common names vs. scientific ones

[bigbird]

i hope that we do not go down the line of political correctness etc. We all come from a large world, we all have a passion for fish/plants and water. We are all not perfect in spelling or writting, but we have THAT passion. I hope that a lot of hobbiest learn about their fish before they buy them, so do research on th net etc. If they then have questions, then try to use both . I must admit that if I see the scientific name it does put me off a lot of the time, as I am just used mostly to L numbers, but that is only that most L traded in Australia are advertised as L numbers only. We are not perfect and I think people should ask their questions with what they believe is comfortable, yet also realise that nicknames in different countries have different meanings etc. Maybe try a little harder to add both. 1 it helps you get responses 2 it educates you and others to maybe take the time and look at the fish you have.
Anyway, we all love it and I am sure will help each other out when there are issues, Ids and help needed. cheers jk

PS I hope this site does not go down to political correctness, I am a member of anothe site ( non english) and they critisise already if spelling in general is wrong etc.

[racoll]

i hope that we do not go down the line of political correctness etc.

I don't think this has anything to do with political correctness. Nobody is offended or upset by using ambiguous names. The purpose of using the right names is to allow an international group of people to communicate effectively. It helps users get the most out of the community.

We are all not perfect in spelling or writting,

True, but again, in an international forum there will be many non-English speakers, so taking a little effort to communicate effectively in clear English is essential for everyone to understand what's going on. Computers do the hard work! It literally takes seconds to use the browser's spell checker.

I must admit that if I see the scientific name it does put me off a lot of the time, as I am just used mostly to L numbers, but that is only that most L traded in Australia are advertised as L numbers only.

There's nothing wrong with using L numbers, as they are all indexed here on the site. The trick is to encourage people to bother to take the 5 seconds to wrap them in clog tags, so everyone else who hasn't memorised every L number up to

L457

can see at a glance what's being discussed.

[MatsP]

And of course, if you use clog tags around the scientific name

Panaque maccus

, someone can see that it looks just the same as

L104

(or

L162

?)

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Mats