this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2024
1384 points (95.3% liked)
Memes
45171 readers
1951 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
While most zodiac signs are inspired by real animals, wtf is an "aquarius"?
In Dutch we don't use the Latin names for zodiac signs (and we call them "sterrenbeelden", which means "star images" or maybe "star statues"). Aquarius is "waterman", which I guess would translate to (surprise) "water man".
Why? Not sure, but it might be because of Simon Stevin who insisted we use Dutch words for mathematical concepts, and thought up some words like "evenwijdig" ("same distancey") for "parallel" and "wiskunde" ("certainty knowledge") for mathematics.
Literally, "water man" is correct. But I would translate it a bit more loosely as "water bearer".
Most, if not all, names of zodiac signs in Dutchare are literal translations from Latin. But while most people understand that Leo means Lion, how many know Cancer is Latin for crab?
Water bearer makes much more sense, thanks! I did notice the images where a guy carries a jug, but as a kid, I always imagined the water man to be some kind of elemental, and I never consciously challenged that idea. Haha.