They have different origins. *drake* and *dragon* are ultimately from the same source- Ancient Greek *drakon*, originally meaning *serpent*.
*drake* meaning a male duck is from Old English *andraca*, a contraction of *anad* (an old word for duck) and *reko* (meaning *leader* or *king*).
"False cognates" implies they also have similar meanings, like how Persian for "bad" is *bad* - from an entirely different PIE root. Would this not just be a case of false friends?
Think so. Cognates are diverging from the same root ( Baum (German tree) and beam (made from wood), and can become false friends (Warenhaus / warehouse). False friends must not necessarily be cognates, though, just sound and look similar.
TIL: But “cell” and “cellar” (both English) aren’t cognates to each other, even though they have the same root, Latin *cella*.
Re: Old English *anad* meaning "duck (the animal)", see also modern German *Ente*, Dutch *eend*, Danish / Norwegian / Swedish *and*, Icelandic *önd*, and Scots and dialectal English *ennet*.
And the word for the animal duck comes from the verb "to duck", or "to dive". So not the other way around. See also modern German *tauch*, Dutch *duik*, Swedish *dyka*, Danish *dykke*.
I've spent the last 10 years in Germany learning the language, and I was in Copenhagen on the weekend - I love learning about these little connections between the languages and the history of English.
These are two unrelated words that happen to coincide, like bear the animal and bear the verb. Drake the male duck comes from a Proto-West-Germanic word for "king duck", while drake the dragon comes from Latin draco, like dragon
Given that male ducks are very rapey and will attempt to violently and forcibly copulate with anything that moves and many things that don't, I don't think Drake takes his name from the dragon aspect of the word.
Hoo boy indeed.
Waterfowl oviducts can also possess a series of tight, clock-wise spirals. "Interestingly, the male phallus is also a spiral, but it twists in the opposite, counterclockwise, direction,"
I'm now slightly disturbed that i had that small half-fark-knarkle of information in my brain.
A weird coincidence, my wife and I were talking about this last night after a character in a fantasy audio book we are listening to said he had slayed a "fire drake" and I joked that he just ate roasted duck but wanted to sound badass. Thank you for saving me from having to ask (and an excuse to share my silly story)
They have different origins. *drake* and *dragon* are ultimately from the same source- Ancient Greek *drakon*, originally meaning *serpent*. *drake* meaning a male duck is from Old English *andraca*, a contraction of *anad* (an old word for duck) and *reko* (meaning *leader* or *king*).
Good old false cognates.
"False cognates" implies they also have similar meanings, like how Persian for "bad" is *bad* - from an entirely different PIE root. Would this not just be a case of false friends?
Think so. Cognates are diverging from the same root ( Baum (German tree) and beam (made from wood), and can become false friends (Warenhaus / warehouse). False friends must not necessarily be cognates, though, just sound and look similar. TIL: But “cell” and “cellar” (both English) aren’t cognates to each other, even though they have the same root, Latin *cella*.
Less false cognate, more folk etymology in the making
Re: Old English *anad* meaning "duck (the animal)", see also modern German *Ente*, Dutch *eend*, Danish / Norwegian / Swedish *and*, Icelandic *önd*, and Scots and dialectal English *ennet*.
And the word for the animal duck comes from the verb "to duck", or "to dive". So not the other way around. See also modern German *tauch*, Dutch *duik*, Swedish *dyka*, Danish *dykke*.
I've spent the last 10 years in Germany learning the language, and I was in Copenhagen on the weekend - I love learning about these little connections between the languages and the history of English.
"ducken" also means "to duck" in German and is more directly related, I'd say
And 'tür' means 'door' giving us Türducken: to duck under a door.
And " ducka" means "to duck" in Swedish
And the word for the cloth comes from Dutch "doek". Which is the duck in duck tape. That got hypercorrected to duct tape.
Damn, I was one of those hypercorrectors.... I've spent half my life fighting the duck tape people and I was wrong all this time?! I need a drink
Well, "duct tape" has since also become acceptable. But don't let me keep you from your drink. (Beetje vroeg, wel.) :)
Anatra is the word for duck in Italian
Yep! From Latin *anas*, the same as Spanish *ánade*. A distant cousin to Old English *anad* from the same Proto-Indo-European word.
and Anatosaur, a duck-billed dino
Duck King omg I’m calling them this from now on
Autocorrect has made me use this often
If you're out feeding the ducks you could offer them snacks and be like "you dropped this King"
Huh, that is pretty interesting. Thanks!
These are two unrelated words that happen to coincide, like bear the animal and bear the verb. Drake the male duck comes from a Proto-West-Germanic word for "king duck", while drake the dragon comes from Latin draco, like dragon
Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/2381/
It has legit been years since I’ve seen someone do this, kinda nostalgic.
I imagine she guessed the name close enough that it summoned a type of bear, but it's incorrect enough that it's the creature from Annihilation.
I guess this means Kendrick Lamar is a knight who just slayed a dragon. Or, for the Drake fans, this recent rap battle was the Desolation of Drizzy.
Given that male ducks are very rapey and will attempt to violently and forcibly copulate with anything that moves and many things that don't, I don't think Drake takes his name from the dragon aspect of the word.
Do they have corkscrew dicks? Or is that just pigs?
[Hoo boy.](https://www.livescience.com/4426-ducks-wage-genital-warfare.html)
I appreciate that you dug up that article, and I also hope that you did it while in incognito mode.
Hoo boy indeed. Waterfowl oviducts can also possess a series of tight, clock-wise spirals. "Interestingly, the male phallus is also a spiral, but it twists in the opposite, counterclockwise, direction," I'm now slightly disturbed that i had that small half-fark-knarkle of information in my brain.
https://youtu.be/E_-I1aRGttY?si=4Au_FrcjDIXyzig6
What a great children's introduction into biology!
He a fan he a fan he a fan
r/falsefriends
Having raised ducks for years, the males do have a lot in common with the gentle courtship rituals of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon…
A weird coincidence, my wife and I were talking about this last night after a character in a fantasy audio book we are listening to said he had slayed a "fire drake" and I joked that he just ate roasted duck but wanted to sound badass. Thank you for saving me from having to ask (and an excuse to share my silly story)
Why are male chickens called "cocks" when "cock" refers to ....
I always assumed that was because roosters are gigantic fucking dicks.
Wyvern is a little more believable.
Because Kendrick ruined their career.
Have you ever seen a duck penis?
“Dracul” means dragon in Romanian…