To Boldly Croak Where No Mantellid Has Croaked Before

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

And I’m Martha Barnette. Suppose you’re a biologist and you and your fellow researchers have discovered several new species of frog. How do you decide what scientific names to give to them? Well, you might name them based on their appearance or where they’re found, or in the case of seven newly discovered tree frogs in Madagascar, you might name them for the sound they make.

Now, all of these frogs belong to the genus Boofis, B-O-O-P-H-I-S, and the noises that they make reminded biologists of some of the sound effects from Star Trek. So they gave these frogs scientific names that included Boofis Kirky, Boofis Picardi, and Boofis Janeway.

I love it. So we’re talking about the sound of phasers and tricorders and transporters. That’s amazing. I just imagine these little guys in their little Starfleet costumes saluting each other.

You know, I did mess around with AI and made some images like that. They’re pretty funny.

Oh, that’s wonderful, Martha. Yes, if you’re a fellow language weirdo, we would love to talk with you.

877-929-9673 is a toll-free number 24 hours a day in the United States and Canada. And if you go to our website at waywordradio.org, you’ll find a dozen ways to talk to us and all of our past episodes.