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People Suggest New Names For Badly Named Things And These 28 Make So Much More Sense
When you sit down for a while and really start thinking about language objectively, you realize that a lot of things don’t really make much sense. There are inconsistencies and irregularities to account for. Not to mention philological decisions that simply sound illogical. But that’s the reality of language—the way it organically evolves isn’t always tidy.
Redditor u/johnnylgarfield started up an intriguing thread about linguistics on r/AskReddit. They asked everyone what, in their opinion, is badly named and what a better name for it would be. For example, why is a group of squid called a ‘shoal’ instead of a ‘squad’? It’s a head-scratcher! Scroll down for some interesting suggestions—both witty and serious—to improve the English language.
Bored Panda got in touch with Lisa McLendon, Ph.D., from the University of Kansas. She shed some light on the challenges that people run into when trying to rename something, as well as the factors that influence how language evolves. We also reached out to the author of the viral discussion, redditor u/johnnylgarfield. Read on for both of our interviews.
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#3
Jet ski. Dumb name. Obviously it is a Boatercycle.
#5
Otto Preminger wrote his own biography and failed to title it Otto-Biography. Once in a lifetime pun, and he just threw it away.
#6
Hot water heater. It's really a cold water heater.
#11
S’mores flavored Oreos are NOT called “S’moreos.”
I mean, what are they even paying their marketing people for?
#13
Miscarriages. Think about that - it’s essentially accusing the woman for “mis-carrying” the pregnancy. It places the blame on women for something that’s almost always outside of their control, and traumatic to boot. A much better and more descriptive term would be “pregnancy loss”, which is already used widely in many settings.
#15
Bee Hotels - lil wooden structure that solitary bees can nest in from time to time.
That's great - support local wildlife etc.
But seriously, who was the marketing genius that decided NOT to call them all "Bee&Bee"s??
Add Your Answer! This post is a community curated
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