Why are TEDDY BEARS called like that?
This item should be called a STUFFED BEAR really since that is what all the other toys of similar kind are called such as Stuffed Lions, Stuffed Giraffes, Stuffed Elephants and so on.
Believe it or not a U.S. presisdent is responsible. Theodore Roosevelt was famous for being a passionate hunter and loved to go hunting large animals such as Grizzly Bears that once were more common in the American soil than they are these days. It happened that one day for some unclear reason he refused to kill one of these bears.
Inspired by that incident a toymaker created a toy that resembled a bear cub and apparently even got official permission to use the name of the president himself for his creation. Since most U.S. citizens called Theodore Roosevelt, Teddy (he was quite popular), that is precisely what the toy was called originally: Teddy's Bear. It became an instant hit and even after all these years (this all began around 1902) the toy is a favorite though its name has somewhat changed so these days everyone called these bears justTEDDY BEARS.
This is another example of meaning lost in translation since in Spanish we only call this item OSO DE PELUCHE without making any reference to Roosevelt's nickname and his connection to the toy.
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