Loose Parts by Dave Blazek for February 04, 2024

The ptarmigans, wrens, and gnus don’t seem to mind.

This is a problem as old as the Pterodactyls.

Per Miriam-Webster:

Both possum and opossum date to the early 17th century, though current evidence of opossum dates all way back to 1610, as opposed to the upstart possum, which current evidence dates only to, um, 1613. The word existed in (at least) two earlier forms—apossoun and opassom—and is from a Virginia Algonquian word the exact form of which is now unknown, but that itself comes from the Algonquian *wa·p-, meaning “white,” and *-aʔθemw-, meaning “dog, small animal.” (A note about those asterisks: they mean that the words are assumed to have existed or have been reconstructed by means of comparative evidence. This etymology business is no joke.)

I always thought that the O’Possums were the Irish branch of the Possum family

Knock it off!

Oh No

kOK1

I always figured the O’Possums were Irish.

Putting the K in Kwality!

When written as “Opossum” and then said, the “O” can be (but is not required to be) pronounced.

Opossum is either “uh-possum” or just … uh … “possum”.

Opossums are Americans while their cousins the Possums are Australians. Thankfully, they are allies.

Beavers are so dam clever.

O!

See the book, T is for Pterodactyl.

I didn’t know gducks drank martinis.

Then there was the P.G. Wodehouse character, “Psmith”.

You do know it’s actually pronounced O Possum?

Of course that’s not as funny….

Of course all these names were given by silly humans, not the animals themselves.

My understanding is that the silent ‘o’, along with the silent ‘g’ in gnu, ‘w’ in wren, etc were introduced by the ink manufacturers guild. ;-)

Really?

The reality is that Possums and Opossums are different animals. Opossums live in North and South America, while Possums live in Australia and other countries. However, to confuse things, Americans (mostly southerners) simply call them " ‘possums" (to be fair, southerners often truncate other words too). Also, the “O” in Opossum is supposed to be pronounced as “Uh” and not “Oh”. Most reference books say it’s considered perfectly OK to call Opossums just Possums even if not completely accurate.

The rock ptarmigan had a flight delay.

Overy Ofunny!

Does this mean we’ve been pronouncing orangutan wrong?

dang, now i have southern culture on the skids’ “you gotta carve that possum” playing in my head