Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

elephant whale

Swedish translation:

elefantval

Added to glossary by Sven Petersson
Nov 16, 2003 09:42
21 yrs ago
English term

Elephant whale

English to Swedish Science
Kind of whale living in the Antarctic.
Proposed translations (Swedish)
4 +3 elefantval

Discussion

Görel Bylund Nov 16, 2003:
Latinska namnet, har du det?

Proposed translations

+3
53 mins
Selected

elefantval

Fictional animal from Herman Melville's famous book Moby Dick, chapter 32:

"Beyond the DUODECIMO, this system does not proceed, inasmuch as the Porpoise is the smallest of the whales. Above, you have all the Leviathans of note. But there are a rabble of uncertain, fugitive, half-fabulous whales, which, as an American whaleman, I know by reputation, but not personally. I shall enumerate them by their fore-castle appellations; for possibly such a list may be valuable to future investigators, who may complete what I have here but begun. If any of the following whales, shall hereafter be caught and marked, then he can readily be incorporated into this System, according to his Folio, Octavo, or Duodecimo magnitude:--The Bottle-Nose Whale; the Junk Whale; the Pudding-Headed Whale; the Cape Whale; the Leading Whale; the Cannon Whale; the Scragg Whale; the Coppered Whale; the Elephant Whale; the Iceberg Whale; the Quog Whale; the Blue Whale; etc. From Icelandic, Dutch, and old English authorities, there might be quoted other lists of uncertain whales, blessed with all manner of uncouth names. But I omit them as altogether obsolete; and can hardly help suspecting them for mere sounds, full of Leviathanism, but signifying nothing."
Peer comment(s):

neutral Hans-Bertil Karlsson (X) : jo refeerensen är ju trevlig, men på vad sätt stöder den ditt förslag?
1 hr
Sorry, I don't have a Swedish edition of Moby Dick.
agree Mikael Olsson : I analogi med elefantsäl (elephant seal), som verkar vara ett mer välkänt djur, tycker jag elefantval kan vara en god översättning. Se t.ex. http://www.teamhalvor.com/page9.html
1 hr
:o)
agree Mario Marcolin : Vem vet, där kanske finns en val vi ännu inte sett?
9 hrs
:o)
agree Görel Bylund : Nja, någon elefantval finns nog inte i sinnevärlden vare sig på engelska eller svenska. Annars är väl sjöelefant (elephant seal) det närmaste man kan tänka sig (förutom att det inte är någon val då förstås) :-)
11 hrs
Thank you very much!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Tack för hjälpen. Kikade på den där referensen själv innan jag ställde frågan, men ville kolla med er. Det är väl bara att upplysa kunden om att det inte finns något sådant som en "Elephant Whale", verkar det som."
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search