# Science solves Yeti? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064 "2017-11-29T16:16:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/81 "2019-05-02T14:41:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > yet·i > /ˈyedē/ > noun > a large hairy creature resembling a human or bear, said to live in the highest part of the Himalayas. > > [Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/yeti) > > \*Definition of yeti in English: > > yeti > NOUN > A large hairy creature resembling a human or bear, said to live in the highest part of the Himalayas. > > Also called Abominable Snowman > Example sentences > Origin > 1930s: apparently from a term in Sherpa (a local language) that is related to Tibetan gya ‘rocky place’ + dred ‘yellow bear, hyena’.\* > > Yep, “bear”. You keep confusing the etymology of the word “yeti” with the actual description given of the mythical creature. Etymology can only give you the origin of the name used. For instance: (from Wiki) > [@](#): > > “Meerkat” is a loanword from Afrikaans (pronounced [ˈmɪərkat]). The name has a Dutch origin, but by misidentification. In Dutch, meerkat means the guenon, a monkey of the genus Cercopithecus. The word meerkat is Dutch for “lake cat”, but although the suricata is a feliform, it is not of the cat family; the word possibly started as a Dutch adaptation of a derivative of Sanskrit markaṭa = “ape”, perhaps in Africa via an Indian sailor on board a Dutch East India Company ship. > > In early literature, suricates were referred as mierkat. In colloquial Afrikaans, mier means termite, and kat means cat. It has been speculated that the name comes from their frequent association with termite mounds or the termites they eat. Please note that, despite the origins of the word, meercats are neither monkeys or cats. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/82 "2019-05-02T15:08:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You keep confusing the etymology of the word “yeti” with the actual description given of the mythical creature. Cite? The description of the Yeti has always been “a type of bear.” Except for science fiction, which doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/83 "2019-05-02T15:26:55Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Cite? > > The description of the Yeti has always been “a type of bear.” Except for science fiction, which doesn’t count. “Eventually found to be a bear” and “always described as a type of bear” are two entirely different things. [This study on Tibetan culture and religion as it pertains to Yetis](https://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=16181&context=fac_pubs) shows that they didn’t just think of the Yeti as a type of bear. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/84 "2021-09-19T22:23:28Z")
I realize this thread is a bit of a zombie, but I just finished a new book: “Abominable Science” where the authors spend a lot of time and detail in debunking four of the most “popular” cryptids. They agree, that besides a few attempts at hoaxing, nearly all the “real” sightings of the yeti can be attributed to a bear. (One sighting was clearly a monkey.) They agree that the "Yeti is “real” but just a bear. They totally debunk any idea that the yeti is some sort of ape or anthropoid. ( I need to clarify this as they also state the some part of the Yeti legend is a supernatural myth) FYI they debunk Bigfoot as almost completely 100% hoax, with a few honest but mistaken sighting of bears, hunters, etc. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/85 "2021-09-20T12:18:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I realize this thread is a bit of a zombie So, zombies are real. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/86 "2021-09-20T19:07:49Z")
I was hoping to post a zombie yeti picture, but there one in the Plants vs Zombies video game and has taken over Google images. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/87 "2021-09-20T19:48:43Z")
I have nothing to add to the discussion, but I wanted to post this: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5RHzdw9RBY) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/88 "2021-09-20T20:44:10Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > So, zombies are real. Oh, yes, quite real. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/M8BkkFJI910/hqdefault.jpg "The Zombies - She's Not There") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8BkkFJI910) BTW, this song written by Rod Argent is underrated in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/89 "2021-09-20T20:53:45Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > BTW, this song written by Rod Argent is underrated in my opinion. Agree. Quite a range in that voice too. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/90 "2021-09-20T20:55:57Z")
You guys made me grin. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/91 "2021-09-21T02:02:43Z")
Yeti makes a good insulated tumbler. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/92 "2021-09-21T04:50:37Z")
They do. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/93 "2021-09-23T17:54:21Z")
Stabilized version of the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MICxS6kEzUA/hqdefault.jpg "Stabilised version of the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MICxS6kEzUA) Dude in a suit ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/94 "2021-09-23T19:02:45Z")
Yes. The Native legends for “bigfoot” has a small tribe of tall humans with long hair that use tools, fire, speak, live in caves and villages. Not anthropoid apes or humanoids. A small extinct tribe of watusi tall Amerinds is within possibility. 🤨 Bigfoot is 90% hoax, 10% mistaken identity. No real there. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/96 "2021-09-23T20:59:40Z")
Has science solved the difference between Yeti, Abominable Snowman, Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Skunk Ape, Yeren, Yowie, Grassman, or the Mogollon Monster? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/97 "2021-09-23T21:03:46Z")
Do Europeans ever report seeing [woodwoses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_man) anymore? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064/98 "2021-09-23T21:07:29Z")
Yes, the ones in the Himalayas are Bears (and a few hoaxes, etc), the ones in America are Hoaxes (and a few bears). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-solves-yeti/803064.md?page=4)