Lion's Teeth

Hide subcomments

• • NotBob ^Pro
  • 19 May. 2008 @ 11:03:22

  How about this extract from Wikipedia -
  

  The English name dandelion is a corruption of the French //dent de lion// meaning lion's tooth, referring to the coarsely-toothed leaves. The names of the plant have the same meaning in several other European languages, such as Italian //dente di leone//, Spanish //diente de león//, Portuguese //dente-de-leão//, Norwegian //Løvetann//, and German //Löwenzahn//.
  In modern French the plant is named //pissenlit//, which means "urinate in bed", apparently referring to its diuretic properties. Likewise, //"pissabeds"// is an English folkname for this plant, //piscialletto// in Italian and in Spanish it is known as the //meacamas//. Also, in the dialect of Veneto, Italy, it is known as //pisacan//, which translates to "dog pisses", referring to how common they are found at the side of pavements (source: Giulia Zanetti, native of Veneto), and in the dialect of Novara, Italy, it is known as //soffione//, which translates to "blowing", and refers to the habit of blowing the seeds from the stalk (source: Silvia Paracchini, native of Novara). Likewise, in Polish it is called //"dmuchawiec"// which comes from "dmuchać", "to blow".
  In Turkish the dandelion is called //karahindiba// meaning "black endive".
  Hungarian names are //kutyatej// ("dog milk", referring to the white sap found in the stem) and //gyermekláncfű// ("child's chain grass", referring to the habit of children to pick dandelions, remove the flowers, and make links out of the stems by "plugging" the narrow top end of the stem into the wider bottom end).
  Lithuanian name //kiaulpienė// can be translated as //"sow Sonchus"// (because plant Sonchus that has white sap also in Lithuanian is //pienė// (from pienas "milk)) or "sow milk". In Finnish it is called //'voikukka'// ("butter flower") referring to its buttery colour. In Swedish it is called //'maskros'// ("worm rose"), likely referring to its low status (being mostly considered a weed) despite a fairly pleasant appearance.

  • Reply to comment
  • Permalink
  • Show this thread
  • • lee954
    • 20 May. 2008 @ 08:38:17

    Thanks for the research; I tend not to have the time here at the library. I am aware of the 'piss-the-bed' term, but never thought this was ever Standard English usage.

    • Reply to comment
    • Permalink
• • isadora101
  • 19 May. 2008 @ 11:39:45

  Are you sure you're not teasing and that you really know?
  
  I read that the french translation for dandelion was Pissenlit.
  
  http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dandelion
  
  "Piss" in French actually means pretty much the same as it does in English, and the whole word translates as "piss in bed" and apparantly the old English name for the dandelion was also "piss-a-bed." Both piss names come from its use as an herbal diuretic.

  • Reply to comment
  • Permalink
  • Show this thread
  • • lee954
    • 20 May. 2008 @ 08:40:22

    I am aware of the 'piss-the-bed' reference; but always assumed there was another Standard English form at one time.

    • Reply to comment
    • Permalink
• • antlady69 ^Pro
  • http://antmusic-forever.blog.co.uk
  • 20 May. 2008 @ 05:05:48

  I wouldn't know the Old English word, of course, but did you know that although dandelion meadows look so lovely, they're actually a bad sign of over-fertilization? The farmers just dumped too much dung on the meadows, and that kills off a lot of plants. Too bad.

  • Reply to comment
  • Permalink

• Names & Gender
  by lee954 on 18 Oct. 2009 – 07:09:14
• An Unusual Copy
  by lee954 on 15 Feb. 2009 – 08:48:06
• Not where you'd think they'd be.
  by lee954 on 26 Jan. 2009 – 20:44:36
• Bienvenue à Yorkshire
  by lee954 on 09 Dec. 2008 – 09:08:08
• Oral Exams
  by lee954 on 17 Feb. 2008 – 13:38:52
• Funny French Phrases
  by lee954 on 18 Oct. 2007 – 09:47:12
• Well, at least Belgium has got a national anthem - England hasn't.
  by lee954 on 26 Jul. 2007 – 05:58:47
• Common insults about the French used in other languages.
  by lee954 on 01 Sep. 2006 – 06:39:17
• A longer poem
  by lee954 on 07 Oct. 2005 – 12:08:32
• Plants still flowering in my garden.
  by lee954 on 03 Oct. 2005 – 07:03:21