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- "Nem, a hangyák sem bogarak, …
"Nem, a hangyák sem bogarak, hanem rovarok."
Translation:No, ants are not beetles either, but insects.
7 Comments
In strict biology terms, a bug has a specific type of proboscis, more specifically, a member of order Hemiptera. Sometimes the term true bug is limited further to the order Heteroptera, which has a specific wing structure.
That said, the English term "bug" is used in the colloquial language to refer generically to any insect or creepy-crawly, sometimes including even spiders and worms.
Question for native Hungarian speakers: Does the Hungarian term bogár similarly refer to any creepy-crawly? It appears that, in biology contexts, HU bogarak == LA coleoptera == EN beetles. Meanwhile, EN bugs (in the specific sense) == LA hemiptera == HU poloskák. Is poloska ever used colloquially to refer to any creepy-crawly?
"Is poloska ever used colloquially to refer to any creepy-crawly?"
Nope, poloska is a specific type of insect. There are two types: mezei poloska: shield bug. Also called büdösbogár (smelly bug/stink bug)
ágyi poloska: bedbug
Or, a poloska can be a wiretap (small device someone secretly put in your home to listen to your conversations).
501
The "worms" that are bugs are not really worms at all but larvae: lisztkukac ( (mealworm), . . . Nobody would ever call an earthworm, say, a bug in English -- a creepy-crawly maybe. An infectious agent such as a bacterium or a virus would be more likely to be called a bug. Maybe a case of worms though, in that sense. Sorry, but it really bugs me . . .
Sorry to bug you about bugs! 😆
Nobody would ever call an earthworm, say, a bug in English
Strictly speaking, perhaps, but in common parlance, usage patterns suggest that many users of English consider "worms" to be a subset of "bugs":
Cheers!
Yeah, it would be more correct to say "not beetles but insects". Although it could be argued what exactly "bugs" mean.
...bugs and insects are the same thing...
-------- sometimes, but sometimes not. insects are bugs when the person describing it doesn't know whether it's a bug, insect, arachnid or millipede. bugs are insects when they have six legs . . .
Big 25 feb 19
