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What animal is depicted in this image labelled “weefil”?

Old woodcut labeled Weeſil

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Can you share the image source? – user13107 Oct 14 '12 at 17:34
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@RegDwighт: I dunno. Certainly, tchrist's much-evolved answer could now almost equally apply to that question, but I think that's because he has buried the actual 'weasel' part of the answer in lots of other information about typefaces. – Marthaª Oct 15 '12 at 13:48

3 Answers

up vote 65 down vote

f  vs  ſ

That’s merely a “long s”, not an f.

wikipedia long s example

Therefore, it is not a weefil but rather a weeſil — meaning of course, a weasel.

We can rule out weevil because it has the look not of a bug but of a musteline critter.

Here are some examples in various faces — namely, in roman, italic, script, uncial, and blackletter faces — of just how confusing this can sometimes be to the uninitiated:

font examples

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musteline would be a better line. Nice answer :) – naught101 Oct 14 '12 at 23:34
all of that because it has roots in the long S of German origin? – Chris Oct 15 '12 at 3:37
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@Chris No, the long s is actually not of German origin, but Roman, and was used in many languages both in handwriting and later in print. Furthermore, its use was not limited to blackletter faces (or hands) alone. See here, here, and if you’d like, perhaps also here. – tchrist Oct 15 '12 at 13:06
up vote 26 down vote

That's not an F, it's an S. You can tell because the bar doesn't cross the stem. Once you figure that out, it's pretty easy to deduce that weesil is an old spelling of weasel. Plus, the picture is obviously of something weasel-oid.

Here's a pretty good overview of the history of the long S in printing, including the rules (or rather, lack thereof) for using long vs. short S: http://www.colonialsense.com/Society-Lifestyle/Signs_of_the_Times/Long_S.php

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up vote 7 down vote

Others have already rightfully pointed out that this is a weasel. As a member of the Mustelidae family, it is related to the sea otter.

In Maine, these were known as lobsters, which were subsequently driven to extinction by crustaceans now commonly known as lobsters. The last of these old lobsters died in 1980.

a furry old lobster

Pictured: A "furry old lobster"

Full Disclaimer: The second paragraph of this answer is complete fiction. Any factual resemblance is purely coincidental. Both the old "furry old lobster" and modern-day "lobster" are alive and well.

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"Hodgman's story is, of course, entirely fictional" – MετάEd Oct 14 '12 at 14:46
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Of course it's fictional, there's still plenty of old lobsters in Maine today. – Joe Wreschnig Oct 14 '12 at 19:43
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I think you maybe ought to emphasize that calling them "furry lobsters" is a joke, and that they aren't really extinct. – KitFox♦ Oct 14 '12 at 19:55
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@KitFox Fictional claims do not belong in the answer at all. – MετάEd Oct 15 '12 at 3:08

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