4 ms·

Searching "giga-goose" before June 3rd brings up basically nothing, someone last year called this species a "gigantic goose" and a bunch of unrelated things. I

Searching "giga-goose" before June 3rd brings up basically nothing, someone last year called this species a "gigantic goose" and a bunch of unrelated things. I wonder where the nickname came from, and how important it was towards getting this article published. Also I wonder if there's a move away from "mega" towards "giga" as mega anything seems kinda small. I can't see "tera" ever being a thing, I can't think of an independent connection to some other word meaning large.

viraptor 2y ago
It's really weird that giga was used, since mega has a specific meaning in this context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megafauna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megafauna
- martyvis 2y ago
  Alliteration always anticipates attention.
greggsy 2y ago
They don't get as much love as the more famous Genyornis, also known as the "Demon Duck of Doom" [1]. [1] https://australian.museum/learn/australia-over-time/extinct-animals/dromornis-planei-bullockornis-planei/ https://australian.museum/learn/australia-over-time/extinct-...
- jpm_sd 2y ago
  This would make a great title for the next Untitled Goose Game
  - werrett 2y ago
    Doubly so given that Untitled Goose Game is from an Australian game studio. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_House https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_House
YurgenJurgensen 2y ago
Etymologically, “giga” does make more sense as a generic ’big’ prefix than “mega”. I believe that the former basically means “great” while the latter means “mighty”, which is less flexible. “Tera” has the problem of being overloaded. It’s a homophone with “terra” which is a common prefix for things related to the Earth or ground. Also that lack of a strong second consonant hurts it. Etymologically it means “monstrous”, which is even less flexible.

4 ms·

Searching "giga-goose" before June 3rd brings up basically nothing, someone last year called this species a "gigantic goose" and a bunch of unrelated things. I

by boomboomsubban 2y ago

viraptor 2y ago
It's really weird that giga was used, since mega has a specific meaning in this context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megafauna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megafauna
- martyvis 2y ago
  Alliteration always anticipates attention.
greggsy 2y ago
They don't get as much love as the more famous Genyornis, also known as the "Demon Duck of Doom" [1]. [1] https://australian.museum/learn/australia-over-time/extinct-animals/dromornis-planei-bullockornis-planei/ https://australian.museum/learn/australia-over-time/extinct-...
- jpm_sd 2y ago
  This would make a great title for the next Untitled Goose Game
  - werrett 2y ago
    Doubly so given that Untitled Goose Game is from an Australian game studio. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_House https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_House
YurgenJurgensen 2y ago
Etymologically, “giga” does make more sense as a generic ’big’ prefix than “mega”. I believe that the former basically means “great” while the latter means “mighty”, which is less flexible. “Tera” has the problem of being overloaded. It’s a homophone with “terra” which is a common prefix for things related to the Earth or ground. Also that lack of a strong second consonant hurts it. Etymologically it means “monstrous”, which is even less flexible.