Does anyone else get annoyed when people refer to apes as monkeys or peahens as female peacocks?

Jena

Jena

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
So I went to the zoo the other day. And a keeper was telling people that they have female peacocks running around. And it made me want to scream that they aren't peacocks that they are peahens. And the bird is called a peafowl. Like it's spreading misinformation about the bird.
And another instance was every single time I go people say "hey want to go see the monkeys" when they are refering to the gibbons which are in fact apes. And it just annoys me I mean I know these people don't know. But it's still frustrating! So my question is does anyone else have similar experience where they get annoyed at zoos when people say the wrong term for the animal?
 
The peacock one bothers me a bit. I'm actually not as bothered by the monkey one. Cladistically, apes are monkeys. Lemurs are definitely still not monkeys though and it enrages me like the fury of a thousand suns! OK not really. I'm an educator and I use it as a learning opportunity for those that want to listen.
 
Jena said:
So I went to the zoo the other day. And a keeper was telling people that they have female peacocks running around. And it made me want to scream that they aren't peacocks that they are peahens. And the bird is called a peafowl. Like it's spreading misinformation about the bird.
And another instance was every single time I go people say "hey want to go see the monkeys" when they are refering to the gibbons which are in fact apes. And it just annoys me I mean I know these people don't know. But it's still frustrating! So my question is does anyone else have similar experience where they get annoyed at zoos when people say the wrong term for the animal?
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I agree, but remember that only really a few members of the public are ánimal people'.
 
I'm not overly bothered about the ape/monkey issue. Technically, Old World monkeys are more closely related to apes than they are to New World monkeys and some Old World monkeys have a very vestigial tail.

Drakes are almost always called ducks, but I've never heard anyone complain about this.
 
The peahen one doesn’t bother me, but the other ones do.
 
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TZDugong said:
Isn’t there already a thread for this?

Stuff you see or what people do that irritate you when you go to the zoo? #2
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there are always multiple threads of everything lmao. Besides I didn't look at the other threads to make sure others ask this.
Echobeast said:
The peacock one bothers me a bit. I'm actually not as bothered by the monkey one. Cladistically, apes are monkeys. Lemurs are definitely still not monkeys though and it enrages me like the fury of a thousand suns! OK not really. I'm an educator and I use it as a learning opportunity for those that want to listen.
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Yeah I tend to get really bothered by peafowl the most. Well especially when people look at a peahen and call it a peacock.

Dassie rat said:
I'm not overly bothered about the ape/monkey issue. Technically, Old World monkeys are more closely related to apes than they are to New World monkeys and some Old World monkeys have a very vestigial tail.

That's true but Just cause it's close relative it still the incorrect term lmao. But the issue is gibbons belong in the ape family not the monkey family. They aren't even old world monkeys. They are apes. Same family as the chimpanzee and gorilla I believe. It's like when people call a gorilla a monkey when they clearly aren't.

Drakes are almost always called ducks, but I've never heard anyone complain about this.
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But isn't the species literally called ducks? Like there is the Mallard Duck, or the Muscovy Duck... etc etc.
 
The “just more deer” when folks are walking past another fascinating antelope or gazelle species!

Bothers me badly. Heck even when folks are indeed walking past another deer species....I want to scream at them. ;-)
 
Pleistohorse said:
The “just more deer” when folks are walking past another fascinating antelope or gazelle species!

Bothers me badly. Heck even when folks are indeed walking past another deer species....I want to scream at them. ;-)
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omg I know right. Like deer don't even look like Antelope.
 
Actually I get a bit annoyed when people get annoyed by people calling female peacocks to peahens and monkeys to apes. In fact I myself call monkeys to apes and I find correct. (Ah, and we humans are monkeys too).
Maybe that's one more of the many reasons that make me using only or mainly scientific name.
 
Peacocks/Peahens doesn't annoy me but Apes/Monkeys drives me nuts.

If a parents wants to generalise apes to monkeys to a child under two years of age then fair enough but from that age onwards there's really no excuse for not teaching the child the correct terms. Most boys from a very young age have an impressive knowledge of car brands and certiantly wouldn't dream of calling a car a tractor etc. so they're more than capable of learning a chimpanzee is a chimpanzee, not a monkey etc. It really depends on the intelligence of the parent.

People who are adults and still think a chimpanzee is a monkey shouldn't be allowed outside the house by themselves.
 
Dassie rat said:
Does anyone else get irritated by people who say "animals and birds", "animals and fish" or "animals and insects"?
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Yes. "Birds and penguins" is even worse.

When I was in fourth grade, I asked all my classmates if they know penguins were birds. They ALL said "What are you talking about?! Birds can fly. Penguins can't. Penguins aren't birds". :mad:
 
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