In George R.R. Martin’s popular novel series, Game of Thrones, one of the houses use a giant squid as a mascot. Check it out, they even have t-shirts!
I’m a Japanese Language minor and love to learn about kanji. One day, I was bored and looked up the Japanese word for giant squid, which turns out to be daiouika (hiragana: だいおういか).
The kanji for giant squid is such: 大王烏賊
This is fascinating because there are kanji specifically used to spell ika (which is simply squid), but this mixture of kanji does not make use of them whatsoever.
The kanji meanings:
大 - big/large (dai)
王 - king/rule (ou)
烏 - crow/raven (i)
賊 - robber/thief (ka)
Here’s why it’s weird. First off, 烏 means crow, which is random when discussing giant squid kanji. According to Denshi Jisho, it can sound like a lot of things, but does not normally translate to the “i” sound. Similarly, 賊 does not usually translate to a “ka” sound, and also looks out of place in the context of giant squid.
I asked my sensei about it and this was her explanation:
The giant squid floats on the top of the water and looks like it is dead. The crow, a well known scavenger, takes the bait and swoops down to pick off what it desires. However, the squid has tricked the crow, snatches (or rather, steals) it from the sky, and eats the crow instead.
And that’s an insanely cool reason as to why the kanji for squid literally means “giant king crow thief.”
xkcd’s Desert Island comic features a giant squid. I don’t know what it’s clinging to, but it’s still being awesome!
I’m watching Watchmen for the first time, and Adrien’s equipment says “S.Q.U.I.D. Energizer” on it under Paris’ time/map. IT WAS AWESOME. I am also told that in the graphic novel, it is actually in the shape of a squid. Win.
Sorry about the inactivity!
There’s a cute Etsy shop called Obey My Brain by Josh Freeman that sells various squid hats. My boyfriend actually bought one for me, and they’re excellent pillows and decorations to boot! Go on, you know you want to…
Squiddy McTentacles reported seeing 21 packages of loose white mushrooms being sold in his register lane today. Squid officials were shocked and amazed to witness such an awesome defeat.
Squid: 572 | Mushrooms: 0
The inevitable has happened. Every squid in the world performed The Daily Ritual (i.e. checking webcomic updates) at approximately 4:17PM this evening and was met with an epic surprise on Penny & Aggie: select chibi squid were featured in the background of the last panel.
We can now spend the rest of our lives focusing specifically on mushroom defeat and world domination. Our life’s purpose is one third of the way through to completion.
To our great awe, regret and anger, Dr. Zoidberg revealed the day we squid prefer to mate during a passing comment tonight:
“For some reason I’m as frisky as a squid on Tuesday.”
We are shocked and will take immediate action in bringing down this lowlife that dares speak of our sexual inclinations. You better watch yourself, John A. Zoidberg.
A giant squid was sighted conquering Youtube today, and the reason I use passive voice here is because today’s sighting is not technically a sighting because it’s something that a character sees in their surroundings, hidden off to the side where we ourselves cannot see. (The squid however is clearly there in its fabulous solid mass.)
In Fred Rescues the Neighborhood Squirrels, Fred goes on an epic quest to locate the squirrels that Fat Kevin has taken hostage and hidden away from the world. On his journey, Fred spots a giant squid hidden underneath a porch and proceeds to freak out about it (and with good reason, we are fearsome). He also later zooms in on a trio of mushrooms that are hiding and/or stuck in a tree and comments, “Oh my gosh, that’s so sick, I bet that’s what the giant squid formed!”
Just to clarify, Fred’s hypothesis is incorrect. We squid would never ignore a mushroom without first shredding it to pieces with our glorious, mighty tentacles.
