# scarecrow



## dn88

Right, so as you know this thing used for scaring off birds is referred to as a "scarecrow" in English. A straw human-shaped dummy that is supposed to scare them away from growing crops. What type of birds does it scare off in your country? I mean, is it a scarepenguin, a scareostrich, a scarehawk, a scarevulture or maybe even something else?

Here in Poland, it is called "strach na wróble" - which, following the English name pattern, could be translated as "scaresparrow".

Is the term for it (if such exists, of course) in your language strictly connected to a particular kind of bird? Or just general?

This question has been bugging me for quite a while. Thanks in advance.


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## Adelaida Péndelton

In spanish it's just Scarebirds (espantapájaros).


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## Agró

Catalan: espantaocells (_literally _scare+birds).
Basque: txorimalo (txori: bird; malo: something that frightens)


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## Vasiliy

Dutch: Vogelverschrikker (Lit: Bird scarer or something)


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## rusita preciosa

Russian: *Пугало */pugalo/ - something like "the scarer"


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*: _variksenpelätin_ (or sometimes _variksenpelätti_)

The literal meaning is "crow scar[ing device]".


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## Orlin

rusita preciosa said:


> Russian: *Пугало */pugalo/ - something like "the scarier"


Bulgarian: *плашило* /plashilo/ - lit. meaning the same as in Russian


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## ilocas2

Czech: *strašák* - the scarier (from "strašit" - to scare)


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## zapzap

In Italian the word concerns sparrows: spaventa*passeri*


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
«Σκιάχτρο»
sci'axtro, _neuter noun_; from the classical verb «σκιάζω» (skĭ'āzō, sci'azo in Modern Greek pronunciation)-->lit. _overshadow, shade, darken, cast a shadow_ (from the Classical feminine noun «σκιὰ», skī'ă; sci'a in Modern pronunciation-->_shadow_) which in mediopassive voice «σκιάζομαι» ('sciazome) means _to be scared, be afraid of_.
«Σκιάχτρο» lit. means _that which scares_

[c] is a voiceless palatal plosive
[x] is a voiceless velar fricative, known as the hard ch


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## jazyk

In Portuguese: espantalho, from the verb espantar, to scare.


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## Nizo

In Esperanto, it is a *birdotimigilo* (bird scaring device), as in the title of the book by L.F. Baum _La Birdotimigilo de Oz_.


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## DearPrudence

In French:
*"un épouvantail"*

too obscure an etymology for me but would have meant something like: "ce qui épouvante", "what scares"


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## Maroseika

Another *Russian *term: *чучело гороховое* (lit. pea effigy) - because it was often use in the pea fields. Nowadays it is used mostly figuratively for an ill-dressed person.
As for *пугало *it is often used in combination *воронье пугало - scarecrow*. I'm not sure but maybe this is due the Scarecrow from "Land of Oz", well known in Russia.


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## ilocas2

A similar idiom exists in Czech too - *strašák do zelí* - scarecrow in cabbage - ill-dressed person


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## Tjahzi

*Swedish* has _fågelskrämma_.

Consisting of _fågel+skrämma_, _bird+something that scares._ So, just birds in general here as well.


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## Rallino

*Turkish* has: _korkuluk_

Korku = fear, "-luk" is a suffix that means "container". So it's like a "fear-container".


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## origumi

Hebrew: דחליל dakhlil
Aramaic: דחלול dakhlul

Both from root דחל d-kh-l that means "to fear" or (causative) "to scare".


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## Encolpius

*Hungarian madárijesztő* [madár bird]


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## SuperXW

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
How to say "scarecrow" in your language?
A scarecrow is an object in the shape of a person, which is put in a field where crops are growing in order to frighten birds away.

In Chinese, it is just 稻草人 - "straw person".


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## 810senior

Japanese: kakashi(案山子), deriving from _kagas-u_(嗅がす, to make someone smell something) and its nominal form _kagash-i,_ originating from casting birds and beasts away with a wicked stench.


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## ger4

German: _Vogelscheuche
- Vogel_ = bird
_- Scheuche_ noun < _scheuchen_ verb
_- scheuchen_ = to shoo (scare, frighten)

Edit: In parts of Austria you can see windwheels called _Klapotetz_ producing a sound in order to scare birds away. I think the name is derived from either Slovenian or Croatian.


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