Main Page Go to Short Stories Go back to Articles Go to Comics Go to Continued Series Go to Editorial Go to New Series

Show All | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Week 19 | Week 20 | Week 21 | Week 22 | Week 23 | Week 24 | Week 25 | Week 26 | Week 27 | Week 28 | Week 29 | Week 30 | Week 31 | Week 32 | Week 33 | Week 34 | Week 35 | Week 36 | Week 37 | Week 38 | Week 39 | Week 40 | Week 41 | Week 42 | Week 43 | Week 44 | Week 45 | Week 46 | Week 47 | Week 48 | Week 49 | Week 50 | Week 51 | Week 52 | Week 53 | Week 54 | Week 55 | Week 56 | Week 57 | Week 58 | Week 59 | Week 60 | Week 61 | Week 62 | Week 63 | Week 64 | Week 65 | Week 66 | Week 67 | Week 68 | Week 69 | Week 70 | Week 71 | Week 72 | Week 73 | Week 74 | Week 75 | Week 76 | Week 77 | Week 78 | Week 79 | Week 80 | Week 81 | Week 82 | Week 83 | Week 84 | Week 85 | Week 86 | Week 87 | Week 88 | Week 89 | Week 90 | Week 91 | Week 92 | Week 93 | Week 94 | Week 95 | Week 96 | Week 97 | Week 98 | Week 99 | Week 100 | Week 101 | Week 102 | Week 103 | Week 104 | Week 105 | Week 106 | Week 107 | Week 108 | Week 109 | Week 110 | Week 111 | Week 112 | Week 113 | Week 114 | Week 115 | Week 116 | Week 117 | Week 118 | Week 119 | Week 120 | Week 121 | Week 122 | Week 123 | Week 124 | Week 125 | Week 126 | Week 127 | Week 128 | Week 129 | Week 130 | Week 131 | Week 132 | Week 133 | Week 134 | Week 135 | Week 136 | Week 137 | Week 138 | Week 139 | Week 140 | Week 141 | Week 142 | Week 143 | Week 144 | Week 145 | Week 146 | Week 147 | Week 148 | Week 149

Neopia's Fill in the Blank News Source | 29th day of Running, Yr 26
The Neopian Times Week 45 > Articles > NeoPet Species Names: Real Words, Real Meanings

NeoPet Species Names: Real Words, Real Meanings

by lindy_guo

NEOPIA CENTRAL - "The eagle and the stork, on cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build." My eyes literally popped off the page as I read that line of the poem "Paradise Lost" by the famous poet John Milton.

Now wait a second… Eyries? Eyries? EYRIES? Isn't that a NeoPet? What is Milton doing writing about NeoPets? Didn't he DIE 200 years before NeoPets came out?

With conspiracies about Milton's real death floating about in my head, I decided upon a less eye-popping approach to the word "eyrie" and looked up the word in the dictionary. Much to my surprise, "eyrie" is not only the name of that funny-looking NeoPet with the weird lion-like muff and the birdlike beak (no offence to Eyries), but also a word that means "The nest of a bird, such as an eagle, built on a cliff or other high place". Then, much to my farther eye-popping amazement, I found out many other NeoPet specie names are real words, or came from real words.

Flotsam and Jetsam
The first word that came to my attention was "flotsam". "Flotsam", besides being that adorable NeoPet with the big eyes, is actually a real English word that describes cargo that is still floating after a boat sinks. Flotsam the NeoPet is an aquatic NeoPet, so the NeoPet name fits the actual meaning of the word quite well. Jetsams and Flotsams have a predator-prey relationship on Neopets, and since "flotsam" is actually a real word, could it be that "jetsam" is too? After checking the dictionary, "jetsam" is a real word that is used to describe the cargo that is discarded off a ship once when it is in distress. But now, now, be nice - Don't go calling your jetsam friends a "discard" or a "reject"! "Flotsam" and "Jetsam" are also the names of two towers that are in a very famous trilogy of books.

Koi
It is obvious that "koi", the name for Japanese Fancy Carp (Nishikigoi), inspired the name of the fish NeoPet "Koi". The original Koi even bore a strong resemblance to the carp. However, the NeoPet Koi is one thousand times cuter than the Japanese Carp "koi"! Koi is also an acronym for "Koderovka Obmyena Informatsee", a Russian acronym for "Coded Information Exchange." As well, "koi" is also often (incorrectly) used as a short form of the word Japanese word "koibito" in North American anime fandoms. In that sense, "koi" means "beloved" or "loved one". Kois must be very lucky to have such a sweet name!

Lupe and Elephante
A similar case is had in the NeoPet species Lupe and Elephante. The French word "loup", meaning wolf, most likely inspired the name of the wolf NeoPet. The spelling differs, but the phonics is quite alike. "Elephante" is also the French word for (duh) elephant. Hopefully, all Canadian fans picked those up, considering the large, tortuous amount of mandatory French education we are subjected too…

Usul
On the other hand, it is highly unlikely that the Malay word "usul" gave the inspiration of naming the squirrel-like NeoPet 'Usul". The word means in Malay "motion or proposal put forward for discussion". But one can never be sure. Maybe the NeoPet Staff had a very long discussion on what to name the squirrel Neopet, then suddenly someone put forward a "usul" and someone thought 'Hey, that's a perfect name for this squirrel Neopet that we are trying to name!"

Buzz and Grarrl
The NeoPet names Buzz and Grarrl are onomatopoeias. "Buzz, buzz" is obviously the sound a Buzz would make, while the dinosaur-like Grarrl is very likely to roar "grarrl!" at you if you dared to steal his precious Purple Scooter from him.

Acara
ACARA is an acronym for "Availability, Cost, and Resource Allocation". That is just a far cry from the NeoPet Acara.

Aisha
Aisha, besides being that four-eared NeoPet, is the name of a female historical figure in the Middle East. As well, Aisha is also the name of a famous TV personality and the name of a character on an anime show.

There are also some NeoPet specie names that are proper nouns. Such as:

- "Skeith" and "Quiggle" are last names
- "Kiko" is a type of mountain goat
- "Bruce" and "Lenny" are common first names
- "Gelert" is part of the name of a Welsh town called "Beddgelert"
- and "Wocky" from "Jabberwocky"

There are also a lot of NeoPet specie names that are actual plays upon real words in English. For example: Kau (cow), Kougra (cougar), Poogle (poodle), Pteri (pterodactyl), Korbat (bat), Cybunny (bunny), Meerca (meerkat), Blumaroo (kangaroo), Peophin (dolphin), Uni (unicorn), Moehog (mohawk and warthog) and Mynci (monkey).

Guess the NeoPet staff didn't just stick random syllables together after all to name NeoPets. Or maybe they did, but they were just lucky enough to hit upon words that actually mean something. Either way, NeoPet players can increase their vocabularies and possibly earn some words in other languages through NeoPet names. There, that's another reason to use next time your parents yell at you for playing NeoPets too much.

Week 45 Related Links

Neopets Gone Live: The Good, The Bad, The Adventure of a Lifetime: Part Three
"Honou no pawa apu," Flaremon shouted, "Flamramon the Shoyru of Inferno Flame."

by rokuman



Search :
Other Stories

Beyond the Music: Wock Til You Drop
It had all started when a Tyrannian Wocky cub picked up its first rock off the ground.

by sarakrindel


Zeke Speaks: Thoughts from a Library Legend - Review VI
New books have been springing up left and right in the Magical Book Shop and in Faerieland lately

by missphd


What Came First? The Pie or the Clown?
I'm pretty sure that in this game, it was the clown. I mean, the clowns are throwing the pies at you.

by baloyarn


Codestones... What are they?
I wasn't interested in Ryshu, but the Codestones. Where did they all come from in the first place?

by azurerayen


More Creative Collecting
First, think about what we have to factor in to many different problems that arise--money.

by monkeydebator


Neopets | Main | Articles | Editorial
Short Stories | Comics | New Series | Continued Series | Search