• Batman@lemmings.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 years ago

    According to my Spanish friend, 1st one is a cocodrilo 2nd is a cocodrilo 3rd is also a cocodrilo 4th is a monstruo

    • NielsBohron@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 years ago

      Fun fact about the etymology of “alligator:” When the Spanish first landed in what is now Florida, they found alligators and simply called them “el lagarto,” which literally translates to “the lizard.” While there were many reptiles in the swamps and bayous, only one was enough of a problem to be called “THE lizard,” and after several mistranslations being borrowed into other languages, “el lagarto” morphed into “alligator”

      Or at least that’s what I read somewhere once.

        • NielsBohron@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          2 years ago

          Good to know! I took years of Spanish classes and my kids are in a Spanish immersion school in California, but I’ve only ever heard lagarto for smaller lizards and cocodrilo for anything resembling crocodilians

          Thanks for the info

          • Canadian_Cabinet @lemmy.caEnglish
            0·
            2 years ago

            Yeah lagarto literally means lizard, but we use it for pretty much any type of reptilian that looks like a lizard lol