Do you like it when people call your tortoise a turtle?

Do you like people calling Tortoises, Turtles?

  • Yes

    Votes: 7 15.6%
  • No

    Votes: 38 84.4%

  • Total voters
    45
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GeoTerraTestudo

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dhru1999 said:
Personally, i don't like people calling my star a turtle. I see it as calling a human, a gorilla. please vote :):D

It's not like calling a human a gorilla. It's more like calling both humans and gorillas "primates," which we are.

Sea turtles, pond turtles, and tortoises are all in the order Testudinides, and as a group are commonly called chelonians or turtles. Tortoises are turtles - they happen to be the type of turtle that evolved 50 million years ago to live full-time on land and eat mostly plants.

I don't correct people when they call tortoises "turtles" because they're not wrong. I call my tortoises "turtles" all the time.

Kerryann said:
It does irritate me too. I am going to call everyone's cats pumas and everyone's dogs dingos. :p

Again, it's not a taxonomic error, merely a more general term. House cats are from a different species than pumas, and dingos from a different subspecies than domestic dogs, but all are in the order Carnivora. Therefore, you could call all of these animals "carnivorans," and be quite right about it.
 

cemmons12

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Kerryann said:
expo tort said:
cemmons12 said:
Good way to put it," just want to give them correct information"!

What makes my blood boil is that even after I correct they call my tortoise a turtle. It's ridiculous I repeat it till I'm blue in the face.

My mom still says turtle and now I have family members now saying "so your mom says you have turtles now too?" I always just think to myself if that's the worst thing... then really I should just not be so witchy about the whole thing. It does irritate me too. I am going to call everyone's cats pumas and everyone's dogs dingos. :p
Lol! Even if the names you call peoples cats and dogs are incorrect, I still found your post very funny! This has been an interesting thread to me. :) But I am not the smartest person so it takes very little to entertain me.
 

Madkins007

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Kerryann said:
expo tort said:
cemmons12 said:
Good way to put it," just want to give them correct information"!

What makes my blood boil is that even after I correct they call my tortoise a turtle. It's ridiculous I repeat it till I'm blue in the face.

My mom still says turtle and now I have family members now saying "so your mom says you have turtles now too?" I always just think to myself if that's the worst thing... then really I should just not be so witchy about the whole thing. It does irritate me too. I am going to call everyone's cats pumas and everyone's dogs dingos. :p

That is not the same thing. Tortoises ARE turtles- turtles is the proper name for this order of animals. Tortoises are a sub-set, the genus within the order.

All foxes, wolves, dingos, coyotes, and pet dogs are members of the canids, or dogs, order and all pumas, jaguars, lions, and domestic cats are felids, or members of the cat order.

To make the same 'mistake' your relatives are making, you would need to call their pet puma a cat, or their dingo a dog instead of the other way around.

When it comes to the whole thing about calling our tortoises 'turtles', we need to relax.

- A. It is an accurate, right, and proper usage, although 'tortoise' is more accurate.
- B. We won't win the hearts and minds of other people by insisting on such a minor point in the scheme of things.
- C. There are things you are calling by the wrong name all the time as well. Tin foil, Styrofoam cups, kiwi (the fruit), etc.
- D. When we talk about other people's hobbies or interests, we tend to do the same thing to them- use popular terms instead of the more accurate term. It usually bothers them just as much whether they make as much of a deal about it or not.
 

ALDABRAMAN

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I understand why they do, depends on the person if i correct them. Honestly, most of my friends know the difference and it is a way of life.
 

dmmj

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I think we had this debate a few months back.
 

Oogway

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here in denmark both types are called "skildpadder", though i'd rather they said turtle than skildpadde, cause danish is such a horrible language :D
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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Madkins007 said:
That is not the same thing. Tortoises ARE turtles- turtles is the proper name for this order of animals. Tortoises are a sub-set, the genus within the order.

All foxes, wolves, dingos, coyotes, and pet dogs are members of the canids, or dogs, order and all pumas, jaguars, lions, and domestic cats are felids, or members of the cat order.

To make the same 'mistake' your relatives are making, you would need to call their pet puma a cat, or their dingo a dog instead of the other way around.

That's right, although to apply the taxonomic terms appropriately, dogs and cats are both in the order Carnivora, and in different families (Canidae and Felidae, respectively). As for turtles, they are all in the order Testudines, with tortoises being in the family Testudinidae. This family contains many genera (plural for genus), like Testudo for Mediterranean tortoises, Chelonoidis for South American tortoises, etc.
 

byles01

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dhru1999 said:
Personally, i don't like people calling my star a turtle. I see it as calling a human, a gorilla. please vote :):D
I guess what bugs me more then anything is when i out of habbit make the correction and i recieve that " Are you serious, they are the same thing " stare
 

Madkins007

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Geo- oops! I did not bother to look up what level the division occurred on and I should have. Thanks!
 

JeffG

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It is pretty entertaining to see it explained over and over again that it is NOT incorrect to refer to a tortoise as a turtle, and then still have people describe how angry it makes them when someone does it.

I think the frustration is caused because most times when someone is calling our tortoises turtles, it IS out of ignorance, and they truly don't know that there is are differences between the two types of animals. Unfortunately, even though these people don't have a clue about what they are talking about, they are not technically incorrect in what they are saying, so it is probably best to not get angry about it. In the future, if I take the time to say anything to someone about this, it will be to explain that my tortoises are a specific type of turtle and then tell them the differences between tortoises and other turtles.

Box turtles are just as confusing to people too. Just when they think they understand the difference between a "turtle" and a "tortoise", they see a "turtle" living on land. :rolleyes:
 

Kerryann

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It irritates me but doesn't make me mad. It makes me worried that one day I am going to come home to a family member letting my turtle take a swim in a bathtub. :p
 

zesty_17

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“All tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises. All terrapins are turtles, but not all turtles are terrapins. Some turtles are just turtles.” The World of Turtles and Crocodiles


hehe, i love that quote. But in all seriousness, it really depends where you live and how you are raised as to which term you use to define chelonia. I like to talk to interested guests in the park about this whenever they ask about our aldabs. It is a great lead in for me to educate about various regions and turtle plights, including cultural significance and the current state of near extinction many 'turtles' face.
 

blackbird

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Meh, I don't care. Sure, it bugs the nitpicky side of me a little bit, but honestly I just think it's cool that people take an interest at all.
I'm glad to explain more about Bogey, how I got her and what I'm doing to help her, but "turtle/tortoise" is not a big deal to me, especially considering regional terminology differences and how often they come up when one lives in a military town.
 

dmmj

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tortoiselover+breeder1234

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My friend always calls my tortoise a turtle. It bugs me a bit, but it's ok. As long as they only make the mistake once!
So, my answer is... Not really ;-D
 

Momof4

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I spent months correcting my husband and kids. Well, sometimes I slip and my hubby says " you mean tortoise." it warms my heart that he even cares enough to correct me. He only tolerates my pets because it makes me happy:)
I didn't give him grief for buying a Porsche so he leaves me alone:)
 
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