Things you should know by now, but only just discovered

Terrorpin would be a good TMNT villian.

Update: I’m a damn genius.

oilypenguin wrote:

Terrorpin would be a good TMNT villian.

Update: I’m a damn genius.

Home: Upper state New York

Good to know.

Huh. I have always referred to our land-based masters of chill as turtles and only really considered tortoise for "sea turtles". Or those really big ones.

Abu5217 wrote:

Huh. I have always referred to our land-based masters of chill as turtles and only really considered tortoise for "sea turtles". Or those really big ones.

Ditto, on the nose.

-BEP

Abu5217 wrote:

only really considered tortoise for "sea turtles". Or those really big ones.

Keithustus wrote:

Other than that, I never had reason to believe they weren't interchangeable terms.

No, no, no!

They are not the same. From the article I linked: “Turtle” is the umbrella term for all 200 species of the testudine group, which includes turtles, tortoises, and terrapins.

Also in the article I linked is a heartbreaking anecdote about some people who took a bunch of baby tortoises they found and "freed" them in the water, where they all died. The awful lesson is: a) tortoises are not aquatic, and b) leave wild animals alone, because you may very easily kill them (or yourself) with your ignorance. (Later the mama tortoise came and exacted a revenge so horrific I can't even begin to describe it upon the people who murdered her babies.)

BadKen wrote:
Abu5217 wrote:

only really considered tortoise for "sea turtles". Or those really big ones.

Keithustus wrote:

Other than that, I never had reason to believe they weren't interchangeable terms.

No, no, no!

They are not the same. From the article I linked: “Turtle” is the umbrella term for all 200 species of the testudine group, which includes turtles, tortoises, and terrapins.

However, also in the article I linked is a heartbreaking anecdote about some people who took a bunch of baby tortoises they found and "freed" them in the water, where they all died. That reminds us that a) tortoises are not aquatic, and b) leave wild animals alone, because you may very easily kill them with your ignorance.

Pfft. They're all just basically agoraphobic geckos.

BadKen wrote:

However, also in the article I linked is a heartbreaking anecdote about some people who took a bunch of baby tortoises they found and "freed" them in the water, where they all died..

Fake Turtle News. Don't buy into the whole "turtles are different from tortoises" noise you're hearing from that GWJ fake news site.

-BEP

Source: Degree in this stuff

Animal categorization is largely made up and rooted in very old science. So there are plenty of dumb parts like the Turtle/tortoise/turtle issue. A big part of the problem is that naming conventions are very flexible and the rules keep changing.

Another fun example of taxanomic foolishness is the western lowland Gorilla. The official scientific name is Gorilla gorilla gorilla

Soilered for length

Spoiler:

In general the breakdown from most general to most specific is:
Kingdom (Animalia) - Is an Animal
Phylum (Chordata) - Has a spinal cord
Class (Reptilia) - Annoyingly broad and poorly defined term, usually "cold blooded", usually lays eggs, usually scaly sin.
Order (Testudines) - Common name = Turtle
Family (5 or 6 options here) - This is where things get wonky, but they're broadly categorized based on some physiological traits. Here is where we get a general split of tortoise and turtle (small t). Tortoises are land dweller and the various turtles are at least partially aquatic.
Species (too many to list) - At this point it's just some guy picking a name and we've all agreed.
Sub species (fool's errand) - Too long to discuss here. Largely a waste of time anyways.

TLDR: We use the word "turtle" twice at different levels of specificity and that's confusing.

Skiptron wrote:

Source: Degree in this stuff

Can you confirm my the well-known Terrapin Theory I mentioned earlier?

Stevintendo wrote:
Skiptron wrote:

Source: Degree in this stuff

Can you confirm my the well-known Terrapin Theory I mentioned earlier?

1) There are definitely grumpy terrapins. They have some especially ornery species that give them a bad rap.

2) TMNT villain Terrorpin is indeed terrifying and a great pun

Dear God what have I wrought!

I think we have given birth to the next great thread. One doesn't merely create a great thread. A great thread, like life, will find a way.

Callused (a hardened or thickened part of the skin) is spelt callused.

Don't think I've ever written it down before. I wasn't expecting a 'u' there.

Next thing I’m going to hear is that all geese and ducks can be called “ducks”...

Won’t somebody think of the childrennn!?

Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

Next thing I’m going to hear is that all geese and ducks can be called “ducks”...

Not at all. They are all waterfowl.

Robear wrote:
Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

Next thing I’m going to hear is that all geese and ducks can be called “ducks”...

Not at all. They are all waterfowl. :-)

We all know geese are Gray Ducks here in MN

[quote="Keithustus"]American here, always thought tortoise was for people who prefer the language's French-derived words (poultry, not chicken)[/quote ]

See I always thought poultry was used to discribe lots of different birds like geese and ducks not just chicken.

As I understand it, the poultry/fowl, beef/cow, pork/pig, venison/deer, etc. divide in English is an artifact of old divisions of class in England. Commoners, who hunted and tended the animals, used English names for them: fowl, cow, pig, deer. Nobility, who ate the animals, used French names for them: poultry, beef, pork, venison.

Re: turtles,

BadKen wrote:

No, no, no!

They are not the same. From the article I linked...

Also in the article ...

Yes, thank you. Highlighting for emphasis:

Keithustus wrote:

Other than that, I never had reason to believe they weren't interchangeable terms.

before your helpful article.

Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

Next thing I’m going to hear is that all geese and ducks can be called “ducks”...

Unless they are Canada Geese, in which they are called evil.

mudbunny wrote:
Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

Next thing I’m going to hear is that all geese and ducks can be called “ducks”...

Unless they are Canada Geese, in which they are called evil.

It’s true, every Canadian uses a goose as a vessel to channel our “less polite” impulses... what the goose does with those impulses is up to them.

Sorry

I don't have an iPhone but thought I'd pass this along. Tried it on Android and it just brings up the keyboard selector.

https://twitter.com/krissys_kitchen/...

Mermaidpirate wrote:

I don't have an iPhone but thought I'd pass this along. Tried it on Android and it just brings up the keyboard selector.

https://twitter.com/krissys_kitchen/...

on Android you don't hold, you have to tap and immediately drag your finger along the space bar in the direction you want the cursor to move (left or right, can't move it up/down)

Mermaidpirate wrote:

I don't have an iPhone but thought I'd pass this along. Tried it on Android and it just brings up the keyboard selector.

https://twitter.com/krissys_kitchen/...

Previously, with iOS11, on iPad you could use two fingers to do this, and on iPhones with force touch you could press anywhere on the keyboard.

They finally standardized it across all devices with iOS12 which is great - especially if they move away from force touch which has been rumored.

Chairman_Mao wrote:
Mermaidpirate wrote:

I don't have an iPhone but thought I'd pass this along. Tried it on Android and it just brings up the keyboard selector.

https://twitter.com/krissys_kitchen/...

on Android you don't hold, you have to tap and immediately drag your finger along the space bar in the direction you want the cursor to move (left or right, can't move it up/down)

I never knew this for Android. I just tapped the screen and moved around the arrow.

Tom Kitten is on some 50 pence pieces.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/e9rMEcT.jpg)

Black mirror is your phone. You turn off your phone, or TV or computer screen, there is a black screen that reflects your face in it. That’s where the TV show gets its title from.

Mermaidpirate wrote:

I don't have an iPhone but thought I'd pass this along. Tried it on Android and it just brings up the keyboard selector.

https://twitter.com/krissys_kitchen/...

If you install the Gboard keyboard on Android you can swipe left and right on the space bar. No holding or anything.

Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:
mudbunny wrote:
Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

Next thing I’m going to hear is that all geese and ducks can be called “ducks”...

Unless they are Canada Geese, in which they are called evil.

It’s true, every Canadian uses a goose as a vessel to channel our “less polite” impulses... what the goose does with those impulses is up to them.

Sorry ;)

Takes them out on some poor, unsuspecting American most likely.

After 3.5 years realized my CPU fan and rear exhaust fan, which face each other and are just a couple inches apart, were blowing away from each other. Since rectifying that the temps have gone down about 10 degrees.