I recently read a post on a different web site, and a lot of people were offended by a common plant name. I was wondering if you are??
I am not at all offended by common plant names. The thing for me is that the common name for a plant in my country can be different than the common name for the same plant in a different country. So for me, if I use the Latin name, then it is a sort of international language.
Common plant names show the difference between areas, countries. It is helpful to have the botanical name posted along side the common name, so we all know what plant we are talking about. Gardeners often know a plant by its local name, and use that nomenclature. Taking offense? Absolutely not--I like to learn from gardeners across the globe, no matter what they call a certain plant!
I'm not offended by them, but I like using the botanical names because common plant names can vary a lot, like @marlingardener said. Also, I can't expect you to understand which plant I mean when I call it akeleie since you probably call it columbine, so I use Aquilegia and try to use the English common name as well if I know it. That's the neat thing about botanical names; they're the same all over the world.
Courgette sounds so much better than Zucchini! The common plant or animal is often referred to as vulgaris in the latin. So one might snob up and say vulgar things offend you.
Hahaha! @Dirtmechanic, I'm going to start saying that! Might have all our neighbours using botanical names in no time.
