# mole = spy ?



## Roi Marphille

Hi, 
the mole seems to be an animal with bad reputation because it is synonymous of _spy_ in many languages. 

"they had a mole in the government"

What about in yours?


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## tigger_uhuhu

En México puede ser "soplón" o "chivo espiatorio".
Saludos
Tigger


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## Roi Marphille

tigger_uhuhu said:
			
		

> En México puede ser "soplón" o "chivo espiatorio".
> Saludos
> Tigger


¿Pero usan "topo" refiriéndose a un espía infiltrado?


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## tigger_uhuhu

No, topo no... más bien chivo


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## Roi Marphille

En castellano ibérico, un _topo_ es un espía que se ha infiltrado en una organización/gobierno/empresa. 

En catalán, un _talp_ (topo) es lo mismo.


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## DearPrudence

In French, it's also a mole: une taupe


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## elroy

As far as I know, we don't have this homonym in Arabic.

mole = *خلد* _(khuld)_
spy = *جاسوس* _(jaasuus)_


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## Roi Marphille

elroy said:
			
		

> As far as I know, we don't have this homonym in Arabic.
> 
> mole = *خلد* _(khuld)_
> spy = *جاسوس* _(jaasuus)_


no, I don't mean that. There is another word for spy...but sometimes a spy who infiltrates himself/herself inside the enemy's web is called a _mole_ as a metaphor. Many have _moles_ in their organizations and don't know it. 
Example: A Sport newspaper publishes a conversation taken from a private talk between players. That means that a _mole_ (one of the players) has poured that information to the media.


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## Whodunit

In German you could use "Maulwurf" (originally mole as animal) for both "mole" and "spy", but I'd prefer "Spion" for "spy". Furthermore, I'm not even sure whether "mole" as a spy is so common in German.


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## Jana337

Same in Czech: Krtek is used for a spy.

Jana


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## nichec

Hummm....we don't have this in Chinese or Taiwanese. Actually I don't think there's a name of any animal being used to call a spy in these two languages....


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## mahaz

In Urdu, there two are entirely different as:

Mole: Chachondar
Spy : Jasoos


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## Ilmo

In Finnish "myyrä" (=mole) has a bit different connotation than "vakoilija" (=spy). I think a mole is someone working as an undercover agent in the government organization while a spy has a more extensive purport and can be anybody, even a foreign power diplomatic representative.


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## amikama

The same in Hebrew too: חפרפרת is both the animal (mole) and the undercover agent spying in other government/organization.


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## Angel.Aura

Roi Marphille said:


> Hi,
> the mole seems to be an animal with bad reputation because it is synonymous of _spy_ in many languages.
> 
> "they had a mole in the government"
> 
> What about in yours?



Same in *Italian*:

Talpa
(animal AND spy)


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## Qcumber

DearPrudence said:


> In French, it's also a mole: une taupe


French calqued it on English. I don't think it was ever used with that meaning before French journalists discovered it in English.
The French meaning is even somehow antinomous in so far as *taupe *"mole" occurs in the expression *myope comme une taupe* "short-sighted as a mole" - a definite handicap for a spy. LOL


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## sokol

Whodunit said:


> In German you could use "Maulwurf" (originally mole as animal) for both "mole" and "spy", but I'd prefer "Spion" for "spy". Furthermore, I'm not even sure whether "mole" as a spy is so common in German.



I am quite sure that the German "Maulwurf - spy" came to German via English films and literature, so I think it's a loan translation, and not a very commonly used one too, I'd say (you'd find it in German synchronisations of English films for sure, probably in translated literature too - but I would not use it myself).


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## Angel.Aura

Qcumber said:


> The French meaning is even somehow antinomous in so far as *taupe *"mole" occurs in the expression *myope comme une taupe* "short-sighted as a mole" - a definite handicap for a spy. LOL


In Italian too!
We say : *Cieco come una talpa *(blind as a mole).
And I can't find any etymological meaning of the Italian _talpa_ as _spy_, either.


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## dudasd

In Serbian, mole is a symbol of labour. We have a phrase "As hardworking as a mole". My colleagues and me often have trouble to translate "mole" when it's related to spying.


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## kusurija

Jana337 said:


> Same in Czech: Krtek is used for a spy.
> 
> Jana


 
I personally didn't hear it yet, but I did hear so little about it... But heard other word (to say true, it's more often used for technical equipment than for persons): Štěnice , štěnice


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## OldAvatar

In Romanian, *mole *(_cârtiţă_) means more of a pathetic *informer *than a real *spy.*


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## jazyk

I have never heard Portuguese toupeira being used as spy. I can only think of the drab 
espião.


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## avok

Yes it is the same in Turkish:

Mole/spy : Köstebek

I have to add that köstebek means an "informer" rather than a "spy"


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## heaa

In Hungarian we use 'tégla' (=brick) for a spy. (As the spy is built into an organization like the brick into a wall.)

But the most usual word would be 'kém' = spy.


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## Mahaodeh

I agree with elroy, in the Arabic dialects I'm familiar with the mole is a completely innocent animal with no connection whatsoever to spys  or informants.  An informant may be called _mukhbir_ *مخبر*, but that is not the same as a mole, it's a civilian hired by the police to inform where the criminals are hiding but he is not part of the criminal organisation/gang.

A mole as understood in English is called either a spy *جاسوس* _jasoos_ (especially if he is not part of the community) or traitor *خائن* _kha'in_ (specifically when he is part of the community).  I'm not aware of any other naming.


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## Zsanna

We do not use "mole" (=vakond/ok) in this sense. (I can't think of any special use for it, apart from referring to the animal.) English spy books weren't translated a lot into Hungarian before the changes and now I do not follow what is going on in this field. (Given, however, the average level of translation for this sort of literature, I can imagine that a word by word translation won in Hungarian, too.)

The only word I can think of is "tégla" (= brick) for this sort of a spy as *heaa* put it, but it was used in rather special circumstances (sy who informed the authorities - before the changes) so I do not know how much it would be used now...


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## mataripis

In Tagalog , Spy is "Tiktik" and "Espiya", while mole is "Taling" and "Nunal". I am not sure if the old Tagalog folks used them to symbolize "Spying".


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## ThomasK

In Dutch _mol _is quite common. The concept became the basis for a tv programme format: find the mole in a group of people cooperating apparently.

It appears to be a calque from English, not older than 1974. But I like it. I also thought of a cuckoo young/... (_koekoeksjong_) but that does not imply spying, only one who lives on other people's efforts...


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## mcibor

In Polish mole "kret" is sometimes used for a spy as well


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## A.O.T.

In Ukrainian: *кріт *(krit).


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## 涼宮

Usually in Spanish chivo espiatorio is used for spy as tigger said, nonetheless, topo is also used for saying ''spy'' and also used to refer to a clumsy person who makes many mistakes. But I do not know in which Spanish speaking country topo(mole) is used as a spy.


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## apmoy70

In Greek: 

The mole (in Gr. «τυφλοπόντικας», tiflo'pondikas, _m._) lit. _blind-mouse_, is a harmless animal having no connection with espionage.
Spy is «κατάσκοπος» (ka'taskopos, _m./f._); compound, preposition and prefix «κατά» (ka'ta)--> originally _down, against_ but here _as an intensive or with a sense of completion of action_ + masculine noun «σκοπός» (sko'pos)--> _watcher, aim, end, object, scope _(PIE *spek-, _to observe_).
The informer is formally called «καταδότης, -δότρια» (kata'ðotis, _m._/kata'ðotria, _f._) and colloquially «καρφί» (kar'fi, _n._) lit. _nail_ (in English, the snitch).
The informer with bad reputation is «ρουφιάνος, -άνα» (fufi'anos, _m._/rufi'ana, _f._) an Italian loan word (ruffiano--> _pander, procurer_).


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## XiaoRoel

En galego *toupa/toupeira* non significa _esculca/espía_, senón _*infiltrado*_.


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