h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And you'd be wrong!


It is a crustacean, like a lobster or shrimp. Or, more directly, a giant isopod. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Giant_isopod.jpg

Pill bugs/roly polys/sow bugs/potato bugs/doodle bugs have gills and need moisture to respirate. (I learned this just in recent years, probably after being told by an online dialect quiz that I was wrong for calling them doodle bugs.)

While they're often called bugs, Merriam-Webster defines bugs as:
"any of an order (Hemiptera and especially its suborder Heteroptera) of insects that have sucking mouthparts, forewings thickened at the base, and incomplete metamorphosis and are often economic pests —called also true bug."


/pedantry

Ripley compliant link to big scary undersea "bug".

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Giant_isopod.jpg

Now I'm gonna have nightmares.

Seriously, that's about the doodle bug, I never knew that!

I would call it a woodlouse but my Grandmother called it a pill bug I believe. According to Wikipedia, it has a whole load of odd common names:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlouse

PP.

Heh... I misread one of the section titles of that wiki article and was wondering what kind of person would keep doodle bugs as PETS!? What, are gold fish too exciting for these people? Then when I start to scan that section, I get the idea that some people also keep earthworms as pets. I know there are some strange pet owners out there, but how could there be enough earthworm owners to make them worth mentioning in this article?

That's as it may be, but what does it call *us*?

I didn't do that survey. Not eligible anyway as I'm not a US-citizen and so I don't have a zip code.

But I took serious umbrage at the title "World Englishes" - over a map of the US!

The world also happens to include Australia, India and the UK, to name but three areas where English is also spoken.

Harumph.

That survey is eligible to all and has many submissions from non-English speaking nations (I'm assuming the submitters did speak English anyways).

If you're from Australia or the UK, "Zip Code" changes to "Postcode" when you select your nation.

Oh, and the map zooms out... all the way out.

Sorry, my mistake. (_8(|)
It does NOT zoom out, but it does let you click and drag around the world.

Sorry I made a snap judgement.