# Hippos and TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143 "2006-11-05T01:40:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MarnieReeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@MarnieReeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarnieReeves)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/1 "2006-11-05T01:40:42Z")
The following question was asked on one of the other boards I frequent: “What connects the words “television” and “hippopotamus” making them unique in the English language (if it’s possible for two things to be unique, but you get my drift)?” Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/2 "2006-11-05T02:40:04Z")
Combined Greek and Latin roots? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/3 "2006-11-05T04:10:59Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] Combined Greek and Latin roots? [/QUOTE] Can’t be. Hippopotamus is pure Greek, “hippos” meaning horse and “potamus” meaning river, so a literal translation would be along the lines of “river horse.” ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/4 "2006-11-05T04:12:07Z")
I’m sorry, that should be “potamos” for the original Greek. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/5 "2006-11-06T02:47:50Z")
Bump. Cuz I gotta know! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/6 "2006-11-06T22:46:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Combined Greek and Latin roots? That’s actually fairly common in English. That thing we drive around in ought to be an “autokinetikon” (which I think sounds much cooler than what we have now), or an “ipsemobile”. And a lot of binomial names for organisms, to the extent that they actually come from Greek or Latin rather than just sounding like them, also mix languages in their roots. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/7 "2006-11-06T23:02:02Z")
Oh boy. If Chronos doesn’t know the answer, we’re in trouble. Could it be the fewest letters used for that length of word? television 8 hippopotamus 9 Seems unlikely! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/8 "2006-11-06T23:21:22Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Could it be the fewest letters used for that length of word? [/QUOTE] Um, what? You mean like it’s the only eight letter word with only eight letters in it? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/9 "2006-11-06T23:26:45Z")
[QUOTE=Smeghead] Um, what? You mean like it’s the only eight letter word with only eight letters in it? [/QUOTE] I think he means the fewest unique letter. Lots of doubled letters. Like “neat” has 4 unique letters, but “peep” only 2. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/10 "2006-11-06T23:46:56Z")
I believe when the answer comes out (it’s one of those long-term radio trivia quizzes, correct?), it will be indeed the Greek/Latin connection. I’m also guessing the author of the question got the idea from either [here](http://phobialist.com/notes.html), or from the place that this author got the same info. Specifically this snippet: > [@](#): > > I receive a lot of email concerning the legitimacy of Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. This is my most recent reply: > …hippo is Greek for horse…as in hippopotamus which is ‘river horse.’ If someone calls a person a hippo, it usually means they are big. Monstro comes from monstrous, Latin for monstrosity - again big. And sesquipedalian means given to using long words…comes from latin meaning measuring a foot and a half - also big. You can find hippopotomonstrosesquidedalian in The Word Lover’s Dictionary by Josefa Heifetz, ISBN 0-8065-1720-4. ( one of my favorite books ) > I found hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia in a medical paper. > **This word was coined incorrectly using Greek and Latin but it’s a real word none the less, much like many words we use daily in our American English language. Television is another - tele, Greek for far and vision, Latin for seeing.** ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/11 "2006-11-06T23:49:39Z")
I should probably note that I don’t necessarily agree that it’s a **correct** answer, just that it’s the answer that the questioner is looking for. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/12 "2006-11-07T02:54:31Z")
[QUOTE=DMC] I should probably note that I don’t necessarily agree that it’s a **correct** answer, just that it’s the answer that the questioner is looking for. [/QUOTE] If you’ll grant it me, DMC, I’ll take that as my first ever sig line. Much of what I provide in life fits into this very category 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/13 "2006-11-07T02:56:11Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] If you’ll grant it me, DMC, I’ll take that as my first ever sig line. Much of what I provide in life fits into this very category 😃 [/QUOTE] Absolutely, I’m pretty sure it’s my first ever sig-line candidate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/14 "2006-11-07T03:04:42Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/15 "2006-11-07T03:06:20Z")
I could have sworn I checked that little “Show Sig” box… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/16 "2006-11-07T03:52:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh boy. If Chronos doesn’t know the answer, we’re in trouble. Heck, even if Cecil doesn’t know the answer to something, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re in trouble. Word puzzles aren’t my specialty, and though I do know a smattering of Latin, there are plenty of Dopers who know more. And even in theoretical physics (which is my specialty), there are a heck of a lot of things I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![MarnieReeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@MarnieReeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarnieReeves)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/17 "2006-11-07T04:05:50Z")
[QUOTE=DMC] I believe when the answer comes out (it’s one of those long-term radio trivia quizzes, correct?), it will be indeed the Greek/Latin connection. I’m also guessing the author of the question got the idea from either [here](http://phobialist.com/notes.html), or from the place that this author got the same info. Specifically this snippet: [/QUOTE] The board on which I found the original question didn’t reveal its origin, but I did some Googling and found out that it is, in fact, part of a month-long radio quiz: [Wednesday 1st November 2006 | Warming Up | RichardHerring.com](http://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/warmingup.php?id=1458) I’m in the US and completely unfamiliar with this personality, so I don’t know if his trivia quizzes are usually good and based on fact or just questions taken from a forwarded email list. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/18 "2006-11-07T14:25:06Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Heck, even if Cecil doesn’t know the answer to something, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re in trouble. Word puzzles aren’t my specialty, and though I do know a smattering of Latin, there are plenty of Dopers who know more. And even in theoretical physics (which is my specialty), there are a heck of a lot of things I don’t know. [/QUOTE] Who’s that linguistics guru I must have you confused with?? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/19 "2006-11-07T14:27:17Z")
gigi: > [@](#): > > Who’s that linguistics guru I must have you confused with?? William Safire? ---
**Author:** ![SpaceDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spacedog/32/9932_2.png) [@SpaceDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpaceDog)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143/20 "2006-11-07T15:05:26Z")
[QUOTE=MarnieReeves] I’m in the US and completely unfamiliar with this personality, so I don’t know if his trivia quizzes are usually good and based on fact or just questions taken from a forwarded email list. 😕 [/QUOTE] Well Richard Herring is a comedian/writer in the UK, I’ve seen some of his shows – very funny. I don’t think he has a regular radio gig, certainly not as a presenter so this looks just like a month long get-the-most-answers-right-win-a-PSP thing. Looking at the other questions they seem to be legit and some are certainly research-able, there’s a few word/letter questions so maybe it’s something like that (high scrabble scores ?). However I suspect **DMC** nailed it. At least I’ve found a new blog to subscribe to. SD [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hippos-and-tv/379143.md?page=2)