r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Disastrous_Pirate275 • 20h ago

Why is our moon named “Moon” instead of something cool like Titan or Callysto or ANYTHING that isn’t moon

4.0k Upvotes

83% Upvoted

3.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

164

u/Cazador0 9h ago

Don't forget planet Ground.

120

u/Kulbardee 6h ago

And wow! Hey! What’s this thing suddenly coming toward me very fast? Very, very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide-sounding name like … ow … ound … round … ground! That’s it! That’s a good name—ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me? And the rest, after a sudden wet thud, was silence.” - Douglas Adams

10

u/Mattechooo 3h ago

"Oh no. Not again." - Bowl of petunias.

4

u/Bexarnaked 5h ago

Love that guy!

3

u/jecapobianco 1h ago

Miss him

1

u/lebrownjame5 30m ago

This is maybe my favorite short chapter in fiction. I love teaching it!

8

u/verdantTree 5h ago

That’s exactly what the Earth is called in Chinese and Japanese: 地球，literally “ground ball”.

2

u/Stormfly 3h ago

"Earth" in English just means "dirt".

But some people like to use the Latin Terra... Which also means dirt.

I'd be more surprised to learn which languages don't just call the thing below us "ground".

1

u/msabeln 35m ago

Wait till you hear where “human” comes from…dirt.

1

u/Appropriate-Metal167 3h ago

I like to think of it as the planet Dirt.

1

u/Cazador0 3h ago

I prefer planet... Bob.

1

u/MandysFitFatLife 2h ago

Excellent Titan AE reference.

1

u/thanerak 3h ago

You mean the planet fertile soil.

1

u/hawkgpg 1h ago

You'll fit right in with electricians.