Right after the dinosaur exhibition, I went to Google the origin of dinosaur and its Chinese equivalent, 恐龙.
So, I was today years old when I learnt that dinosaur was derived from Greek and used to denote ‘terrible lizard’.
But 恐龙 (literal translation: terrible dragon) was used because dragon is a popular fearsome mythical creature in Chinese literature. Hence, a semantic rather than literal translation was employed. After all, 恐蜥蜴 wouldn’t convey a sense of fear and dread.
Hmm, intriguing.
Actually, my ulterior motive was to use 恐龙 as a springboard to teach my boy the Chinese idiom 争先恐后. This explains my effort to research the origin.
Anyway, I am not interested in dinosaurs and wouldn’t have visited this exhibition if not for the son. I have no reservations paying for expensive zoo tickets, but I somehow felt pain when I forked out $29.90 and $25.90 respectively for one adult and one child ticket.
It might have been because my son was literally running all over the place instead of looking at the exhibits. He was only interested to stamp his postcard four times to get a dinosaur-themed design. I had to slow him down and tell him to look at the exhibits labelled Fossil.
“These are real dinosaur bones,” I tried to muster as much awe as I could.
I did learn quite a few things because I went to ask the staff some questions. You’ll benefit from my learning without forking out $29.90.
- Patagonia is a mountainous region shared by Argentina and Chile. I noticed that most exhibits in display were found in Argentina.
- The organisers have selected the Patagotitan dinosaur to be the representative for this exhibition. The stuffed toy he received from pretending to be a paleontologist is a Patagotitan.
Well, better to have a child who is inquisitive about life than one who remains indifferent. I’m wondering about the things that my daughter will develop a passion for (and that I don’t care about haha).
恐龙 （kǒng lóng）： dinosaur[1]
争先恐后 (zhēng xiān kǒng hòu）： competing to be first and unwilling to fall behind
thought of you today, @didiplaywell. Sorry that this Chinese lesson is tangential to the dinosaur discussion, but hey don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good. ↩
At last!! I was missing this ones, thank you sensei :)
I have liked dinosaurs since childhood so the thematic is approved. The chinese idiom for "dinosaur" actually sounds quite cool! You might be familiar with the concept, but I like how often these chinese idioms are "euphonical". You feel it the same? (Or perhaps you might be too used to it)
I think it made me reflect on just how important dragons are in our culture haha
Have you hiked in Patagonia before?
Yes I have! Not too deep into it, just a couple of points in Neuquén. In my case it was the opposite: not of my interest, but my father's... I did however like a lot visiting the Lanin volcano, as the sky there is completely clear at night, so for the first time I saw a sky full of stars, just like you see it in the pictures. It was surreal, I spent ours awake looking above.
Must be a fond core memory with your dad!
The experience was mostly contemplation so my memory is just me and the vastness (great memory). My fondest core memories with my dad are all much simpler and mundane, like when he played with me when I was little :)