'Alligator' comes from the Spanish words for "the lizard." el lagarto--->alligator - ThreadSky

merriam-webster.com • 6 days ago

'Alligator' comes from the Spanish words for "the lizard."

el lagarto--->alligator

Comments

Instead of saying, “See you later, alligator,” my mom says, “Bye Alligator!” I still laugh every. single. time. she does this.
It has made alligator one of my favorite words🐊

pendem0nium.rocks•6 days ago

THE lizard

schnedwob.bsky.social•6 days ago

damn right

svander001.bsky.social•6 days ago

Lagarto doesn’t mean lizard. Lizard is lagartija aka tiny lagarto. Lagarto is the source word.

rozasl.bsky.social•6 days ago

In Spain there aren't big lizards, so the bigger, about 20 to 40 cm, are known as lagarto and the smaller are known as lagartija.
While exploring America the animals they found were given the name of the animals they knew. ⬇️

rozasl.bsky.social•6 days ago

➡️ So the alligator and crocodiles were known as lagartos, as those people didn't knew about crocodiles.

carminaiguana.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yeah, but it had to rhyme with "see you later".

phagbolt.bsky.social•5 days ago

It still works if you add in some Japanese!

Domo arigato, El lagarto

orca7-sf.bsky.social•4 days ago

LOL--! omg that rulz::::

frankhopper.bsky.social•5 days ago

Haven’t heard that in a while, crocodile.

wtgator.bsky.social•6 days ago

Wendy MsLizard does not have the same ring to it.

philosoraptor3000.bsky.social•6 days ago

Fake news.

It's because of Alli and the gate.

kittihavok.bsky.social•6 days ago

So... the etymology of avocados gets one more step. Interesting.

rodg3rdodg3r.bsky.social•6 days ago

🤭🐊

castorp0llux.bsky.social•6 days ago

Anyone else just had this pop in their heads?

Domo arigato
Mr el lagato

rozasl.bsky.social•6 days ago

And then, the word came back to the spanish language as "aligator".
El lagarto ➡️ alligator ➡️ aligator.

ffa1984.bsky.social•6 days ago

Drumpf - from the German: miserable rat

berzerker1.bsky.social•6 days ago

ADD DEMON NEXT TO ZIONISTS IN DICTIONARY.

gustavfields.bsky.social•6 days ago

In Brazil we call it Jacaré.

cmcurran75.bsky.social•6 days ago

That's cool

writernatswift.bsky.social•4 days ago

And that's why we say see you larto, el lagarto.

orca7-sf.bsky.social•4 days ago

So... "Catchya later, lizard--" instead? 😜

sjbchy.bsky.social•4 days ago

Hasta luego, el lagarto.

pun916.bsky.social•6 days ago

Everything in English is named for the word the colonizer used when they found some shit that long existed.

reagansghost.news•6 days ago

So America's "Alligator lizards in the sky" is just redundant nonsense? Damn. This really ruined my day

blueskycoffeedyt.bsky.social•6 days ago

Where does crocodile come from?

missmalina.bsky.social•6 days ago

Greek, afaik

polyglottos.bsky.social•6 days ago

"Greek krokodilos ‘worm of the stones’, from krokē ‘pebble’ + drilos ‘worm’"

I love etymology.

blueskycoffeedyt.bsky.social•4 days ago

Fascinating, thanks friends!

owens006.bsky.social•6 days ago

See you later!

wonderfulstarfish.bsky.social•6 days ago

Picturing how this came about with early Spanish explorers in Florida.

"Where are Cristobol and Jose?"

"The Lizard got them."

ladypatricia2.bsky.social•6 days ago

Cool

asinhorror.bsky.social•6 days ago

In the same manner, some Spanish words include the definite article when borrowing from Arabic. Arabic "the sugar," pronounced as-sukkar, becomes azúcar. "The olive," pronounced az-zaytoon, becomes aceituna.

jumpingbean1979.bsky.social•6 days ago

See ya larto!

thedevilzadvoc8.bsky.social•6 days ago

Domo el lagarto, Mr. Roboto

movievigilante.com•1 day ago

See ya tomorrow, el lagarto.

bravoechooneone.bsky.social•6 days ago

steffenlinguist.bsky.social•6 days ago

I'm not sure, is that resyllabification?

Probably not, but it's fun to think about, isn't it?

derhoff.bsky.social•6 days ago

During the Spanish exploration of the Americas, explorers used this term to refer to the lizards they encountered in Florida. Eventually, the expression was adapted to English as alligator, thanks to Dora the Explorer.