How do You Say Butterfly in Different Languages?

There's something very appealing about the word 'butterfly'. The two words that comprise it, 'butter' and 'fly' have little or no appeal on their own. But put the two together and suddenly you've got this incredibly evocative word that immediately creates a plethora of images in your mind's eye. You've got to feel sorry for the moth. I mean 'moth', it's such a flat little word and it does the wonderful creatures themselves no justice whatsoever. It's like naming one of your children Beyonce and the other Edna.

We shouldn't get too carried away, however, as the origins of the word 'butterfly' range from the merely prosaic (their wings are a little buttery-looking) through the slightly sinister (butterflies were thought to be witches in disguise with a penchant for thieving butter) to the rather crude (some keen-eyed observer thought butterfly poo was a buttery colour - hence the early Dutch boterschijte, a word not to be said aloud whilst your great aunt is in the room).

To be honest, I quite like the 'poo' etymology, but that probably says something a little unsavoury about me.

But what about the word 'butterfly' in different languages.

Well my favourites are the French 'papillon', the Filipino 'paruparo', the Portuguese 'borboleta' and the Spanish 'mariposa'. Without wishing to cause offense, I'd have to say my least favourite is the German 'schmetterling'. It sounds like something that would have considerable difficulty staying aloft (without the aid of a precision-engineered jet engine, of course).

Other's worth mentioning include, the Italian 'farfalla', the Romanian 'fluture' (which sounds like a portmanteau of 'fly' and 'future'), the Lithuanian 'drugelis' (which appears to allude to the psychedelic qualities of the creature), the Danish 'sommerfugl' (try and say it without smiling) and the Dutch 'vlinder'.

If I had to choose just one, I think I'd plump for the Portuguese 'borboleta'. Even when you try to say it in as unaccented and characterless manner as possible, it still sounds like you're on the verge of singing.

Repeat after me: "Borboleta!"