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Zelda's tortoiseshell tumtum (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/cat@lemmy.world
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[–] 6 points 10 months ago* (15 children)

OP didn't say "tortie". They said tortoise shell pattern. (Well, they implied that.) The pattern of dots on the cat's belly does indeed look kind of like a tortoise shell.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (14 children)

    Tortie is just shorthand for tortoiseshell, which the belly isn't. She's a very pretty cat, but words have meanings and she doesn't have tortoiseshell pattern fur.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (13 children)

    I'm not talking about the color variant (which doesn't look like a toirtoise at all, really). OP's cat's belly looks like a literal tortoise shell.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (12 children)

    This is just kinda obstinate though. Tortoiseshell in the context of cats obviously refers to the fur pattern. To assume otherwise is odd. And just because that's the kind of tortoiseshell you're thinking of doesn't mean the pattern isn't also named after a tortoiseshell.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago* (11 children)

    That's a sea turtle in your photo and not a tortoise.

    Anyway, rather they continue to argue with me, why don't you just ask OP what they meant?

    Here, I'll do it for you... @stringere@sh.itjust.works What did you mean by your title? Can you settle our debate?

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago (8 children)

    I'm aware. It's also the one the tortoiseshell pattern (in general, not just for cats) is named for. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoiseshell

    And frankly, it doesn't particularly matter what OP meant. Doesn't make it correct. Tortoiseshell cat fur is a specific pattern.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (7 children)

    And frankly, it doesn't particularly matter what OP meant

    This entire argument was me just trying to explain what OP meant. So yes, it matters.

    You're an ass. Blocked.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (6 children)

    OP used a word with a specific meaning. Someone pointed out that that word doesn't apply here. You come in to say that we're wrong for pointing out that word doesn't apply and keep digging in to say why the word doesn't mean what it means.

    One of us is an ass for sure.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 6 months ago (5 children)

    I used tortoiseshell as an adjective to describe the pattern on her belly. I was not seeking to be scientifically or taxonomically correct. I was using a word to vaguely describe the coloration of her fur.

    The argument just seems like petty pedantry.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (4 children)

    Lol, months later. You posted to a cat community, don't get upset when people call you out on using cat terms incorrectly. The better response is to learn and not repeat the mistake. Calling it petty pedantry is absurd.

    Tortoiseshell in the context of cats has a specific meaning. if you don't care to learn what that meaning is, it's easy to just not use the term.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 6 months ago (3 children)

    pedant /pĕd′nt/

    noun

    1. One who ostentatiously exhibits academic knowledge or who pays undue attention to minor details or formal rules.

    It was 't a mistake. I used an adjective which describes the pattern on my cat. Your argument is entirely pedantic.

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  • [–] 0 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    You used an adjective that describes a pattern that isn't on your cat. That's not a minor detail of your post. You're the one trying, and failing, to be a pedant.

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