# What to do about species with offensive names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 25, 2023, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650 "2023-09-25T01:51:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/41 "2023-09-25T20:12:11Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > The bit of the segment I heard discussed how body parts are often named after people, mostly white males Looking down this long list, I cannot find a single counterexample. [List of human anatomical parts named after people - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_anatomical_parts_named_after_people) Unless it turns out that the organelle was named after Louisa Endoplasmicreticulum, the best I can do is to note that there were two women in _Heart_. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/42 "2023-09-25T20:12:45Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Its name is not “squawfish”, thats just what some people call it. No one, and I mean no one called it Ptychocheilus oregonensis except for scientists. EVERYONE ELSE called it squawfish. It’s not “some” people. It is the huge majority. Either way, does it matter? No, it doesn’t. It was an offensive name that should be eradicated. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/43 "2023-09-25T20:14:10Z")
Change all the “named after Nazis” and ethnic slurs you want, but leave Phallus impudicus. Its an honorable dick joke, made by Linneaus himself. See also Mutinus caninus. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/44 "2023-09-25T20:15:48Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Either way, does it matter? No, it doesn’t. It was an offensive name that should be eradicated. How? Track down everyone who says that name and shoot them? That name is not official in any way shape or form. There is no way to change it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/45 "2023-09-25T20:16:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That would mean renaming hundreds of thousands of species. Many are obscure, such as this one. As a person who has his degree in the Life sciences, this idea is ridiculous. It doesn’t mean renaming them tomorrow. They will be known by their former names until suitable replacements reach accepted status. What is ridiculous is maintaining a vanity naming system and considering it to be scientific. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/46 "2023-09-25T20:20:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > What is ridiculous is maintaining a vanity naming system and considering it to be scientific. Too many obscure species. And you can not name a species after yourself, so not vanity. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/47 "2023-09-25T20:21:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > How? For one, stop using the former name. For example, take a look at this program: > **[Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery Program](https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/reports/creel/pikeminnow)** > > You can help save salmon a See if you can find the word “squawfish”. Guess what the program used to be called? Take a look at this report if you can’t guess: > **[1997-Pikeminnow-AR.pdf](https://www.pikeminnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1997-Pikeminnow-AR.pdf)** > > 1052.89 KB Take a look at footnote 1: The common name of the northern squawfish was recently changed by the American Fisheries Society to northern pikeminnow at the request of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Reservation. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/48 "2023-09-25T20:28:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Only due to finding the species was mis named Gosh, almost like I knew that, since that’s covered by all 3 kinds of renaming I already mentioned… > [@DrDeth](#): > > AFAIK, they have never changed a scientific name just to make it more PC. (Ignoring the obvious well-poisoning of “more PC” for “less offensive”) Doesn’t mean “they” _can’t_. “They” _don’t_, and “they” have written “their” rules so “they” don’t have to (specifically Article 51.1 / Article 18, depending on if you care about plants or animals) But I’m not arguing for what “they” _have done_. I’m arguing for what “they” _ **should do** _. People make rules, people can change them. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/49 "2023-09-25T20:33:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nope, Not in 1933. Hitler was even Times man of the year in 1938. > > In 1933 most of the world admired Hitler. They voted to hold the Olympics in 1936 in Hitler’s Germany. The Times Man of the year recognizes influence, not popularity or how good they were. Hitler was hugely controversial to say the very least from the beginning and most of the world most certainly did not admire him. > [@DrDeth](#): > > How can you tells a members religion by what they give you there? religions are not listed. And the brazilian member Paulo Lucinda is latino, Not to mention the member from Portugal- Luis M. P. Ceríaco, or from Argentina- Cristina Luisa Scioscia. I stand corrected on the Brazilian and the Argentine. As for Jewish, I’m talking about heritage, not religious beliefs. Don’t goysplain to me. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/50 "2023-09-25T20:40:18Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > For one, stop using the former name. Okay, I wont and never have. They changed the common name already. Still, people will use the old name, and there is no way to stop them. > [@MrDibble](#): > > Gosh, almost like I knew that, since that’s covered by all 3 kinds of renaming I already mentioned… Apparently you didnt, since you said “Scientific names get changed all the time.” in support of renaming species with offensive names. > [@MrDibble](#): > > But I’m not arguing for what “they” _have done_. Indeed, you did. > [@hajario](#): > > As for Jewish, I’m talking about heritage, not religious beliefs Fine, that’s even worse- how can you tell what their heritage is? Since of course heritage is passed thru the matrilineal line, so a name wont tell you anything solid about their Jewish heritage. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/51 "2023-09-25T20:43:48Z")
I’m not Native American but I support changing the names of things that are offensive to them. I’m not an African American and my family didn’t arrive her until the 20th Century but I support removing the names of things honoring the Confederacy. I’m not a fucking asshole which is why I support these things. Keeping the names of things like this around is vile and shameful. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/52 "2023-09-25T20:45:03Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Apparently you didnt, since you said “Scientific names get changed all the time.” Which they do. Here, a nice summary of [just the birds changed last year](https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/updateindex/october-2022/updates-corrections-october-2022? __hstc=60209138.8c215d1025756529ae303615fe4994f0.1695674787366.1695674787366.1695674787366.1&__ hssc=60209138.1.1695674787366&__hsfp=2136095339&_gl=1*2jyj5f*_ga*MjA4MDA5NDQxMi4xNjk1Njc0Nzcy*_ga_QR4NVXZ8BM*MTY5NTY3NDc3Mi4xLjAuMTY5NTY3NDc3Mi42MC4wLjA.&_ga=2.116274816.785432348.1695674772-2080094412.1695674772)… > [@DrDeth](#): > > in support of renaming species with offensive names. Yes. The argument is simple - they already change them for … reasons. (“Scientific” reasons are still _human_ reasons). All they need do is add one more reason. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Indeed, you did. No, I did not. I mentioned what they’ve done, I didn’t argue _for_ it. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/53 "2023-09-25T20:47:43Z")
So random tangential thought, what are some of the more obscure people who’ve been, rightly or wrongly, honored this way. However much public opinion may have changed on Hitler and Douglas Adams they are still remembered (I guess Douglas Adams a bit less so nowadays, he was a massive part of my cultral upbringing, growing up in late 80s, early 90s Britain, but I’m not sure that’s true for younger generations). Who are people who were once thought (by one biologist at least) worth commemorating forever in latin species name, but who are now completely forgotten? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/54 "2023-09-25T20:48:32Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > One I think of German anatomist Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle every time I pee. There’s a bit of him in all our kidneys, namely the loop of _Henle_, which concentrates the urea in your urine. That’s mighty nice of him. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/55 "2023-09-25T21:04:28Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Looking down this long list, I cannot find a single counterexample. > [List of human anatomical parts named after people - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_anatomical_parts_named_after_people) > > Unless it turns out that the organelle was named after Louisa Endoplasmicreticulum, the best I can do is to note that there were two women in _Heart_. If the ones named after mythological characters count, like Achilles tendon, we have Iris. Regardless, that’s an astounding fact. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/56 "2023-09-25T21:14:27Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > So random tangential thought, what are some of the more obscure people who’ve been, rightly or wrongly, honored this way. However much public opinion may have changed on Hitler and Douglas Adams they are still remembered (I guess Douglas Adams a bit less so nowadays, he was a massive part of my cultral upbringing, growing up in late 80s, early 90s Britain, but I’m not sure that’s true for younger generations). Just to note, as you probably know, Douglas Adams was a notable amateur naturalist. So he at least was not just a _random_ celebrity. > **[Last Chance to See](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Chance_to_See)** > > Last Chance to See is a 1989 BBC radio documentary series and its accompanying book, written and presented by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. In the series, Adams and Carwardine travel to various locations in the hope of encountering species on the brink of extinction. The book was published in 1990. > In 2009, the BBC broadcast a television follow-up series of the same name, with Stephen Fry replacing the late Adams. > In 1985, Douglas Adams went to Madagascar in search of the (possibly exti... > [@griffin1977](#): > > Who are people who were once thought (by one biologist at least) worth commemorating forever in latin species name, but who are now completely forgotten? I doubt that in the 19th century a naturalist would have named a species after their favorite pop singer, as happens today. But there are countless examples of names chosen (for example) to ingratiate themselves with the local monarch. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/57 "2023-09-25T21:16:50Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > A quick scan shows 22 white men, 3 Asian men, 2 white women. No people of African or Latin descent and no Jews. Er, you don’t count Dr Paulo Lucinda of Brazil and Dr Cristinia Luisa Scioscia of Argentina as likely candidates for having Latin ethnicity? [ETA: Never mind, ninja’d by DrDeth.] I also don’t see how you can confidently rule out the possibility that some of those white male commissioners may be Jewish, especially given the disproportionately high percentage of Jews among US-born scientific researchers. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/58 "2023-09-25T21:25:44Z")
ISTM naming stuff was pretty much the province on white European males from say 1600 and the barest advent of the scientific method until maybe the 1950s when science became a bit more inclusive and except for ever more obscure slime molds there was damned near nothing in the biosphere left to name. So all those name reflected the habits and prejudices of that then-dominant culture, despite wherever on earth the stuff they named is found, and despite whichever sorts of people lived nearby. OK, that’s (a crude caricature of) how we got here. Where do we go from here? And why? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/59 "2023-09-25T21:41:13Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Etymologist? Or entomologist? [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/wrong_superhero.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/wrong_superhero.png) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/60 "2023-09-26T03:12:53Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > So changing common names because they are offensive seems much more reasonable (even if getting everyone to use the new names is more challenging) Spongy moth is the new name of the pest formerly known as the g\*\*\*y moth. It’s catching on. It helps that one of the notable characteristics of the critter is that it lays large spongy egg masses that are quite prominent. So it can happen. I believe the only reason that name was changed was because the old name was offensive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650.md?page=4)