The 10 Weirdest Dinosaur Names (Foreign-Language Edition)
Tuesday May 13, 2008
A while back, I posted a popular list of the 10 Weirdest Dinosaur Names, which included such strange beasts as Yamaceratops and Gasosaurus. But it turns out that some of the weirdest names are veiled behind innocent-sounding Greek or Chinese words, as evidenced by the list below:
Anatotitan (Greek for "giant duck")
Colepiocephale (Greek for "knucklehead")
Dracorex hogwartsia (Greek for "dragon king of Hogwarts")
Micropachycephalosaurus (Greek for "tiny thick-headed lizard")
Nanotyrannus (Greek for "tiny tyrant")
Olorotitan (Greek for "giant swan")
Rapetosaurus (Greek for "mischievous lizard")
Saichania (Chinese for "beautiful"--it wasn't)
Tarchia (Chinese for "brainy"--it wasn't)
Titanophoneus (Greek for "giant murderer"--it wasn't)
Comments
Nanotyrannus - that’s a good one. As a teacher, I’ve known a few nanotyrannuses in my classes. If I were planning to have kids, I think I might use that name on one of them. Good thing I’m not planning to have kids.
I wonder how they could tell that Rapetosaurus was “mischievous”? Was it the toothy grin?
Dragon king of Hogwarts next thing you know they’ll name one “Hairypotterus” LOL
I’m also fond of nanotyrannus.
Don’t you love the irony of naming a tiny little guy Micropachycephalosaurus? The name is probably bigger than the beast!
Btw — Do you have any suggestions for nanotyrannus repellent, Bob or Debbie? I’ve got several of them living in my neighborhood.
This is a great start for an entirely different kind of baby name book! Can’t you just see a bunch of five-year-olds running around with mohawks calling eachother ‘giant duck’ in Greek? The playground might get ugly.