Stephen J Henstridge
Jarrett WalkerWe biology geeks may sound elitist when we use scientific names instead of common names, but we're really just trying to avoid this:
A further coolness of scientific names: They can be as wrong or silly as common names, but because they're not common words there's no "black bear" confusion. "Sciurus niger" means "black squirrel" and yet most of the species is brown. It's funny but not confusing.
Paul Kidd@humantransit how is it that different from giving them names based on random combinations of words and numbers? “Stupendous Blacksmith III” is the common warbler, and “Frosty Pie 21” is Antarctic krill, for example. I suppose the Latin and Greek might be more memorable, but not sure.
@humantransit should we actually start naming things based on clades? Fully specified except for well-known ones. Humans might still ce Homo sapiens but some flatworm might need nine or ten words strung together.
Kelt@humantransit Once I tried to find my way around elk, moose and the european animals named similar. It was a quest to say the least. But a biology geek friend of mine helped me out. Thank god for them :)
Dawn Tåke 🏳️⚧️@kelt @humantransit
I was leading a book discussion on a Swedish book and an Elk came up as part of the story. So I pointed out that a Swedish elk looks more like a North American Moose than a Caribou. That killed like 10 minutes.
I was leading a book discussion on a Swedish book and an Elk came up as part of the story. So I pointed out that a Swedish elk looks more like a North American Moose than a Caribou. That killed like 10 minutes.
Tris Hussey@humantransit don’t even get me started on “organic” food. I’ll drop it as soon as I see a silicon-based banana in the store. 😉 I had Latin names drilled into me for years during my scientist days.
panisuze@trishussey @humantransit Thank you for the reminder that all carbon-based material is organic.
Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE@panisuze @trishussey @humantransit Which is basically everything you consume except for water and salt, no?
@trishussey My local nursery sells “organic pumice.”
Cycling_mike@humantransit well, there's a reason for scientific names
artfulrobot@humantransit is it clearer if they reported on brownimus bearimus then? 😆
Christina Sørensen
Andrew Abernathy@humantransit As a sometimes hiker/camper in bear country, I learned long ago that you should react differently if attacked by a Black bear vs a Brown (Grizzly) bear. That seemed at least straightforward, so I was rather dismayed when I found out that a brown bear is sometimes a Black bear.
nushpowell@humantransit Okay but I love this note completely and unabashedly.
Ben Curthoys@humantransit sounds like they need a copy of http://bookmonsters.info/blog/2016/01/23/a-beginners-guide-to-bear-spotting/
Dr Michael Ward@humantransit see also "mastodon" :-)
ClipperChip 
Mad World - Gary Jules
Auf YouTube findest du großartige Videos und erstklassige Musik. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder mit der ganzen Welt teilen.
Sammi@humantransit Made my morning 
PoeticLicenseDK
Ariane Wilkinson
Ana Distracted@humantransit I may share this with my students when I teach scientific names. :)
@anadistracted @humantransit It's more important than that ... black bears climb trees, brown bears don't, so don't climb a tree to try to get a away from a brown black bear ...
mrpieceofwork@ReflectedDreams I just recently saw a post of a "magpie robin", and, me being from Turtle Island, and having seen both robins and magpies, I said to myself, "No, that's some kind of European tit" ;)
@humantransit Love it.
Confused Middle Aged Dad@humantransit proper unique names are so important in so many fields to ensure we are all talking about the same thing. See chemical names and abbreviations for one area.
John Conway@humantransit I have a Brontosaurus to sell you!
But seriously, I think scientific names have a serious problem with stability. It’s really bad in palaeontology.
was B (this is my old account)@humantransit this is very goofy! 😅
In general, but esp because the image is so important to the meaning of this post, it’d be great if you can include alt text.
For those interested: tweet reads “being an editor is hard” and includes a screenshot that says “Editor’s note: a previous version of this story stated that the bear is a brown bear. While it is a bear that is brown, it is not a brown bear; it is a black bear (that is brown). The story has been updated to reflect this.
Kelvin Voskuijl
VC Roy@humantransit I had a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) done after surgery (postop issues). I grew up learning about all kinds of animals, what with having wanted to be a marine biologist. So, when the doctor showed me animal pictures, I answered.
- The elephant was not just an elephant, it was an Asian Elephant.
- The alligator was actually a crocodile.
Said doctor had never heard a patient so accurately label the animals getting a mini lesson on animal identification.
alex roberts@humantransit i love this thank you
altertexaner@humantransit Ah, he was Fuzzy Wuzzy?
@humantransit I've been trying to think of some of the plants... there's tons of confusing common names amongst them all. "Yams" come to mind now...
@mrpieceofwork “Cedar” is just painful.
@humantransit I was thinking of when people call any needled evergreen a "pine tree" when I thought of the conifers, but yeah, "cedars" are all over the place
Novio de la Suerte 🎲@humantransit so... black bears can be brown?
Megan Marie Hart@humantransit
The bear’s not a brown bear /
It’s a bear that is brown /
It’s not a brown brown bear at all /
It’s a brown black bear /
That’s a black bear that’s brown /
But not a black black bear to call! /
The bear’s not a brown bear /
It’s a bear that is brown /
It’s not a brown brown bear at all /
It’s a brown black bear /
That’s a black bear that’s brown /
But not a black black bear to call! /
James@humantransit
English is a wonderful language but it fails at expressing technical topics. In my field ...
"'The fuse blows ..." 'Blows,' you mean it explodes?
No. "The fuse open..." What, the case ruptures?
No. "The fusible element within the protector opens, as per design in the event of a fault, removing power from the downstream circuit."
Stace@humantransit The joy of 'common names'
⏚ Antoine Chambert-Loir@humantransit
In math, the terminology is sometimes ill chosen. For example, we may have to consider a noncommutative field and, contrary to what its name suggests, want to prove that it is commutative...
In math, the terminology is sometimes ill chosen. For example, we may have to consider a noncommutative field and, contrary to what its name suggests, want to prove that it is commutative...
Phil Landmeier@humantransit All geeks and nerds, specialists in any field, sound "elitist" to people who don't speak the lingo. It sounds like "Greek".
This is the nature of the beast. As something of a polymath, I've often told people not to be afraid of a new subject or field. Don't be put off by the terminology. Instead, learn the terminology. Once you know the terminology and how to use it, you're 80 percent of the way to learning the field because you can read and understand what you read.
When you first begin, it's like a brick wall and you're already lost on page 2. Push through it. Read the book even though it seems you're not understanding anything. In fact, your brain is picking up clues. Then read the book again and be amazed at how much more sticks.
Philosphene@humantransit same with technology and the medical industry. We use domain specific language because it is precise, which is needed when talking about things in those kinds of details.
Propinqua@humantransit just yesterday I had a lengthy conversation about black wattle
Lapscallion@humantransit "bear" is just an old word for brown :D
Desert Dweller 🌵
LinkmeisterOkay, I actually did laugh out loud.