Where has banter been?

[Sdaji]

That's probably what I was trying to say Sdaji - that common usage evolves over time, but is probably "leveling out" and becoming less parochial with the increase in the ease of global communication.

Jackrabbit, I defiantly have to agree with you there!

Jamie

More or less parochial? I am not sure. More or less accurate? Again, I am not sure. When everyone is unanimously agreeing on tortoises not being turtles (utterly incorrect and quite parochial) and that there is no such thing as a venomous snake (again, utterly incorrect, until the myth started to make itself correct and perhaps will become firmly correct, again, extremely parochial), and the countless other examples, it seems easier for the world to come to a consensus (regardless of whether or not it is a good or accurate or correct one) and become globally quite narrow minded. Before, different people in different areas had different views, and were arguably more willing to accept different ideas because they hadn't become so rarefied. The trend towards ridiculing and shunning different ideas seems to be as strong as ever, the desire to be sure that the conventional wisdom is accurate seems lower than ever, and the extent to which the world is unified is obviously greater than ever.

 

[alichamp]

Koalas used to be called Koala bears which never had any relevance to whether or not they were true bears.

Only time I've ever heard an Australian call a koala a "koala bear" was my mother in law talking to my children, you know along the same lines as "birdy". I ripped her a new one I mean really, why does talking to a child mean you have to cutesy up animal names - it's easier for them just to learn 'bird' or 'magpie' or 'koala' or 'dog' rather than the grating 'birdie' etc. And you're actually doing them a disservice because you're teaching them less about the world around them and more about dumbing things down. Sorry, a pet hate of mine... rant over.

- - - Updated - - -

Ok, here's one. Are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turtles or tortoises? I guess given the above it doesn't really matter because both would technically be true.

In the latest movie, Raph makes a point of saying, "we're turtles not tortoises, there's a difference you know" but, much to my personal disappointment, doesn't go on to justify his statement (imagine that rationale in the movie!!). They do live in the sewer but we don't really see them comfortably in water.

My daughter tells me that turtles are faster and tortoises are slow, so the ninja turtles are too fast to be tortoises. Another misconception? Or maybe she's on to something.

So what are the differences that make a tortoise a tortoise-type-of-turtle?

 

[Sdaji]

Only time I've ever heard an Australian call a koala a "koala bear" was my mother in law talking to my children, you know along the same lines as "birdy". I ripped her a new one I mean really, why does talking to a child mean you have to cutesy up animal names - it's easier for them just to learn 'bird' or 'magpie' or 'koala' or 'dog' rather than the grating 'birdie' etc. And you're actually doing them a disservice because you're teaching them less about the world around them and more about dumbing things down. Sorry, a pet hate of mine... rant over.

- - - Updated - - -

Ok, here's one. Are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turtles or tortoises? I guess given the above it doesn't really matter because both would technically be true.

In the latest movie, Raph makes a point of saying, "we're turtles not tortoises, there's a difference you know" but, much to my personal disappointment, doesn't go on to justify his statement (imagine that rationale in the movie!!). They do live in the sewer but we don't really see them comfortably in water.

My daughter tells me that turtles are faster and tortoises are slow, so the ninja turtles are too fast to be tortoises. Another misconception? Or maybe she's on to something.

So what are the differences that make a tortoise a tortoise-type-of-turtle?

Maybe you're younger than me or maybe it's a regional thing. When I was a youngster in the early 80s, most people in Melbourne called them koala bears, and it was something I had to unlearn when I was a bit older. You don't often hear it now, although interestingly, I probably have heard it more over the last two years (I haven't been in Australia) than back when I was in Australia for the previous 10-20 years. Asians, if they know what they are will usually call them koalas, but Americans and others often talk about koala bears when they ask me about Australia.

I wouldn't get too focussed on using Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a herpetological reference, but it's like saying "We're not geckoes, we're lizards!" or "We're not snakes, we're reptiles!" or "We're not Asians, we're humans!". It's not a correct statement.

Tortoises are a clade (a genetic family) of turtles. What makes them tortoises is being genetically part of that group. Their clade does have a lot of characteristics which make them easy to identify. All the tortoises (to my knowledge) spend almost all of their time on land and basically never swim (unless by accident or in unusual circumstances). All other turtles (again, if there are any exceptions I haven't heard of them) spend most of their time in water (unless they're brumating). Some non tortoise turtles have classic flippers and some have clawed webbed hands (like almost all of the Australian turtles), but they're all designed for swimming. All tortoises have very distinctly different feet, almost a bit like elephant feet, which would be useless for swimming. I am not aware of anything intermediate. If it's not a complete flipper or a very obviously webbed hand/foot, it belongs to a tortoise.

Tortoises are sort of slower than turtles, but some tortoises would easily outrun some non tortoise turtles. I think you'd struggle to find any tortoise which could outswim any non tortoise turtle.

 

[HiramAbiff]

The best way to start it is to knowingly give false information on a topic, as anyone on my facebook freinds list knows.
I find it starts healthy debate.

 

[BredliFreak]

The best way to start it is to knowingly give false information on a topic, as anyone on my facebook freinds list knows.
I find it starts healthy debate.

*Cough Cough Pythons + UVB debates Cough Cough*

I couldn't have said it better myself HiramAbiff.