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What is the most confusing misnomer you've seen? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 weeks ago by castiellon@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Mine is "guinea pig" originating in andes (not guinea) and them being not-a-pig type, whole thing is just wrong.

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[-] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

They also just have lots of strange names in different languages

In Polish it's "świnka morska", literally "sea piggy" (same in basically all Slavic and many central/north Asian languages). Though it was officially renamed "kawia domowa" few years ago because even the superconservative Polish Language Council had enough.

this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2026

121 points (100.0% liked)

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