Always have thought of the mongoose as the hyperactive version of a meerkat.

Imagine my surprise to see that they are related.

9 hours ago, drpaladin said:

The most famous mongoose is Rudyard Kipling's Rikki-Tikki- Tavi.

 

Kipling is the soldier's poet, and some of his stuff has made it into the Jar-head lexicon. If you've ever heard a Marine say Top wants something done most riki-tic, that means he wants it done yesterday. Even the E-4 mafia jumps at such orders.

This comes from Kipling's poem titled The Young British Soldier:

Quote

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
   An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
      Go, go, go like a soldier,
      Go, go, go like a soldier,
      Go, go, go like a soldier,
         So-oldier ~of~ the Queen!

One of the most difficult things you'll have to do as a person who studies history is watching people make the same mistakes over and over.