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afrikanische Nacktgumbo

English translation: lesser blue-footed boobies

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:afrikanische Nacktgumbo
English translation:lesser blue-footed boobies
Entered by: Kim Metzger

01:04 Dec 27, 2005
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama / funny names for animals
German term or phrase: afrikanische Nacktgumbo
Dear KudoZites! This is a question I could/should research myself, but I'm up to my eyeballs in a very long translation job and thought you'd come up with some zingers. I haven't found the Nacktgumbo online, but it's clear that what I need for an English-speaking audience is a funny animal name. The hairless gooney bird, or something like that. I'd appreciate your suggestions.

In den Zoo geht man ja eher mal als zum Bauern. Oft weiss man mehr über afrikanische Nacktgumbos als über heimische Tiere.
Kim Metzger
Mexico
Local time: 15:00
australian pig-footed bandicoot
Explanation:
:-)
endangered species, BTW

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Note added at 1 hr 12 mins (2005-12-27 02:17:36 GMT)
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Doesn't have to be a bird, right?

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Note added at 1 hr 26 mins (2005-12-27 02:31:04 GMT)
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Brazilian Red Ear Slider (a sea turtle)

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Note added at 1 hr 28 mins (2005-12-27 02:33:22 GMT)
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Egyptian Goatsucker

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Note added at 7 hrs 53 mins (2005-12-27 08:58:22 GMT)
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Blue-footed Boobies (also come in red-footed and masked)
http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/GalapagosWWW/BlueFoot.htm...
Selected response from:

Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 14:00
Grading comment
Thank you all so much. Wonderful feedback. It was very close, but this time I'll go with the version I used in my translation: lesser blue-footed boobies. Must be a male bias.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4(African) naked mole rats
Christine Lam
3 +2australian pig-footed bandicoot
Nicole Schnell
2 +1lesser-spotted gumbo
Lancashireman


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


37 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
lesser-spotted gumbo


Explanation:
lesser-spotted (African) gumbo

The standard joke regarding weird and wonderful animal names in BE is to preface them with ‘lesser-spotted’. Does this gimmick work outside the UK? Try googling ‘lesser-spotted Gumbo’ and you even get one phantom hit.

Lancashireman
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:00
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 46

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Anna Blackab (X): am also from UK though!
7 hrs
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37 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
(African) naked mole rats


Explanation:
not completely certain, but I know that they exist (some cute samples here in the Toronto Zoo)
I could not find any references for the German word in Google, but here is a picture for the English version

www.bio.davidson.edu


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Note added at 45 mins (2005-12-27 01:50:29 GMT)
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sorry, Kim, I just realized now that you are looking for a bird - maybe I should mind my own business first.

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Note added at 1 hr 5 mins (2005-12-27 02:10:01 GMT)
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ok, Kim, here it comes again

Christine Lam
Local time: 17:00
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Dirgis (X): Nacktmull (Heterocephalus glaber)
1 hr
agree  BrigitteHilgner: It's certainly not a bird (I checked my book with all Engl./German/Latin bird names). In German, I only found "Gumbo" as the name of a Creole ragout/soup.
6 hrs
agree  Samira Goth: with Sigrid
10 hrs
agree  Kurt Beals: That's the first funny animal I thought of too (even before I scrolled down). Think it may be hyphenated (mole-rats)? Good suggestion in any case.
23 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
australian pig-footed bandicoot


Explanation:
:-)
endangered species, BTW

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 12 mins (2005-12-27 02:17:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Doesn't have to be a bird, right?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 26 mins (2005-12-27 02:31:04 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Brazilian Red Ear Slider (a sea turtle)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 28 mins (2005-12-27 02:33:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Egyptian Goatsucker

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs 53 mins (2005-12-27 08:58:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Blue-footed Boobies (also come in red-footed and masked)
http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/GalapagosWWW/BlueFoot.htm...

Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 14:00
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thank you all so much. Wonderful feedback. It was very close, but this time I'll go with the version I used in my translation: lesser blue-footed boobies. Must be a male bias.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Stephen Sadie: i like the goatsucker
3 hrs
  -> My favorite, too, besides the red-painted great tit (bird, parus major)... Thanks, Stephen!
agree  Rebecca Garber: I like the bandicoot, the goatsucker, and the boobies! Bring on the weird creatures!
12 hrs
  -> Thanks, rlrgarber! :-)))))
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