# desire path, Olifantenpad



## ThomasK

I am quite aware that 'shortcut' has been dealt with in this forum, but the precise meaning has not been explained in many cases (a). What I liked is something I found out: (b) a desire path, which we call an _olifantenpad_ ('elephant's path/ trail), an interesting social phenomenon, which according to Wikipedia both refer to: 


> A *desire path* (also known as a *desire line* or *social trail*) is a path developed by erosion caused by footfall


 
In Dutch: 
- _*binnenweg*_ (inside way, because one uses the inside of the straight angle, I guess)
- _*afsnijding*_ (a cut-off)
- *kortere weg *(short way)
AND olifantenpad. 

French: _raccourci_, I believe (a shortening)


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## ThomasK

I am adding some of the answers from the other thread here_ (I suggest the computer term be not included when referring to the physical phenomenon - we use for example 'snelkoppeling'/ 'Quicklink'): _

TURKISH
_Kısayol_ (literally: short way) - only computer 
Real meaning: _*Kestirme*_ (literally: cutting) 

INDONESIAN 
_*jalan pintas*_ (literally means "short way" or "fast way" 
-> *pintas* = short or fast ; _jalan_ = way")

literal translation of *shortcut* = *potongan pendek
*(cut as in cutout of paper, etc = _potongan_; short = _pendek_) 

HINDI
_*Aasan/Saral Tarika*_ (Easy way)


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## ThomasK

_(I may be allowed to remind you that any answer to the translate 'shortcut' is welcome)_

I can add now that it is called  “chemin de l’âne” in Frech, meaning “donkey trail”.


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## mataripis

De pa Dumaget ta pa Tagalug:  E sakpatan/ on sakpatan/ sakpatan(old tagalog)


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## ThomasK

But could you explain: does that refer to elephants ?


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## ThomasK

I have another one, seven years later: "*to make a beeline for*", as in "The horse (panicking) made a beeline for home". It refers to the search for nectar by bees. Once one of the bees has - in a very special, sophisticated way - announced where the nectar can be found, the bees make a beeline for it. I love that one - about just as much as the elephant's path (path of desire) above...


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## ThomasK

mataripis said:


> De pa Dumaget ta pa Tagalug:  E sakpatan/ on sakpatan/ sakpatan(old tagalog)


As I had not got an explanation, I looked (googled) for one. The _sakpatan_ are called "*desire paths", "olifantenpaadjes"* _(elephant paths)_ in Dutch, I read, because "elephants like to take short cuts and don't care the least about paved paths". Just like people in fact, the author adds: "People don't really care about aesthetics. They just want to get to their destination as soon [fast] as possible." Yet, I 'd love to find the origin of the word...

I came across some more words there:

German: _der Trampelpfad_ [_"trample path", cf. das Trampeltier = bactrian camel]_
Norwegian(Bm): festi (m / "*cow path*"), råk (f / "linear opening")
Norwegian(Nn): festig (m / "cow path"), *veg* (m / "cow road"), råk (f / "linear opening")
I am still trying to find out whether the _krøter_ is/ are cow(s), but I notice that these shortcuts often refer to animals. In Dutch we had the little paths (shortcuts) for going to to church: _*kerkwegel*, kerkepad_, etc


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## Yendred

In French, _raccourci _is indeed the most common. You can also say more literarily _un chemin de traverse_ (a crossing path)_._


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## ThomasK

And a_ chemin d'âne_?


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## Yendred

ThomasK said:


> And a_ chemin d'âne_?



I don't know this expression, and I can't find it anywhere.
Is it a Belgicism?


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## ThomasK

It is an expression I also encountered at the site I referred to in #7, but maybe it is "chemin de l'âne". But I must admit: I cannot find it either, only a Chemin de l'Âne Bleu.

I came across a Japanese version, *"けもの道",* which according to en.bab.la is simply an "animal trail"...


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## apmoy70

In Greek it's *«η πεπατημένη»* [i pepatiˈmeni] (fem.) --> _the well-trodden, very-common_ (_road_ is omitted).
«Πεπατημένη» is the fem. Perfect tense mediopassive participle of the Classical v. *«πατέω/πατῶ» pătéō* (uncontracted)/*pătô* (contracted) --> _to step, tread, enter, tread underfoot_ (of unknown etymology). In MoGr it's a fossilized expression inherited from Βyz.Gr.

The ancients preferred the participle *«ἡ τετριμμένη ὁδός» hē tĕtrĭmménē hŏdós* (both fem.) regarding a shortcut or well-defined pathway, an expression which appears in the works of Xenophon, Demosthenes, and as a proverb: *«ἡ τετριμμένη ὁδός ἀσφαλεστάτη» hē tĕtrĭmménē hŏdós ăspʰălĕstắtē* --> _the most common/overused road (is) the safest one_.
The Perfect mediopassive participle «τετριμμένη» (fem.) derives from the v. *«τρίβω» trī́bō* --> _to rub, grind, wear down, exhaust, consume, wear off_ (PIE *terh₁- _to rub_ cf Lat. terere, Proto-Slavic *terti > Rus. тереть, Cz. třít, Pol. trzeć, OCS трѣти > BCS trti/трти, Bul. трия; Proto-Germanic *þrēaną > Ger. drehen, Eng. throw, Dt. draaien).


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## ThomasK

This is a very interesting but unexpected reply. Normally this well-trodden road or the paved way is the opposite of the elephant path. There have often been the trodden paths, the formal/... roads, but the elephant path refers to new paths, shortcuts "bridging" (...) two straight roads. The well-trodden rtoads are the "man-constructed" ones, the others are the fruit of desire, breaking through all kinds of obstacles to find the shortest way. But those might turn into paved roads, indeed. Or at least, that is what I think... What would be your word for an (informal) shortcut? Thanks in advance!


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## Sardokan1.0

In Sardinian language we use an expression similar to "shortcut"

_- to take a shortcut = truncare in curtzu (literally : to break in short)
- we take a shortcut = truncamus in curtzu
- I've taken a shortcut = happo truncadu in curtzu
_
While to translate the "desire path" we have various expressions

_caminu = path
caminera = a very used path
caminu de sa fromìja = literally "path of the ant"
caminu a ludu/ludru = path reduced to mud because of use_


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## apmoy70

ThomasK said:


> This is a very interesting but unexpected reply. Normally this well-trodden road or the paved way is the opposite of the elephant path. There have often been the trodden paths, the formal/... roads, but the elephant path refers to new paths, shortcuts "bridging" (...) two straight roads. The well-trodden rtoads are the "man-constructed" ones, the others are the fruit of desire, breaking through all kinds of obstacles to find the shortest way. But those might turn into paved roads, indeed. Or at least, that is what I think... What would be your word for an (informal) shortcut? Thanks in advance!


It's *«μονοπάτι»* [monoˈpati] (neut.) --> lit. _(the) once-trodden (path/road)_.

The difference between the «πεπατημένη» & «μονοπάτι» is that the former is a well-known pathway, usually to locals, and it's the shortest path distance, while the latter is a fresh path, perhaps newly discovered or just "constructed" by animals (trodden by a flock of sheep, a donkey/horse etc.).

I think the etymology of «μονοπάτι» is easily deciphered: Classical Greek adj. *«μόνος/μοῦνος, -ίᾱ, -ον mónŏs* or *moûnŏs* (masc.), *mŏníā* (fem.), *mónŏn* (neut.) --> _alone_ < *μόνϝος *mónwŏs (PIE *mon-uo̯- _alone_ cf Arm. մանր (manr), _small, thin_) + *«πατέω/πατῶ»* (see my previous post).

For the ancient Greeks, «μονοπάτι» was *«ἀτραπός» ătrăpós* (fem.) and described the _straight shortcut_ < privative prefix *«ἀ-» ă-* (PIE *n̥-) + Classical v. *«τρέπω» trépō* --> _to turn, revolve, put to flight, turn oneself, change, take flight_ (PIE *trep- _to turn_ cf Skt. त्रपते (trapate), _to become perplexed, timid_, Hitt. terepp- _to plough_). 
«Ἀτραπός» is lit. the _straight, unperplexed path_.
Interestingly enough, in MoGr *«ατραπός»* [atraˈpos] (fem.) is the difficult pathway, full of mud, stones or boulders (and metaphorically an avoided way of life).

The expression we use for the action of "shortcut" is a periphrasis:
*«Κόβω δρόμο»* [ˈkovo ˈðromo] --> _to cut (a/the) road_.

The v. is the MoGr *«κόβω»* [ˈkovo] --> _to cut, sever_ < Classical v. *«κόπτω» kóptō* --> _to strike, smite, hew, hammer, disable, tire out_ (PIE *kop- _to strike_ cf Proto-Slavic *kopati, _to dig_).
*«Δρόμος»* [ˈðromos] (masc.) is _road, track, course_ < Classical masc. noun *«δρόμος» drómŏs* --> _run, race, course_ (PIE *drem- _to run_ cf Skt. द्रमति (dramati), _to wander, run about_, used in Eng. too e.g. in the word palin_drome_).


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## ThomasK

@Sardokan1.0 : interesting contributions:
- I love the ant path; interestingly no big animals this time but the tiny ones
- the link with mud is a little strange to me: if one uses a path more often, I'd think it gets harder, more "paved"

However (@apmoy70), I notice the same thing happens in Greek apparently: the newer shortcut and the old one. I had been thinking of the main road and the side road, short-cut... The difficulty aspect is new to me too. When we refer to a short-cut, then it is an efficient one, not a muddy, difficult, dangerous one - or at least, we don't associate any of those with it... It is simply shorter than the main road, or something. I suppose the concept of a shortcut implies different associations... BTW: no ortho-path? ;-)


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## Sardokan1.0

ThomasK said:


> @Sardokan1.0 : interesting contributions:
> - I love the ant path; interestingly no big animals this time but the tiny ones
> - the link with mud is a little strange to me: if one uses a path more often, I'd think it gets harder, more "paved"



It depends, a path habitually used by animals tends to become very muddy because of the hoofs that continuously move and mix the ground.

The last two expressions are also used to describe some situations, for example when a person goes too often to a specific place it's said that "b'est fattende su caminu a ludu/ludru" (literally "it's making there the path to mud") or also "b'est fattende su caminu de sa fromìja". These two expressions can be compared to a synonymous of "he's leaving the trail behind him"


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## ThomasK

I see... But then these paths are also shortcuts, aren't they?

The two other expressions seem to suggest then that a person leaves a trail, creates a trail, but also a short-cut? Thanks!


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## Sardokan1.0

No, these expressions are not shortcuts. They are only very used paths

The shortcut is more specific; I use directly the verb "truncare in curtzu", or to say shortcut I say "caminu curtzu" (short path)


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## ThomasK

But I guess they can in some way be called paths of desire, as those people have started using them, creating them, because they need them, or no, want them. Is that correct, would you say?


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## eno2

apmoy70 said:


> It's *«μονοπάτι»* .


 I remember that one.



ThomasK said:


> _olifantenpad_


 Niet in DVD online,  wel in Wiki.



ThomasK said:


> I have another one, seven years later: "*to make a beeline for*", as in "The horse (panicking) made a beeline for home".


Thanks to me.

It's not a olifantpad though, but an idiom, taking metaphor from a beeline.



> *beeline *A straight line between two places
> *Phrases *make a beeline for: Hurry directly to.
> 
> _‘the city commuters made a beeline for the bar’_


beeline | Definition of beeline in English by Oxford Dictionaries


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## ThomasK

Try "olifantenpaadje", I think that will work. Or I hope so. The beeline is not an OP, OK, but it is a straight line, "hurry directly [straight]" like shortcuts in general, though not quite the same, I agree. I like explore semantic relationships, they need not be perfect equivalents. That may be so very interesting: that we explore similarities and differences, nuances...


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