# What, exactly, is a moth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854 "2008-05-10T22:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854/41 "2008-05-13T18:15:25Z")
So, do we have all bases covered if we just say that moths are bad for clothes? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854/42 "2008-05-13T19:49:23Z")
Oh, and Brigid and Brendan. Although from what I recall, it’s somewhat debateable whether Brigid actually existed. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854/43 "2008-05-13T19:53:44Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] Yeah, except wouldn’t the first step for our moth be a moth egg? Then it hatches, and you have a baby moth (which is called a catepillar). [/QUOTE] No, I think the first step is a moth - you can’t have a moth egg without a moth, therefore the moth came first. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854/44 "2008-05-13T21:12:26Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Oh, and Brigid and Brendan. Although from what I recall, it’s somewhat debateable whether Brigid actually existed. [/QUOTE] pardon? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854/45 "2008-05-13T21:28:59Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] So what? That’s what it is whether we like it or not. I suppose you could call it a chick, but that’s just the diminutive form. [/QUOTE] So, the egg is simply the shell, then? Look, a egg is an egg, a chick is a chick, a hen is a hen, and a rooster is a rooster. I’m the same entity I was when I was 6 months old, but I’m no longer a baby. Or a toddler. or a child. Or a teenager. As **Colibri** has pointed out several times, _linguistically_ an egg is not a chicken. It is a matter of convenience, I suppose, so the we can, you know, understand each other. If you want to insist that the thing inside the egg is not only distinct from the egg but is, in fact, the same thing as a full grown chicken, knock yourself out. Just don’t go ordering any scrambled chickens for breakfast without making yourself perfectly clear as to what it is you want. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854/46 "2008-05-13T22:23:39Z")
That’s like saying that a womb is the same thing as a baby. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854/47 "2008-05-13T22:35:01Z")
> [@](#): > > pardon? The OP included, as a sample question from the show, “Name a saint that came from Ireland”. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854/48 "2008-05-13T23:18:16Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] That’s like saying that a womb is the same thing as a baby. [/QUOTE] What is? In what way? By “baby” don’t you mean “man,” or “woman”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-moth/448854.md?page=2)