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cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/6433568
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Farry_Bite on 2025-07-28 13:27:49+00:00.
It’s extra funny that “bear bear bear” would be considered the beariest bear, because “bear” doesn’t even mean bear.
Many languages had a taboo against saying the word bear - “bear” comes from the word for “brown”, because people used to say “the brown one” instead. Some languages seem to have used “sweetpaw” or something similar.
This is akin to the modern toilet-taboo, where except for terms like “shitter/pisser” all the words are euphemisms. Even “toilet” comes from towel.
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I believe some uralic languages do it too. I’ve heard some attempts to link it to a circumpolar bear cult that there’s still scattered evidence for from groups as far away as the ainu, but I don’t know how solid that is.
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Ah yes, the black brown one
I’ve heard that factoid numerous times over the years, but I never saw a single source for it. I’d love to read more about this.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear.
Etymology section