I understand the frustration, but it really is misplaced. Tortoises ARE turtles, things that are venomous ARE poisonous, etc.
The thing is, it is GUARANTEED that we are mis-using other words that drive other people bonkers. For example:
- Reptiles do not 'hibernate', they 'brumate', yet even good sources use the more understandable term of 'hibernate'.
- There is no such thing as a 'Styrofoam cup'. Styrofoam is a specific product by Dow Chemical that is completely unsuitable for cups, etc. We have 'expanded polystyrene cups', but almost everyone mis-uses the term, much to the consternation of Dow.
- There are no wild 'buffaloes' in the Great Plains of the US. We have 'bison'. There are two living kinds of buffalos, African Cape Buffalo, and Asian Water Buffalo, and they really don't look like either of the two species of bison.
- Vegetable vs. fruit. The edible part of any plant is a vegetable, so fruits are a sub-category of vegetables. Fruits, however, are vegetables grown from the ovaries and containing seeds, so a lot of things we never call fruits actually are- tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, and pumpkins to name just a few.
- Using terms like 'Rio Grande River' or 'Sahara Desert', where the unfamiliar word is the same as the English ('Rio' means river and 'Sahara' means desert'), things like 'The GAO Office', when GAO means General Accountability Office, and so forth.
- Misuse of terms like lie vs. lay, literally vs. figuratively, etc.
The point is that everyone has some linguistic weakness, makes some error in their word selection that really bothers someone else, etc. So... since getting ruffled over 'turtle vs. tortoise' is almost certainly a matter of the 'pot calling the kettle black', maybe we can find something else to worry about?
The thing is, it is GUARANTEED that we are mis-using other words that drive other people bonkers. For example:
- Reptiles do not 'hibernate', they 'brumate', yet even good sources use the more understandable term of 'hibernate'.
- There is no such thing as a 'Styrofoam cup'. Styrofoam is a specific product by Dow Chemical that is completely unsuitable for cups, etc. We have 'expanded polystyrene cups', but almost everyone mis-uses the term, much to the consternation of Dow.
- There are no wild 'buffaloes' in the Great Plains of the US. We have 'bison'. There are two living kinds of buffalos, African Cape Buffalo, and Asian Water Buffalo, and they really don't look like either of the two species of bison.
- Vegetable vs. fruit. The edible part of any plant is a vegetable, so fruits are a sub-category of vegetables. Fruits, however, are vegetables grown from the ovaries and containing seeds, so a lot of things we never call fruits actually are- tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, and pumpkins to name just a few.
- Using terms like 'Rio Grande River' or 'Sahara Desert', where the unfamiliar word is the same as the English ('Rio' means river and 'Sahara' means desert'), things like 'The GAO Office', when GAO means General Accountability Office, and so forth.
- Misuse of terms like lie vs. lay, literally vs. figuratively, etc.
The point is that everyone has some linguistic weakness, makes some error in their word selection that really bothers someone else, etc. So... since getting ruffled over 'turtle vs. tortoise' is almost certainly a matter of the 'pot calling the kettle black', maybe we can find something else to worry about?
