Octopus vulgaris
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
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Friday Cephalopod: Nothing vulgar about him
Category: Cephalopods • Organisms
Posted on: April 17, 2009 8:08 AM, by PZ Myers
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Comments
Posted by: John M
|
April 17, 2009 8:25 AM
Isn't the strict Latin translation "common"?
Posted by: Clemens
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April 17, 2009 8:38 AM
The German translation in the old-fashioned way is "gemein" which has the more common meaning "mean, not nice".
I always wondered why the mean fruit-fly was so mean ^^
Posted by: Didac Lopez-Martinez
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April 17, 2009 8:38 AM
John is right. The meaning of vulgaris is commom. Somehow (elitist thinking, maybe) vulgar has been conflated to gruesome or disgusting. Not only in English but also in most Romance languages. Well, another curious Linnean adjective is "officinalis" (in the sense of pharmacist's office).
Posted by: Constant Vigilance
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April 17, 2009 8:41 AM
I expect you will only find easy going Romans here.
Posted by: ecallahan
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April 17, 2009 11:59 AM
In taxonomy, vulgaris may mean 'common,' but in classical Latin, I'm almost positive it means 'of the people.' In fact, root 'vulg-' is directly related to germanic 'folk.'
The People's Octopus. Lol.
Posted by: Happy Tentacles
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April 17, 2009 12:22 PM
Yes! The People's Octopus. Looking a bit self-satisfied whilst meditating on Cephalopod superiority and pretending to be a piece of rock.
Posted by: Brian
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April 17, 2009 12:39 PM
"Nothing vulgar"? Look at those bright flashy light spots -- quite vulgar. A refined octopus does not draw attention to himself. Now be a dear and pour us some tea.
Posted by: Claire Binkley
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April 17, 2009 1:34 PM
#7: how stereotypical.
I've also seen "vulgar" or anything with that sort of sound in many languages meaning "common".
Posted by: Otto
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April 17, 2009 4:14 PM
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/shr1360l.jpg
Posted by: Sili
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April 17, 2009 7:29 PM
Funny - in my mental dictionary "vulgar" means roughly the same thing as "gaudy". Certainly nothing like "gruesome" and "disgusting" is a stretch.
Posted by: Sgt Skepper | April 22, 2009 12:58 PM
I just came across this octopus on a TED talk this week. It has the most amazing camouflage I can imagine. I was absolutely dumbfounded by it. See it at about 4:20 onwards here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/206