I think it's funny Thais call both octopus and squid 'bplaa mook'.

They couldn't be more different.

Squid have smooth skin, octopus has round suction cups.

Squid are grey, octopus have an orangeish color.

Squid are found throughout the ocean at all levels, but octopus are only found on the bottom

They look nothing alike. Why do Thais call them both by the same name???

http://static.diffen.com/uploadz/4/4d/Octopus-1.jpg

http://static.diffen.com/uploadz/e/e9/Squid-3.jpg

Why do Thais call them both by the same name?

to give Farangs the opportunity to ask silly questions

It might be funny if it were true. Octopus is plaaˑ​mʉ̀kˑ​yák

But then, English speakers refer to "cuttlefish", which really doesn't look much like any normal fish.

It might be funny if it were true. Octopus is plaaˑ​mʉ̀kˑ​yák

But then, English speakers refer to "cuttlefish", which really doesn't look much like any normal fish.

Nope. Where I'm at in Thailand, they're both called Bplaa mook.

Google Translate concurs:

Octopus = ปลาหมึก

Squid = ปลาหมึก

I did input "Bplaa mook yak" into Google in Pasa Thai, and it did translate to "octopus".

But that makes even less sense, since "yak" means giant.

The grilled octopus I ate during Songkran was smaller than my hand.

Maybe the Thais mean it's giant sized in comparison to something else...

[insert joke here]

But that makes even less sense, since "yak" means giant.

"Yak" is from the Sanskrit word yakṣa. In Thai mythology it refers to a kind of ogre/ogress typically with big, round bulging eyes and protruding fangs. It doesn't refer to size.

They both use ink as a defense

น้ำหมึก=ink

pla meuk translates to fish with ink

limes and lemons have the same name. I guess the need to differentiate everything isn't as important.

Inuit language has dozens of words describing snow.

I am certain that in the scientific community it is more accurate but for common they eat them all the same.

limes and lemons have the same name. I guess the need to differentiate everything isn't as important.

But then Thailand doesn't grow lemons, so until recently they didn't need a word for them. That said, there is a Thai word for lemon: leemɔɔn.

Inuit language has dozens of words describing snow.

(1) There is no single "Inuit" language. There is a group of Eskimo-Aleut languages, though.

(2) None of these languages really has dozens of words describing snow. The languages typically string multiple words together to create composites - rather like German. If we did this in English we could say that "hardsnow", "fallingsnow", "mushysnow", "flakysnow", "icysnow" and "meltingsnow" are all separate words, and claim that English has dozens of words for snow too, but we'd be wrong.

But that makes even less sense, since "yak" means giant.

"Yak" is from the Sanskrit word yakṣa. In Thai mythology it refers to a kind of ogre/ogress typically with big, round bulging eyes and protruding fangs. It doesn't refer to size.

I did see that Hindu yaksa could be dwarfs. Leave it to Thais to get the details wrong, turning them into ogres and giants.

Probably to scare Thai children into eating their weeds, I mean vegetables....

"(1) There is no single "Inuit" language. There is a group of Eskimo-Aleut languages, though."

What did you do before Wikipedia?

But again, you are right about everything. you have lived in every country. know every culture, speak 100's of languages and have an IQ of 190. Or you spend hours searching the internet so you can win every discussion.

Get divorced often?

limes and lemons have the same name. I guess the need to differentiate everything isn't as important.

Inuit language has dozens of words describing snow.

I am certain that in the scientific community it is more accurate but for common they eat them all the same.

Most Thais believe lemons are ripe limes.

At least Inky fish is accurate.