re: #212 prairiefire

I heard on NPR that early mankind was so fearful of bears, there was not even a recorded name for them for many years. The experts thank that bear evolved from the word “brun” for brown. As in “that big brun thing just ate my ma.”

A lot of European language have euphemistic words for bears. “Beowulf” actually means bear, but literally, “bee-wolf”. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, you get others like ‘the good calf’, ‘honey-eater’, ‘honey-pig’.

The OED says it’s because of a hunter’s taboo about naming wild animals directly. I imagine that bears and humans often end up competing—we eat the same stuff, want the same caves, etc. A wolf doesn’t break into houses or cars for food, but bears do it all the time.