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Why are "Killer Whales" continued to be called whales when they are instead the largest member of the dolphin family? You'd think they deserve to be called what they really are.
Is there something not PC about calling a dolphin a "killer"?
Why are "Killer Whales" continued to be called whales when they are instead the largest member of the dolphin family? You'd think they deserve to be called what they really are.
Is there something not PC about calling a dolphin a "killer"?
There's an answer to your question in your own link.
Quote:
"It is thought that the name “killer whale”, even though it’s a dolphin, came from sailors and whalers observing that Orcas frequently killed whales and ate them and thus they were known as “whale killers”, which eventually morphed to “killer whales”
Why are "Killer Whales" continued to be called whales when they are instead the largest member of the dolphin family? You'd think they deserve to be called what they really are.
Are you completely unfamiliar with the English language?
There is no precise biological definition of 'whale'. It is just a colloquial name commonly given to some Cetaceans but not others. Technically, all members of the parvorder Odontoceti are called 'toothed whales', and this includes dolphins and porpoises.
Jellyfish aren't fish. Peanuts are seeds, not nuts. The Dallas Cowboys neither play nor are headquartered in Dallas. Welcome to the English language.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marino760
Is there something not PC about calling a dolphin a "killer"?
You don't appear to have any idea what 'PC' means, either. You're free to called them 'orcas', you know.
What's ironic is that you're the one demanding the change in speech ("don't call them 'whales'!")
- and that is the hallmark of political correctness.
Are you completely unfamiliar with the English language?
There is no precise biological definition of 'whale'. It is just a colloquial name commonly given to some Cetaceans but not others. Technically, all members of the parvorder Odontoceti are called 'toothed whales', and this includes dolphins and porpoises.
Jellyfish aren't fish. Peanuts are seeds, not nuts. The Dallas Cowboys neither play nor are headquartered in Dallas. Welcome to the English language.
You don't appear to have any idea what 'PC' means, either. You're free to called them 'orcas', you know.
What's ironic is that you're the one demanding the change in speech ("don't call them 'whales'!")
- and that is the hallmark of political correctness.
Thanks for your obnoxious response. I had no idea someone with your great knowledge and superior attitude would waste their time answering a simple little question. I hope your day gets better
Why are "Killer Whales" continued to be called whales when they are instead the largest member of the dolphin family? You'd think they deserve to be called what they really are.
Is there something not PC about calling a dolphin a "killer"?
Common names are dumb. This is not news. In taxonomy and more importantly, cladistics, dolphin is a meaningless term anyway as it is paraphyletic. It is basically an umbrella for all small cetaceans that are not porpoises. See? Meaningless.
BTW, as an oceanographer who has been on a research vessel who had whale spotters, most of them call them Orcas, not killer whales especially as there are also a species sometimes called a false killer whale.
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