For those of us who grew up watching a lot of cartoons, when we hear the word canary, we immediately think of Tweetie, the cute little yellow bird that frequently appears in Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes cartoons.
We seldom think of the group of islands off the coast of Morocco, called Canary Islands. Although canaries are plentiful in the Canary Islands, the islands are not named in honour of the yellow bird, known for its ability to sing. These islands, in fact, are named after man’s best friend, the dog! Several hundred years ago, the ancient Romans referred to the Canary Islands as Insula Canaria, meaning ‘Island of Dogs’. The Romans gave the islands this particular name because they were heavily populated by wild dogs. It is from the Latin canaria that we get the modern canine, meaning ‘dog’.
The Spanish called the yellow bird found on the islands, canario, meaning of the Canary Islands. Perhaps what is interesting is that the people who lived on the islands worshipped the dogs: they were seen as being divine, and whenever an animal died, it was mummified. Unfortunately, the poor canary bird was not set on the same pedestal as the dog.
Image Source:
Banner: https://images.app.goo.gl/KpBSGJvnN7gYNb3f7
Tweety: https://images.app.goo.gl/oqRqi88PReazEdVc7
Know Your English 
Interesting!
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