# Worst named scientific concepts

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-named-scientific-concepts/1016316>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 29, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-named-scientific-concepts/1016316 "2025-03-29T19:00:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 12

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**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:** [April 5, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-named-scientific-concepts/1016316/221 "2025-04-05T00:54:59Z")

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Similarly, in graph theory, a “path” and a “trail” are two different things (though closely related).

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**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-named-scientific-concepts/1016316/222 "2025-04-05T14:07:12Z")

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You forgot to mention one of the best parts: a field of wheat in French is un champ de blé. However a mathematical “champ” is not a “field” (as in the real numbers), it is a “stack”! (as in the space classifying algebraic curves)

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