• gerryflap@feddit.nl
      1·
      11 months ago

      Even as someone who’s Dutch this seems quite obvious. I guess it’s not obvious to English speaking people because shark is nothing like haj.

      • bstix@feddit.dkEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        Okay, that’s odd. Both English and Scandinavian used to be closer on this, using the same original word “sea dog” originated in old Norse or so.

        However both languages changed it to something else since that.

        Both languages borrowed words from Dutch, but not the same Dutch word.

        The English took “Schurk” for scoundrel and applied it to the fish, while Scandinavia took “Haai” describing the fin.

        Curiously, Scandinavian also took Schurk and made it into “skurk”, but also uses “haj” as a scoundrel just the same as English in the word “loanshark” = “lånehaj” etc.

        So the words have the same origin, but it was split in Dutch while being passed back and forth between languages.

  • LordAmplifier@pawb.socialEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Wait till you find out how it’s pronounced. It’s /ˈbloːhaj/. Here’s an audio recording (still not 100% correct because you’d need to pronounce “blow” with a Glasgow accent, but this video is way funnier than the serious ones). I still call mine /blɑ.'hɑːd͡ʒ/, or just /hɑːd͡ʒ/ :3