translates to barbed pig.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Same in Hungarian

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Same in Dutch: zeeëgel.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Same in German: Seeigel

And porcupine is Stachelschwein, literally "thorn pig"

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

Same in Finnish: Merisiili (meri = sea, siili = hedgehog)

[–] [email protected] 41 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

So victorian childeren were just being called stree hedgehogs?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yeah what was up with that? Were kids spiky back then?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It was mainly for homeless kids, as they were dirty and hunched over and slept under hedges. Which is like one of those un-fun fun facts

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Yet another reminder that the past was the worst.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Figuratively, Street kids do tend to be.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

And hedgehog means spikepig.

So they're ocean spike pigs.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

Litterally the danish word; søpindsvin. 😂

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Spike originate in indo european and meaned sharp point, pig derives from proto western germanic for piglet (piggo) So they are called "ocean sharp pointed piglet"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Wikipedia says hedgehogs are called that, because they live in hedges, not because they look like one...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog#Etymology

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

They were also bred for food and brought into Ireland by Normans. Irish people called them 'Gráinneog' (gran-nyog), meaning 'little ugly thing'.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

If you punch them, do gold rings explode out of them?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Mmmm, Uni Is one of my favs.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Only one way to find out

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Sea urchins? We have those on land, too, they're called land sea urchins.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

we also have land seahorses

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

I train them!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

that's still their name in portuguese (ouriço do mar)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

Same in German (Seeigel). Though I wondered what an "urchin" is since I learned the word. So still a TIL.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago

Same in Spanish (erizo de mar)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Now I can't remember the name in french

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

its Oursin, but apparently Hérisson de mer is used too :3

(altho it’s more rare and old-fashioned, personally i haven’t heard it)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

So in Sonic Underground, the main characters are urchin urchins?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

That's literally the name in Danish!