A Conversation for Kiwifruit
The Kiwi
The Tea Totaller Started conversation Mar 6, 2008
I'm not sure that "endemic" is a word you should use to describe the status of the Kiwi (bird). "Endemic" is a word normally used in relation to disease. "Native" and "endangered" should be sufficient.
The kiwifruit (or gorilla nut) is, of course, neither of these.
The Kiwi
Endemic is used by many fields to describe an animal or plant that is native to an area and doesn't exist outside that area. 'Native' wouldn't suffice for that. Kiwi are native to NZ but they are also endemic because they aren't native anywhere else 
'Gorilla nut' 
The Kiwi
The Tea Totaller Posted Mar 7, 2008
No, I'm in Australia. I have relatives who grow kiwifruit in the Bay of Plenty. I heard the "gorilla nut" expression while visiting there, and just about choked on my tea. I'm not sure how widely it is used. Just think about it.
I'll concede on "endemic". My old dictionary and Fowler's Modern English Usage don't provide for this usage, but the online dictionaries I just looked up all agree with you.
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The Kiwi
- 1: The Tea Totaller (Mar 6, 2008)
- 2: kea ~ Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, unregarded but very well read blue and white website (Mar 6, 2008)
- 3: kea ~ Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, unregarded but very well read blue and white website (Mar 6, 2008)
- 4: The Tea Totaller (Mar 7, 2008)
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