in Chinese we stopped making new characters in the past few hundred years, so for new stuff we have to combine existing characters, resulting in -

Turkey: FIRE CHICKEN
Giraffe: LONG-NECKED DEER
Dolphin: SEA PIG
Penguin: BUSINESS GOOSE
Kangaroo: POUCHED RAT
Hippo: RIVER HORSE

this doesn't just apply to animals, there's also

Computer: ELECTRIC BRAIN
TV: ELECTRIC VIEW
Movies: ELECTRIC SHADES
Trains: FIRE CARS
Jeans: COWBOY PANTS
Chemistry: STUDY OF CHANGE

More animal names in Chinese

Panda: BEAR CAT

Red Panda: SMALLER BEAR CAT

Platypus: DUCK MOUTH BEAST

Seal: OCEAN PANTHER

Owl: CAT HEAD EAGLE

Cobra: GLASSES SNAKE

Lobster: DRAGON SHRIMP

also guys this was literally just me amusing myself thinking about the literal meanings of words in my own native language, it's not that deep. people have fun all the time taking apart English and German words.

here's a collection of my tweets about other Chinese language stuff that amuses me that I did my best to translate, ALSO NOT THAT DEEP https://twitter.com/i/events/1307795222164692994