A creature so elusive, it got one of its most widely used names from the footprints left in its wake… for centuries, stories of Bigfoot or Sasquatch have been passed down by indigenous cultures all over the United States, Asia and Australasia… and they’ve even been spotted in Europe too! There are thousands of reported sightings around the world even today and the debate still rages as to whether people are seeing a real animal or if it’s a case of imaginations running wild in the deep dark woods…
Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, Alma, Abominable Snowman, Yowie… there are many names for these huge half-ape, half-human creatures said to roam the world’s wild places. Now you can learn some of names for Bigfoot in the 50 languages of Europe in a Day!
As with naming many mythological animals, things aren’t always straightforward. Many languages simply use ‘bigfoot’ or similar (bigfut, saskvotch etc…) as a direct calque from English to the point where apparently it has no native name in the language. Others distinguish between a Sasquatch and Yeti and use different words for both, while some cultures have similar beasts in their own mythologies and use names for them that make no reference to giant feet!
Even for languages that still use English ‘bigfoot’ or equivalent, I’ve included a translation for the words ‘big’ and ‘foot’ to try and create a more authentic name in the language.
- Albanian – Këmbëmadhi
- Arabic – ذو القدم الكبيرة (Dhu alqadam alkabira)
- Armenian – Մեծ ոտք (Mets votk’)
- Azerbaijani – Böyük ayaq
- Basque – Oin Handi
- Belarusian – Вялікая ступня (Vyalikaya stupnya)
- Bulgarian – Голямата стъпка (Golyamata stupka)
- Catalan – Peus grans
- Croatian – Veliko stopalo
- Czech – Velká noha
- Danish – Storfod
- Dutch – Grote Voet
- Estonian – Suurjalg
- Faroese – Stórur fótur
- Finnish – Isojalka
- French – Grand Pied
- Georgian – დიდი ტერფი (Didi t’erpi)
- German – Großfuß
- Greek – Μεγαλοπόδαρο (Megalopódaro)
- Greenlandic – Isigakkaaq
- Hungarian – Nagylábú
- Icelandic – Stórfótur
- Irish Gaelic – Gruagach
- Italian – Piedone
- Jèrriais – Grand-pid
- Latin – Magnus Pes
- Latvian – Lielpēdis
- Lithuanian – Didžiapėdis
- Low German – Groot Foot
- Luxembourgish – Grousse Fouss
- Macedonian – Големото стапало (Golemoto stapalo)
- Maltese – Ta’ Siequ Kbira
- Manx – Cass Mooar
- Monégasque – Pen Grand
- Northern Sami – Stállu*
- Norwegian – Storfot
- Polish – Wielka Stopa
- Portuguese – Pé-grande
- Romanian – Picior mare
- Russian – Большая ступня (Bol’shaya stupnya)
- Scots Gaelic – Am Fear Liath Mòr*
- Serbian – Велико стопало (Veliko stopalo)
- Slovak – Veľká noha
- Slovene – Velika noga
- Spanish – Pie Grande
- Swedish – Storfot
- Swiss German – Gross Fuäss
- Turkish – Kocaayak
- Ukrainian – Велика нога (Velika Noha)
- Welsh – Troedfawr
- Greenlandic – Isigakkaaq coined by me, “one with a big foot”
- Northern Sami – Stállu is a large, human-like creature in Sami mythology said to live in forests and eat people
- Scots Gaelics – Am Fear Liath Mòr, or The Big Grey Man, is a 10ft tall creature with large feet said to roam around on Ben Macdui mountain in Scotland.
Author: James Scanlan
Banner Image Source: still from the Patterson–Gimlin film (1967)
Europe in a Day 