[lit-ideas] The Fly That's Not A Fly
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2010 11:53:51 EDT
From World Wide Words,
"As a professional entomologist, I enjoyed your bit about insect common
names."
"As an aid to my students over the last 35 years, I have informed them of
the rule you explain."
"Your piece also illustrates the hazards of common names divorced from the
relevant scientific names."
"In my experience, a 'June bug' and 'tumblebug' are beetles and 'greenfly'
is a 'bug'."
"'Blackfly' is more interesting, since it can be used
for a true fly and also for an aphid/'bug' - its usage would be
clarified if the rule were followed in this case - 'black fly' for
the true biting fly, and 'blackfly' for the aphid."
But it's not.
-- Speranza, Bordighera
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- » [lit-ideas] The Fly That's Not A Fly - Jlsperanza