https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/505677705376836/
Latin can
sometimes lead you in very weird directions!
squalus, -ī [2/m]:
shark
The origins of the
word squalus, -ī [2/m] meaning ‘shark’ are a little unclear; Pliny the Elder
refers to these fish (without specifically stating that they can “swallow you
whole”) and Carl Linnaeus, who developed the system of classifying species uses
the term to refer to a genus of dog-fish: squalus acanthias
(spiny dogfish).
While the
Wiktionary and Lewis and Short dictionaries are rather non-committal
describing squalus as a “kind of (large)
sea-fish, thought to be a shark,” the word has ended up in,
for example, French: le squale and Italian: squalo. Therefore, if you have a
pet shark, it is perfectly reasonable to say: “Mihi squalus est.”
And, if you don’t
believe me, ask Matt Hooper in Jaws (1974) because he tells you three times!
(Carcharhinus)
longimanus and Isurus glaucus are references to types of shark.
HOOPER: Indicates
the non-frenzy feeding of a large squalus possibly longimanus
or isurus glaucus. Now, the enormous amount of tissue loss prevents any
detailed analysis however the attacking squalus must be
considerably larger than any normal squalus found in these
waters. Didn't you get on the phone to check out these waters?
MARTIN: No.
HOOPER: Well this is not a boat accident! It wasn't any propeller! It wasn't any coral reef! And it wasn't Jack the Ripper! It was a shark.
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