random thoughts ••• on names and naming

Abstract

handles," that allow us to use a kind of
verbal shorthand in talking or writing
about things. All kinds of things, from
door knobs to neighbors, have names
that allow us to communicate about
them more easily. Birds have names, too,
both the common names that all of us
use routinely and the " scientific" nan1es
that we use less frequently. Scientific
names often are regarded as " fancy" or
excessively technical. They frequently
are a nearly unpronounceable combination
of Latin or Greek terms rarely understood
by any of us . They seem rigid ,
whereas common names are a lot more
" user friendly" and a whole lot easier to
say or spell.

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