Twitter, need your help
I outraged my wife this morning by explaining that we English call ladybugs 'ladybirds'.
Her objection is that they're not birds, and I countered with the suggestion that lots of animals are called things they're not. She requires examples.
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So far I have starfish, jellyfish, koala bear, slow worm, sea horses, sea lions... what else?
(Apparently 'king cobras' don't count because they are indeed cobras, and I can't prove they don't have some kind of monarchical function)
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@imrankhan
Hedgehogs aren't pigs.
But to really blow your wife's mind, you need to point out that ladybugs aren't bugs, they're beetles.
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@Suw
hmm, i hear you, but over here the term 'bug' seems to apply to any creepy-crawly, so i think she'd push back
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@imrankhan
Every bird used to be given a Christian Name. So redbreast became a robin and a Pie bird became a Margaret Pie… Magpie
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@imrankhan
Seems like you have all the evidence you need... but I'm uncertain as to whether this thread is beneficial to your marriage? From experience, sometimes its best not to be right.
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@imrankhan
Mountain lions aren't lions (or mountains). Sabre-tooth tigers aren't tigers and their sabre-teeth are canine teeth, not sabres, and though they're canine teeth they're also not the teeth of a canine, and... <shot rings out>
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@imrankhan
@TimHarford
Well, the turkey’s taxonomic name Meleagris Gallopavo is literally ‘guineafowl chickenpeacock’, but technically it isn’t any of those.
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@imrankhan
Flying lemurs are neither lemurs nor flying. Guinea pigs are not pigs, and the red panda isn't a panda. The killer whale is a dolphin and the prairie dog isn't a dog.
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@imrankhan
I can’t provide citations and might be a bit heavy on technical botanical semantics, but a lot of “berries” (strawberries, etc) aren’t really berries. Also peanuts and cashew nuts aren’t technically nuts…
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@imrankhan
What would she say to the fact that ladybirds are also known as Bishy Barnabees in Norfolk? That’s Norfolk in the UK, not the one state side!
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@imrankhan
Not an animal, but Jerusalem Artichokes are not from Jerusalem, and are not artichokes.
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