English has too many words for animals
2026-04-12 08:51 UTC
Replies (28)
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@osanna@lemmy.vg 2026-04-12 09:11
I always thought turtles mostly live in the water and tortoises mostly lived on land.
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@meme_historian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-04-12 09:36
Simple! Turtle: pretty chill dude cruising the East Australian Current Tortoise: teaching Pandas Kung-Fu
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@regdog@lemmy.world 2026-04-12 09:36
If you don’t know the difference between turtle and tortoise then you are a monkey
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@fartsparkles@lemmy.world 2026-04-12 09:52
All tortoises are turtles (but not all turtles are tortoises) from a biology point of view. Tortoises specifically being exclusively land-based members of the turtle (Testudines) order. So there is a difference. And “spring” doesn’t really have different meanings - as per the root of the word, it always means some variant of “to burst forth”. There’s lots of different definitions for the word but they’re all rooted in the same place, from an etymology point of view. The season bursting forth from the winter darkness and cold, the metal coil as it bursts forth when released from compression, the source of water as it bursts forth from the ground, bursting forth someone out of jail, etc. Homographs are the real problem - when two different words, over time, become spelled the same. Sow, lead, close, bear. All have multiple etymologies where different words eventually became spelled the same. Those are the worst! English is a truly crazy mashup of Latin, Greek, French, German, Celtic, Norse and more.
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@HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-12 09:55
One is an animal and the other a military formation, duh.
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@ccunning@lemmy.world 2026-04-12 10:06
🤓🪤 The pedant trap has been set…
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@Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-12 12:46
My box turtle mostly lives on soil, although he enjoys a paddle and soak in his water. But the main difference from a tortoise is that he’s omnivorous, needing protein like bugs, whereas they are herbivores.
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@ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 2026-04-13 05:10
This is like the hare and rabbit thing… (what are the differences?)
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@Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2026-04-13 05:26
not as much as for plants, the non-scientific names.
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@BananaTrifleViolin@piefed.world 2026-04-12 14:24
Tortoises are Turtles, but not all Turtles are Tortoises. This isn’t an English thing, this is a taxonomy thing. It should be the same in any language, just with different words used.
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@WoodScientist@lemmy.world 2026-04-13 05:30
This title sentence works multiple ways. My cat is unable to speak English, because it has far too many words beyond the word meow.
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@Kolanaki@pawb.social 2026-04-13 00:31
The biggest difference is that turtles live in and around water, while tortises are entirely land based.
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@vatlark@lemmy.world 2026-04-13 05:51
English: owl German: Eule, Uhu, Kauz French: Hibou, Chouette
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@Unpigged@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-04-13 06:24
This is your reminder that taxonomically fish and trees do not exist.
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@nightlily@leminal.space 2026-04-13 07:27
German: that toad looking thing has a shield on it
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@danda@lemmy.zip 2026-04-12 13:24
A turtle lives in water, a tortoise lives on land. A turtle's not a tortoise, it's not hard to understand.
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@Dyskolos@lemmy.zip 2026-04-13 09:43
Simple. One can be thrown into water and it'll be OK. The other...not so much.
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@weariedfae@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-13 11:15
Easy! A turtle is flippy flips and a tortoise is clompy clomps.
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@FishFace@piefed.social 2026-04-12 09:57
Tortoises are land animals. Simple. Frogs and toads might be a better one - there's no systematic difference except toads are ugly.
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@Digit@lemmy.wtf 2026-04-12 13:00
flippers and feet.
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@MrFinnbean@lemmy.world 2026-04-12 18:59
Would be simpler just to call them turtles and landturtles.
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@luthis@lemmy.nz 2026-04-12 08:55
They are waaaaaay different what are you talking about..
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@samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-12 14:26
A tortoise is a kind of turtle, just like a toad is a kind of frog.
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@notabot@piefed.social 2026-04-12 14:05
If you think "spring" is bad, go check how many different meanings there are for the word "set".
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@whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-04-13 16:04
One has a flat head the other has a plus sign head like the difference between crocodiles and alligators or ravens and writing desks
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@dumbass@piefed.social 2026-04-12 09:32
Well a tortoise could never become a ninja.
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@Entropy_Pyre@lemmy.ca 2026-04-12 13:21
The spring comment is valid.
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@then_three_more@lemmy.world 2026-04-12 13:10
Turtle mostly sea living Tortoise land living Terrapin er not sure, water based and evil?