Puma, mountain lion and cougar are the three most common names for the puma, the large wild cat that has the largest distribution in the Western Hemisphere. “Puma” is the more scientific name of these three. However, “cougar” is used a lot more in America as a name for this wild cat.
It is also used a lot as a name for sports teams and cars and indeed anything that is meant to have some pep, get-up-and-go. “Cougar” also describes sexually active older women preying on younger men. The interesting thing is that the word is a mistake. It should never have been created.
Apparently the word “cougar” was derived from a word used by a German geographer named Georg Marcgrave in 1648. He used a word from the Guarani language said to be “cuguacuarana“. The Guarani language is an indigenous language of South America and, today, is the main language of Paraguay. It was used to refer to the puma. It is the only indigenous language of the Americas.
However, it appears – and this is the mistake – that Marcgrave transcribed the original word incorrectly. The true, and original Guarani word was not “cuguacuarana” but “sassúarána” – a noticeable difference and hard to see how he made such a big mistake. “Sassúarána” is a Tupi Indian word that translates to “false deer”. The Tupi Indians were one of the main ethnic groups of Brazilian indigenous people¹.
A French naturalist, George Buffon, then imposed his version of the word on the world. He had never seen the puma. He contracted the word “cuguacuarana” to “cugar”. This seems to be a simple renaming, in effect. The next step, it appears, was that cugar become cougar.
In conclusion, the original word for cougar described an animal that looked like a deer but was not. This word was mistakenly mistranscribed and from that mistake the famous name for this beautiful cat, cougar, was eventually derived. To think that hundreds of sports teams have a name that has origins in a mistake.
Incidentally, the word “puma” comes from the Incas. The word was first used in 1609 by the son of a Spanish conquistador named Carcilasso de la Vega who said that the “Indians call them puma”. He saw the puma as a lion that was not as fierce as the African lion, which is true.
- Wild Cats Of The World
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Puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma, puma. <unk>Puma<unk> ni jina la kisayansi zaidi la hizi tatu. Hata hivyo, "cougar" hutumiwa zaidi nchini Marekani kama jina la paka huyu wa mwituni. Pia ni jina la timu za michezo, magari, na kitu chochote ambacho kina maana ya kuwa na baadhi ya pep, get-up-na-go. "Cougar" pia hufafanua wanawake wazee wenye kufanya ngono ambao huwatumia wanaume wachanga. Jambo la kuvutia ni kwamba neno hilo ni kosa. Haikupaswa kamwe kuundwa. "Jina ""cougar"" lilitokana na neno la Kijerumani ""cougar"" lililotumiwa na mtaalamu wa kijiografia Georg Marcgraves mwaka 1648." Alitumia neno kutoka lugha ya Guarani linaloitwa <unk>cuguacuarana<unk>. Lugha ya Guarani ni lugha ya wenyeji wa Amerika Kusini na, leo, ni lugha kuu ya Paraguai. Lilitumiwa kurejelea puma. Ni lugha pekee ya wenyeji wa Amerika. Hata hivyo, inaonekana <unk> na hii ni kosa <unk> kwamba Marcgrave transcribed neno la awali vibaya. Neno la kweli, na la awali la Kiguarani halikuwa <unk>cuguacuarana<unk> bali <unk>sassúarána<unk> tofauti inayoonekana na ni vigumu kuona jinsi alivyofanya kosa kubwa kama hilo. <unk>Sassúarána<unk> ni neno la Kihindi la Tupi ambalo hutafsiriwa kuwa <unk>sungura bandia<unk>. Wahindi wa Tupi walikuwa mojawapo ya makundi makuu ya kikabila ya wenyeji wa Brazili1. Mwanasayansi Mfaransa, George Buffon, alilazimisha ulimwengu kutumia neno hilo kwa njia yake mwenyewe. Hakuwa amewahi kuona puma. Alibadilisha neno <unk>cuguacuarana<unk> kuwa <unk>cugar<unk>. Hii inaonekana kuwa jina rahisi, kwa kweli. Hatua iliyofuata, inaonekana, ilikuwa kwamba puma akawa puma. "Kwa mfano, neno la awali kwa ajili ya ""cougar"" lilitumiwa kuelezea mnyama ambaye alionekana kama mnyama lakini hakuwa mnyama." Neno hilo lilitumiwa kimakosa na hatimaye jina maarufu la paka huyo mrembo, puma, lilitokana na kosa hilo. Kwa kufikiria kwamba mamia ya timu za michezo zina jina ambalo lina asili katika kosa. Kwa bahati mbaya, neno <unk>puma<unk> linatokana na Wainka. "Neno ""puma"" lilitumiwa kwa mara ya kwanza mwaka 1609 na mwana wa Carcelo de la Vega, ambaye aliwahi kuwa kiongozi wa vita vya Uhispania, na kwa hiyo jina hilo lilitumiwa na Wahindi." Puma ni simba mwenye nguvu kuliko simba wa Afrika. - Wild Cats Of The World Tafadhali tafuta kwa kutumia sanduku la utafutaji juu ya tovuti. Bila shaka utapata kile unachokitafuta.