3 ms·
They could have gone with northern asian hornet, to follow proper taxonomy of including general and specific.
by kleton 2y ago
They could have gone with northern asian hornet, to follow proper taxonomy of including general and specific.
- greggsy 2y agoThe only Asian country that is distinctly ‘northern’ is North Korea, and the media wouldn’t have shied away from using it in fear of people making the connection. At the end of the day, the whole argument is stupid.
- lobochrome 2y agoWhat? Japan, China, Russia, Mongolia?
- woodruffw 2y agoI think they meant in terms of American cultural understanding, not latitude. I suspect most Americans don’t think of Russia as in Asia (despite the fact that it is) or Japan as being as far north as it actually is.
- lupusreal 2y agoThe premise that the USDA avoided calling this the Northern Asian Giant Hornet to avoid the implication that this came from North Korea seems quite absurd to me.
- woodruffw 2y agoThe premise was “Asian,” not “Northern Asian.” The latter appears to be speculation in this thread.
- lupusreal 2y agoHuh? The North Korea confusion angle was raised to explain why they might not have called it the Northern Asian Giant Hornet to distinguish it from the Southern Asian variety. That's what I'm responding to, nested in the thread.
- bell-cot 2y agoIn a better world, it would be absurd. But America has quite a few no-excuse-is-too-weak xenophobes, who have a documented history of violence against random strangers, for the "crime" of looking "Asian".
- lupusreal 2y agoThat could explain why they don't want to call it Asian, but not why they would want to avoid an implication that it came from North Korea specifically.
- bell-cot 2y agoI'm not paying close attention here, but the "because North Korea..." seems like a useful diversion, if your goals look like: 1 - Announce the seeming eradication of a dangerous invasive species 2 - While minimizing "any excuse" xenophobic human nastiness related to saying "Asian" 3 - And disguise your second goal, to minimize accusations of "pro-Asian Wokery" (or whatever phrase the nut jobs on that side of the culture wars are currently using) from your #2 4 - Also minimize left-wing backlash (I've no clue what phrases they'd use) to your #3 scheme 5 - ...
- greggsy 2y agoThat’s not what I meant. I’m poking holes in the ridiculous theory that they were holding back on using the word ‘Asian’.
- kbutler 2y agoBut that "ridiculous theory" was part of the stated motivation of the person who authored the submission for the new name. """ Furthermore, anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic, Looney notes, and labeling an invasive species perceived negatively as “Asian” can be harmful all around. """ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/murder-hornets-asian-giant-hornets-new-name https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/murder-ho...
- tzs 2y agoSame for Europe. I'd guess that most Americans would be surprised to find out that Paris, France is farther north than Seattle. If you slide Paris over to Washington it would be somewhere just south of the border with Canada. If you slide it over to the east side of North America it would, appropriately, be in the Canadian province of Quebec. Madrid, Spain is farther north than San Francisco or Denver. It's just half a degree south of New York. It really shows how there is much more to climate than latitude. Most of Germany and all of the UK and Ireland are at latitudes that in North America put you well into "it is way too freaking cold here way too many days of the year!" territory, but thanks largely to the effects of currents in the Atlantic ocean they have much milder climates.
- Fnoord 2y agoYes, we learn this at geography at school here. The USA does not have barriers like mountains protecting it from North-South (since Rocky Mountains for example go North-South), whereas in Europe this is quite different in countries like the ones near the Mediterranean Sea. Also, the USA is of course simply quite large.
- shiroiushi 2y agoJapan isn't any farther north than the US. The northernmost island, Hokkaido, is indeed pretty far north (I think roughly the same latitude as Oregon, and also southern France), but most of the rest is quite a bit farther south. Tokyo (where most travelers visit, and 1/4-1/3 of the population lives) is I think roughly the same latitude as North Carolina, and is quite warm. Japan is nowhere near as far north as Alaska, if that's what you're thinking, and not even nearly as far north as much of Europe.
- wlesieutre 2y agoIt’s like saying “Asian panda” or “South American giant anteater.” There’s no other place with giant hornets, so why would the name include it?