# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [November 3, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/101 "2023-11-03T01:14:12Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Also, they eat golf course lawn. I gotta remember to use that as an insult- “You eat golf course lawn!” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/102 "2023-12-20T01:45:41Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Look forward to Hammond’s flycatcher soon becoming Birdy McBirdface. Local area got a new snowplow. Opened public voting up to name it. Guess what it’s called now? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/103 "2023-12-20T04:43:19Z")
They actually did that in Little Rock. I thought, oh no the community is gonna protest and scream. Not so much as a peep. They are just as gross and annoying as reported. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/104 "2023-12-20T16:23:34Z")
Mr Plow? Holy Plow? The Big Leplowski? Plowy McPlowface? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/105 "2023-12-20T17:37:32Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Plowy McPlowface? Yep . ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/106 "2023-12-22T00:03:35Z")
I remember when they used to call Tom DeLay on the Stephanie Miller Show Drunky McPukeShoes. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/107 "2024-02-11T13:06:26Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Considering the tumultuous relationship of so many recently urbanized Canada goose populations with their human neighbors, maybe we should be looking at names like “Large Webfooted Pigeon”. I think this should be the exception to the renaming project. I think they should name them “Hitler Geese”. If we’re going to have Neo-Nazis anyway, let them do some good.\* > [@Jackmannii](#): > > And I doubt there’s a great deal of cultural deprivation from referring to a fish as the Goliath grouper instead of its earlier name, Jewfish. > [@TriPolar](#): > > They will be known by their former names until suitable replacements reach accepted status. As someone who has lived and fished in an area where these are relatively common, this is one that does actually seem to be taking hold. It is way more common to hear Goliath rather than the old name these days. As in I’ve actually heard (paraphrased): Angler 1 (a man in his late 50s/early 60s): “Caught a massive j**fish the other day, had to let it go, of course". Angler 2 (a man in his late 30s/early 40s - but apparently new-ish to the area): "What the hell is a j**fish?” Angler 3: “Goliath grouper” Angler 2: “Oh, never heard it called that. Yeah, you can’t even let those touch your boat or they’ll bust you.” I am also somewhat abashed to admit that when I was a kid, I thought they were called that because Jewish people liked to eat them. 🤦‍♂️ \* Firmly tongue-in-cheek. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/108 "2024-02-11T15:45:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m annoyed whenever they change the well-known, long-established name of something, whether it’s a building, a ballpark, or an insect. If I recognize the new name at all, I think, “_Oh_! You mean…” That’s a transitory effect, equivalent to changing to the metric system. People with a long history of knowing it one way will have some difficulty with the change, but people who learn it that way will have no difficulty, and eventually all the “old fogeys” will die out. Think of the two liter soda bottle - anyone struggle with that? ---
**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:** [February 11, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/109 "2024-02-11T15:57:45Z")
It depends how much i used the old name. I’m still working on learning “spongy moth” , but I’ve had no trouble with a lot of renamed streets locally. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/110 "2024-02-11T16:02:03Z")
We changed all the exit numbers in Massachusetts in 2020 and people in their 50s and older who’ve lived here all their lives are still complaining about it. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/111 "2024-02-11T16:46:11Z")
Of course. Old joke… Man from city is driving to meet his long lost cousin in a small town. Gets lost, so he stops to ask a local for directions. Old local man replies, “Oh, the Petersons. Go down this road here until you come to the old Johnson place, take a right and follow the dirt road to the fork at the Second Baptist church that burned down in 'oh three. Stay on that road until you see the big red barn and it will be the next left.” The old local’s wife then said, “Didn’t that barn her repainted white a few years ago?” The old man said, “That was 12 years ago, and it hasn’t been painted since. All that paint’s worn away.” People think of things the way they learned them independent of changes made since, unless the change is relevant to why they think of the thing. Renaming a street or a species will take some time to change in use. But it will change as the people who learned it the old way either get used to the change or die off. New people will learn it the new way. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/112 "2024-02-11T16:49:07Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > I am also somewhat abashed to admit that when I was a kid, I thought they were called that because Jewish people liked to eat them. 🤦‍♂️ You’re thinking of gefilte fish. 😉 ---
**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:** [February 11, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650/113 "2024-02-11T16:53:19Z")
It also depends on how much i use the new name, and the context in which i am using the name. I have a lot of trans friends who have changed their names. Mostly, i am pretty good about learning the new names, especially if i see them regularly. But i recently dredged up an old memory and relayed it to a mutual friend using the old name, to some confusion. I have updated her name for forward-going stuff, but haven’t yet updated it in storage. 😉 Memory is weird. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-about-species-with-offensive-names/990650.md?page=5)