13 ms·

So, not related to the fox. Also, not a new species but rather a probable new subspecies. Other than that, the title is accurate.

vcavallo 7y ago
Corsica
LeonB 7y ago
Common names of animals often have common names of unrelated animals, (elephant beetle, dog fish, tiger shark... none of these are hybrids ;) ). Also I heard recently that a fox is cat software running on dog hardware. Seems true.
- arethuza 7y ago
  That explains our Burmese cats - dog software on cat hardware!
- paganel 7y ago
  Also, in French bat is called "chauve-souris", which can literally be translated as "bald mouse".
  - tomjakubowski 7y ago
    I think I have a new favorite false etymology, for "chauvinist".
    - dredmorbius 7y ago
      The actual etymology is pretty interesting: https://www.etymonline.com/word/chauvinism https://www.etymonline.com/word/chauvinism
  - stochastic_monk 7y ago
    Not far from the German "fledermaus" ("flying mouse").
  - daveslash 7y ago
    And in French, potato is "pomme de terre", which can literally be translated as "apples of earth" - or as I like to call them, "ground apples".
mytailorisrich 7y ago
I think the translation is poor. Since adjectives usually come after the noun in Corsican and French, I think it should have been translated as "fox cat", not "cat fox"...
- itsameta4 7y ago
  Ghjattu-volpe is a noun-noun compound, not a noun-adjective pair. Cat-fox is correct.
  - steadicat 7y ago
    The order is still flipped for noun-noun pairs in romance languages. A "pesci spada" should be translated as "swordfish", not "fish sword".
  - seszett 7y ago
    Whatever the grammatical classification of these words though, "ghjattu-volpe" (like French "chat-renard") would clearly be translated as "fox-cat" into English. In both cases, even though "fox" might not be technically an adjective, it's functionally a mere modifier for "cat".
  - davidw 7y ago
    Gatto volpe in Italian would be best translated as fox cat. Italian speakers often kind of mangle English pairs that way in that they'll drop the second word, like "Pulled Pork" becoming "Il Pulled" in an online group about BBQ I used to subscribe too.
- dang 7y ago
  OK, we've put the fox before the cat above.

vcavallo 7y ago

Corsica

LeonB 7y ago

Common names of animals often have common names of unrelated animals, (elephant beetle, dog fish, tiger shark... none of these are hybrids ;) ). Also I heard recently that a fox is cat software running on dog hardware. Seems true.

arethuza 7y ago
That explains our Burmese cats - dog software on cat hardware!
paganel 7y ago
Also, in French bat is called "chauve-souris", which can literally be translated as "bald mouse".
- tomjakubowski 7y ago
  I think I have a new favorite false etymology, for "chauvinist".
  - dredmorbius 7y ago
    The actual etymology is pretty interesting: https://www.etymonline.com/word/chauvinism https://www.etymonline.com/word/chauvinism
- stochastic_monk 7y ago
  Not far from the German "fledermaus" ("flying mouse").
- daveslash 7y ago
  And in French, potato is "pomme de terre", which can literally be translated as "apples of earth" - or as I like to call them, "ground apples".

mytailorisrich 7y ago

I think the translation is poor. Since adjectives usually come after the noun in Corsican and French, I think it should have been translated as "fox cat", not "cat fox"...

itsameta4 7y ago
Ghjattu-volpe is a noun-noun compound, not a noun-adjective pair. Cat-fox is correct.
- steadicat 7y ago
  The order is still flipped for noun-noun pairs in romance languages. A "pesci spada" should be translated as "swordfish", not "fish sword".
- seszett 7y ago
  Whatever the grammatical classification of these words though, "ghjattu-volpe" (like French "chat-renard") would clearly be translated as "fox-cat" into English. In both cases, even though "fox" might not be technically an adjective, it's functionally a mere modifier for "cat".
- davidw 7y ago
  Gatto volpe in Italian would be best translated as fox cat. Italian speakers often kind of mangle English pairs that way in that they'll drop the second word, like "Pulled Pork" becoming "Il Pulled" in an online group about BBQ I used to subscribe too.
dang 7y ago
OK, we've put the fox before the cat above.