Yeah I always assumed “bug” was like “vegetable” — it’s a colloquial, not taxonomic, term. But there are “true bugs” so maybe the analogy isn’t completely sound.
(And tomato is absolutely a vegetable.)
Comment on bugs
Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 11 months ago
Bug isn’t even a technical term. Lobsters are considered bugs!
qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 11 months ago
dh34d@lemmynsfw.com 11 months ago
They’re culinary vegetables. My wife likes to say it like this: intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing that it doesn’t go in a fruit salad.
Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 11 months ago
I always love the “explaining dnd stats with a tomato” bit:
Strength is being able to throw a tomato really far. Dexterity is being able to catch the tomato thrown really far. Constitution is being fine after eating a bad tomato. Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing a tomato doesn’t go in fruit salad. Charisma is being able to sell a tomato based fruit salad.
Also, obligatory “salsa is tomato in a fruit salad”.
keyez@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Isn’t a tomato the only fruit in salsa?
ProtonEvoker@lemmy.world 11 months ago
And the obligatory response to the “tomato-based fruit salad” response: “found the bard!”
NeverNudeNo13@lemmings.world 11 months ago
Alternatively you could stick with the theme established by the first two stats and say that constitution is throwing a tomato really far repeatedly.
Malgas@beehaw.org 11 months ago
Caprese is fruit salad.
frezik@midwest.social 11 months ago
Everyone loves my tomato/eggplant/pumpkin fruit salad. I bring it to parties, and they all say it looks so good, they want to make sure everyone else gets a chance to eat it. Except everyone says that, and I end up having to take it home and throw it out.
flora_explora@beehaw.org 11 months ago
Well, sweet tomato marmalade is actually quite tasty ;)
Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 11 months ago
Agreed. In my mind “bug” has always meant arthropod. So it’s include insects, spiders, crustaceans, etc.
jeena@jemmy.jeena.net 11 months ago
You wouldn’t say that if you ever tried those tomatoes …joins.com/…/20210117130800678.html
I’d even call them candy.
ryannathans@aussie.zone 11 months ago
Injected with… stevia?
qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 11 months ago
I’d prefer vodka in watermelons, personally!
Lizardking27@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Bug is a technical term. Only insects of order Hemiptera, categorized by the ability to fly and the presence of piercing, sucking mouth parts, are considered true bugs.
Lobsters are certainly not considered bugs.
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 11 months ago
I’m sorry but you’re simply incorrect. Bug can be a technical term, but that doesn’t also preclude it from also being a non-technical term, because words often have more than one meaning. See also: theory.
Squirrel@thelemmy.club 11 months ago
Merriam-Webster, definition 1:
a: any of an order (Hemiptera and especially its suborder Heteroptera) of insects (such as an assassin bug or chinch bug) that have sucking mouthparts, forewings thickened at the base, and incomplete metamorphosis and are often economic pests
>called also true bug
b: any of various small arthropods (such as a beetle or spider) resembling the true bugs
c: any of several insects (such as a head louse) commonly considered obnoxious
Lizardking27@lemmy.world 11 months ago
“a: any of an order (Hemiptera and especially its suborder Heteroptera) of insects (such as an assassin bug or chinch bug) that have sucking mouthparts, forewings thickened at the base, and incomplete metamorphosis and are often economic pests”
This is the primary and most correct definition of bug.
Yes, people use it wrong. That doesn’t change the definition of the word.
the_artic_one@programming.dev 11 months ago
Yes, people use it wrong. That doesn’t change the definition of the word.
Actually it does, that’s how language works.
samus12345@lemmy.world 11 months ago
If enough people use it wrong, it becomes right.
Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 11 months ago
Now you get to learn the difference between descriptive and prescriptive definitions.
frezik@midwest.social 11 months ago
The scientific taxonomic system was made, in part, because traditional colloquial terms are a mess. For example, “daddy longlegs” refers to a type of spider in my area, but there are two other animals and three plants that it could refer to depending on where you grew up. Taxonomists saw that there there ten different standards, decided to make a new one to replace them all, and for once, it actually worked out for the most part.
“Bug” is one of those old terms. It might have been mapped post hoc on top of the modern taxonomic system, but it didn’t start that way, and isn’t always used that way.
RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Crawdads are still mudbugs though.
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 11 months ago
But commonly it’s a catch all for any creepy crawly, including arachnid. The classification is even called True Bug, not just Bug
Squirrel@thelemmy.club 11 months ago
But they wanted to feel smugly superior! Poor fella can’t even be pedantic properly…
danc4498@lemmy.world 11 months ago
That’s a great point you big dumb bitch.