# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/41 "2010-12-05T01:18:16Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Before 1990 we would not have been having this discussion at all; everyone would have thought “raptor” primarily referred to a bird of prey (or simply not thought anything at all about it.) > > The question in my mind, is whether popular culture has permanently changed that, or not. At least on the SDMB, apparently not. I think that in the UK nearly everybody would have thought ‘huh? What’s a raptor?’ Seems the robber meaning was first anyway; it was probably popular culture that changed that meaning, since that’s how such changes usually come about. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/42 "2010-12-05T01:32:43Z")
> [@](#): > > A bird of prey. > A short, informal name for a velociraptor. > A dinosaur-like monster from “Jurassic Park” or World of Warcraft. > A Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22. All of these. Just not the sports team. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/43 "2010-12-05T03:00:02Z")
I voted F-22, but I know that they named it that because raptor is a bird of prey. So I guess it’s both - based on context. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/44 "2010-12-05T03:44:06Z")
Bird of prey, followed by a brand name of hard drives. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/45 "2010-12-05T04:23:35Z")
first thing I think of is a big-ass truck made by Ford. ---
**Author:** ![Picard\_Kills\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Picard\_Kills\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Picard_Kills_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/46 "2010-12-05T04:41:46Z")
The first thing that comes to mind when I think the word “raptor” is Jesus. ETA: Holy smokes! Googling “Raptor Jesus” can return with some NSFW results. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/47 "2010-12-05T21:12:51Z")
In an internet context - dinosaur/Jurassic Park monster. I don’t think of them as different things. In real life - bird of prey, which is what I voted, even though I encounter it on the net more than I do in real life. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/48 "2010-12-05T22:02:47Z")
I think of off-road vehicles, either Ford or Yamaha. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/49 "2010-12-06T00:24:54Z")
What was “trashy” about the film **Jurassic Park**? It was well-received by both critics & audiences and had some amazing special effects. I \*know \*that the word “raptor” means bird-of-prey, but the immediate image that forms in my head when seeing that word is of the dinosaur. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/50 "2010-12-07T02:55:02Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > For me, it’s dinosaurs, then Jurassic Park, then the Toronto NBA team, then the bird of prey, then the plane ( if at all).. Dinosaurs to me, too, and also soccer teams made up of seven-year-olds[sup]1[/sup]. [sup]1[/sup]For this meme to work, it has to be in America and it has to be called “soccer”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/51 "2010-12-11T00:14:06Z")
I’m not sure if it is 2 or 3. I do think of the chicken-sized dinosaur, but it’s still really hard for me to think of it as having feathers. Plus, it’s because of Jurrasic Park that I don’t think of the bird first. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/52 "2010-12-12T17:09:14Z")
Definitely the dinosaur from Jurassic Park. I didn’t even know it had any other meanings. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/53 "2010-12-12T19:31:37Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > What I really dislike, is that a second-rate mass-market novel from 1990, a 1993 trashy popular movie (which was otherwise typical in its flagrant disregard for science and reality), and a 21st century ludicrously popular MMORPG are the primary reasons why “raptor” has lapsed into sounding “archaic” to some when used to refer to birds of prey. > > But I am pleased to note that, in this SDMB poll, “bird of prey” is by far the most popular result. Well, tough titties, man. Language changes. “Raptor” clearly has multiple meanings/usages. You _personally_ think of “birds of prey” first. Others (especially in the past couple decades) don’t. So? Why do you think “velociraptor” as the first impression is somehow inferior? I’d ask you why you think of birds of prey first when actually, “raptor” originally meant a robber or plunderer. And you don’t even _have_ that option in your poll! If you’re going to play the intellectual/cultural torchbearer role, you probably should actually champion the original meaning instead of a _newer_ meaning that just happens to be a bit older than the one you disparage. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/54 "2010-12-13T00:20:42Z")
I think of the F22 aircraft. Any time I think of the dinosaur, I just can’t shorten its name in my head. Was that the fault of Jurassic Park the film? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/55 "2010-12-13T06:05:18Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Well, tough titties, man. Language changes. “Raptor” clearly has multiple meanings/usages. You _personally_ think of “birds of prey” first. Others (especially in the past couple decades) don’t. So? Why do you think “velociraptor” as the first impression is somehow inferior? A solid majority of SDMB responders thinks of bird of prey first. I asked because I was curious; I wasn’t trying to start a debate about what it should be (although I have no problem with expressing a preference, hence the poll.) > [@](#): > > I’d ask you why you think of birds of prey first when actually, “raptor” originally meant a robber or plunderer. And you don’t even _have_ that option in your poll! If you’re going to play the intellectual/cultural torchbearer role, you probably should actually champion the original meaning instead of a _newer_ meaning that just happens to be a bit older than the one you disparage. I left it out because that definition is no longer in use at all and hasn’t been for a very long time. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/56 "2010-12-13T06:26:57Z")
The nickname given to Christopher Lee’s character in the charming, foodie/coming-of-age film[\* Feast At Midnight.\*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109784/) You can even see the allusion towards the _Jurassic Park_ reference in the one sheet. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/57 "2010-12-13T12:01:27Z")
I visited [here](http://www.raptorfoundation.org.uk/) for my bithday, so birds of prey are clearly more relevant to me than dinosaurs 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880/58 "2010-12-14T07:02:58Z")
Bird of prey The F-15 eagle, the F-16 fighting falcon,(aka lawn dart, viper), and the F-22 raptor, all named for birds of prey. The F-14 on the other hand is named for an admiral. Declan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-raptor-mean-to-you/562880.md?page=2)