this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
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Mainly just curious to see how many non-US people we have. I know some languages have more than one word for owl.

Where are you from, and how do you say owl where you are from, and what sound do they make?

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[–] anon6789 54 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is twit twoo supposed to be UK English? That's new to me.

Goes to show how often infographics can be not totally accurate.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah ~~we~~ our owls say "twit too woo".

Vic Reeves - "I was talking to an owl friend of mine recently, and he told me he just got married. I said, YOU TWIT TO WHO?!"

[–] anon6789 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I couldn't find a video of the joke, but I did see Vic Reeves was offered with Bob Mortimer. I felt like it was a joke I would have heard in Taskmaster!

It seems the Tawny Owl is the source of the sound.

Twit Twoo Explained

[–] Feathercrown 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] anon6789 2 points 1 year ago

Same, binged it all this year. My girlfriend watches Big Fat Quiz Show, so she was familiar with a few contests, but I think almost all where new to me. It was a great way to get excited to modern British comedy. I also liked it didn't feel staged with like an American show would be. The interactions felt very natural between the hosts and contestants. I wholeheartedly recommend the show to anyone.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Native English speaker here: wtf is twit twoo?

Edit: Guess I'm just not British enough.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yea, we just got "hoo" over here in the states. We were not top of the class for creativity I guess.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I've also heard "hoot"

[–] anon6789 5 points 1 year ago

I finally got to hear it. It's more accurate than I expected.

Twit twoo

[–] Noodle07 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] anon6789 9 points 1 year ago

The Long Eared Owl (Waldohreule) is the most common German eule!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In Spanish it's usually just uuu. Funnily enough, the word for owl, búho, sounds pretty similar to the noise

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Lots of people complaining that the English example is too British, but nobody is telling me what sound American owls make!

[–] Rehwyn 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In American English, owl sounds are typically called their "hoot", so for example one would say, "I heard the owl hooting all night."

If one were to spell out the sound, it might be a "hoo, hoo."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Makes sense, thank you for putting me out of my misery 😄

[–] anon6789 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The ~~Barn~~ Barred Owl also says "who cooks for you?" In America as well.

[–] Rehwyn 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Generally that's a pneumonic for remembering the Barred Owl call, not the Barn Owl. Barn Owls actually have a call that's more of a raspy screech.

But I'd say the majority of Americans wouldn't know one owl call from another, haha. I'm into the outdoors so know a handful, but am far from an expert.

[–] anon6789 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Shoot, you are right. My brain always tries to switch those 2 on me. Too much barred barn barararar... 🤯

I only hear the Great Horned Owls where I'm at. He's a pretty easy one to pick out too. Hoo HOOoo hooo hooo hooo!

[–] anon6789 3 points 1 year ago

Just realized I never posted an actual Tawny Owl, just the cartoon. So here are the real Twit and Twoo!

[–] anon6789 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I just want people to specify which "English" people are referencing it when it's a language related subject. I'm sure there is a ton of confusion when we gets Brits, Americans, Australians, Nigerians, and whoever else speaks this language natively.

My Irish coworker just told me about "pass the parcel" today, and while those words all make sense to me, I would probably never have worked out the meaniy that someone from UK would immediately understand.

I have now become a fan of the Twit Twoo, and I take back my original scoffing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah, this comic should probably have labels by nation, not by language.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Now I also need to know what you call pass the parcel!

[–] anon6789 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Nothing! We have no such thing. The first thing I thought of was musical chairs mixed with a White Elephant gift exchange.

I see why you kicked the Puritans out, they really stripped the fun from everything!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] anon6789 3 points 1 year ago

I aim not just to educate about owls...but to educate about life! 😂😂

[–] SpaceNoodle 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Literally nobody uses "twit-twoo" in English. I can only assume that everything else in the graphic is also bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm assuming British-English, not American.

[–] anon6789 11 points 1 year ago

You are indeed correct.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-linguistic_onomatopoeias#Animal_sounds

Looks like this wiki is where that sound list came from, since there are other types of owl calls, maybe it’s referring some other call and not the “who who”.

sauce for the poster: https://chapmangamo.tumblr.com/search/owls

[–] anon6789 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks for linking the source. I did check the page out and I enjoyed the art style.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I found this video where you can clearly hear the twit twoo call of the Tawny Owl in the UK. Interesting it’s actually a female Owl call and a male Owl answering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K0BvTS476E

[–] anon6789 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We just posted this at the same time. It sounded ridiculous written out and never having heard it, but I feel it's as accurate as the typical "hoot" is. I think it's also a little extra special since it is that call and response. I'm a fan of the twit twoo now!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

LOL, Looks like you actually beat by a few min.

[–] anon6789 2 points 1 year ago

All good, just gives people 2 chances to see it!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In méxico we use búho, tecolote and lechuza. The sounds they make are called "ulular" and it sounds like uuu-uuu (ooo-ooo in english)

[–] anon6789 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The most common owl in Mexico looks to be the Barn Owl, or lechuza. There are some really cool pictures of the mythical lechuza witch lady, but for now, I'll just post a regular lechuza. You should Google it though if you haven't seen it before!

It seems Mexico doesn't do very much to track owls or their habitats, especially the more tropical species, which seems to be a shame. I'll have to research now into the owls of Mexico. They seem to have many different species.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What's wrong German owl, don't cry :(

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] anon6789 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You had me scared you were being literal for a minute!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Adventure glue? Sounds fun!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

In his famous Course in General Linguistics, Saussure uses a similar example to demonstrate that onomatopoeia are just as arbitrary as all other signs (words).

Because one could argue that onomatopoeia is where signs seem less arbitrary. After all, those words try to reproduce a seeming objective reality, namely an existing sound. In this case, owls' hoots. But this image shows that's not the case, just like Saussure argued.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

It's "Hou" in french prononced smthing like "uu" in english. Do you know the famous song ?

"Dans la forêt lointaine,
On entend le coucou.
Du haut de son grand chêne,
Il répond au hibou.
Coucou ! Coucou !
On entend le coucou
Coucou ! Coucou !
Dans la forêt lontaine,
On entend le hibou,
Du haut de son grand chêne,
Il répond au coucou.
Houhou ! Houhou !
On entend le hibou.
Houhou ! Houhou !
On entend le hibou."

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