Animal Kingdom Counterparts Quiz

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Martha Barnette.

And I’m Grant Barrett.

And there’s John Chaneski.

Hi, John.

It’s a quiz guy.

Here I am.

What do you got there?

You got a quiz?

I want to do a quiz.

Yeah, you know, you guys, you and I hardly ever get a chance to just hang out.

So, you know, I thought we would take a trip to the zoo.

Why don’t we try what I call the human zoo?

Ooh.

Okay.

The human zoo.

As you walk around, we can see a lot of well-known people who represent animal terms for people.

For example, who do we have here?

Oh, let’s see what the little plaque says.

Oh, it’s Henry Hill.

He was a former member of the Lucchese crime family, turned FBI informant, and now he’s, quote, a member of the animal superfamily Murodia and a person regarded by some as despicable, especially a man who has been deceitful or disloyal.

He’s a rat.

He is a rat.

Dirty, dirty rat.

Well done.

Nice.

Okay, let’s tour the zoo.

Here we go.

Here we have two guys, and they’re both ship captains.

One was a captain of the Costa Concordia.

The other was captain of the Oceanos.

Both their ships sank, and both of them deserted their post before the passengers were off the vessels.

Now, you might think of them as rats, but according to the plaque, they are, quote, Gallus Gallus Domestica.

Chickens.

Persons who are afraid, yes.

They’re chickens.

You know, you’re giving Martha the leg up because you’re using the Latin names, right?

I know.

As soon as you say that, I’m like, here we have a quintessential man of letters, Louis Lapham, former editor of Harper’s Magazine and founder of Lapham’s Quarterly.

He’s written numerous books.

The plaque says he’s, let’s see, quote, panthoraleo and a person of outstanding interest or importance.

He’s a literary lion.

He’s a lion, yes.

There we go.

Next we have Charlie Parker, pioneering saxophone player and jazz composer.

Now, you might know him by his nickname, Bird, but the plaque says he’s, quote, Felis Silvestris, I can’t make out the species, a player and devotee of jazz.

He’s a cat.

He’s a wild cat.

He’s a cat.

Oh, right here, the species is Catus.

Yes, very good.

It’s funny how I couldn’t read that at first.

We have a few historical figures here.

Here are Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun.

Now, both of these gentlemen favored war with Britain in 1812.

The plaque says they are, quote, members of the family Aksipitajay and persons who take a militant attitude and advocate immediate vigorous action.

Yes.

They are hawks.

They are hawks, a supporter of war or warlike policy.

Good.

Here are a couple of brothers.

Their names are Homer and Langley Collier.

If you had a messy room in the 50s and 60s, your mom might have compared you to the Collier brothers.

Their Harlem brownstone was found to have over 140 tons of stuff they had collected.

The plaque says they are members of this species, Neatoma, people who collect or hoard especially unneeded items.

Pack rats.

They are pack rats.

Yeah.

Now, finally, this is the exhibit of one Rudolph Wanderone.

He was an excellent billiard player.

You might know him by his nickname, Minnesota Fats.

The plaque says he’s classified in the clade Salachomorpha and a crafty person who takes advantage of others through devious means.

Sly fox?

I don’t know.

How are you spelling that?

S-E-L-A-C-H-I-M-O-R-P-H-A.

Wow.

Slycomorpha.

Like a pool shark?

He’s a shark.

Yes, very good.

Very good.

I did not know that one.

So we’ve got barracudas and tigers and bears and dogs and snakes in here, but that is all we have for today.

Nicely done, you guys.

Oh, thank you.

Very good.

Very good.

If you’ve got an idea for a quiz on the show, give us a call at 877-929-9673, or send it to words@waywordradio.org.