Why is Earth's moon still named just "The Moon" (and our sun still named "The Sun")

beastro

New member
Jan 6, 2012
564
0
0
OlasDAlmighty said:



I'm sure I'm probably the 5 trillionth person on the escapist who's complained about this before, but damn it I don't care, this bugs me too damn much.

Every other planet in our solar system has moons with actual names derived from roman and greek mythology. Ours is just "The Moon", and that's not just what most people call it, that's it's actual official name according to science. The Sun ([a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1333776/Spanish-woman-Angeles-Duran-claims-owns-sun--plans-start-charging-ALL-users.html"]which is apparently owned by spanish woman[/a]) has the same weird dilemma.
What will alien races think when they come to earth and find out we named our sun and moon "The Sun" and "The Moon".

Our name for the planet being "earth" isn't much better when you consider that they might just as well have called it planet Dirt. But I digress.

So my questions are:

Does this bother you as much as it bothers me?

Do you think we'll change this ever, and if so when?

What should we change it's name to?
For tens of thousands of years we looked up at the sky and saw many things, but two dominated at the sky and until early astronomy, we didn't even know there were ay other moons or suns in the sky, just a bunch of little tiny dots.

There may be many moons, but it's OUR moon. Same for the sun. There's a lot of earth out there, but the ball we live on is more important to us than the rest of them put together.

It's why you call those who raised you mom and dad while you don't call anyone else by those names even though others call have a relationship with their own moms and dads.
 

Olas

Hello!
Dec 24, 2011
3,226
0
0
Smeggs said:
Why do we call it "The Moon"?

Seriously?

Because it's the first one we knew existed. It's the moon of our planet. That's like asking why we call it, "The White House" and not a white house. It's The Moon of Earth. It's ours. It is the only one that really matters to us as a species, unless Titan suddenly decided to break orbit and come flying at us for no reason, it is the only one that effects our planet.
I know why it was originally called the moon. What I don't get is why it's name is "The Moon" today, long after we've discovered over 100 others and started naming them all actual names.
Would you name your child "The Son" or "The Daughter", just because you don't intend to have a second one?
 

SinisterGehe

New member
May 19, 2009
1,456
0
0
Because there is a difference in "a moon", "The moon" and "The Moon". Anyone with slightest understanding in English can understand the difference. Also it is the same in Finnish: (kuu = a moon), (Kuu = The Moon) (-n kuu = the moon) The capital letter makes ALL the difference.
Same goes for sun's "a sun" is some sun, "the sun" is particular sun and "The Sun" is our Sun.
But star can also refer to single star without satellites. It can just be a star. But sun is usually used to reference in context that it is "Something's star".

Also it because of our language culture history and this is a jump straight in to the pool of language history and language philosophy.

Because we need frame of reference to our words, we need to know what they mean, apple is reference to a particular fruit, when as Apple is now days reference to Apple Computers. This is all because words need to have tied meaning, an idea - in order to make sense and for mind to understand. If I just type "rghtnmbjtrfgd" you do not understand what it means - what it references to, you might understand the symbols (letters) and their meaning or even their connection in certain context. But without the context to which the series of symbols is supposed to reference, they mean nothing. the idea doesn't exist - it is not a word.
(+ 10 points if you understood me)
 

Olas

Hello!
Dec 24, 2011
3,226
0
0
beastro said:
OlasDAlmighty said:
For tens of thousands of years we looked up at the sky and saw many things, but two dominated at the sky and until early astronomy, we didn't even know there were ay other moons or suns in the sky, just a bunch of little tiny dots.

There may be many moons, but it's OUR moon. Same for the sun. There's a lot of earth out there, but the ball we live on is more important to us than the rest of them put together.

It's why you call those who raised you mom and dad while you don't call anyone else by those names even though others call have a relationship with their own moms and dads.
I probably should rephrase OP, because what I mean to ask is why their NAMES are still "The Moon" and "The Sun".

I may call my parents "Mom" and "Dad" casually, but those aren't their names, because I'm not SpeedRacer. Their names are Robert and Monica.
 

Fluffythepoo

New member
Sep 29, 2011
445
0
0
Calling bullshit on anyone saying the real name is sol/luna.. Luna is a spacecraft and sol is a star in another galaxy. In scientific publications the sun is referred to as the sun and the moon is referred to as the moon (except in some contexts where they're more blandly referred to as a star or a satellite)... The only situations they're referred to as sun or luna is in Latin (2nd line of carmina might be a good example)


And no the naming doesn't bother me, things have names. If the names succeed in their purpose of providing meaning I don't really care beyond that

Given the lack of need to change the names and the effect widespread literacy has on language change I don't see them ever changing in our lifetimes

But if they did I'd switch moon back to loon cause i like LLLLLLs more than MMMMMs, also switch sun to Zon cause I like ZZZZZs more than SSSSSes
 

Terrible Opinions

New member
Sep 11, 2011
498
0
0
OlasDAlmighty said:
Smeggs said:
Why do we call it "The Moon"?

Seriously?

Because it's the first one we knew existed. It's the moon of our planet. That's like asking why we call it, "The White House" and not a white house. It's The Moon of Earth. It's ours. It is the only one that really matters to us as a species, unless Titan suddenly decided to break orbit and come flying at us for no reason, it is the only one that effects our planet.
I know why it was originally called the moon. What I don't get is why it's name is "The Moon" today, long after we've discovered over 100 others and started naming them all actual names.
Would you name your child "The Son" or "The Daughter", just because you don't intend to have a second one?
That may well be the worst analogy in the history of anything ever.

Think about it for a second.

Keep thinking.

Okay, everything clear now?

Good.
 

zehydra

New member
Oct 25, 2009
5,033
0
0
"that's it's actual official name according to science. "

I lol'd.

You must mean the scientific establishment. Science can't tell us the names of things.
 

Olas

Hello!
Dec 24, 2011
3,226
0
0
The Crotch said:
OlasDAlmighty said:
Smeggs said:
Why do we call it "The Moon"?

Seriously?

Because it's the first one we knew existed. It's the moon of our planet. That's like asking why we call it, "The White House" and not a white house. It's The Moon of Earth. It's ours. It is the only one that really matters to us as a species, unless Titan suddenly decided to break orbit and come flying at us for no reason, it is the only one that effects our planet.
I know why it was originally called the moon. What I don't get is why it's name is "The Moon" today, long after we've discovered over 100 others and started naming them all actual names.
Would you name your child "The Son" or "The Daughter", just because you don't intend to have a second one?
That may well be the worst analogy in the history of anything ever.

Think about it for a second.

Keep thinking.

Okay, everything clear now?

Good.
Actually, I'm still thinking, what's wrong with it? I wouldn't name my child "The Child", I wouldn't name my dog "The Dog". It still seems like a fine analogy to me.

But if you don't think it is why don't you act like an adult and TELL me why?
 

TIMESWORDSMAN

Wishes he had fewer cap letters.
Mar 7, 2008
1,040
0
0
Correct me if I'm mistaken, but aren't 'Luna' and 'Sol' accepted names for the sun and moon?
I know that the translations of the names are, in fact, Moon and Sun, but it beats calling the sun Ra. You just can't get behind a name like Ra, it's to small. Three letters is much better. Khonsu isn't great either.
 

Fluffythepoo

New member
Sep 29, 2011
445
0
0
I remeber in grade 4 when we learnt about definate articles and didnt understand them either.. Granted we figured them out by grade 5
 

Dimitriov

The end is nigh.
May 24, 2010
1,215
0
0
Fluffythepoo said:
I remeber in grade 4 when we learnt about definate articles and didnt understand them either.. Granted we figured them out by grade 5
A snarky comment from someone who doesn't spellcheck! :D

No, but seriously, you made me smile.
 

Terrible Opinions

New member
Sep 11, 2011
498
0
0
OlasDAlmighty said:
The Crotch said:
OlasDAlmighty said:
Smeggs said:
Why do we call it "The Moon"?

Seriously?

Because it's the first one we knew existed. It's the moon of our planet. That's like asking why we call it, "The White House" and not a white house. It's The Moon of Earth. It's ours. It is the only one that really matters to us as a species, unless Titan suddenly decided to break orbit and come flying at us for no reason, it is the only one that effects our planet.
I know why it was originally called the moon. What I don't get is why it's name is "The Moon" today, long after we've discovered over 100 others and started naming them all actual names.
Would you name your child "The Son" or "The Daughter", just because you don't intend to have a second one?
That may well be the worst analogy in the history of anything ever.

Think about it for a second.

Keep thinking.

Okay, everything clear now?

Good.
Actually, I'm still thinking, what's wrong with it? I wouldn't name my child "The Child", I wouldn't name my dog "The Dog". It still seems like a fine analogy to me.

But if you don't think it is why don't you act like an adult and TELL me why?
Well, damn. Horses and water and all that, I guess.

Alright. Ganymede and Titan and Europa and I guess Alpha Centauri and all those others, those would be the "other children" in your analogy, yeah? Your analogy breaks down because for a long damn time, nobody knew those existed or could exist. There's nothing wrong with naming your son "The Son" and your daughter "The Daughter" if those are the only two children in existence and you know of no way to make more. And there's nothing wrong with saying "the moon" or "the sun" if, as far as everyone ever is concerned, those are the only sun and moon in existence, and we will never find any more. Celestial bodies had names many millennia before we had any god damn idea what they were. As someone else said, you could argue that it might be a bit silly that we would call every other natural satellite a moon and every other star orbited by planets a sun, but... eh, fuck, whatever.

The idea that the sun is a star and other planets are actually planets took a long damn time to gain any ground, and it took even longer for people to figure out what that meant. Hell, ever heard the name Giordano Bruno? Dude got burned at the stake in the 16th century for saying that other stars could have their own planets orbiting them. I repeat, in 16th century Italy, suggesting that other stars are actually suns was grounds for death by being lit on fire.

Are we clear on the failings of that analogy now?
 

TIMESWORDSMAN

Wishes he had fewer cap letters.
Mar 7, 2008
1,040
0
0
Yopaz said:
The moon, or Luna, is the only one of Earth's, or Terra's two moons we can see.
I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression that while Earth has many satellites natural and artificial, and a number of resonant orbitals of Sol, only one is classified as a moon.
 

Terrible Opinions

New member
Sep 11, 2011
498
0
0
Jaysus Lord.

The Earth only has one moon. Using Luna and Sol (the Latin words for "moon" and "sun") to refer to our moon and sun is mostly a science fiction thing because it would be fucking weird for aliens to call our moon and sun "The Moon" and "The Sun". And the Queen of England is an immortal shapeshifting lizard that kills Catholic babies.
 

bug_of_war

New member
Nov 30, 2012
887
0
0
Sol and Luna are the Latin names, just like Sonne is the German name for sun, Soleil is the French name for sun, Ghrian for the Irish etc. Basically, they all mean the same thing, but have different spellings. Suck it up, stop being a neckbeard (OP) and to those saying Sol and Luna, remember that Latin words are not always the one true and proper name for things. Latin just sounds cool and Sciency
 

Terrible Opinions

New member
Sep 11, 2011
498
0
0
bug_of_war said:
Sol and Luna are the Latin names, just like Sonne is the German name for sun, Soleil is the French name for sun, Ghrian for the Irish etc. Basically, they all mean the same thing, but have different spellings. Suck it up, stop being a neckbeard (OP) and to those saying Sol and Luna, remember that Latin words are not always the one true and proper name for things. Latin just sounds cool and Sciency
I love the fact that there was so much god damn nonsense up ins that you had to register just to say that.

If we were in the same room right now I would high five you, make you a delicious-ass motherfucking protein shake, and ask if you wanted me to spot you.