Thursday 28 April 2022

A-Z challenge 2022 - X is for Xenopus

#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter

Welcome to the conversations in my head with my friend Alice, previously seen in my 2019 A-Z posts and loosely based on Alice in Wonderland.  At least that's the plan.

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Right then Alice.  What is the x word you’ve chosen for me?

Xenopus.

What?  Are you sure that’s a word Alice?

Definitely is.

Hmm well according to google Xeno - means “alien,” “strange,” or “guest,” and is used in the formation of compound words so is it an alien cat Alice?

No, try again.

Strange octopus?

No it’s actually a species of frog.  Also known as the clawed frog.

Here’s the link to its Wikipedia page Xenopus - Wikipedia

A frog?!

I wanted something unusual.

Well it’s certainly that.  But it’s not a pretty thing.

Things don’t always have to be pretty Wendy to be interesting.  One of the things about this frog is that it uses its fore limbs to eat because it doesn’t use its tongue like most frogs do.

Weird.

It’s also very useful in scientific experiments.

Hmmm

It was used in the 1930s to 1950s in pregnancy tests.

Really?

You’re not the least bit interested are you Wendy?

I’m always interested in what you have to say Alice.  But a frog? 

Well surely it’s more interesting than some of the other words on the list?

Can’t we just talk about x-rays or xylophones?  At least everyone knows what they are.  Frog should have been in the first week of the challenge not the last.

But it’s a xenopus. 

If you say so Alice.  Hopefully we haven’t bored our readers to tears and they’ll be back tomorrow.

I’ve got a great word for tomorrow Wendy.

Hmm we'll see about that.

10 comments:

  1. Xenopus is a great word but definitely not a pretty critter.

    Visiting from https://cassmobfamilyhistory.com

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  2. Xenopus...after seeing many xenophiles and phobes today yours stand out...frogs scare the shit out of me so no wiki checking ;)

    Good day

    Dropping by from a to z "The Pensive"

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  3. Well there's another new word I've learnt on the A 2 Z

    Today's post: X Is For eXercise

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  4. Well, Wendy (and Alice), I did look at the link and that is one strange looking frog, indeed. I can say that I learned something new today!!

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  5. Ha - very clever indeed. I'm glad I didn't go after the random word for X - it's a challenge to find a relevant X word.
    Cheers.
    Xanthic

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  6. Good choice. Makes a change fro x-ray and xylophone.

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  7. Very interesting word! I never heard of xenopus until your blog post for today! Learned something new, so thanks!

    betty

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  8. This is a new word for me. Pus (or pous) means foot so it literally translates to "alien foot". Pretty cool.

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