Re: [jbovlaste] ruslerci

[John Cowan <cowan@mercury.ccil.org>]

Pierre Abbat scripsit:

> :D That Portuguese pun is about crustaceans, not geese. u'i

"Barnacle" in English and the Romance languages applied first to the goose
and only later to the crustacean; it's thought to be of Celtic origin.
The goose nests in the Arctic in summer and returns to Europe in the
winter, hence the mystery surrounding its reproduction. It was believed
in ancient superstition to hatch from barnacle's shell, possibly because
the crustacean's feathery stalks resemble goose down.

-- 
John Cowan                                cowan@ccil.org
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, LOTR:FOTR

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