assfish

The story

1. Ancient Greek · calque ofἄκανθος“acanthus”
2. English todayassfish

From ass + fish, probably from a mistranslation of onus in the genus name Acanthonus, which is from Ancient Greek ἄκανθος (ákanthos, “acanthus”, literally “prickly flower”) + ὄνος (ónos, “hake”): the latter word can mean either an ass (donkey) or less commonly a type of fish.

Words from the same roots