• Deconceptualist@leminal.space
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    1 month ago

    I would argue a snail is not a bug under any circumstances. That’s would either be a poor grasp of English, complete inability to count, or impressive levels of ignorance.

    But I would totally accept if someone failed to distinguish a hemipteran from another six-legged arthropod and called them both bugs. That’s normal.

    • psud@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      Worms are bugs too. The word is incredibly broad. Just because science uses it narrowly doesn’t make bug a word with a narrow meaning. Most of us aren’t entomologists

      • Deconceptualist@leminal.space
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        1 month ago

        IMO, “bugs” have features like exoskeletons, compound eyes, and appendages (legs, wings, antennae). So claiming that somehow includes worms is worse than saying “bats are bugs”.

        No. Just… no.

        • psud@aussie.zone
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          1 month ago

          On Wiktionary noun definition 4 for bug includes worm. It’s an ancient word that has a variety of meanings, only one of which is the scientific definition. Does bug spray only kill insects in hemiptera? I thought it was mostly used on flies.

          https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bug