Grey as a mouse, Big as a house.

October 8, 2006 4:06 PM

Oliphaunts were one of the many amazing sights Sam Gamgee wished to see when he left The Shire. He immortalized the mighty beast in a song, and many other have paid tribute over the years. Origami, a design firm, and even a political cartoonist, it is clear that everyone who's anyone loves them some Oliphaunt. They even have their own urban dictionary entry, and a rather unflattering variant. Be careul not to confuse them with the Mastodon. Nor should be they be considered simple war elephants. The Oliphaunt towers over them all.
posted by sparkletone (8 comments total)

someone, please, make it stop
posted by beniamino at 4:08 PM on October 8, 2006

someone, please, don't make it stop for an interesting post like this one.
posted by Kickstart70 at 4:09 PM on October 8, 2006

Oliphaunts > Elephants > Elephant Hatters > Elephant Haters
posted by Science! at 4:15 PM on October 8, 2006

And don't forget Laurence Oliphant.
posted by raygirvan at 4:38 PM on October 8, 2006

Timothy Olyphant.
posted by ericb at 4:48 PM on October 8, 2006

Once I confused these with a simple war elephant. Learnt me a lesson that day I did.
posted by hal9k at 5:09 PM on October 8, 2006 [1 favorite]

What was it like?

My grandfather once confused the two, now when anyone mentions an animal larger than a house cat he tears off his clothes, sets them alight and runs screaming down the street.
posted by Science! at 7:06 PM on October 8, 2006

See also Heffalump.

And props for the Mastodon ('is fucking metal') link.
posted by slimepuppy at 4:07 AM on October 9, 2006