Fun fact
Sirens aren’t mermaids. Sirens were described as bird women hybrids similar to harpies except harpies were ugly and grotesque while sirens were beautiful and sang like songbirds.
So why are mermaids and sirens confused? Blame the Romans. I’m serious, blame them because they mixed the two up and ruined language for everyone such as Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Latin, Romanian and Portuguese (Sirena, Sirène, Sirena, Syrena, Syreni, Sirenă, and Sereia).
Funny enough, the Finnish got it right with mermaid being merenneito (sea maiden), aquatic bird women being “seireeni”, and “harpyia” being harpy. Way to go Finland!
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