A ‘snake-iron’ is a train. I get that. And a ‘vulture-iron’ is a plane. Beautiful. Both words are used in Q’eqchi’, a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala and Belize. Or to be completely accurate, these are the literal bit-by-bit translations of the actual Q’eqchi’ words.
Q’eqchi’ has several other such words for metal objects. ‘Awakening iron’ for alarm clock. Not quite as interesting. ‘Thorn-iron’ for fork or rake. Nice. ‘Transporter-iron’ for car. Um – boring.
And then there’s one that I simply don’t understand. There must be some logic to it, but I can’t see it. I’m talking about the Q’eqchi’ word for bicycle, b’aqlay ch’iich’, which bit-by-bit translates as ‘corncob-iron’. Why the corncob? Why should a bicycle remind the Q’eqchi’-speakers of a metal corncob?
AI, ever the confident fool, has an interpretation ready (see picture), but I, without the A, do not. I remain deeply puzzled. If you have an inkling, and a heart, please share your thoughts down below.
UPDATE: Do yourself a favour and read the beautiful and creative suggestions made by other readers. While I can’t be sure, my money is on billdeef’s idea.
Gaston Dorren, language writer 
The wheels and spokes look like a cross cut corn cob.
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Hi!
Have a look at this discussion, I think the answer is in there:
https://www.albertnet.us/2009/04/corn-cob.html?m=1
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It’s remarkable, but I suspect it’s a red herring. I find it extremely hard to believe that rural people in Guatemala own ten-speed bicycles. And even more unlikely that they did so back in the days when they coined a word for bicycle.
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Maybe referring to the handlebars?
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You mean the bar ends, right, these plastic or rubber thingamies that provide grip? Yet another credible option! How can I have been so blind?
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It does look like a transliteration/transcription of the word “bicycle” itself, maybe not from English. The Italian “bicicletta” or (more likely) the Spanish “bicicleta”. Not so Eurocentric if you consider how the words even in our languages borrow and distort from others. That the phonetic rendering also means something in Q’eqchi wouldn’t be surprising (even with the “iron” component) as this happens in English. The speakers of Q’eqchii might have heard the word and then deduced that it included the sound of their word for “iron” since, effectively, it is made of iron. One word in English that did the same thing is “dormouse”, which comes from the Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman dormeus, which means “sleepy one” and has nothing to do with mice. Others are “polecat” (from French for poultry), mongoose (nothing to do with geese; from Marathi). There are more.
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In other words, folk etymology. The possibility dawned upon after I published this post. It would be a bit disappointing – I like some of the other interpretations better – but in terms of probability, I think it’s a good one. Thanks!
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Maybe all the oblong pieces – not unlike very very long corncobs – of the bicycle‘s construction…?
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I see what you mean . But wouldn’t the stalks be more likely candidates for the metaphor?
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First thought from my I – which can take a while to boot up in the morning – is that each wheel, when seen from the side with its spokes, looks like the end of a corn-on-the-cob. Think the ready-to-eat meal rather than the growing plant. Of course, you can’t see both ends of the cob at once – but if there are two together on the plate, it may have reminded someone with sharp eyes and sharp mind.
Whatever the provenance it’s a lovely story to hear – as usual. Thanks, Dorren.
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Thank you! As for your suggestion, yeah, I actually thought of that. But even when I didn’t suffer from ‘not invented here’ bias, it didn’t convince me, I’m afraid. If ‘corncob iron’ meant steamroller, I would embrace this metaphor. But with bicycle, not so much.
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The only thing that I can think of is that the individual links in a bike chain are a bit like individual corn kernels? And the oval shape of the chain echoes that of a corncob (to a degree at least!)
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This is absolutely brilliant and beautiful! I’m not entirely convinced that it’s true, but I admire the poetry.
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Was idly googling ‘corncob iron bicycle’ and found this blog
https://www.albertnet.us/2009/04/corn-cob.html?m=1
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That’s incredible, thank you! However, I hardly believe these are the sorts of bicycles prevalent in the Guatemalan countryside. (Not that you made that claim, of course.)
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Not iron, but perhaps the chunky tread of the tyres?
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… and the imprint it leaves in a dusty or muddy road, you mean? I did come across a word meaning ‘has wrinkled feet’ to signify ‘car’ in another American language: pipuychn, in Salish (Canada and US). So who knows – thanks!
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Nice one Gaston. Are corncobs locally a major food transported by bicycle? I’m reminded of the old story of ‘selective perception’. It’s about an Indian banana farmer who was for the first time in his life shown around a crowded city with busy roads, trains, cars and lots of people everywhere. When asked what he found most amazing, he pointed at a loaded bicycle saying, “I never knew a single person could transport so many bananas by himself” (or something like that). Possibly analogous? Hartelijke groeten, Jaap (in Aotearoa NZ)
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Nice story, and your suggestion clearly makes sense. Also, I’m sure corn/maize is important in the region. But it would be a very different, more associative term than the other ones, which are all so neatly descriptive.
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