The word 'animal'

[melancholymecha]

that reminds me, my mom and I were watching penguins on tv one day & she said something like- oh, penguins are such strange looking animals...& I replied- yeah theyre cool birds... she then gave me a slightly confused look & said- penguins are birds?

 

[Gryffindorian]

He probably thought birds belonged to the vegetable family. Or maybe he just thought of "mammals" when the fellow said animal.

 

[Omnius]

that reminds me, my mom and I were watching penguins on tv one day & she said something like- oh, penguins are such strange looking animals...& I replied- yeah theyre cool birds... she then gave me a slightly confused look & said- penguins are birds?

Your mom probably doesn't know penguins can fly too!

 

[Zulu Romeo]

This reminds me of one of the many memorable "discussions" I had with my Uncle Joe when I was a kid. We argued for hours over fish being animals. He just couldn't get it through his head that his only choices were "animal" or "plant."

He also used to say "manimals" instead of "mammals."

I *loved* Manimal when it was shown on TV. I was deeply upset when it was cancelled. I was about 5 at the time.

 

[Trekker4747]

Seems trekkiedane is being pedantic.

Lungs or not. Ants "breathe" -in that- they take in oxygen and release CO2.

 

[FlapJoy]

I opened a bottle of wine to let it breathe, when I drank it all I became an animal.

 

[melancholymecha]

that reminds me, my mom and I were watching penguins on tv one day & she said something like- oh, penguins are such strange looking animals...& I replied- yeah theyre cool birds... she then gave me a slightly confused look & said- penguins are birds?

Your mom probably doesn't know penguins can fly too!

ok Id never seen that before & I had to see it without audio (so I have no idea what the guy is saying)... I admit they had me until the penguins started flying over the icebergs. Nice ad!

 

[cultcross]

Apparently it differs when you talk about these two words in English and in Danish, then.

But we're using English. In Danish, I bow to your expertise.

In English, 'breathe' and 'respire' are not actual synonyms, although I will grant that they are often used as such - 'respiratory distress' for 'can't breathe', etc. Because of this usage, the OED (which records English as it is commonly used, not as is pedantically correct) lists one as the definition of the other.
Scientifically, which I suspect was what dane was getting at, this is inaccurate - breathing is actively intaking or exchanging gases to be used in or which are produced as by-products of respiration. Respiration is a chemical process that occurs on a cellular level to oxidise glucose or other 'fuel' molecules and release usable energy. This is more than mere pedantry, the two things are connected to each other, but are in fact very different.

However, your initial point stands - Ants breathe in the sense that they actively exchange gases, they just don't breathe like humans.

 

[Rincewiend]

Plants breathe, too. All living things have respiration.

Multicelled organisms, yep...

 

[RJDiogenes]

This reminds me of one of the many memorable "discussions" I had with my Uncle Joe when I was a kid. We argued for hours over fish being animals. He just couldn't get it through his head that his only choices were "animal" or "plant."

Wellllll...Plants, animals, fungi, protozoa, archaebacteria and eubacteria. But who's counting?

When RJDiogenes was a boy lhe would have been taught that living things were either members of the Animal Kingdom or Plant Kingdom. The other Kingdoms have only been taught as part of the Classification System (at least in primary and probably in most highschools) for a couple of decades or so. This means that when RJD argued with his uncle he was giving the only information that a youngster was expected to know.

Heh. Despite being an ass for effect, Gep is quite right. Being a Science Nerd, I did know that there is more than plants and animals (although I don't believe we knew about archeabacteria then) and I think I even brought it up once; but getting through to Uncle Joe was tough enough, so I pretty much kept it to the big two.*

And trekkiedane has a good point that all respiration shouldn't be considered breathing, but I was just speaking colloquially.

_______
* And I also know that the microscopic guys outnumber the macroscopic guys, but in terms of everyday experience plants and animals are the big two.

 

[Kestra]

I am asking members here if they have come across people who don't seem to know what is an animal or not?

I don't often come across people who seem to be using the term incorrectly out of ignorance, although I do often come across people who use it incorrectly. Myself included. Usually I know what they mean and they know what they mean and it's about being lazy with language in the way that most of us are in one regard or another.

Ignorance is a different thing however, and would bother me slightly. But still not a whole lot.

 

[trekkiedane]

Apparently it differs when you talk about these two words in English and in Danish, then.

But we're using English. In Danish, I bow to your expertise.

In English, 'breathe' and 'respire' are not actual synonyms, although I will grant that they are often used as such - 'respiratory distress' for 'can't breathe', etc. Because of this usage, the OED (which records English as it is commonly used, not as is pedantically correct) lists one as the definition of the other.
Scientifically, which I suspect was what dane was getting at, this is inaccurate - breathing is actively intaking or exchanging gases to be used in or which are produced as by-products of respiration. Respiration is a chemical process that occurs on a cellular level to oxidise glucose or other 'fuel' molecules and release usable energy. This is more than mere pedantry, the two things are connected to each other, but are in fact very different.

However, your initial point stands - Ants breathe in the sense that they actively exchange gases, they just don't breathe like humans.

"Breathing" -as I've learned it- requires lungs, the rest is respiration in some other way; using gills or spiracles (or both) or whatever other mechanisms might exist. That's just what I meant, nothing more complex -well, the joke on not considering ants animals might have been a bit too complex though...