PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK

Whether you know it as eule (German), coruja (Portuguese), gufo (Italian), chouette (French feminine), noctua (Latin), or búho (Spanish), let’s all take a moment of silence to remember Duo the Owl.

The mascot for Duolingo, the 14-year-old Pittsburgh-based language-learning company, has died, according to social media posts by Duolingo this week.

“Authorities are currently investigating his cause of death and we are cooperating fully,” according to the post. “Tbh (“to be honest” for you folks not in the know) he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know.”

“We’re aware he had many enemies, but we kindly ask that you refrain from sharing why you hate him in the comments…. We appreciate you respecting Dua Lipa’s privacy at this time.”

According to posts on X, Duo’s full name was Duo Keyshauna Renee Lingo and lived from 1000 B.C. to 2025. “In lieu of flowers, please do a Duolingo lesson,” it asked.

Several businesses and brands have weighed in on social media, sending their condolences.

Duolingo was founded in 2011 by Guatemalan-born Luis von Ahn, a Carnegie Mellon University professor at the time, and his Swiss post-graduate student Severin Hacker.

In an interview with Advertising Week in 2022, officials at Duolingo explained that the founders chose the owl as the mascot because the bird is depicted as being wise and the company promotes education. The color green is an inside joke; Severin hates green and von Ahn thought it would be funny to color the owl green to annoy him.