# What does the word "raptor" mean to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880 "2010-12-03T23:47:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/1 "2010-12-03T23:47:08Z")
What does the word “raptor” primarily mean to you? Just curious, and thought that an informal poll of the SDMB, famed for fighting ignorance, might be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/2 "2010-12-03T23:48:43Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Alan Grant] Even the name raptor means bird of prey. [/QUOTE] That’s what I thing of when I hear the word raptor. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/3 "2010-12-03T23:50:47Z")
When I see the word “raptor,” my first thought is _bird of prey_: an eagle, hawk, falcon, or owl. My second thought is to remove owl from that list. My third is to remind myself that falcons are a variety of hawk, and my fourth thought of course is of Jurassic Park. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/4 "2010-12-03T23:53:04Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > That’s what I thing of when I hear the word raptor. Me, too. But I’m wondering about to what degree this point of view is diminishing in favor of the second or third option above. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_on\_This\_Site](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_on\_This\_Site](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Not_Appearing_on_This_Site)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/5 "2010-12-03T23:59:24Z")
Being in about 5th Grade when the movie Jurassic Park came out, I think that that is first time had heard the term Raptor, so naturally that’s what comes to mind. [Obligatory XKCD link](http://xkcd.com/87/) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/6 "2010-12-04T00:04:14Z")
There’s a [Raptor Roller Coaster](http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/raptor/) at Cedar Point. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/7 "2010-12-04T00:07:10Z")
First, and primarily: bird of prey Second: short name for velociraptor Third: F-22 ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/8 "2010-12-04T00:07:32Z")
I’m not sure if the question you want answered is really “What does the word ‘raptor’ mean to you?” or “What it the first thing you think of when you hear the word ‘raptor’”? The word means a variety of things to me, the meaning of which is generally made clear by the context in which it is used. In the case of this thread, I had just very recently been reading the “WOW General Discussion” thread in The Game Room, so the first thing that came to mind was actually the World of Warcraft creature. If someone just randomly walked up to me on the street and said “raptor”, it would probably depend on my state of mind at the time, what type of conversation I might have recently been having, the nature of person speaking to me (a young kid in a D&D t-shirt would make me think ‘dinosaur’, while Sir Richard Attenborough would likely make me think ‘bird of prey’), or any of a number of other factors. On a side note, apparently the spell-check in Google Chrome does not recognize the word ‘raptor’. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/9 "2010-12-04T00:39:41Z")
Well I said bird of prey, because, you know, that’s what it means. But are the other options really wrong? All of those other things are called raptors too. I must admit at the mention of Raptors my mind always goes to this comic > **[Search History](https://xkcd.com/155/)** > > SomethingAwful has a wonderful compilation of crazy AOL searches in their Weekend Web archives, 2006-08-13. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/10 "2010-12-04T00:49:12Z")
I voted for “dinosaur-like monster,” simply because that’s the context in which I most often hear it. Raptor for “bird of prey” was a close second, but it feels kind of like an archaic usage to me. I’m not saying it _is_ archaic, it’s just that when I see it used in that sense, there’s usually a guy nearby whose wardrobe has more rivets than buttons. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/11 "2010-12-04T00:50:58Z")
It’s a person who sneaks up behind me and raps me on the head with a blunt instrument. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/12 "2010-12-04T00:55:55Z")
I always think of the dinosaur first, so sometimes if I hear something like “We saw a raptor during our trip to California” my first thought is “OMG REALLY?” like I maybe I missed some big announcement in Scientific American, but I pretty quickly remember it means bird of prey. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/13 "2010-12-04T01:21:29Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I’m not sure if the question you want answered is really “What does the word ‘raptor’ mean to you?” or “What it the first thing you think of when you hear the word ‘raptor’”? You might notice the poll in question says, “What does the word ‘raptor’ primarily mean to you?” As does my OP. (I would have similarly edited the thread title, but too late, no can do.) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/14 "2010-12-04T02:02:46Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > You might notice the poll in question says, “What does the word ‘raptor’ primarily mean to you?” As does my OP. (I would have similarly edited the thread title, but too late, no can do.) Yes, but words can have more than one significant meaning to you. For example: if someone says something is “hot” you might be equally as likely to think of temperature or sexual attractiveness. I think of dinosaurs and eagles/hawks, in no particular order. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/15 "2010-12-04T02:30:56Z")
For me, it’s dinosaurs, then Jurassic Park, then the Toronto NBA team, then the bird of prey, then the plane ( if at all)… ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/16 "2010-12-04T02:42:00Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Yes, but words can have more than one significant meaning to you. You may want to look up the definition of “primary.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/17 "2010-12-04T02:45:20Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > You may want to look up the definition of “primary.” I know what primary means, which is why I used the word significant - to indicate that some words do not have a primary meaning to people. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/18 "2010-12-04T08:59:01Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I know what primary means… Whatever. If you really can’t choose just one option, you can pick “something else” and explain why two notions of what a word means are precisely equal. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/19 "2010-12-04T09:53:21Z")
My first thought was 10,000RPM hard drive. Western digitals “Raptor” line of hard drives. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2010, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/20 "2010-12-04T10:17:43Z")
Eminem, rapper turned actor. Or velociraptor. In Jurassic Park the raptor weren’t dinosaur-like creatures, they were raptors - why’s that listed separately? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880.md?page=2)