# croc



## ilocas2

Hi, in English there is *croc* as informal term for crocodile. Do you have an equivalent in your language?

Czech:

*krokouš* from _krokodýl_


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## wildeline

Un croco. Exemple : des bottes en croco.


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## ger4

German: _*Kroko* _from_ Krokodil_

Some examples...


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## Armas

Finnish: _Kroko_ from _krokotiili._


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## Dymn

There isn't any informal term for _crocodile _in Spanish. In fact Spanish kept the metathetic term _cocodrilo_, while other languages like French or English re-Latinised it putting the _r _to its previous place. _Coco_, the only feasible shortening I can think of, means "coconut". The same aplies to Catalan.


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## Anja.Ann

Ciao a tutti  

There isn't any informal term in Italian either: "coccodrillo". 
 "Cocco" is an abbreviation of "noce di cocco", i.e. coconut (same as "coco" for Diamant).


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## 810senior

Not in Japanese, because we have a enough short name for it.

ワニwani a crocodile, an alligator


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

In French, is "croco" used more for the animal's skin (as in #2) rather that for the animal?


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## gabriela.reyes369

Not in spanish. Our word is 'cocodrilo' but there is no abbreviation.


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## Rani_Author

There are also no abbreviations in Indonesian and Tetun.

Tetun: lafaek, bee-liurai (the king of water).
I've ever explained in the other post, "East Timorese people consider that their Gods' and ancestors' souls are in the crocodiles and monkeys' bodies" (animism). They should mention any crocodiles and monkeys respectfully. To shorten the calls, it's also disrespectful thing.

Indonesian: buaya, aligator. To shorten the terms? No. Even, Indonesians always extend the terms to make any bad idioms with those.
- Buaya darat (land crocodile) = 1) playboy, woman chaser.  2) thief, scoundrel.
- Buaya pasar (market crocodile) = pickpocket.
- Buaya tangsi (barracks crocodile) = bullying soldier's son.
- Buaya uang (money crocodile) = usurer.
- Membuayakan (to make someone as a crocodile) = 1) to creep on belly. 2) to chase woman, to be a Don Juan.
- Membuayai (to make someone as a crocodile intentionally) = 1) to cheat, to deceive, 2) to scare, to bully.

Sorry for answering so long like that. But, it's important in Indonesian. Indonesians love to use the words of those "buaya" in the daily life. And all of those are a kind of insults. Even, the "buaya" itself has the conotation meanings: villain, scoundrel. 

So, don't ever laugh if any Indonesians tell that you are like a crocodile. It isn't funny at all.  Just like "kucing garong (wild cat)". It's also bad meaning for men. To call any men who seldom go home to take care of their wifes & children and/ or love to make affairs with a lot of women after getting married.

Lion (singa) and tiger (harimau) are the best terms for men. They mean that "you are so hot and sexy".


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## SuperXW

Chinese (simplified characters):
Short version: 鳄
Longer version: 鳄鱼 (鱼 literally means "fish")
Usually we don't differentiate “aligator” and "crocodile". If we do have to differentiate the types, we have specific names, by adding some descriptive words before 鳄.

I'm curious how many languages differentiate “aligator” and "crocodile"?


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## Rani_Author

SuperXW said:


> I'm curious how many languages differentiate “aligator” and "crocodile"?



In Indonesia, we believe that "alligator" is the cruellest and smallest one. We call it "aligator" with omitting one "L".

The bigger one is crocodile. "Buaya" in Indonesian. But, bad persons like I explained in post number #18 are "buaya", not "aligator". "Aligator" usually we use for mentioning any cruellest persons, like the serial killers, the mutilation killers, the psychopath killers.

In Tetun, East Timor's official language, basically "lafaek, bee-liurai" are translated from one word "crocodile". Nothing different with the alligator. Moreover, just one type of crocodile there.


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## bibax

SuperXW said:


> I'm curious how many languages differentiate “aligator” and "crocodile"?


Czech uses *krokodýl, aligátor, kajman, gaviál* (all from the Latin scientific nomenclature). However the average Pepik (Joe, Sepp) cannot tell the difference (there is a mere association: krokodýl - Nile, aligátor - Florida).


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## apmoy70

bibax said:


> Czech uses *krokodýl, aligátor, kajman, gaviál* (all from the Latin scientific nomenclature). However the average Pepik (Joe) cannot tell the difference (there is a mere association: krokodýl - Nile, aligátor - Florida).


Similarly in Greek:

*«Κροκόδ(ε)ιλος»* (both spellings are common) [kroˈkoðilos] (masc.) --> _crocodile_ < Classical masc. noun *«κροκόδιλος» krŏkódīlŏs* --> _crocodile, lizard_ (possibly from *«κρόκη» krókē* (fem) --> _gravel_ (with obscure etymology, the connection to the Skt. adj. शार्कर (śārkara), _gravelly, stony_ is noteworthy) + *«δρῖλος» drîlŏs* (masc.) --> _worm, leech_ (with unknown etymology); «κροκό*διλος*» < «κροκό_*δριλος*_» with dissimilation).

*«Αλιγάτορας»* [aliˈɣatoɾas] (masc.), Katharevousa Gr *«ἀλιγάτωρ»* [aliˈɣator] (masc.) --> _aligator_ < Eng. aligator. Often *«αλιγάτορας»* is an umbrella term covering _cayman_ too = *«καϊμάν»* [ka.iˈman] (masc.).

*«Γαβιάλης»* [ɣaviˈalis] (masc.) or *«γαβιάλης του Γάγγη»* [ɣaviˈalis tu ˈɣaɲɟi] (both masc.) --> _Ganges' gavial_.

To answer to the OP's question, we do not have in Gr any informal term for _crocodile_.


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## Delvo

We call the North American critters "alligators" and their relatives elsewhere "crocodiles". And both have nicknames: gator and croc. (The name of the athletic teams of one state university in a part of the country where gators are common have also named themselves "Gators". It's hot and humid there, so a drink was invented for them and named "Gatorade", with the last syllable added to compare it with lemonade: it's lemonade for Gators.)

This actually creates a bit of a problem for biologists and paleontologists if they want to talk about the whole group including both. Either of those words would normally sound like it excludes the other. The modified word "crocodilian" works, but it's long and the "ili" part sounds like a joke. The usual solution seems to have been to use "croc(odile)s" to include all of them, at least in contexts where an inclusive term is needed more than separate terms are. That shifts the meanings of the words a bit, so that alligators are not _separate from_ crocodiles but a certain _type of_ crocodile, while other types of crocodile just lack their own separate English name. Sometimes I've seen writing in which "crocs" includes both but "crocodiles" seems to exclude alligators, so the words "crocodile" and "croc" have slightly different meanings from each other, but that remains rare, and possibly even subconscious even among those who've done it.


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## mataripis

Same as in bahasa but with more vowels- buwayah or buhayah. It is a symbolic word for anyone who is corrupt or greedy person or officials.Buhaya ka- you are greedy or corrupt.


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## 123xyz

As far as I know, there is no short informal term for "crocodile" in Macedonian. We just have "крокодил". There is a diminutive, namely "крокодилче", but that expresses affection - it's not an abbreviation.


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

I think in older English there was the word "corkindrill".


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## Encolpius

*Hungarian *- *kroki *[the commonest way of forming colloquialisms from long words in Hungarian, adding -i]


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## jazyk

I have never seen an abbreviation in Portuguese for _crocodilo_.


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## Nawaq

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> In French, is "croco" used more for the animal's skin (as in #2) rather that for the animal?



think so. 
for the animal, i never heard anyone reffering to it as a _"croco"_, _"oh maman regarde le croco là-bas !"_ sounds weird to me, children often have difficulty saying it, it often becomes _crocrodile_. and i can't imagine adults and older people saying it... i think, maybe some could say _"croco"_ for the animal but it sounds really unnatural.


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## franknagy

Hungarian:
*kroki* 
But its meaning has tranferred from the animal to _"short humorous sketch"._


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