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[–] dregan 3 points 3 points (+6|-3) ago 

Interesting read, author seems quite the cunning linguist.

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[–] flope_de 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

I don't see any sings of a taboo here. It might just as well be a case of different names for different species. The "original" words could have been names for cave bears and a larger wolf species, which fell out of use when these species disappeared.

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[–] CobraStallone 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

Well, it seems plausible. Then again, I'm no linguist, and how would we know for sure?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear#Etymology

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[–] oooooo ago 

Interestingly, the cited source for the relevant passage no longer exists even via the archived link.