NEW VFT BOOK: Dionaea The Venus's Flytrap

[notostracan]

I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, however while I'm thinking of buying this book, I'm seriously put off by the title.

 

"Dionaea - The Venus's Flytrap" just sounds and looks plain wrong to me and has since I laid eyes on it.  

 

"Dionaea - Venus's Flytrap" would be correct or even simply "Dionaea - The Venus Flytrap" would be acceptable due to the modern usage of the common name "Venus Flytrap".

 

Saying "the Venus's flytrap" is like saying "the Sean's house", it should just be "Sean's house".  Both "Venus" and "Sean" are proper nouns, so don't need the article "the" in front of them.  

 

They should have just called it "Dionaea - The Tippity Twitchet" lol.

 

I don't want to let one example of questionable grammar put me off a potentially great book, but I also don't want to spend about £30 on a book that might repeatedly frustrate me as I read it lol.

 

/rant over :)

 

If anyone thinks I'm wrong or that its worth getting anyway, please explain why, I'd actually like to believe its a great book I can look forward to reading.

[Marcel van den Broek]

Wrong on all accounts The correct common name is Venus's Flytrap. The fact that just about everybody says it wrong doesn't make it right Also, even if you consider it old fashioned the large historical section of this book (including prints of original letters and bio's of the original scientists) makes it an acceptable title that actually covers the content.

With the exception of the mentioned reproductions the book is written in clear, modern English. Actually, since most of the text is done by Tim it actually is less...euh..dramatised?...English than Stewy usually uses.

 

Good book, but only if you're really in to the plants. 30% history lesson , 30% science , 40% mutated beyond function plants they call cultivars

[FredG]

, 40% mutated beyond function plants they call cultivars

 

I couldn't possibly comment 

[SoLongFairWell]

I agree with what Marcel said.  It's a great book and the history is fascinating. I haven't finished reading the conservation section yet though.  I love the book and it's nice to read up on any cultivars that interest me, although not all of them are there. I highly recommend it though.

[notostracan]

Wrong on all accounts The correct common name is Venus's Flytrap. The fact that just about everybody says it wrong doesn't make it right

I know the original correct common name is "Venus's flytrap", however "Venus flytrap" has been in such common usage for so long that most books and dictionaries list it. My understanding is if everyone uses a certain word for a specific thing for long enough, language evolves and it does eventually become "right".  

 

Nowadays, "Venus flytrap" is a more common in usage than "Venus's flytrap", so I would personally find either acceptable.  What nobody seems to say (with the apparent exception of this book's authors) is "the Venus's flytrap", and from my understanding of grammar, there's a good reason why!  

 

"Venus" is a proper noun, so doesn't need the article "the" in front of it, doing so goes against all modern convention and implies that "Venus" is instead a common noun, like "goddess". "The Goddess's Flytrap" would be perfectly acceptable (if not a bit vague lol), as would simply "Venus's flytrap".  If Dionaea had been named after the Greek instead of Roman goddess, "the Aphrodite's flytrap" would also be incorrect. If the goddess Venus was my friend, I wouldn't say "I'm going to the Venus's house"...

 

So unless the history section specifically explains how 18th century grammar convention makes the title appropriate as an anachronism, I think they should have used a different title. Does it use the phrase "the Venus's flytrap" throughout?  

 

 

 

Good book, but only if you're really in to the plants. 30% history lesson   , 30% science   , 40% mutated beyond function plants they call cultivars 

That sounds great, I'd particularly like to read more on the origins of the various cultivars - or at least the functioning ones that don't just look like they are suffering from insect or chemical damage.

 

Now that my thoughts on the title are publicly known I feel a bit more comfortable spending money on it just to see what its like   .

Edited September 7, 2014 by notostracan