# How to say '' mantis '' in different languages!



## gadunka888 (Dec 14, 2009)

Japanese: kamakiri( かまきり ), tourou( とうろう )

Chinese:螳蜋 tang lang (adult) , 螵蛸 piao xiao( ooth)

Malay: Mentadak Mentadu, some use Belalang Sentadu

Korean: 【곤충】 사마귀, 버마재비

Vietnamese: Trang này hiện chưa có gì

Can someone help me contribute?


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## elf run1 (Dec 14, 2009)

lol nice, good research. although i prefer mantis (man-tis)

couldn't pronounce all those others if my life depended on it


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## revmdn (Dec 14, 2009)

Very cool thread. Great idea.


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## Emile.Wilson (Dec 14, 2009)

french: mante(s)

please tell me if I am wrong


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## PhilinYuma (Dec 14, 2009)

Emile said:


> french: mante(s)please tell me if I am wrong


Mais oui! Et aussi, quelque noms usuels, "mante religieuse" et "mante prie-Dieu".

In Thai: Tom (pronounced "dom").

Afrikaans: hottentotsgot (my personal favorite).

Edit: I guess that we shouldn't forget English: "Eew! Get that nasty bug out of my face before it bites me!"


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## sufistic (Dec 15, 2009)

tropid0_mAntis said:


> Malay: mentadak


The complete version in Malay is Mentadak Mentadu, some use Belalang Sentadu.


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## charleyandbecky (Dec 15, 2009)

Italian:

mantide religiosa


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## hibiscusmile (Dec 15, 2009)

That was girlie Phil! :lol: Edit: I guess that we shouldn't forget English: "Eew! Get that nasty bug out of my face before it bites me.

this is also girlie: Pretty mantis! ask Orin!


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## yen_saw (Dec 15, 2009)

tropid0_mAntis said:


> Chinese:螳蜋 tang lang (adult) , 螵蛸 piao xiao( ooth)


 It should be 螳螂  Also additional word

Ootheca can also be - 卵鞘

Adult stage - 成蟲

Subadult - 終齡

Nymph - 若蟲


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## PhilinYuma (Dec 15, 2009)

yen_saw said:


> It should be 螳螂  Also additional word
> 
> Ootheca can also be - 卵鞘
> 
> ...


Those all look fine to me, Yen, but I think that the second one should be in italics!


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## hierodula (Dec 15, 2009)

I speak telugu. its not the most popular language known but mantis in telugu is golabama. (gul-a-bama)


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## yen_saw (Dec 16, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> Those all look fine to me, Yen, but I think that the second one should be in italics!


opsss...


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## sufistic (Dec 16, 2009)

yen_saw said:


> It should be 螳螂  Also additional word
> 
> Ootheca can also be - 卵鞘
> 
> ...


How do we pronounce those Yen? I can't read Chinese characters but I do know a little bit of Chinese from reading romanized characters.


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## ismart (Dec 16, 2009)

Pig latin:

ayingPray antisMay :lol:


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## sufistic (Dec 16, 2009)

ismart said:


> Pig latin: ayingPray antisMay :lol:


LOL. The Indonesians call Toxos 'Belalang Sentadu Tongkat Raksasa', literally translated, it will mean 'Giant Walking Cane Mantis' LOL.


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## ismart (Dec 16, 2009)

Ebonics:

Dat big bug! :lol:


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## yen_saw (Dec 16, 2009)

sufistic said:


> How do we pronounce those Yen? I can't read Chinese characters but I do know a little bit of Chinese from reading romanized characters.


Shaik, it sounds like this approximately, with Singaporean accent  

Ootheca can also be - 卵鞘 (Lou Xiao)

Adult stage - 成蟲 (Chen Chong)

Subadult - 終齡 (Zhong Lin)

Nymph - 若蟲 (Ruo Chong)



ismart said:


> Pig latin: ayingPray antisMay :lol:


Learning new latin words :lol: 


sufistic said:


> LOL. The Indonesians call Toxos 'Belalang Sentadu Tongkat Raksasa', literally translated, it will mean 'Giant Walking Cane Mantis' LOL.


 haha 'Tongkat Raksasa' :lol: Hope people don't use the mantis as 'Tongkat Ali'  . I find it strange why the Malay use the word 'Belalang', does it because it looks like grasshopper Shaik?


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## sufistic (Dec 16, 2009)

yen_saw said:


> Shaik, it sounds like this approximately, with Singaporean accent  Ootheca can also be - 卵鞘 (Lou Xiao)
> 
> Adult stage - 成蟲 (Chen Chong)
> 
> ...


Ahh Xie-xie ni Yen!



yen_saw said:


> haha 'Tongkat Raksasa' :lol: Hope people don't use the mantis as 'Tongkat Ali'  . I find it strange why the Malay use the word 'Belalang', does it because it looks like grasshopper Shaik?


Yeah, the Indonesians will use 'Belalang' more but some Malaysians still call them that too. Yeah you're right, it's because to them, the Mantis looks most similar to grasshoppers. 'Sentadu' is actually the Indonesian term for Rhyncolaba acteus. They've used this for mantids most probably cos of their large eyes lol.

[email protected] Tongkat Ali comment. Have you tried it before? I've never tried it lol.


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## yen_saw (Dec 16, 2009)

sufistic said:


> Ahh Xie-xie ni Yen!_*Sama sama*_
> 
> Yeah, the Indonesians will use 'Belalang' more but some Malaysians still call them that too. Yeah you're right, it's because to them, the Mantis looks most similar to grasshoppers. 'Sentadu' is actually the Indonesian term for Rhyncolaba acteus. They've used this for mantids most probably cos of their large eyes lol.
> 
> ...


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## hibiscusmile (Dec 16, 2009)

I don't get it Yen, on my screen the caracters all look like square boxes, is that how they look to you guys? Or r u just pulling me legs?


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## idolomantis (Dec 16, 2009)

Dutch: bidsprinkhaan


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## yen_saw (Dec 16, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> I don't get it Yen, on my screen the caracters all look like square boxes, is that how they look to you guys? Or r u just pulling me legs?


 Actually chinese words are all square boxes and drawings..... no i am kidding  could be the encoding issue on your computer Rebecca. If you click 'View' and go to 'Encoding' you can chose the languages.


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## sufistic (Dec 16, 2009)

Hahaha Yen. Bad sign if you use Tongkat Ali lol. The Orang Asli will use Mentadak but they have their own native tongue for it. I'm not sure what that is but they do know what Mentadak is. When we went there we showed them photos of the mantids that we're looking for, made it a whole lot easier.


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## hibiscusmile (Dec 16, 2009)

Thanks Yen, but it didn't work, wants a disk I don't have..... :angry: ps and I have seen Chinese before and knew u were pulling my legs!


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## yen_saw (Dec 16, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> Thanks Yen, but it didn't work, wants a disk I don't have..... :angry: ps and I have seen Chinese before and knew u were pulling my legs!


 aww bummer  wow you understand chinese! Hmmm so now i have to be careful writing in chinese about hibiscusmile or ....  oh boy santa is watching i better behave


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## yen_saw (Dec 16, 2009)

sufistic said:


> Hahaha Yen. Bad sign if you use Tongkat Ali lol. The Orang Asli will use Mentadak but they have their own native tongue for it. I'm not sure what that is but they do know what Mentadak is. When we went there we showed them photos of the mantids that we're looking for, made it a whole lot easier.


 Ai yoo... hopefully no need Tongkat Ali for the rest of my life  Good thinking on the photos!! If the Aboriginal understands Mentadak hopefully they will also understand my broken Malay


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## kamakiri (Dec 16, 2009)

tropid0_mAntis said:


> *Japanese: kamakiri( かまきり ), *tourou( とうろう )


I hope you aren't kidding and put the characters for 'fat bastard' or some such saying!  :lol: :lol: 

But that's the only one I know off the top of my head.

Someone also put up the spanish word for mantis a while back...


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## batsofchaos (Dec 16, 2009)

I believe the spanish word for mantis is 'predicador' which means preacher.


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## sufistic (Dec 16, 2009)

In Arabic there's a couple of terms for mantis but I prefer فرس النبي (Faris an-Nabiy) which means The Prophet's Mare.


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## hierodula (Dec 16, 2009)

its actually mantis religiosa(mantis reli-he-osa). (im learning spanish)


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## hibiscusmile (Dec 16, 2009)

I go for the pig latin one myself! and Yen, does wifey know u playing on the computer?


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## Borya (Dec 17, 2009)

In russian: 'bogomol', which means 'who is praying to god'.


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## sufistic (Dec 17, 2009)

Borya said:


> In russian: 'bogomol', which means 'who is praying to god'.


That's fantastic, thanks for sharing.


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## yen_saw (Dec 21, 2009)

Interesting few languagaes here relates mantis to their god, must be the way the front legs folded up like praying. The Malay think mantis head is always facing towards Mecca which is the direction for the muslim when praying.



hibiscusmile said:


> .....and Yen, does wifey know u playing on the computer?


haha Rebecca, yep told her I am learning how to say mantis with different languagaes  Wanna learn cantonese from my wife? She can send you some Hong Kong movies :lol: that's how i pick up my cantonese, although for some reason it was the bad word that's easier to pick up first :lol:


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## gadunka888 (Dec 21, 2009)

in case youre wondering....

The word '' mantis''( in english) means '' prophet'' or '' soothsayer'' in greek!


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## charleyandbecky (Dec 21, 2009)

tropid0_mAntis said:


> in case youre wondering....The word '' mantis''( in english) means '' prophet'' or '' soothsayer'' in greek!


My daughter named one of our mantids Prophecy. Of course, she also named some of the others Fortune, Nostradamus, Tarot, and Apocalypse! :lol: She was very intrigued by the mantis = prophet thing.

Rebecca


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## CZDalkan (Dec 29, 2009)

In Czech : Mantis religiosa - Kudlanka nábožná


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## TanteEdgar (Jan 2, 2010)

In Norwegian: kneler (kne=knee, knele=kneel)

But it's more commonly referred to as an "EEEeEeeeEEeeEeEeeEEeeEeK"


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## drizzt (Jan 12, 2010)

in polish: modliszka

in czech: kudlanka


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## tier (Jan 12, 2010)

Hi

The Germans call them "Gottesanbeterin" which means "God adorer". The last two letters ("in") make it feminine.

So it's a female adorer of god.

Of course we use also "Mantis" or the most scientific term "Mantodea".

I remember the Indonesians use another name for mantis, at least in Central Java, too. I guess I am not writing it correctly, but I remember something like "Chan-Tscharang" or "Tschang-Charan" or something like that. I guess in english it would be pronounced like "Shun-Shu-Run" with the three "u" pronounced just like in the word "sun".

regards


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## sufistic (Jan 12, 2010)

tier said:


> HiThe Germans call them "Gottesanbeterin" which means "God adorer". The last two letters ("in") make it feminine.
> 
> So it's a female adorer of god.
> 
> ...


I like the German term a lot! The other name you heard from the Central Javanese could be from the 'Sundanese' or Javanese language. Both are very ancient languages still in used in most rural areas in Java.


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## tier (Jan 12, 2010)

sufistic said:


> I like the German term a lot! The other name you heard from the Central Javanese could be from the 'Sundanese' or Javanese language. Both are very ancient languages still in used in most rural areas in Java.


Hi

Yes, it is very possible that it is not _Bahasa Indonesia_, but_ Javanese_.

regards


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## sufistic (Jan 12, 2010)

tier said:


> HiYes, it is very possible that it is not _Bahasa Indonesia_, but_ Javanese_.
> 
> regards


Yup. I have Javanese, Baweanese and Sundanese ancestors so I'm pretty sure that's the case.


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## gadunka888 (Sep 30, 2010)

don't like to bring up an old topic, but i thought this might be useful  

Urdu- کیڑا

Greek- alogáki ti̱s panagías


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## lion (Oct 2, 2010)

The Afrikaans word Hottentotsgod would be translated as Bushman's god. They believe that Cagn the trickster shapeshifts into a mantis.


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## pseudocreobotra (Oct 5, 2010)

mexican spanish:

campamocha


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