Why do you guys say '"duck-billed" platypus'?
Posted by mr_mxyzpt1k@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 245 comments
Hello! I am from Australia, and I had noticed recently that a lot of you guys seem to say 'duck-billed platypus' when referring to the little guys, when here the 'duck-billed' is dropped, and seemingly everywhere else too. Is it a phenomenon from like TV or something? I've only ever referred to them as just platypuses. Just curious to know, thanks!
LeoxStryker@reddit
gash_dits_wafu@reddit
C'mon Mark, the Ark wasn't at sea for 40 days and 40 nights. That's how long Jesus was in the desert.
ferbiloo@reddit
Didn’t it rain for 40 days and 40 nights during the whole arc business?
gash_dits_wafu@reddit
Oh biscuits, you're right. I was just thinking about how they were at sea for like a year. Wow, the bible likes things happening in 40 day periods.
Radioactivocalypse@reddit
Yes it's a symbolism thing.
It's a bit like today's "Over a hundred years ago" or "There's hundreds of trees over there!"
We don't actually mean hundreds, it just symbolises a big number, and Hebrew and ancient texts from the time would often use 40 years/days
theraininspainfallsm@reddit
Any reason why 40 though? Like was it 40 a set number (kind of like a gross is 144).
RuachReader@reddit
There’s no cultural significance in the number, it’s just the number given to a whole bunch of events that are similar. With a lot of bible stuff, events are pointing to other events and you’re meant to carry all of that meaning in each one.
Other mentions of 40,
Moses spent 40 days and nights up Sinai
Israel wandered the wilderness for 40 nights
It took Elijah 40 days and nights to travel to Horne
Fossilhund@reddit
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
SpudFire@reddit
Tbf it would have taken time for the flood waters to receded. Doubt it stopped raining after 40 nights and they immediately disembarked
ElefanteAmor@reddit
Sometimes I think things like 40 days and 40 nights might be short for “a real long freaking time” 😂
liam_redit1st@reddit
Yeah, when asked Noah just said about a month and a bit. They rounded it up to 40 days just to make it seem more trust worthy.
Extension_Sun_377@reddit
Yep, they sent birds out at least twice to find land. Maybe they should have sent a platypus
SameOldSong4Ever@reddit
A "whole arc" is a circle. Just thought you might like to know...
Mystic_Farce@reddit
Yeah, more commonly known theses day as "The Summer Holidays"...
NaughtyDred@reddit
Yes
cloud1445@reddit
40 is god's goto number.
wizardeverybit@reddit
This reminds me of the Far side comics
Pristine-Account8384@reddit
To distinguish from the multitude of other types of platypuses.
DangerousDisplay7664@reddit
Everyone all over the world used to call it that - even Australia! I can assure you that when people in Britain are referring to them (which we rately do, honestly), we don't call them duck-billed... not sure where you're getting your info from but it is incorrect.
Jesterstear99@reddit
At least if an Australian says platypus I know what they mean, unlike tortoise where they could be talking about what I'd call a turtle.
(I know- tortoises are land turtles to most countries,,,,)
Suspicious_Banana255@reddit
Maybe because the only time we mention them is to comment on how weird they are, so use the full name as it helps point this out.
BeaumarchaisApu@reddit
How often do you think we are talking about them?!
andypanty69@reddit
I think everyone above is missing the important part of it. What exactly was the duck billing for? And if it was legitimate and above board why hasn't the receipt or invoice ever been produced. I think this duck character is one to avoid.
DestroyAllXLBullies@reddit
I'm a duck-billed platypussologist so every day to be fair.
brprk@reddit
Not the platussy
Ecstatic_Food1982@reddit
This sounds like being a cunning linguist.
cold_tap_hot_brew@reddit
Often working in tandem with the pheasant pluckers society.
BlazedAndUnphased@reddit
Keep your cunnilingus away
llufnam@reddit
You got an ology?
Fossilhund@reddit
In my lower back, and it really hurts!
Nolsoth@reddit
Perry don't you have better things to do than be on Reddit?.
DestroyAllXLBullies@reddit
It's a bank holiday sir
chmath80@reddit
So why are you talking shop on your day off?
coldestclock@reddit
He’s in it for the love of the game.
HorrorAccomplished78@reddit
Got him.
Nolsoth@reddit
Very good, as you were then.
odjobz@reddit
When they finally get the next James Bond film, Platypussy, out, the word will be on everyone's lips.
No-Tailor-856@reddit
They're just called platypussologists, in Australia.
SameOldSong4Ever@reddit
Even if the platypussologists have a duck's bill?
MonsieurGump@reddit
It seems you’ve misnamed yourself. From now on you’re a pussologist.
FootballPublic7974@reddit
Love me some of that sweeeet Platypussy!
Dear_General1657@reddit
I’m an amateur pussologist. I can’t promise anything but I’ll take a look.
Interceptor@reddit
Wait . Do you have a duck bill or do the platypuses that you ologist?
Pronesy@reddit
Would it not be “ologise?"
Interceptor@reddit
No, that's someone who speaks at funerals.
Jeester@reddit
A pussologist you say?
Exact-Put-6961@reddit
Pussy ? On a plate? Now you are talking.
lessthandave89@reddit
This is exactly why we do it. If we didn't, and someone just said platypus, most of us would be very much like "WTF is a Platypus?"
Constantly including the "duck-billed" part reinforces what animal we are talking about just by association.
I'm more surprised we don't do this with more non-native animals
Tim-Sanchez@reddit
I think nearly everyone would understand what you meant if you just said platypus, there's not many animals you could confuse it for.
Intrepid_Ad7900@reddit
But if someone just said "platypus" I can guarantee at least one person would respond with "duck-billed?", just in case there was another one that they weren't aware of.
Ok_Kale_3160@reddit
There's a type of tropical fish called a 'Platy' . They are a live breeder, like a Guppy, and don't lay eggs
lessthandave89@reddit
But, is that because we've already spend so long calling it a duck-billed platypus? It's not exactly like we see them on the daily here
Outside_Cap_6092@reddit
No it doesn’t, what a stupid comment - the ‘duck-billed’ is a qualifier to distinguish them from any other species of platypus but, as there are no other species of platypus (at least not extant species), it’s wholly redundant. If someone doesn’t know what a platypus is, adding ‘duck-billed’ isn’t going to do anything to resolve their confusion.
Adorable_Past9114@reddit
My local pond has duck billed ducks but we shorten it to duck.
Outrageous_Dread@reddit
What about the Blue-foot Booby 😉 in a way its best its got blue feet.
Extension_Sun_377@reddit
Are they not platypus billed ducks? And if not, why not?
Laylelo@reddit
I thought about this and I genuinely think if someone said “platypus”, I’d say “a duck-billed platypus?”. Like I somehow know loads of types of platypuses…
Proud-Platypus-3262@reddit
Not to be confused with the swan billed platypus or the parrot billed platypus
angry2alpaca@reddit
Platypii, if you please!
Maxwells_Ag_Hammer@reddit
Cock-faced, big-eared horse
ProsodySpeaks@reddit
'Stripey tiger'? 'toothy crocodile'? I like this, it's got boaty mcboatface all over it someone should start a campaign
dontmentiontrousers@reddit
Chlamydiaed koala.
Extension_Sun_377@reddit
Ducky McPlatface?
tcpukl@reddit
Why other type of there?
EUskeptik@reddit
As in “cuddly koala” when they are probably anything but?
-##-
SpudFire@reddit
Chlamydia Koala would be better
Jumpy-Jello-@reddit
Like blue-footed boobies.
danddersson@reddit
It is to distinguish it from 'Platypus quercivorus' of course.
Otherwise, people might think you were talking about the tree weevil, and much hilarity, at your expense, would ensue.
owzleee@reddit
Daily in my case. I have platypus (duck billed) issues.
Optimal_Collection77@reddit
I think about them as much as I think about the Roman empire
Programmer-Severe@reddit
What did the platypuses ever do for us?
Astr0Scot@reddit
Quackqueducts?
Programmer-Severe@reddit
Yes, they did give us that, that's true
RobertTheSpruce@reddit
Platipodes.
Programmer-Severe@reddit
Plati pie? 🥧
joebmc@reddit
Weekly then?
Qyro@reddit
So basically all the time
miemcc@reddit
Only when discussing a cat run over by a car after killing and eating a duck... What was the cat called? A duck-filled flatty-puss!
AggravatingBorder781@reddit
Every time my partner and I get drunk, without fail, we end up talking about the platypus.
It's not even forced, I don't know why it keeps happening.
Goldman250@reddit
I’m always talking about semi-aquatic, egg-laying mammals of action.
Pedantichrist@reddit
I reckon I talk about them more, per capita of platypus, than most creatures.
mellotronworker@reddit
Becsuse it has the bill of a fucken duck, y'cunt.
Travels_Belly@reddit
Best reply ever.
cloud__19@reddit
This whole thread is outstanding, I'm sitting in the pub actually laughing out loud.
Psychological_Salt93@reddit
Garden with a coke zero. Clearly im living the dream. Same though. Loving it.
Fossilhund@reddit
I'm sitting on my sofa laughing.
mr_mxyzpt1k@reddit (OP)
Imma start referring to ducks as platypus billed
Mattechooo@reddit
Perhaps the bird-bodied platypus?
WhyN0tToast@reddit
Not to be confused with the beaver, AKA the otter-bodied platypus!
PaulBradley@reddit
Or to give it it's full title, a duck-bill-arsed beaver?
Beer-Milkshakes@reddit
Its just an efficient name.
lagoon83@reddit
I mean, I read something about how (evolutionary speaking) the platypus had a bill before the duck did, you might be onto something there...)
sc0ttydo0@reddit
Quick Google says it didn't and it's not even a bill. It's a rubbery snout 🤷♂️
So who knows
lagoon83@reddit
Why would the Internet lie to me? I'm appalled.
Kiss_It_Goodbyeee@reddit
Platypus-billed what, though?
KatVanWall@reddit
I'm 46 (by which I mean I'm hardly some bright-eyed young thing with barely any life experience and a breezy optimism that everyone's up-to-date on the turns of phrase of the younger generation), and I'm very used to hearing them just called a 'platypus' and wouldn't bat an eyelid at hearing that. Seems totally normal to me.
'Duck-billed platypus' I might expect to hear in the context of someone deliberately being a bit more formal and precise, like if they were doing a mock David Attenborough narration along the lines of '... and now we see the duck-billed platypus approaching the water's edge, where the kangaroo lizard waits concealed among the leaves ...' Whereas in a more normal, day-to-day context I'd expect the shorter term, like 'I woke up this morning and there was a platypus in my garden pond!'
The 'duck-billed' part strikes me as slightly quaint and old-fashioned, like something my mum would have said. Absolutely no one would fail to know what you meant if you just said 'platypus'.
Astrohurricane1@reddit
I’ve often wondered what they would be called if the duck hadn’t been discovered first. 🤔
AvatarIII@reddit
Weirdly, it was Australian settlers that called it the Duckbill, scientists called it a platypus, but there was already a type of beetle called a platypus.
Les-tah-farian@reddit
Gotta distinguish them from the long-snouted platypus we get over here
mr_mxyzpt1k@reddit (OP)
HA that'd be a sight I'd imagine.
king_ofbhutan@reddit
an evil echidna
neilm1000@reddit
I think it's time that scientists developed this excellent sounding creature.
ddmf@reddit
I misread the break there and wondered what a sounding creature was.
neilm1000@reddit
I'm going to start doing that.
Total-Combination-47@reddit
And the aggressive flame thrower platypus
EUskeptik@reddit
The one with the prominent teeth?
Very fierce-looking creature. Has a nasty bite.
-##-
AffectDangerous8922@reddit
"Duckbill" is an old colonial era name for the platypus, back when most europeans still believed it was a hoax. Ober time the name duckbill got tagged on to it's taxonomic name Playtpus in common vernacular.
PhoenixJive@reddit
Someone somewhere in the world woke up this morning knowing more about duck billed platypus anal passages than anyone else on the planet. They may not even be aware.
Dreadheaddanski@reddit
Cos we could be talking about chicken-beaked platypus, or a pig-snout platypus and we don't want to cause confusion
ParkerR666@reddit
We don’t have any here, so we only know what we’ve been taught. Somewhere along the line they were obviously introduced as duck-billed and that’s what has stuck. I imagine the amount of times I’ve ever said duck-billed in my life is still <10 though so it’s not a big deal!
HorrorAccomplished78@reddit
I think it sounds more weirdly Aussie as Duck Billed Platypus. Like Kangeroo, Dunny, Bluey, Shelia and dingo. Really weird Aussie words.
odjobz@reddit
And of course there's also its monotreme cousin the hedgehog-spined echidna.
tobotic@reddit
That's not really a British thing.
https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/plants-and-animals/platypus
"One of the most fascinating and unusual Australian animals, the duck-billed platypus, along with the echidna, are the only known monotremes, or egg-laying mammals, in existence."
polyphuckin@reddit
They can make their own custard?
tobotic@reddit
They don't have access to properly equipped kitchen facilities.
SameOldSong4Ever@reddit
I had an Aunty Echidna...
AndrexOxybox@reddit
When they were first named, they were given the Generic name Platypus, "flat-foot". It was later found that this name had already been taken (by a flat-footed beetle). Sharing generic names is a no-no with the Linnaean Society, so a new one had to be found. Ornithorhyncus (bird-nose) was coined, but Platypus had gained common usage, so the disambiguating (but non-scientific) "duck-billed" was added.
ltcmdrjo@reddit
"When you Change Trains at Charring Cross,
have pity on the Playtypus;
It lives in a hole beneath the ground,
and makes the moving stairs go round."
J. Marrison
Slonshal@reddit
Because I'd get them mixed up with the hawk-nosed platypus, or the raven-chinned platypus or even the very rare chicken-eyebrowed platypus.
SameOldSong4Ever@reddit
You're forgetting the unforgettable Elephant Trunked Platypus.
Intruder313@reddit
That’s how it was first introduced to us when discovered
I’ve had to unlearn it
cloud1445@reddit
Well I'm a big-fuckin'-dicked platypus, and I don't like being confused with those other platypuses, so...
CreativeAdeptness477@reddit
To differentiate between that and the other platypusses of course.
TheMeltingSnowman72@reddit
Where do you hear people saying it? In the pub? Walking down the street? In the queue at the bakery?
Gtfo 🤣
Michaelleahcim00@reddit
Because that's what we were taught at school and in DK books. I thought I'd encounter them a lot more often than I do (along with quicksand and getting my clothes caught on fire).
neilm1000@reddit
Stop! Drop! Roll!
Quicksand was a major fear for me. I've never even been near it as far as I know.
mordhoshogh@reddit
I've had one leg go into quicksand up to the thigh and it was pretty terrifying.
tgerz@reddit
I have not but I have experienced post-holing (breaking through the snow up to my crotch) and that was actually much scarier than I’d imagined. Had to dig my wife’s foot out. Was inexperienced. Reminded me of what it might feel like being in real quicksand with some obvious differences.
kelleehh@reddit
Don’t forget the wet blue roll to instantly heal if too.
EmploymentNo7620@reddit
With a little bit of water on. The school cold compress heals most things... Except sick... You needed sawdust for that
Giddyup_1998@reddit
Because they are literally a duck-billed platypus.
Scowlin_Munkeh@reddit
To differentiate it from all the other platypi.
orion-7@reddit
To distinguish it from all the other playpuses in the world, the ones we don't let the Aussies know abou- shit sorry guys
VampireVice@reddit
...We do?
Dazzling-Bear3942@reddit
I can't remember much else from the book but when I was a child we had a picture book of animals that featured the Duck-billed Platypus and can still hear my Mom's sing song way of saying the name.
We also had a picture book of dinosaurs and can hear her sing The Iguanadan! The Iguanadan! Everytime I think of dinosaurs.
SpecialLengthiness29@reddit
We only say it when we need to distinguish between "duck-billed" platypus and the "non duck-billed" platypus.
Spank86@reddit
Because I can count on one hand the number of times ive had to say or type duck billed platypus in the last decade, and i still could tomorrow even if you cut off 4 of my fingers.
xirse@reddit
I've probably said duck billed platypus once in my entire life. I don't think it's as much of an issue as you think it is.
Slartibartfast39@reddit
Honestly, is there a non duck billed platipus? It's not something I've considered before
Ok_Shirt983@reddit
Obviously to distinguish it from the Platypus cylindrus which is native to the UK.
Majestic_Matt_459@reddit
We found them - we get to name them ;) lol
The UK played a massive role in the discovery of the platypus. The Natural History Museum in London holds historical, preserved platypus specimens that helped scientists originally determine the animal was real.
ARobertNotABob@reddit
Same reason we scream when we see a crocodile ... indoctrination.
FloggingTheHorses@reddit
It's so people know we're not talking about Perry
YouCantArgueWithThis@reddit
I have never said this. Or anyone I know.
Ok_Topic9967@reddit
because it feels nice. like touching my ping ping.
jim_cap@reddit
To distinguish between it and all the other platypuses, of course.
probablyaythrowaway@reddit
PERRY the duck billed platypus???!
PapaProto@reddit
It’s Dave’s fault.
RRW2020@reddit
I’m American and have never heard someone just say ‘platypus.’ I think if you said that in the U.S., they would say ‘you mean duck-billed platypuses?’ Because they would honestly be confused.
blazej84@reddit
Perry!!!.Thanks now got that song going around and around my head !! .
derpyfloofus@reddit
It’s to distinguish them from the duck-billed women with big puffy lips.
If we just called them all duck-billed then we might mix them up so we add platypus on the end.
f23n09fnu0w@reddit
Everyone used to say "duck-billed platypus" originally. Most English speaking people call it that still. I'm guessing Australians use the word a hell of a lot more than anyone else, so you shortened it.
PaulBradley@reddit
Australians will shorten any word they can tbh.
anyotherreddit@reddit
Platty
LegioXXVexillarius@reddit
I guess that's why Brits call an umbrella a brolly.
f23n09fnu0w@reddit
Exactly! Aint nobody got time to say umbrella in the UK.
Laylelo@reddit
Umbrolly
mh1191@reddit
That whole song would have been much shorter over here
Monsoon_Storm@reddit
under my brolly-olly-olly...
_Daftest_@reddit
Well, I know that Tom Lehrer, an American, referred to "a duck-billed platypus" in one of his songs (Oedipus Rex), so it's not only the British who say it.
TrebuchetFancier@reddit
Wait, are there just regular platypus/platypi/platypusses/whatever the plural is, without duck bills?!
WotanMjolnir@reddit
IIRC, the reason why ‘duck-billed’ was added was because there was already a species of insect called a Platypus - all ‘platypus’ means is ‘flat-footed’, I believe.
StoneColdSoberReally@reddit
It's to differentiate it from the unbilled platypus which, as I understand typically is found further to the north, as opposed to the duck-billed's more Eastern distribution. It's more Cairns northward.
Couldn't find any images but they are a far more reclusive species than their eastern cousins. Little is know of their day-to-day life in the tropics but it is believed the higher climactic heat aids the nesting unbilled platypus in more rapid development of their embryos in their respective eggs. As Sir Attenborough, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, so eloquently said of the unbilled platypus, "Here, deep in the undergrowth, high in the tropics of the Australian mainland, we find the female unbilled platypus, guarding her clutch before they hatch. She will, as with most flora and fauna of this most marvellous of nature's experiments in isolated evolution will fucking murder you in your sleep if you look at her wrong."
In it understood more will be published on them as more information and collection results come available. Dr. Drobbare of University of Adelaide and his PhD study, Bun Yip from the University of Seoul are understood to be leading the research.
Historical_Nail7271@reddit
'tis interesting 🤔. Implies there are other types of platypuses.....
Red breasted Robin is another. Implies there are other coloured breasts on robins.
Oh dear, I said breasts.... 🙉🙈🙊
Historical_Nail7271@reddit
Good to know this group has a sense of humor /s
Glass_Minute4753@reddit
I've never heard anyone say red-breasted robin, only robin redbreast in the UK.
But as to why we call it that - it was called a redbreast first, the robin part came later.
Possible-Ad-2682@reddit
Didn't Thomas "A" Beckett keep one in the cathedral?
uffington@reddit
What do you call Aussie Rules Football?
Puzzled-Horse279@reddit
We say Platypus usually
BubbhaJebus@reddit
That's its full name. Its scientific name means "duck-like bird snout".
OctaneTroopers@reddit
How do you turn a duck billed platypus into a blues musician?
Put it in the microwave until it's Bill Withers.
mcintg@reddit
Fossils show us that the platypus had variants that were not duck billed, some had teeth. We are just covering our bases in case one pops up.
Crafty_Reflection410@reddit
I call them ornithorhynchus paradoxus
yearsofpractice@reddit
It’s the same with any mythical creatures - The Abominable Snowman, The Loch Ness Monster, The Mongolian Death Worm - part of the fun is giving it an unnecessarily elaborate name. Duck-Billed Platypus! It’s fun to say!
MxJamesC@reddit
We have over 72 species of platypi on the British Isles.
Ricky_Martins_Vagina@reddit
I just assumed there were other variants of platypus that we needed to distinguish the duck-billed version from 🤷🏻♂️
fearghaz@reddit
Dropped like a drop bear?
Dont you guys shorten everything though?
camull@reddit
Because they have a bill that looks like a ducks.
Alwayslisteningin@reddit
Koala 'bear' enters chat.
Greggs-the-bakers@reddit
I mean.... i just thought that was what they were officially named. And I tend not to need to refer to duck billed platypuses very often
cyanicpsion@reddit
We normally just get confused about what the plural is ..
So it we call them a duck-billed platypus and another duck-billed platypus
Esexboy101101@reddit
What about the Drop Bears?
DarthScabies@reddit
Every time I hear drop bears it reminds me of The Last Continent and Rincewind getting attacked. Still makes me giggle like an idiot.
GNU Terry Pratchett
West_Yorkshire@reddit
The fact it's called "duck-billed" platypus implies the existence of just a platypus.
Willsagain2@reddit
Hmm, I think it's just we like to remind ourselves how truly, mindbendingly, weird this creature is everytime we speak of it. And lest we're disrespectful, let's not forget its concealed venomous weapons.
platypuss1871@reddit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus_(beetle)
Neddlings55@reddit
We havent dropped the duck-billed here, thats why.
Its a commonly used named.
mr_mxyzpt1k@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the answer! It was something I had noticed after it was mentioned in long-form twice in quick succession from two different UK things, which gave me pause.
BaBaFiCo@reddit
I'm intrigued the circumstances of mentioning them twice in UK culture. I can't even imagine the reason.
waveform06@reddit
Over here the full name has always been used
anothergreen1@reddit
Out of politeness, more than anything
talkingtongues@reddit
Jeremy the Duck-billed platypus.
BaBaFiCo@reddit
That's Mr Duck-Billed Platypus, unless you're friends.
TrifectaOfSquish@reddit
To make it clear that we aren't talking about the beetles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus_(beetle) who had the name first plus of course most of us haven't been formally introduced so certainly can't start being so familiar
jbibanez@reddit
I had no idea the duck billed variety evolved from beetles. They get stranger the more you read about them!
Jaybee021967@reddit
Is there a platypus without a duck bill? If not I have no idea why we say it
CollectionJolly@reddit
By saying duck-billed, it kind of infers there's a different species of platypus called something else, right? (I googled to make 100% sure there isn't 😅) I'm from the UK and I feel like I'd probably just say platypus. (I've said the word platypus in my head so many times now that it doesn't make sense)
Resident_Win_1058@reddit
Not all of us do - i am Team Semi-Aquatic Egg-laying Mammal of Action.
Doo be-doo be-doo be…
Due_Cardiologist_788@reddit
Hey, where's Perry?
borisdidnothingwrong@reddit
deadlocked72@reddit
That's the name we're taught as kids at school it just sticks 🤷♂️
FirmDingo8@reddit
It is what we were told they were called in school in the 80s
DrachenDad@reddit
It shares a name with a beetle, and looks like a beaver with a duck-bill...
SoupieLC@reddit
I say it to differentiate from all the non duck billed ones
Bellatrixforqueen@reddit
Dot and the kangaroo taught us
TheSmallestPlap@reddit
Probably the same phenomenon that has a certain demographic refer to horse riding as horseback riding
wils_152@reddit
Next you'll be saying we should just call "long nosed elephants" elephants.
Where's the fun in that?
animalwitch@reddit
I mean, there isn't a other type of platypus so the "duck-billed" seems pointless? I never say it lol
Periapts@reddit
Outside of school or the odd nature documentary, I've genuinely never heard anyone mention a Duck-Billed Platypus.
CriticalBrickery@reddit
I've just had some sort of flash back to an illustrated poem in a children's book of verse that I had. I've googled it and come up with this, by Oliver Herford from 1915:
But I don't think that's it, it was a different one. But I can picture a sulky platypus in a riverbed with reeds.
Helpful_Librarian_87@reddit
Thank you for giving me my daily poem, early & unsearched for AND of one of my favourite animals. (I try to read a new poem a day)
mr_mxyzpt1k@reddit (OP)
Oh that's very interesting. I like the poem lol.
Acrobatic-Shirt8540@reddit
Genuine question? Are there other platypuses? Or is the duck-billed part redundant, kinda like when the Americans say tuna fish? (We all know it's a fish, you can just call it tuna.)
Live-Motor-4000@reddit
DBP!
Renew3DUK@reddit
I mean...
It -is- technically, the little fellahs full name. And we are pretty keen on that sort of thing...Sir David Attenborough instead of just Dave.....The Long and Winding Road instead of just....road.
No. It's a Platypus. It's the only thing called a Platypus in the world. Adding Duck Billed is unnecessary and irritating, and should only be used for educational purposes.
Perhaps they thought you'd get confused with the Stork-Beaked Platypus.
JBEqualizer@reddit
Incorrect. There's a Platypus beetle, which was named first, but also a Zacco Platypus which is a fish.
Renew3DUK@reddit
That's cool to know.
Thank you! 😁
PlatypusFragrant2692@reddit
My username speaks for itself 🤣
EUskeptik@reddit
Do you honestly think anyone cares? 🤔
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WorcsBloke@reddit
If we're going to have to confine Reddit comments to things that actually matter, this place is going to become a good deal quieter...
EUskeptik@reddit
Nothing I said should in any way inhibit your ability to post about things that don’t matter. 🙂
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handtoglandwombat@reddit
I see you’re not familiar with our endemic fauna, the spoon-billed platypus.
k0n3kt@reddit
I just said it. First time ever 😅
Scared_Experience688@reddit
I think because there is an element of the ridiculous about them, so it deserves its full ridiculous name. It's like a bird at each end, with it's bill and it's egg-laying, with a mammal in between. It's a curiosity with an equally curious name which has just stuck.
LahmiaTheVampire@reddit
It's the same with Great White Sharks. There's no such thing as a Lesser White Shark so the prefix is redundant. But people will continue to call it that.
Pedantichrist@reddit
That is just what we call them. Similarly to your shortening, we call honey bees ‘bees’ or Yellowjacket wasps ‘wasps’. I guess it is just what you have access to.
neilm1000@reddit
There is a subfamily of weevils called platypodinae so maybe it is to avoid confusion. I once got told it was because settlers called it the duckbill but museums etc in Europe referred to it as the platypus but that might just be a story.
But, most importantly, how often do you think we're talking about them?!
Duanedoberman@reddit
When a stuffed platypus was first brought to the UK, scientist assumed it was a hoax, different animals and birds stuck together. It wasn't until a live platypus was brought to the UK that they accepted it as real
I presume that's why the 'Duck bill' has stuck.
mr_mxyzpt1k@reddit (OP)
Wow I didn't know that. I wonder why they accepted the existence of like kangaroos and koalas and stuff but not the platypus. Thanks for the insight :D
SpaceMonkeyAttack@reddit
Because those don't look like a cut & shunt job with other animals. You'd have to be a pretty talented taxidermist to make a kangaroo from spare parts.
FewAnybody2739@reddit
It's what we've been brought up with I guess. I do say hippo and rhino though, despite knowing the full name.
mr_mxyzpt1k@reddit (OP)
To me it reads more as specifying like a 'one-horned rhinoceros'. Thanks for the reply :D
Decard_Pain@reddit
We named them, also there is more than one platypus species.
Technically not calling them duck billed platypus and just platypus is wrong.
Quiet_surprise79@reddit
There's only one extant platypus species
platypuss1871@reddit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus_(beetle)
Quiet_surprise79@reddit
Oh my bad. I thought the other commenter meant there is more than one mammalian platypus species.
It's very rare that we'd have a beetle with the same name as a mammal! How strange. Thank you for sharing
KingForceHundred@reddit
What do the butchers/supermarkets over there call them?
Fun_Gas_7777@reddit
We are always taught that that is what they are called...
NewtSoupsReddit@reddit
Its to differentiate it from the late billed platypus which hides in ponds and surprises you with pay-later deals you forgot about and now you owe a years interest
gerrineer@reddit
I drop the platypus and just call them duck billed.
dinkidoo7693@reddit
That’s what they prefer to be called, like a pronoun
Gone_For_Lunch@reddit
Can’t get them confused with the beetle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus_(beetle)
AdPrestigious2387@reddit
Because that's what they're named
BaBaFiCo@reddit
People use the name of something when referring to it? 🤷♂️
And I can't imagine any of us has much use to say it.
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