We should name the moon. Most people don't call their pets "dog" or "cat".

😈MedicPig🐷BabySaver😈@lemmy.world to Showerthoughts@lemmy.world – 22 points –
96

It does. The moon is officially called Luna.

Also people have been known to all their cat Neko which is Japanese for cat.

Our moon is officially called Moon. Luna is just something used occasionally, but not always. The sun is also officially named Sun. It's just that those terms started being overloaded after we learned that there were other Moons and Suns. You can try to get all fancy with Sol and Luna, but those are just old Latin terms for Moon and Sun. They're no less generic than the ones we currently use.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon#Names_and_etymology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Etymology

The official name is "The Moon", Luna just means moon in Latin. It's all about capitalization. Moon is our moon, and moon is any moon.

Luna is the Latin word for moon. It’s not the official name in English. It’s just called “Moon” in English, just like the sun is just called “Sun” despite being many other words in other languages.

Because there is just one of them it’s not really necessary to give it a unique name, but there are lots of options in Latin, Greek and other languages if you want to get fancy.

Wdym? Sun is the name, Star is the type of celestial body, Moon is the name, satellite is the type of celestial body. This post is a farce, don’t fall for OP’s BS!

Well I call it Luna, and I speak English, so it’s called Luna in English.

Except "luna" is latin for "Moon", which means that in many neolatin languages the problem is still there. Probably Selene would be good for every language, She's the whatever goddess of the whateverness of our Moon or whatever

Except when Latin was spoken actively there was only one such body with the name “Luna”, so it’s a proper noun.

We did name it.

We named it "the moon." Or Luna. Or any of these.

Before that, it was a nameless rock.

Moon is inadequate.

I like Luna

I feel like there could be Italians having the same conversation in reverse saying "Mi piace Moon". To most Latin languages Luna is as boring and generic as Moon.

It should be a name that the whole world could use instead of the basic word they use for a natural satellite because that was just the name for the Moon in their language.

Yeah well most Latin language speakers need to chill, so they can handle a little generic moonverbiage

That would be fine if it were an official designated name and used by everyone versus Sci-fi writers or poets.

I didn't know I was a writer, muchas gracias OP

Moon is for unbased germanic languages like yours, no offense. Bar bar bar.

It's luna in latin, selene in Greek and I think Arabs call it qmar.

It's just a dumb name in whatever origin you prefer.

I could possibly accept Luna if it were it's official designation and everybody used it in every context.

If it helps, it's the official designation and there are some hundreds of millions of dudes that use it in every context

I disagree with the official designation. And the # is impossible to prove.

This is getting out of hand, but the official designation is... you know... the official designation. And for the number, you only have to add up spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, rumanian and Russian speakers... there are other countries, but you get the idea

Edit: I'm a little bored as you can see. According to wikipedia, with data from 2023 and counting only native speakers, +1014 millions

Edit 2: I don't get the problem here, maybe it's just an English problem? Luna in spanish it's not a thing, it's just the name of a satellite. I wouldn't say that jupiter has N lunas, cause those would be just satellites.

In French and Italian it's the same as in English, I would say que Jupiter a 95 lunes, a moon is the colloquial word for a natural satellite. Luna isn't some pretty personal name, it's exactly equivalent to "moon" but I'm a different language, but it sounds exotic and like a personal name to English speakers.

When I meet a dog whose name I don’t know, I often address him or her as “Dog.” Similarly, if I meet a cat whose name I don’t know, I often address him or her as “Cat.” It’s only polite. It’s a generic but polite form of address, like “Ma’am” or “Sir.”

The same goes with a moon. I call it “Moon” because we aren’t yet on a first name basis.

Tell me, OP - what makes you think that you should be on a first name basis with the moon?

That it is always around. Just hanging there in the sky. That we've spent so many nights together. But I guess it is in a way a long-distance relationship. Also its just a pale reflection of the sun. A rocky relationship, in many ways.

Most people also don't see a multitude of different moons on a day-to-day basis.

The moon is a satellite...

A lot of people call their cat "cat".

First people to colonize her get to name her. Maybe by 2050 we'll have a nice moon base, and whoever is up there will start affectionately referring to the station and surface as something, and at that point, she'll finally have her name.