2605: Penguins are not Business Geese Feb 1, 2022

There is a rumor that goes around that the Chinese word for 'penguin' translates as 'business goose', but this is false. The idea is not so far often however, since the second character of this Mandarin word 企鹅 (qǐ​'é) would in fact mean 'goose' (鹅). The initial character 企 is found in the word for business, that being 企业 (qǐyè), but that is a sort of compound itself. The first element of the word 企 has more of a meaning of 'upright'. In this way, if the word 企鹅 (qǐ​'é) means anything (besides 'penguin' of course) it would be 'upright goose' or even 'tip-toe goose'.