Etymology and Species
The Caonima, literally "Grass Mud Horse", is supposedly a species of alpaca. The name is derived from a profanity (Chinese: 肏你妈/操你媽; pinyin: cào nǐ mā), which translates as "fuck your mother". This is similar to the English insult "motherfucker". The comparison with the "animal" name is not an actual homophone: the two terms have the same consonants and vowels with different tones, which are represented by different characters.
According to the original, anonymous article from Baidu Baike, Grass Mud Horses originate from an area known as the "Mahler Gobi" Desert (马勒戈壁, Mǎlè Gēbì, which resembles the Chinese characters 妈了个屄, māle ge bī, meaning "your mother's fucking cunt"). Some variants of the animal are known as "Fertile Grass Mud Horses" (沃草泥马, Wò Cǎonímǎ, which resembles 我肏你妈, Wǒ cào nǐ mā, meaning "I fuck your mother"). The Grass Mud Horse can only eat fertile grass (沃草, wò cǎo, which resembles 我肏, Wǒ cào, meaning "I fuck!" or simply "Fuck!"). Other subspecies are known as "Crazy/Violent/Insane Grass Mud Horses" (狂草泥马, Kuáng Cǎonímǎ), which are considered the "kings" of the Caonima. The initial image found in the original Baidu Baike article was a zebra, but was turned into an alpaca in subsequent revisions.
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