I googled ‘difference between a gnat and a midge.’
What I was hoping to find was some genuine expert on the
subject who could answer the question in layman’s terms. What I actually found
were a large number of forums containing a lot of lamentable English, a number
of self-styled experts who trotted out strings of scientific names but didn’t
actually answer the question, and a majority of contributors who shrugged their
shoulders and said things like ‘as far as I’m concerned, it’s a just a matter
of size, but I’m no expert.’ Quite.
In the end I came to the conclusion that ‘gnat’ and ‘midge’
are interchangeable generic terms for a whole load of small, flying insects, some
of which bite and some of which don’t, and that the mosquito is a type of such
insect that lives in warm, wet places (no sniggering!) Oh, and the mosquito is
the only one whose bite is capable of causing a fever.
OK, now I’m as expert as everybody else.
I might just add that my favourite of all the answers given
was:
‘One is vertically challenged, one bites and the other one
is an aeroplane.’
He very nearly got my vote.
No comments:
Post a Comment