Water Hyena

The word for otter in Swahili is “fisi maji”, which literally translates to “water hyena”. I don’t know about you but the last time I saw an otter it didn’t seem nearly as ferocious as hyena; apparently when kids are acting up their parents sometimes call them a fisi maji… I suppose when there is only a limited frame of reference these things happen. Case in point, a zebra is called a “punda milia”, which means “striped donkey”. That is one name I can get my head around.