What kind of 'mouse' can also be referred to in English with just a three-letter word?

SOTHC

Any kind as my wife would scream "EEK" if she saw one Jun 15 05, 3:46 PM

TheAlphaWolf

since you say 'mouse' instead of mouse, i'm assuming it's not a mouse so... rat, which isn't a mouse but is in the same... family? Jun 15 05, 4:03 PM

Jannat

rat Jun 15 05, 4:25 PM

MrsAce

Mus Jun 15 05, 4:28 PM

gmackematix

Well a rat isn't a mouse and "Mus" isn't English. There is a shrewmouse also known as an "erd" but this is a type of shrew not a mouse. Shrews are not even rodents. Jun 15 05, 5:08 PM

gmackematix

Another "mouse" that isn't is "Die Fledermaus" known in English as the bat. Jun 15 05, 5:13 PM

Flem-ish

Yes indeed. In Oxford Dictionary and already in Dr Johnson's Dictionary there is a reference to a "flittermouse", being "the bat". Shorter Oxford also mentions "flindermouse" and "flickermouse". Because in German they say "Fledermause" and in Dutch "vleermuis". I wondered in how far this "flittermouse" was still alive and kicking in the language of the real anglophones on this site. "Mus" is correct, but is Latin. The rat belongs to the family of the Muridae but is a "rattus", not a "mus". Nonetheless it's an answer that makes sense. Also the "eek" makes sense. Only I wonder if you can call a "scream" a reference to the animal that causes the scream. Are there any experts of "semiotics" on board? All answers have their merits and I think I may have to reword the question. But what I had in mind was indeed "gmackematix"'s "Fledermause", whose English relative, the flittermouse, now seems to have withdrawn from real linguistic life into the pages of the more scholarly dictionaries. Yet I wonder if it does not survive anywhere in the dialectal forms of English. Sorry for testing your patience with this tricky and trivial mouse. Jun 15 05, 7:06 PM

SOTHC

According to my dictionary, mouse comes from the old English word mûs Jun 16 05, 5:17 AM

Flem-ish

True, SOTHC, "mus" is not only Latin but also Old English. In my Flemish dialect it is also something like "muus". Of course within the context of this question I was referring to Modern English. There is a popular fable by Aesop about the Rural Mouse ( Mus Rusticus) and the Town Mouse ( Mus Urbana). I thought Mrs Ace was referring to that Latin word "Mus". I did not find the "erd" in the Shorter Oxford. The shrew mouse or shrew is described as a small mammal of the insectivore family Soricidae. Superficially resembling mice, but having a long sharp snout, small eyes, and carnivorous habits. At least two genera: Sorex and Crocidura. Still curious if the "flittermouse" is a living word in English? By the way there must be a lot of dialectal words in English and in Flemish that show the links between the two languages. As one of my English friends always claims: the English are those members of Celtic and Teutonic tribes that crossed over. The weaker ones were left behind on the continent. But please don't tell that to Tony Blair. He might become even more reckless. Any idea what a Flemish "flie-flotter" ("fly-flutter") might be in English? Jun 16 05, 7:12 AM

mibmob

dor Jun 16 05, 8:34 AM

Flem-ish

This is no longer about mice, but about flying creatures. Fluttering fliers kind of. Jun 16 05, 10:59 AM

Flem-ish

Just as there is an alternative word for the bat [flittermouse] there seems to be a recently created alternative word for the butterfly too [flutter-by]. That reminded me of the fact that West-Flemish has a very popular alternative for Dutch "vlinder" [flieflotter]. Various websites refer to it because it scored well in a "national competition" for the cutest Flemish word. As names of birds, insects, flowers etc. often have "local" synonyms, I wondered if there was no local English dialect that had another alternative for the butterfly. Something more like "fly-flutter". Did not find anything. "Flutur" is Albanian for butterfly. Romanian has "fluture". All words that by their phonetic structure seem to try to catch the capricious movement of the butterfly. No "flutter-fly" in English? Only the "flitter-mouse"? Jun 16 05, 12:59 PM

lanfranco

"Flutter-by" isn't that recently created. I've been hearing children use it since I was a child myself. Our word "butterfly" seems to come from Middle English "boterflie" or "buttorfleoge," which of course would have been derived from one Teutonic language or another. I rather like the Italian "farfalla," which seems to express the character and qualities of a butterfly quite nicely. Jun 16 05, 2:55 PM

Flem-ish

Me too. Somehow the phonetic shape of the word suggests dancing to me. May be the combination of f,l and r. Or is there a subconscious echo effect of such a word for a dance as "tarantella"? By the way also Flemish FLi-FLottRe has F,R,L. Jun 16 05, 3:41 PM