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Colossal Ladybird


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> @"Blood Red Arachnid.2493" said:

> Well they aren't birds, either.

 

True, but it's fairly self-evident that they're not birds. Whereas a lot of people think all small invertebrates are bugs and a lot of entomologists spend a lot of time trying to convince them otherwise and sometimes get quite worked up about it.

 

See also: fish.

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> @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > @"Blood Red Arachnid.2493" said:

> > Well they aren't birds, either.

>

> True, but it's fairly self-evident that they're not birds. Whereas a lot of people think all small invertebrates are bugs and a lot of entomologists spend a lot of time trying to convince them otherwise and sometimes get quite worked up about it.

>

> See also: fish.

 

Funny you should mention fish when a similar thing is happening with Jellyfish. A lot of marine biologists have been pushing the term "Jellies" for years because Jellyfish aren't exactly fish.

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> @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > @"Blood Red Arachnid.2493" said:

> > Well they aren't birds, either.

>

> True, but it's fairly self-evident that they're not birds. Whereas a lot of people think all small invertebrates are bugs and a lot of entomologists spend a lot of time trying to convince them otherwise and sometimes get quite worked up about it.

>

> See also: fish.

 

See also also "fruit" and botanists versus chefs ==> tomatoes are fruit. avocados are fruit. aubergines ("eggplant" for the left-pondian audience) are fruit. Unless you're a chef.

 

Oh, and strawberries aren't berries, but grapes, oranges and *tomatoes* **are** berries.

 

And see also also also "nuts", peanuts, (which are and are not nuts, depending on whom you ask).

 

All of these things are a consequence of the collision between technical language and colloquial language.

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> @"Magek.4718" said:

> > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > @"Blood Red Arachnid.2493" said:

> > > Well they aren't birds, either.

> >

> > True, but it's fairly self-evident that they're not birds. Whereas a lot of people think all small invertebrates are bugs and a lot of entomologists spend a lot of time trying to convince them otherwise and sometimes get quite worked up about it.

> >

> > See also: fish.

>

> Funny you should mention fish when a similar thing is happening with Jellyfish. A lot of marine biologists have been pushing the term "Jellies" for years because Jellyfish aren't exactly fish.

 

Things like that are exactly why I mentioned them. Also star fish (which are not fish), and sea horses (which are...and are definitely not horses). But there's also some people who will call almost any free moving (so not coral) aquatic animal a fish. Like @"Steve The Cynic.3217" said it's the difference between colloquial and technical language, not at all helped by the fact that one of the rules of biology seems to be that if there's a rule there is also an exception. Almost every classification or grouping of animals has ones which don't quite fit the definition and others which do but look completely differently.

 

Going back to the original topic I also prefer the name Ladybird. Maybe I'm biased because I am British so it's 'normal' to me (although some people over here have started saying Ladybug, presumably because of TV) but I just think it sounds nicer.

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> @"Magek.4718" said:

> > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > @"Blood Red Arachnid.2493" said:

> > > Well they aren't birds, either.

> >

> > True, but it's fairly self-evident that they're not birds. Whereas a lot of people think all small invertebrates are bugs and a lot of entomologists spend a lot of time trying to convince them otherwise and sometimes get quite worked up about it.

> >

> > See also: fish.

>

> Funny you should mention fish when a similar thing is happening with Jellyfish. A lot of marine biologists have been pushing the term "Jellies" for years because Jellyfish aren't exactly fish.

 

Pretty sure Starfish is in the same spot, no?

 

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> @"Oglaf.1074" said:

> > @"Alga.6498" said:

> > I like the "English" name of it too, but to me I will always say Ladybug, or in Swedish, "Nyckelpiga".

> > Which makes no sense at all, ??

> >

> > A straight off translate: Nyckelpiga - Keymaid

> > ?????

>

>

> http://www.norstedts.se/nyheter/amp/137423-varfor-heter-det-nyckelpiga-

>

> :wink:

 

Oooohhh, I never knew about that and none have ever said about it, now I know why ?

Thanks?

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> @"Steve The Cynic.3217" said:

> > @"Blood Red Arachnid.2493" said:

> > Personally I prefer ladybug, because I like how the word "buuuuuuuuug" sounds. All of this stuff about _**etymology**_ and technicalities therein is just nitpicking.

>

> Etymology and entomology are very different things.

>

 

Except for the study of Silverfish that eat only dictionaries. ;)

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> @"Steve The Cynic.3217" said:

> > @"Blood Red Arachnid.2493" said:

> > Personally I prefer ladybug, because I like how the word "buuuuuuuuug" sounds. All of this stuff about _**etymology**_ and technicalities therein is just nitpicking.

>

> Etymology and entomology are very different things.

>

 

We're talking about the name, not the insect itself. Etymology is the correct term.

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> @"Steve The Cynic.3217" said:

> > @"Blood Red Arachnid.2493" said:

> > Personally I prefer ladybug, because I like how the word "buuuuuuuuug" sounds. All of this stuff about _**etymology**_ and technicalities therein is just nitpicking.

>

> Etymology and entomology are very different things.

>

 

Strangely both apply...

Etymology is the study of the origin of words, and entomology the study of Arthropods.

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