We're wrong when we're right - or is it the other way round?

[fleabane]

Is there something about you we haven't all guessed already?

[APJones]

Thats highly inflammable

so it isn't really , is it ?

[TigrisLeicesteris]

Cheeky sod Fleabane. I'm happily married.... Me and Raul are very happy.

[Rizzo]

Killer whales. They're not whales, they're actually members of the dolphin family, some wildlife presenters call them Orca now, but many still refer to them as killer whales because that's how the public know them.

On Vancouver Island they're always referred to as 'Black Fish' which seems a very good name.

Hate to knit pick but classification wise they are called Odontocetes or "Toothed Whales" which includes the Sperm Whale, Beaked Whale, Bottlenose and Orca. They are Whales but from a different side of the phylogenetic tree from the Baleen (modified hairs that act like teeth/filters in the mouth) whales, the ones we typically consider such as the Humpback and Blue

Hmmm... NatGeo say "Orcas, or killer whales, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world's most powerful predators."

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/a ... ler-whale/

MarineBio say "Orcas (formerly known as killer whales), Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758), are actually dolphins. And they are the largest of the dolphin family (Family Delphinidae ~ 32 species, including what we normally consider dolphins, pygmy killer whales, Feresa attenuata, and false killer whales, Pseudorca crassiddens). "

http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=84

[TigrisLeicesteris]

You are correct Rizzo but that is their family. Ondontocetes the other being the Mysticetes Are suborders both been whales. As you get down the phylogenetic tress it gets more specialised. Linnaean taxonomy is the system in which all things are classified except the old system was done on appearance whereas more so these days DNA plays a much more vital role.

The reason we have the binomial naming Orca orcinus is due to the confusion providing by the naming from different regions countries, it provides a clear understanding of the species in question. Scientists have a tendency to disagree. Trying to teach my a-level students accepted theory is a nightmare when there is so much contradiction out there. But I do have some weapons in my armoury. I don't doubt your information but if you look at the IUCN Redlist they also use the term Killer Whale, Orca Whale and as many others but they will use the binomial form to be specific

[Kinoulton]

The ubiquitous exclamation mark now seems to have joined by an army of hyphens.

Most of the spam I receive gets dumped by the server, but occassionally they sneak through and it says "You HAVE been accepted! You can out all-three-offers!"

I mean, if you create an error on a note you've left for your partner, then fair enough. But when you're sending an email to millions of people, surely some sane person should check it?

[h's dad]

You are correct Rizzo but that is their family. Ondontocetes the other being the Mysticetes Are suborders both been whales. As you get down the phylogenetic tress it gets more specialised. Linnaean taxonomy is the system in which all things are classified except the old system was done on appearance whereas more so these days DNA plays a much more vital role.

The reason we have the binomial naming Orca orcinus is due to the confusion providing by the naming from different regions countries, it provides a clear understanding of the species in question. Scientists have a tendency to disagree. Trying to teach my a-level students accepted theory is a nightmare when there is so much contradiction out there. But I do have some weapons in my armoury. I don't doubt your information but if you look at the IUCN Redlist they also use the term Killer Whale, Orca Whale and as many others but they will use the binomial form to be specific

Does this mean agreement that:

All Killer Whales are Dolphins
All Dolphins are Whales
All Killer Whales are Whales
Not all Whales are Dolphins

?

[TigrisLeicesteris]

Summed up nicely I think, but I would use the the word Cetacean

[Kinoulton]

Staines has renamed itself Staines-Upon-Thames to make it sound posher. What a bunch of a***.

To be fair to the good people of that town, most of them seem to think it's a load of pretentious tosh, but it seems that most of our country is destined to be run by marketing people.

Honestly in the environs of Brandesburton there is a lorry delivering sacks of coal to homes and it carries the banner: "Energy Solutions".

[Bill W (2)]

For many a year now "Dust bin men" have been officialy referred to as "Waste disposal operatives". Their lorries also carry the instruction "the soliciting of gratuities is prohibited" - which being translated means "no tipping".

[Kinoulton]

I love those prentious adverts, usually in Sunday supplements, where they try to gullible fools to part with enormous amounts of cash for a simple watch by saying: "This is not a watch. It's a timepiece."

Well it is technically a timepiece but it is also most definitely a watch.