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Thunder fish
[bar] 173/39%
Shocky knifefish
[bar] 75/17%
TBD
[bar] 23/5%
Electric eels were invented at the same time as electricity
[bar] 57/13%
Before electricity was invented, electric eels had to stun with gas
[bar] 118/26%
446 total votes
Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by toolic (Bishop) on Feb 01, 2017 at 13:52 UTC
    Everyone who touched one yelled "son-of-a-b#$@!". Let's go with that.
Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by LanX (Saint) on Feb 01, 2017 at 14:03 UTC

      But it probably happened long after the discovery of inventing.

        I know it's a pun...

        ... but the question if "invention" is older than the knowledge of electricity is interesting.

        IMHO achievements like Archimedes_screw were known before static electricity after rubbing amber (ἤλεκτρον = "élektron" in Greek) was described.

        Cheers Rolf
        (addicted to the Perl Programming Language and ☆☆☆☆ :)
        Je suis Charlie!

        Update

        and for completeness the Electric Eel stems from South America, but I doubt the "inventors" left written records about the name! ;)

Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by Tux (Canon) on Feb 02, 2017 at 13:11 UTC

    In Dutch it is called "sidderaal", which reflects pretty much what is heppening without mentioning how or why it happens. Literally translated: tremble-eal or shake-eal.


    Enjoy, Have FUN! H.Merijn
      In Dutch it is called "sidderaal"

      In German: "Zitteraal", same translation, same idea: touch it and it will shake you.

      Alexander

      --
      Today I will gladly share my knowledge and experience, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so". ;-)

      I'm guessing "sidder" is a cognate of English "shudder".

Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by Anonymous Monk on Feb 07, 2017 at 13:20 UTC

    My vote goes to "lightning eel" or "thundering eel", as I assume that people were struck by lightning long before they were zapped by eel. Or at least the phenomena was more known.

    Wikipedia mentions something about it:

    "Long before any knowledge of electricity existed, people were aware of shocks from electric fish. Ancient Egyptian texts dating from 2750 BCE referred to these fish as the "Thunderer of the Nile", and described them as the "protectors" of all other fish."

    Source: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/41/11/794/289451/Electric-Fish

Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by Random_Walk (Prior) on Feb 27, 2017 at 12:20 UTC

    Shocky McShockFish

    Cheers,
    R.

    Pereant, qui ante nos nostra dixerunt!
Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by chacham (Prior) on Feb 02, 2017 at 21:27 UTC
Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by perldigious (Priest) on Feb 02, 2017 at 16:49 UTC

    Maybe @EelectricMiguel knows? Have you asked him? :-)

    Miguel Wattson (@EelectricMiguel), is now the conductor of his own Twitter account. As shocking as it may seem, this fish uses his unique abilities to trigger tweets.

    "As shocking as it may seem" *snicker

    Just another Perl hooker - Selling my %hash for $cash.
Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by tweetiepooh (Hermit) on Feb 07, 2017 at 16:53 UTC
    Maybe it was called the "Electic Eel" and "Electicty" was so named because it felt like touching an "Electric Eel".
      Maybe it was called the "Electic Eel" and "Electicty" was so named because it felt like touching an "Electric Eel".

      No. Quoting Wikipedia:

      The ancient Greeks noticed that amber attracted small objects when rubbed with fur. Along with lightning, this phenomenon is one of humanity's earliest recorded experiences with electricity. In his 1600 treatise De Magnete, the English scientist William Gilbert coined the New Latin term electricus, to refer to this property of attracting small objects after being rubbed. Both electric and electricity are derived from the Latin ēlectrum, which came from the Greek word for amber, ἤλεκτρον (ēlektron).

      Alexander

      --
      Today I will gladly share my knowledge and experience, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so". ;-)
Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by herveus (Prior) on Feb 08, 2017 at 19:52 UTC
    Howdy!

    Cowboy Neal

    yours,
    Michael
Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by Anonymous Monk on Feb 01, 2017 at 13:37 UTC
    The name wasnt in English
Re: Before electricity was invented, what was the Electric Eel called?
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Feb 08, 2017 at 10:59 UTC

    Moi 'mebrin' 'ead 'member's 'ee were known as a 'lectrickereel.

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