Whiskers

You may be surprised, if you do not happen by chance to be a biologist, to read that Whiskers are also called vibrissae (singular: vibrissa). The interesting thing about these things that are, in fact, thick, stiff hairs with a tactile function, is that in other languages like German and Spanish they are only known, or rather, unknown, by their Latin or scientific name. That means that when one tries to translate Whiskers with the word Vibrisse (German) or vibrisa (Spanish), most readers will not understand what is meant. This is a very unfortunate fact, as it shows that the Latin or scientific name is not well accepted in those languages. Some translations try to get round this problem by translating whiskers as die Schurrbarthaare (German for the hairs of the moustache) or as los bigotes del gato (the moustache of the cat in Spanish – assuming we are talking about a cat and not a seal or any other of the many animals that sport whiskers). The trouble with this approach is that whiskers do not only grow in mystacial (where a moustache would be) areas of the face, but also above the eyes (supraorbital vibrissae) and even in some animals on their forelegs and feet. I hope we can find a word that Spanish and German speakers will accept and use, as the alternatives are patently not up to the task. Perhaps the Spanish language would accept güisca (or maybe güisco?) as an alternative? So speakers of the Spanish language would immediately understand where a well known pet food name came from. Any other suggestion would be most welcome.
 

Anyway: It is a pity that humans have lost their vibrissae many hundreds of thousands of years ago. Not only would we have a more apt word for them if we still had them, but kissing would be a perhaps even more interesting experience. Kissing would begin before the lips actually meet! I wonder, now that I come to reflect upon this subject, what evolutionary process might have led to the disappearance of whiskers in humans.