this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2023
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Science Memes

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Cave Bear (mander.xyz)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago (7 children)

If i came across a bear, i'd sure remember it.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

In fact, the word "brown" is the morph of the original word for bear. Whatever humans used for brown was overshadowed long ago by the very experience of bear itself, and the color alone became a prevalent warning against that thing that is the single most terrifying brown in existence.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Well, maybe. There's also a competing hypothesis that says it's the other way around, i.e. "bear" is derived from "brown"; the old word for "bear" became taboo, possibly for fear that speaking the beast's name would summon it. Either way, the fear of bears has certainly left a mark on the Germanic languages.

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