Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Dutch term or phrase:
Poepvis
English translation:
poop-eating fish
Dutch term
Native in: Afrikaans 
, English
Works in: Dutch to English, Afrikaans to English, English to Afrikaans
Poepvis
Does anybody know what "Poepvis" means?
| 5 +2 | fish that eats poo(p) |
philgoddard
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| on the www |
writeaway
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Jul 26, 2012 08:20: DebbieKleynhans Created KOG entry
Jul 26, 2012 08:24: DebbieKleynhans changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1320106">DebbieKleynhans's</a> old entry - "Poepvis"" to ""Catfish""
Jul 26, 2012 08:32: DebbieKleynhans changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1320106">DebbieKleynhans's</a> old entry - "Poepvis"" to ""Catfish""
Jul 26, 2012 09:14: DebbieKleynhans changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1320106">DebbieKleynhans's</a> old entry - "Poepvis"" to ""Tilapia""
Jul 26, 2012 10:25: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other" , "Field (specific)" from "Poetry & Literature" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" , "Field (write-in)" from "(none)" to "common name of a type of fish"
Jul 26, 2012 10:33: writeaway changed "Field (specific)" from "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" to "Zoology" , "Field (write-in)" from "common name of a type of fish" to "name of a type of fish"
Aug 17, 2012 14:41: philgoddard changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1320106">DebbieKleynhans's</a> old entry - "Poepvis"" to ""Coprophagous fish""
Proposed translations
United States
Six languages into flawless English
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 4 more.
fish that eats poo(p)
'Poepvis' does NOT mean tilapia (which is the same in Dutch) or catfish (which is 'meerval'). These are examples of fish that eat poo (UK) or poop (US).
I'm not sure how you were able to make a glossary entry without waiting 24 hours and awarding points.
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Note added at 1 hr (2012-07-26 09:04:13 GMT)
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Here's the context provided by the asker:
'This is a document about Christianity. The sentence is as follows: "Is poepvis. Wij eten geen poepvis."'
| Hello Phil, thank you for your suggesttion. I see that you have removed your question from the discussion. You are acutally right, those were examples of fish that eat excrement. Would you say that "coprophagous" (Feeding on excrement:) is a more approriate term? |
| Edit: - Hello Phil, thank you for your suggestion. I see that you have removed your post from the discussion. You are actually right in saying that those were examples of fish that eat excrement. Would you say that "coprophagous" (Feeding on excrement:) is a more approriate term? |
| agree |
Erik Boers
: Given the context, I would say "poo(p)-eating fish".
59 mins
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Yes, that would work.
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| neutral |
writeaway
: we have NO clue as to the register of the actual text. what is wrong with using the scientific name? if Asker has already entered it in the gloss, there must be a reason..... /of course poep is colloquial. that's not the point.
1 hr
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We know exactly what the register of the text is. Poep is a slang word.
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| agree |
Danielle Boelema
: I agree. I, however would use the plural, i.e. "fish that eat poo(p)" or, as Erik said "poo(p)-eating fish".
6 hrs
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Reference comments
on the www
www.fishyou.com/fish-pleco.php
The pleco has several names, the best one of them 'janitor fish'. Some unflattering names include 'poo eating fish', sucker etc. They are a type of catfish.
GSA Day 2 | Updates from the Paleontology Lab
vmnhpaleontology.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/gsa-day-2/
15 Mar 2010 – ... around on the bottom and picked up various bits of detritus, and that were apparently partially eaten by coprophagous (poo-eating) fish.
| Thank you, writeaway. |
Discussion
Much depends on what that previous sentence is. If the previous sentence for example is "do you eat Tilapia" and the answer is "is poepvis", then it makes no sense to translate it into the same word. The exact translation in this case will depend on the larger context, but now at least we all agree on what it means. There could have been different explanations :-).
When my wife will ask me this evening what I did all day, I want to be able to answer something else than "poepvis" - so I'm leaving this discussion. Grateful that I now know that there is an ocean between "poo" and "poop".
How about letting us discuss this, rather than telling us what you think the answer is? :-)
Tilapia = Cichlidae (Persiformes)
Catfish = in the order of the Siluriformes
I'm already relieved that I don't have to explain the other meanings :-).
EDIT - apparently I am misinformed: http://cleanerplateclub.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/tilapia-eat...
But still, as I am not the only ignorant person, the term "poepvis" does refer to Tilapia. See here, for example: http://www.mamjo.com/forum/index.php?topic=126728.0
Please also let me know if the text originates from Flemish, or from Netherlands-Dutch. It really does make a difference...