Yup. That phenomenon is called “analogical change”. The opposite happens too though! For example, “person” and “parson”.

Actuallyyy…

Goose comes from Old English, where they pluralized [go:s] (think “goes” with a soft S) by adding [iz] (like “ease”).

When saying [go:siz], it was kinda hard for the mouth to switch the vowels from the [o] to the [i] quickly, so to save themselves the trouble, they’d change the first vowel to make it a little more similar to the second, so [go:siz] became [ge:siz].

Then, that was too long, so they dropped the [z]. [ge:si] (think “guessy” but the “e” lasts a bit longer than usual).

Then, that was too long, so they dropped the [i]. [ge:s] (“guess” with that same drawn out “e”).

📯It’s the Great Vowel Shift!📯 Now, [go:s] and [ge:s] become [gu:s] and [gi:s]. Almost there!

The vowels become a tad short over time, and now, you have [gus] and [gis] which are written “goose” and “geese”.

But “MOOSE”? That’s Algonquin. It has nothing to do with all that noise. “But they sound the same and are written the same?!” So? Haven’t you heard? English orthography is a dumpster fire. Nobody knows what they’re doing. Not even the words.

After 33 years and lack of citizenship over a technicality, I think it’s safe to say “GIVE THE MAN A BREAK!” Jeezy Creezy.

Dad joke. I chortled.

Is “like” used that way? I didn’t know that. If so, what area are you from? I’m into linguistics and am genuinely curious.

This is a 3rd party upgraded version of the that a lot of folks recommend. They put a lot of effort into balancing out different classes for the reasons mentioned above.

Am I misreading the legend, or after the cookies messed up?

As I understand it, the foxes were specifically bred to not just tolerate human interaction but to enjoy it and crave it. The thing is that that is selective breeding over the course of a couple dozen generations in less than 100 years.

Most of the animals that are currently domesticated have had thousands of years of selective breeding, so there are all kinds of specific behavioral or physical traits that they do or do not have.

Ironically, that kind of hyperspecific breeding for only a few traits is what leads a lot of modern dog breeds to have various health problems associated with their breeds because they are bred for aesthetic and not for health or longevity. A common example is the obsessive compulsive disorder bread into the dog that is associated with bull terriers or the hip dysplasia that is associated with German shepherds due to being bred to have more and more deeply sloped backs.

They’re so pretty! 🥺

They never claimed it was their pet. They just called it their buddy.

Nope, but after researching everything you’d need to do to provide a suitable environment for a capybara, it seems super unfeasible. Besides breeding a desire for human companionship into capybaras, they require huge enclosures and access to large bodies of water since they’re semi aquatic. Furthermore, the water would need to be thermally regulated and regularly filtered because that’s where they defecate and stuff.

You can alter a creature’s biology and behavior with domestication to an extent, but it seems like you’d have to be filthy rich or overhaul what a capybara is just to make having one as a pet a humane option.

They’ll just have to keep being our buddies in the wild (or in dedicated sanctuaries).

Too bad domestication takes generations. 😭 My buddy loves capybaras so much he has a tattoo of one.