# "Chupacabra" in Latin **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chupacabra-in-latin/608706 "2012-01-07T04:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chupacabra-in-latin/608706/1 "2012-01-07T04:54:13Z")
The Pathfinder RPG recently released game statistics for the [chupacabra.](http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/magical-beasts/chupacabra) I figured, however, that it would seem more “fantasy” if its name was in Latin rather than Spanish. So, exactly how _would_ you say “sucker of goats” in Latin? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chupacabra-in-latin/608706/2 "2012-01-07T10:31:23Z")
_Caprimulgus_. Both _chupacabra_ and _caprimulgus_, when applied to animals, have their origins in the folk belief that dry goats (and in other cases, cows) were the result of animals who drained them of their milk (and in other cases, other precious vital fluids) before the farmers could. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chupacabra-in-latin/608706/3 "2012-01-07T15:04:46Z")
Back to the Spanish for a minute: _chupacabras_ is the correct word. To describe one goatsucker. It’s a compound: _chupa_ means sucks & _cabras_ means goats. Compare with Matamoros–from Santiago Matomoros (St James the Moor Killer). Again: _mata_ means kills & _moros_ means Moors. In an ad for a Border dive, I found a Tex-Mex derivation: _chupabrandies_. That is, one who sucks down lots of El Presidente… (Back to the coffeepot; it’s thirsty work, being this pedantic on a weekend morning.) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chupacabra-in-latin/608706/4 "2012-01-07T15:05:52Z")
[(Real) Goatsuckers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightjar) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chupacabra-in-latin/608706/5 "2012-01-07T18:23:27Z")
_chupacabras_ is the correct singular in Spanish, but not in English. When English borrowed _chupacabras_, it re-analyzed the word as containing the plural morpheme -s and created a new singular, _chupacabra_. This happens a lot with languages. I have also heard _la chupacabra_ in Spanish, but only from bilinguals, so I don’t know if it happens with monolingual Spanish speakers. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chupacabra-in-latin/608706/6 "2012-01-07T20:12:01Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > [(Real) Goatsuckers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightjar) Family Caprimulgidae. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chupacabra-in-latin/608706/7 "2012-01-07T21:48:00Z")
Mactē, Dr. Drake et aliī. I had no idea there was such a precedent. On this general subject, however, let me say that chupacabra is a pretty nifty name in iteslf, so I’d hardly spurn it. Furthermore, generally in D&D I find it useful to treat Latin as the model for whatever ancient language magical texts are written in, with Greek providing the analog of something secondary if that comes up in your campaign. Furthermore, Old English is great for Dwarven and ‘runic’ business. But for just naming a monster, frankly, D&D departs from actual mythological traditions in so many ways. I appreciate that Gygax at least returned to the well, however eclectically he used what he found there, and was specific about what was meant by terms that were fairly vague in the historical record. I consider the distinction between the relatively interchangable gnomes, kobolds, imps, brownies, fairies, sprites, demiurges and so on a terrific idea, even if they’re inextricably blurry in the historical record of folklore, just as it’s a good idea to specify what counts as a ‘berry’ despite the fact that you end up discounting things, to much disapprobation, things with ‘berry’ in their actual names. This is, in fact, a them in my own campaign – that only within the past couple of centuries a new ‘age of reason’ has clarified the distinction, for example, between what counts as a cocatrice and what is really more of a basilisk. I am thrilled to find that chubracapra has such an ancient precedent, and that is the great value of returning to the well. But as a general guideline, I recommend starting with just not jamming words together because you think they’re cool, including, but not limited to: night blade fang stalker wind draco shadow blade Thank you.