• Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    This is just because English sucks, or English speaking people suck at naming things. Let me show you how it’s done:

    In Dutch:

    Horseshoe crabs are called “dagger crabs”, and look what it’s dragging behind.

    Cuttlefish are called “ink fish”, and tadaa.

    Jellyfish are “kwallen”, which means roughly “annoying person”, and they’re pretty annoying.

    Bald eagles are “American Eagles”, you’re welcome.

    A sand dollar is called a “sea coin”, because of where it lives and what it resembles, which is way more accurate.

    And a fly is still a fly.

    • Blubton@feddit.nl
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      1 year ago

      In Dutch, the Common Drone Fly is also called “Blinde Bij”, which means “Blind Bee”. This is because this animal is neither blind nor a bee and the Dutch are very good at naming things

    • PM_ME_FEET_PICS@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Animals who do not live up to thier names Dutch edition.

      Dagger Crabs - Don’t have daggers and not crabs.

      Ink Fish - Not actually fish.

      Kwallen- Not actually a person.

      American Eagles - Found all over Canada and upper Mexico.

      Sea Coins - Can’t actually be used as coins.

  • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    In my town there’s a shop that sells rocks and crystals etc. They also sell sand dollars for $1. That’s right, there’s a 1:1 conversion rate between sand dollars and USD.

    • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They probably never change that price either, so it’s actually pinned to the dollar.

    • Cihta@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Interesting. In south FL you can (or could, been a while) hit certain places and find the keyhole variant by the hundreds. Fascinating creature, all those tube feet to move. It’s illegal to take them but that didn’t stop shops from selling the ones that “washed up” which doesn’t really happen.

      But for some reason people actually buy them. It’s a skeleton of a creature someone scooped up and let bake in the sun for a month. Kinda creepy!

        • Cihta@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          It’s quite possible, just not my experience. I’ve seen a lot of really neat shells and stuff wash up but not sand dollars. So i don’t want to suggest people actually do that. But it’s certainly easy enough. Probably why it’s illegal.

          I do suggest, if you get the chance, to check them out live. As i kid i had a few skeletons but seeing them in action was way cooler. It’s not super exciting or anything, just kinda neat. Same as another one on that list - the horseshoe crab. I helped one get out of a shallow and it seemed appreciative… at least as much as an ancient creature can be.

          Stingrays are kinda dicks though so keep that in mind.

  • erusuoyera@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Animal that does not live up to its name:

    Red Panda. Not Red, not a panda

    Animal that lives up to its name:

    Sloth

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Red Panda. Not Red, not a panda

      But pretty fucking amazing with that kicking bowls onto her head while riding a unicycle thing - while listening to the world’s most annoying song ever.

    • Dave@lemmy.nz
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      1 year ago

      Peacocks have cocks. Peahens do not.

      Peacocks don’t have a pecker in their privates. Instead of a johnson, they have a cloaca. No willie.

        • Dave@lemmy.nz
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          1 year ago

          Can you back that up? I’ve spent the last 10 minutes searching up cloaca diagrams and pictures and articles and I can’t find any decent information about it. Only saying that they do a cloaca kiss and transfer sperm, but then I can’t find a cloaca diagram that labels any part as a penis.

            • Dave@lemmy.nz
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              1 year ago

              Yeah, I’m not sure you could call whatever a chicken does “penetrative”, and I feel like the term “penis” has a specific meaning that wouldn’t include cloaca.

    • Pipoca@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      cock (n.1) “male of the domestic fowl,” from Old English cocc “male bird,” Old French coc (12c., Modern French coq), Old Norse kokkr, all of echoic origin. Compare Albanian kokosh “cock,” Greek kikkos, Sanskrit kukkuta, Malay kukuk.

      cock (n.3)

      “penis,” 1610s, but certainly older and suggested in word-play from at least 15c.; also compare pillicock “penis,” attested from early 14c.

      They’re called peacocks because they’re peafowl who are cocks. It’s a way older term than the slang usage.

    • Citheronia@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      actually, all or nearly all peacocks have cocks. the ones that don’t are peahens.

      • Lophostemon@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        I was under the impression that male birds do not possess a protruding organ but indeed have a hole too, hence ‘no cock’.

        • Citheronia@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          didn’t think i would be googling “peacock genitalia” today. anyway, you are right. i was confused because I know that ducks have penises, but as I just found out, ducks are actually an exception in the bird world. most birds just kind of rub their holes together. this is sometimes called “cloacal kiss”, which is really funny.

    • Taleya@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Peacocks actually have no penis whatsoever. Be glad. You give a bird a penis and they get really into rape