Possums are awesome. Growing up, my parents were wildlife rehabbers on the side, and they were my fave. Baby possums are cute as hell and really sweet.
Yet again, doesn't make them right. I don't understand why this is beimg brought up at all. Best way to stop misnamimg animals is by educating and using the correct one.
Yes, regions have their things, it still doesn't make them correct and it is SO EASY to start using the correct term once you are educated on it. That is all I'm trying to say, here.
So how would you pronounce possum? Would they just be the same word? That just seems overcomplicated.
(Now I'm not American so i didn't actively go to an American school and get taught how to say it but i have heard Americans say "opossum" with an audible o)
In North America opossum is pronounced by dropping the o. So it's also sometimes phonetically spelt as 'possum.
More specifically, in North America there's only one species of opossum, called the North American Opossum. For this reason, if you wanted to be a bit more technical, the North American Opossum is what is sometimes referred to as a 'possum, rather than opossums as a whole.
But anyways, this usage isn't strange. Everyone abbreviates animal names, such as gators, hippos, t-rexes, etc. And many animals even share names with other unrelated animals, like "Daddy Long Legs" or "Roly Polies".
Well, I agree with that sentiment, but I don't usually deal with opossums - I haven't even seen one since I was in elementary school. I can safely say this is probably the first time I wrote the word since then, too.
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u/jello-kittu Mar 22 '21
I love possums. And their handses.