this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2023
27 points (66.7% liked)

Showerthoughts

29584 readers
727 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. Avoid politics (NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out)
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

That means we could also use bicorn, tricorn, etc.

all 31 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Maddie@sh.itjust.works 43 points 10 months ago

Bicorniclops:

[–] Dieterlan@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago

Napoleon wears a bicorn hat. Pirates wear tricorns. Dunces wear unicorns.

[–] teft@startrek.website 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Wait until you hear about bicycles.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Is that like a unicycle but with two wheels?

[–] Nomecks@lemmy.ca 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)
[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 10 months ago

You made me spit out my tea

[–] mp3@lemmy.ca 13 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

To me it sounds more like unique-horn.

[–] nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 2 points 10 months ago

this is the answer

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 12 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Wait until you find out the depth of creativity contained in the naming of the "rhinoceros".

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago (2 children)

The word rhinoceros is derived through Latin from the Ancient Greek: ῥῑνόκερως, which is composed of ῥῑνο- (rhino-, "nose") and κέρας (keras, "horn") with a horn on the nose. The name has been in use since the 14th century.[8]

Little harder than uni and corn but still good

[–] Bazoogle@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

To be fair, it's a little easier if you're in the medical field, because rhino- is actually used as a medical prefix

An ear, nose, throat doctor's full title is actually Otorhinolaryngology

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago

Means you can make up your own animals with horns in silly places and in arbitrary numbering:

Tesseracephaceros, for example. I'm no etymologist but I think he's got four horns on his head.

[–] Amir@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago

In Dutch they are actually called nosehorns

[–] Oneser@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago

And hippopotamus!

[–] NickKnight@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"It was a Unicorn in the same way nanny Ogg was a Unident."

[–] SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

unicorn (n.) early 13c., from Old French unicorne, from Late Latin unicornus (Vulgate), from noun use of Latin unicornis (adj.) "having one horn," from uni- "one" (from PIE root *oi-no- "one, unique") + cornus "horn" (from PIE root *ker- (1) "horn; head").

The Late Latin word translates Greek monoceros, itself rendering Hebrew re'em (Deuteronomy xxxiii.17 and elsewhere), which probably was a kind of wild ox. According to Pliny, a creature with a horse's body, deer's head, elephant's feet, lion's tail, and one black horn two cubits long projecting from its forehead. Compare German Einhorn, Welsh ungorn, Breton uncorn, Old Church Slavonic ino-rogu. Old English used anhorn as a loan-translation of Latin unicornis.

also from early 13c.

[–] LillyPip@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago

According to Pliny, a creature with a horse's body, deer's head, elephant's feet, lion's tail, and one black horn two cubits long projecting from its forehead

That’s a pretty good description of Elasmotherium.

Pliny should have missed the last Elasmotherium by like 100,000 years, though, give or take a few years.

[–] Annoyed_Crabby@monyet.cc 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] justlookingfordragon@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

Triceratops already means "Three-Horned Face" =P It's just Greek instead of Latin.

[–] xoggy@programming.dev 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The butterfly from The Last Unicorn told us this.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Is that why I'm getting downvoted? Tough crowd.

[–] xoggy@programming.dev 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The post is in the positives so I think you're ok. If I had to guess on the downvotes though it's not really a groundbreaking discovery that uni-corn can be broken into two words like that.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world -1 points 10 months ago

28 up 18 down so far!

I always took unicorn as one word, I never thought about the uni part meaning one.

[–] Mango@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

A eunuch horn is impossible to catch!

[–] Venat0r@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Isn't that just a regular horse?

[–] Mango@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

That's the penis of a guy with no penis.

[–] whaleross@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Guess I am uncorn

[–] Traegert@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago

Butt Stallion from Borderlands was a bicorn in fact, not a unicorn

[–] Vinny_93@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

And the pentacorn spoke thus: