Well, if you are looking for guidance on what to call the cute little tick-eating North American marsupial with the opposable thumbs on its hind feet you can choose either opossum or possum (or opossum pronounced like possum is), and you should know that possum is far more common but that opossum is what the science-types prefer. It comes from a trick the Virginia opossum does: when it's caught it goes catatonic. A small child tries to tell her family that it’s a possum sporting a top hat and vest who is knocking, but they don’t see anything when they open the door. Possum (Level 118 Balance Required) Hints, Guides and Discussions of the Wiki content related to Opossum should be placed in the Discussion Topic . What does all this mean for you? Their name does derive from opossum. Watch more Sally & Possum episodes You have been successfully subscribed to the Grammarly blog. 23 comments. In North America, the animal officially called an opossum is a white and gray marsupial of the order Didelphimorphia. The journey is full of adventures for the two lovable creatures. You will see possum written in two ways. To make things even more confusing, some people say you should spell it opossum but pronounce it without that first syllable play ; our pronunciation guidance at the entry for opossum recognizes this by putting that first syllable in parentheses: (ə-)ˈpä-səm. ! Jun 6, 2018 - repeating opossum and rose pattern! Coach Graham Hill said they wanted an outside lane for the final so he could try to shoot away unnoticed. English colonists living in Jamestown derived the word from its equivalent in Powhatan, a language spoken by the Virginia Algonquian tribe. Literally, the word means “white dog or beast” in Powhatan. Opossums are great climbers, so make sure that all of the trees on your property are trimmed back away from your home. Feel free to use with credit! You know he is talking about the opossum of North America because he makes reference to its unique tendency to faint as if dead when threatened: Another author, Amy Rowland, makes reference to the grayish-white color of the opossum. The opossum (scientific name: Didelphidae) was given its name by the English colonist John Smith of the Jamestown colony. Type in any number in the box below to see how it is spelled in English. Listen to the audio pronunciation in the Cambridge English Dictionary. You can, indeed, write opossum and say it like "possum" and be using an officially recognized pronunciation. After some time, Hush grows tired of not being able to see herself. Learn more. The first one is from Life of Pi by Yann Martel. This truncation of the original term may explain why many people are surprised to learn that opossum and possum are in fact two very different marsupial species of the arboreal kind. They are not the same animal, and have many different characteristics, but confusion reigns for a number of reasons: First, the spelling of possum and opossum is quite similar; second, the animals look slightly similar; and, last, the most common species of opossum in North America, the Virginia opossum, is often referred to as a possum . But there's another group of marsupials out there in the world that is also referred to with both terms. Opossum was on top as recently as the 1970s, but possum has the lead now. Sir Joseph Banks, a British botanist, thought they looked enough like the American opossum to give them a similar name. Delivered to your inbox! Learn more. See more. If the topic isn't already created (i.e. The O in "opossum" is spelled but not pronounced. Would a Patronus in this case act in accordance with the nature of the spell or the nature of its animal form? Biden projected 46th President. Those two are used in Mexico, but they are not typical Spanish words. “It nearly worked,” he added. 'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'. How to say opossum. The term possum covers about 70 species of marsupials native to Australia and surrounding islands. So, you can hear the different pronunciations. What does that expression mean? Opossum vs. Possum: Difference. Check out Ginger's spelling book and learn how to spell possum correctly, its definition and how to use it in a sentence! John Smith spelled it “opassum,” but William Strachey spelled it “aposoum.”. To make the plural of opossum and possum, just add S to the end. Possum's are one of the animals on my top ten nastiest animals list. 'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'? Notice how some authors capitalized on the traits of this interesting creature in the following quotes. opossum definition: 1. a small American marsupial that lives in trees and has thick fur, a long nose, and a tail…. He might even think it’s “good eatin’.” And if he is not familiar with the other species, it might be fun to explain the possum-opossum difference. So, in general, you can use opossum when referring to the American marsupial. For a split second, he thought about the wisdom of playing possum, but he decided if it were Powderface’s son, he would soon be playing possum with arrows in his back. When confronted, the animal involuntarily faints in shock for anywhere from several minutes to four hours. Another way to get rid of opossums is to call your local game commission to come and remove them. Set your young readers up for lifelong success, Study Up With Our Official SCRABBLE Dictionary. Listen to audio with how to say opossum in English. Opossums are often referred to colloquially as possums (or ‘possums), but in scientific contexts, possum and opossum refer to different groups of animals. Possums belong to the Diprotodontia order. Possum knows Auslan signs and lots of finger spelling words. How to pronounce opossum. What Are Opossums. Tina Fey, author of Bossypants, uses the term possum. monolith Playing possum is an idiom that refers to the opossum’s characteristic way of responding to threats. It seems the possum was playing possum! Hey Susie Derkins, is that your face, or is a ‘possum stuck in your collar? However, possums are more often used these days. The articles "a" and "an" are correctly based on the first pronounced letter, not simply the first letter. But here’s where it gets confusing: in North America, people often shorten opossum to possum when talking about the creatures prowling around the backyard at night. Possums appear in poetry too. If you include it in the spelling, then you include it in the speaking. An opossum woke me up last night when it knocked a trash can over and set off my car alarm. The room is the color of old opossum or new pumice, the color of newspaper without ink. When communicating in English, it is sometimes useful to spell out the number 1 with words instead of simply writing 1. It depends on the audience and the writer or speaker. 55% Upvoted. Whistleblower changes tune, again, president-elect Is there a difference between an opossum and a possum? In “Possum Come A-Knocking” Nancy Van Laan uses rhymes to tell the story of a grandmother who was sitting in her rocking chair knitting when an opossum knocks at the front door. Its body goes limp, it drools, and it even emits an odor that imitates the smell of a decaying animal. Object found in Utah desert, recant Possums, on the other hand, live in Australia, New Guinea, Sulawesi, New Zealand, and China. However, if an American says “possum” to an Australian, it might be unclear which animal is the subject of discussion. However, Americans might call it a possum, much to the confusion of their friends from the Southern Hemisphere who envision a rather cuddly creature when they hear that word. How to use a word that (literally) drives some pe... Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words? The opossum (pronounced ə- pos -em) is a North American marsupial with a white face and grayish-white body. For this reason, the opossum is still commonly referred to as the Virginia North American Opossum. To which animal is she referring? “Blorft” is an adjective I just made up that means ”Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.” I have been blorft every day for the past seven years. Already your lungs have flown away like a bird and your guts have slithered away like a snake. Example sentences: ^ 1 : any of a family (Didelphidae) of small- to medium-sized American marsupials that usually have a pointed snout and nearly hairless scaly prehensile tail, are typically active at night, and are sometimes hunted for their fur or meat especially : a common omnivorous largely nocturnal mammal (Didelphis virginiana) of North and Central America that is a skilled climber, that typically has … AboutPressCopyrightContact usCreatorsAdvertiseDevelopersTermsPrivacyPolicy However, kangaroos and other Australian marsupials are closer relations than American opossums. Store; Spelling Book. He told me that humans cannot outrun a bear — they are great sprinters and climbing a tree is no good. This etymology business is no joke. Let’s look at some examples. Australian author Mem Fox features the possum in a picture book called Possum Magic. Spelling Book > Misspelled words index > possum-possam-passam. One of the last two is probably what your cook said. 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