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narwhal - Word of the Day - Mon Dec 19, 2022

Myr

Entry posted by Myr in Word of the Day

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narwhal - (noun) an arctic cetacean about 16 feet long with the male having one or rarely two, spirally twisted, pointed tusks

Natures Great Events Dive GIF by BBC America

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Narwhals spend much of their lives under the ice in the Arctic Ocean.

 

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drpaladin
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37 minutes ago, Carlos Hazday said:

Sea unicorns!

Except for the color.

Narwhal is thought to come from Old Norse nāhvalr where hvalr is whale and nār is corpse which relates to the whale's coloring.

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Carlos Hazday

@drpaladin

I read or watched something about their horns being sold to European royals as coming from unicorns. A viking story featuring a narwhal might make for an interesting short.

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drpaladin
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14 minutes ago, Carlos Hazday said:

@drpaladin

I read or watched something about their horns being sold to European royals as coming from unicorns. A viking story featuring a narwhal might make for an interesting short.

The main reason behind it was the belief unicorn horns could detect  poisons in food or drink. When people like Aristotle and Leonardo da Vinci believed unicorns were real, who was to say differently?

The folks harvesting and selling them kept secret where they came from; a wise business move when one horn cost the price of a castle.

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ReaderPaul
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I notice, on thesaurus dot com, that one of the synonyms for narwhal is "whopper."

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Bill W
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1 hour ago, ReaderPaul said:

I notice, on thesaurus dot com, that one of the synonyms for narwhal is "whopper."

I think I'll go to Burger King and order a narwhal then.  

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drpaladin
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14 minutes ago, Bill W said:

I think I'll go to Burger King and order a narwhal then.  

I think this qualifies as adventurous.

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ReaderPaul
3 hours ago, JamesSavik said:

Narwhal is uncommon slang for a sailor with an unusually large...

rooster.jpg

 

48 minutes ago, Bill W said:

I think I'll go to Burger King and order a narwhal then.  

I don't remember seeing narwhal rooster/cock on the Burger King menu --

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Bill W
30 minutes ago, ReaderPaul said:

 

I don't remember seeing narwhal rooster/cock on the Burger King menu --

There is, if you consider narwhal a synonym for whopper.  A rose, or a whopper, by any other name is still a rose, or whopper.  

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Ron

Ron 5,719

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Years ago, on Halloween I was visiting a friend and his family (two youngsters) and helping (watching) them hand out candy on Beacon Hill here in Boston. Now the crowds on the hill often have inventive costumes, meaning they put time and effort into their costuming. One youngish girl (teenager stretching the age limit) came dressed as a Narwhal and the costume was fantastic. It was the best costume I saw until another young girl showed up dressed as a mouse trap, set and with cheese bait. :thumbup:

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