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Intellectual Lazines
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by Cro on January 12, 2009
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I have noticed over the last few months that folks are getting lazy in posting here again, and using all of the durn abbreviations that are so prevalent with reptile keepers these days.
While someone you are responding to in a post might know what you mean when you use EDB, or GTP, or mangs or moids, or any of the hundreds of other indolent terms, please remember that hundreds of folks come to this site to learn. Many, many of the people who visit here are school kids, or are not advanced keepers.
When you use abbreviations, it is to those visitors like you are speaking Klingon ! This is a disservice to the venomous community, and to the reptile community in general.
Please take the few seconds of extra time when you post, and try to use the correct names for the animals that you are talking about, and not the lazy abbreviations. That way, we can all help new visitors to this site to learn.
Best Regards
John Z
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RE: Intellectual Lazines
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by Viperlady on January 13, 2009
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I completely agree with you John... Since I'm not familiar with some of the terms used in the US, I sometimes need to go n' look for the meaning of some of the jargon users tend to post.
Thanks for the suggestion!!
Greetings.
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RE: Intellectual Lazines
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by AquaHerp on January 13, 2009
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I agree John. When I am speaking to someone and they use terms like "cottons", I feel as though they are affording a level of disrespect to the animal. If a person knows it's a cottonmouth, and they use the term "cotton" they are making a conscious decision to call the animal something it isn't. It is almost as if you are to be impressed that a person uses slang. "I am so in the know that I don't even need to use the animal's name". When I hear "mangs" I automatically think Zahoermia, not Boiga.
This is not meant to be a slam to anyone, not an underlying criticism or insult. I am just saying, let's give these animals the respect they deserve.
DH
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RE: Intellectual Lazines
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by Rob_Carmichael on January 13, 2009
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Excellent points John. Many of us do indeed forget that there are many onlookers on this site who never post or have a profile - just folks looking for information. We should all take pride in how we write as the way we communicate reflects our level of professionalism and seriousness in what we do (not that this group doesn't have fun....there are many comedic moments on this site!). Harumi nailed it in that many of us know what an EDB or WDB is but those are U.S. slang terms and it doesn't take that much more effort to just type the entire name out - heck, even C.atrox would be sufficient (that's an additional three letters you have to type!).
Writing seems to be a lost art in this day and age of texting/mms'ing/video games/etc. Folks growing up in this historic time have failed to understand the importance of good communication skills (NOT ALL...just a trend I see). This isn't a slam on young people - it travels across the board.
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by pictigaster1 on January 13, 2009
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My EDB has a RI and I just treated it for a bad case of MR .What the hell am I talking about.I agree....Archie
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RE: Intellectual Lazines
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by earthguy on January 13, 2009
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While I certainly agree with what you're saying...every group has its own lingo. I don't see it so much as intellectual laziness as efficiency. I certainly didn't know what an EDB was when I first came to the SHHS (Oh...look. another acronym!), but I took the time to look. I try to be good and type names out, but sometimes I get in a hurry. Please forgive me when I do :)
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RE: Intellectual Lazines
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by ChuckHurd on January 15, 2009
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If you really accept this argument, then the same case can be made for use of the Latin names. the general public looking in is more likely to reason that EDB means eastern diamondback more so then they would reason Crotalus adamanteus means the same thing. I have always felt the Latin names are used at times simply to advance the elitist mentality. To either try to make people think you are more educated then you are, or just to try to make yourself feel that you are more educated then you are. If you are writing a research paper or talking to someone from Germany, sure, why not....but in our normal conversation, posting, and emailing....why? everyone knows what a timber is, so why call it Crotalus horrisdus horridus?
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RE: Intellectual Lazines
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by Cro on January 15, 2009
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The difference is that the public could type Crotalus adamanteus, or even C. adamanteus into Google, or C. atrox, and learn that it is a rattlesnake, and what the common name is.
If they type EDB into Google, they will get Economic Development Board, or Ethylene dibromide, or Employee Database, or Employment Discrimination Bureau, etc.
If they type in WDB, they get things like World Data Bank, or Wind River Debug or Workforce Development Board, etc.
So, the Scientific Name does serve a purposes. University and Zoo reptile folk use scientific names all the time, not to impress folks, but because many animals do not have common names, or have many common names, and because they are communicating with other scientific folk.
However, in the general reptile keeping public, there are folks who think it is cool to use scientific names to try to impress folks, as they think it makes them sound smart or cool. It can be a stage they go through, however, they soon outgrow it.
We also see folks in the general reptile public using the slang terms for the same reason. Someone who uses terms like coppers or cottons time and again on a public forum, has little consideration for others who might read the thread, and is perhaps trying to sound cool, or is just lazy. They are not helping educate the new folks who visit the site at all in doing this. They are just causing more confusion, and making themselves look bad, or uneducated, or uncaring, to others who read the fourm.
The best thing to do on a forum, is to use the common name of a animal if there is one that people will know, and if there is not one, then use the scientific name. The use of the slang terms is not proper any of the time, and should be avoided.
Best Regards
John Z
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RE: Intellectual Lazines
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by AquaHerp on January 16, 2009
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As an aside, the bird circles are also notorious for this. At the zoo I would read over daily reports injected with GHO (Great horned owl), TH (Trumpeter honbill), GBH (Great blue heron), BBR (Blue-bellied roller) and so on. Numerous times I had to call up my bird people to see what they were talking about. I did eventually catch on, and I did eventually come to accept it. In that same note, bird people are not as free with the scientific names, nor are the fish crowd (with the exception of cichlids). I can, and do frequently do both, it depends upon my audience. On the clock I do use the proper names only. If we are going to be extracting venom and putting snakes on the line for the day, a Northern and Southern Pacific rattlesnake can easily get mixed up, but if I specify helleri, were good to go. It's the remembering to specify type A or B for timbers, Mojaves and such that gets confusing at times.
Take care-
DH
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RE: Intellectual Lazines
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by earthguy on January 16, 2009
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Chuck,
Latin names are valid. I use them when I give talks ALONG WITH the common name. The Latin names have meaning, and those meanings are a really interesting glimpse into the natural history of the animal (which I happen to be very interested in). It really has nothing to do with wanting to sound smarter than I am, I just think that they're cool.
Doug,
In the case of birds, the abbreviations that you're hearing are standardized abbreviations for bird banders (I also have a federal bird anding subpermit). They can be found on the USGS birdbanding Lab site, or in Peter Pyle's book.
I still maintain that abbreviatens and slang names are not NECESSARILY lazy or bad. Cottons, buzztails, coppers, etc. show a familiarity and love to animals that most people despise.
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