silver jenny
- noun
- US
:
mojarra
- The silver jenny is prized for its delicate, silvery scales and mild flavor.
Examples
-
Fishermen often catch silver jenny along the warm beaches of Florida.
-
I caught a large silver jenny yesterday.
-
A school of silver jenny darted through the shallow waters near the shore.
-
Have you ever seen a silver jenny swimming?
-
A school of silver jenny darted through the shallow waters near the shore.
-
Fishermen often catch silver jenny along the warm beaches of Florida.
-
The silver jenny is prized for its delicate, silvery scales and mild flavor.
Synonyms
A small silvery fish that lives on sandy shores of the western Atlantic
A small silver fish that swims in groups near warm coasts
A small silver fish often caught and sold for food
A small silver fish often caught and fried for food
A small silver fish that lives in warm shallow coastal waters
Surface Forms
Morphology
silver + jenny
Although 'silver' clearly signals a silvery colour, the noun 'jenny' is not a productive, transparent label for a fish to average learners (and is more commonly known as 'female donkey' or as a regional proper name). Because the crucial head noun does not cue the referent 'mojarra' and could lead to misinterpretation, the compound meaning cannot be reliably derived from its parts by a B1 learner.
Etymology
The name silver jenny may come from the fish's bright, shiny scales (silver) and the word jenny, a familiar name for a small, lively animal. People pictured a little silver creature, so the name came to mean 'a small silvery fish found near the shore'.
