Dog as a cub (animal)?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello,

While watching an elephant documentary, I found an interesting word: a dog. It is about an elephant herd celebrating a baby was born.

“To witness this celebration is wonderful. It’s sheer elephant joy. That’s the excitement right there. They couldn’t have known that the baby was born. They just realized the “dog”, a new member to the herd . This is about the most exciting thing that can happen.”

As far as I understand, it was a “dog” that the commentator says in the video. I am wondering if I can call a cub “a dog”. Maybe it is not the word that I know. Please let me know!

Thank you in advance,
sweetpumpkin

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2

That’s very interesting because as far as I know a baby elephant is called ‘calf’. I’m sure @Alan, @Andrea or @Anglophile can shed some light on this.

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3

I agree with Torsten. A baby elephant is callled a ‘calf’. I haven’t heard of it being different.

Elephant

Male: bull
Female: cow
Baby: calf
Groups of animals: herd / parade

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4

Thank you Torsten. Anyway the commentator definitely says “the dog”, not “the calf”. Maybe it was a slip of the tongue… Thank you for your answer.

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5

Thank you Andrea. What the commentator intended was I guess definitely “the calf”.

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6

Well, I hear it as that draw which could also mean something that attracts attention. It sounds so to my non-native ears, despite having had the dog in mind already.

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7

Oh thank you!!! I have to listen carefully again!

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You are welcome. We learn from your questions at least as much as you learn from our answers so please do continue sharing your thoughts.

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