Watering Animals

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hey.

Hi, who’s this?

This is Viv Lindquist from San Diego.

All right, Viv, what’s up?

Well, I work at the zoo, and I’m a tour guide there.

On a tour, I try to use the most concise words possible.

I like to be very clear.

So I was talking about the elephants,

And I talk about their trunks

And how their trunks are an extension of the nose and the upper lip

And how they use their trunks to feed themselves.

And then I try to say they use their chunks to give themselves a drink.

And I was wondering if there’s a word for giving yourself a drink.

Because when you’re hungry, you feed an animal.

But when it’s thirsty, do you water it?

But what if they don’t drink water?

Like, what if it’s a human?

So I was wondering what’s the word for to give yourself a drink?

You want one word instead of the phrase.

Yeah.

I was wondering if there is a word for that.

So, like, this is how the elephant hydrates?

Yeah, basically.

Like that kind of thing?

Well, you do water an animal, right?

I mean, that’s the agricultural term for it.

Yeah, water.

I looked it up.

Like, water is a verb, exists.

I was just wondering, because also it would, I guess, apply to other things that drink, like humans, for instance.

And, like, if someone’s thirsty, do I water humans?

But no, like, give them a drink.

I was wondering if there was a word just to present liquids to something or something like that.

We fix them a drink.

We make them a drink.

We pour them a drink.

Mix them a drink.

Well, depending on our motives, we might ply them with drinks.

So you’re saying is there a difference between what you say about a human

And what you say about an animal?

I guess I was just wondering if there is a word to describe the act of absorbing liquids.

Well, for oneself, though, that’s kind of what throws it,

Because you imbibe a drink, right, or you drink a drink.

You swill or tipple a drink?

Or sip?

You sip?

Coaff.

Coaff.

Of course, yeah.

Yeah, why don’t you talk about the elephant’s coaffing?

I kind of like that.

Yeah.

Yeah, the self-coaffing elephant.

It’s a rare breed.

Yeah, I don’t know if that would fly on my tour.

Probably not.

You probably have people in your tour of all ages and all nationalities and all languages, right?

Yeah.

But the elephant is a curious creature because the elephant can serve itself water in a way that few animals can.

Yeah.

And I guess I could say they use their trunks to feed themselves and to give themselves a drink, which is what I do say.

But I just stumbled on that one day, and there was a moment of silence.

I was trying to think of a good word, and I ended up saying that.

Really, I mean, unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a single word for this.

I think it’s going to have to be a phrase.

It’s going to have to be give themselves a drink or take a drink.

Take a drink.

Take a drink.

Yeah, it’s just going to have to be a phrase.

I don’t think there’s one word for that.

Procures hydration with its proboscis.

And then it masticates food.

And then it masticates.

Yeah, I don’t think that that would go.

Yes.

And the tram falls silent.

I’m liking this.

I’m liking this.

I’ll try that.

I’ll see how that goes over with people.

Yeah.

Then we’ll have a little tea party at the end or something.

There you go.

All right.

Thanks for taking my call.

All right.

Bye-bye.

Adios.

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