• JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.socialM
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    2 days ago

    I tried looking “Kuttus” up as a Bengali word, and got a response that it was a custom word created for Tintin’s companion-dog. But then, in a general search, I found this:

    • A user from India says the name Kuttus is of Fiction origin and means “Kuttu a tipical calling name used by elders to youn boy and girl”.
    • A user from India says the name Kuttus means “Good girl”.
    • According to a user from India, the name Kuttus means “Cute baby or small Kid. Its a common baby name used in Kerala/Tamil Nadu, India. The word orginated from malayalam (language) word ‘Kutty’ - infant or a (young) kid”.
    • A user from India says the name Kuttus means “Adorable child”.
    • A user from India says the name Kuttus is of Indian (Sanskrit) origin and means “Gift of god”.

    https://www.names.org/n/kuttus/about#associations

    Sound about right?

    In French, “Milou” is a name with multiple meanings, most commonly used as a short form of the names Marie-Louise or Émile/Émilie, meaning “wished-for child,” “famous warrior,” or “kind.” --Copilot

    Interesting that the French name for the dog and the Bengali / Malayalam name are so similar in meaning, wherein the English “Snowy” went for a physical desription.

    • redhilsha@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      OK so foremost, I don’t think there is any specific meaning to the word “kuttush” in Bengali. It’s gibberish. It’s just a cutesy word that you say to a cute animal. I don’t think it came from Malayalam either. It’s a completely separate language. The Malayalam translation for Tintins dog might be a different word too.

      There could be a meaning behind this word, but I highly doubt it’s anything beyond just sounding cute.

    • troglodyte_mignon@tarte.nuage-libre.fr
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      1 day ago

      I was wondering if কুট্টুস was a typical Bengali dog’s name or if it had a specific meaning!

      From what I’ve read, Milou was the nickname of an ex-girlfriend of Hergé (her actual first name was Marie-Louise — Hergé wanted to marry her but her parents refused because he was too poor from their point of view…). I doubt the etymology had any part in the choice, it had probably more to do the fact that it sounds cute; or maybe it was some kind of private joke between them, who knows. (Also I’m a bit suspicious of the etymologies given by Copilot anyway.)

      I love the panel with translations of Milou’s name. They’re actually not as diverse as I expected, most of them copy either the French or the English name. The Arabic, Chinese and Korean names are transcriptions of “Milou” and the Japanese and Thai names are transcriptions of “Snowy”. Unless I’m mistaken, “Struppi” comes from the German adjective “struppig”, which basically means “shaggy”.

      • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.socialM
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        1 day ago

        Interesting… thanks for adding on!

        Also I’m a bit suspicious of the etymologies given by Copilot anyway.

        Yah, I was getting totally lazy at that point. XD

          • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.socialM
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            24 hours ago

            Oh, do you have a community or hobby project online? I’m curious to hear more about wherever the wind blows your fancy. You seem interesting.

            It’s also of course nice to have actual French readers for this project, as there’s a load of Franco-Belgo culturalisms in BD that I don’t understand very well. :S