Zoidberg?

[Reply #40 on:]

That is first name is John is part of the joke. John is a common, well-known uhh-human name, and in sci-fi shows/movies, aliens have weird, craaaaazy names.

[Reply #41 on:]

One thing I do not quite understand is that Zoidy's race is supposedly called decapodians in WMIBACIL. I thought decapodian meant something like "having ten feet" like many crayfish (shrimp/lobsters/etc.)

[Reply #42 on:]

I don't think it's all that strange for his name to be John.  Immigrants often give their children American-sounding names.  I see no reason why it would be different for aliens who came to live on earth.

 

Originally posted by Tikka:
I thought decapodian meant something like "having ten feet" like many crayfish (shrimp/lobsters/etc.)

It does; that's the joke.  Zoidberg's people resemble crustaceans, so they're named after them.

[Reply #43 on:]

Yes, it does. And Crustacean is also some kind of crayfish term. So does that mean that they can be called any kind of crayfish/shellfish-synonym? What is the REAL name of their race?
But still, they don't have ten feet during most of their larval stages, so why call them decapodians? That was my question at first.

[Reply #44 on:]

Okay, let me see if I can explain this better.

Crabs, lobsters, crayfish, and shrimp all belong to a group of animals called crustaceans.  The scientific name for this group is class Decapoda.  "Decapoda" is Latin for "ten legs".  They have this name because these animals all have ten legs.  (In many cases, the first pair of legs are modified into a pair of claws/pincers, but those still count as legs.)

Now, Zoidberg's people may not have ten limbs, but they do resemble crustaceans/decapods in other ways.  The name "Decapodian" is one of the many geekish inside jokes that Futurama is full of.  In this case, you have to know your biology to get the joke.

If you want an explanation for the name in the context of the show, try this: Decapodian isn't the original name of their race.  Their own name for themselves is something in their own language which is difficult, if not impossible for humans to pronounce.  When they first came to earth, they were given the name Decapodians by humans who thought that they resembled crustaceans.  They even refer to themselves as Decapodians when speaking English; but in their own language, they probably still use the original name for their race.

[Reply #45 on:]

Zoidberg has 10+ legs in various larval stages in Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles.  It might refer to their larval stages, which presumably take a fairly long time to undergo, rather than their final shape.

[Reply #46 on:]

Bender?!?!?!! Damn.
David A- I know all of this, but still I am baffled by the fact that the earthlings who named Zoidberg's race called them decapodians, because they have only two legs at their final stage. Deca=ten Pod=leg yes, we know this. But obviously, the earthlings in charge of naming space aliens didn't. And this my good sir is my concern here... But I am confident you set some records straight with some other PEELers, though...

I don't know if this made sense, seeing as I am simultaneously writing SMS stuff to a buddy, but now I can't be bothered to put it otherwise.

[Reply #47 on:]

 

Originally posted by Pikka Bird:
Deca=ten Pod=leg yes, we know this. But obviously, the earthlings in charge of naming space aliens didn't.

The earthling who came up with the name probably wasn't a biologist.  More likely it was a journalist who coined the term.  Despite being inaccurate, the name stuck.  After all, jellyfish and starfish aren't fish, but we still call them that.

[Reply #48 on:]

And why is it that when you take something by car it's called a shipment, yet when you take something by ship it's called cargo?

[Reply #49 on:]

Ah - shit! I'll change it now.