kangkai Posted October 14, 2003 at 01:54 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 at 01:54 PM I was talking with a friend yesterday and the question of the similiarity between the English word Lobster and the Chinese 龙虾 (long2xia1) came up. I thought maybe the origin of the English is from the Chinese, but according to http://www.m-w.com lobster comes from the Old English loppestre, and from loppe spider. Now, I understand that lobster has been eaten in China for a long time so I think it is quite unlikely that they got 龙虾 from English, but the similiarity is striking. You guys have any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ciwei Posted October 14, 2003 at 05:39 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 at 05:39 PM Doesn't long2 xia1 literally mean "dragon shrimp"? A fairly reasonable name for a lobster, I think :-) Any perceived similarit betwen English and Chinese must surely be coincidental. ciwei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 14, 2003 at 06:23 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2003 at 06:23 PM Personally, I don't find longxia and lobster to sound close enough to assume that they are related. Also, as ciwei and yourself have proved, both longxia and lobster have their own origin and meaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithsgj Posted October 15, 2003 at 06:29 AM Report Share Posted October 15, 2003 at 06:29 AM But what about the French langoust(in)e? Is this a coincidence too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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