"Flippers, goggles, oxygen tank" -- cringeworthy, or useful??

[nolatom]

Preface: I love the Christian Science Monitor, and liked this article too, about turning invasive Lionfish into supper after lots of work cleaning them.;
Recipe for invasive species: lionfish as food and sport
But...the author, who writes well, opens by describing the lionfish diver surfacing with her prey while carrying her "heavy oxygen tank"..

Am I just a terminology snob?? I admit it's tricky--when does a flipper become a fin?? And we swim with swim goggles, yah? And that tank does have *some* oxygen in it, otherwise we'd croak. But it still sets my teeth on edge since we divers like our "in crowd" jargon, as I suspect do all specialized endeavors that have their own language.

Or is it useful? When I hear or read a report, I can discern if the speaker or writer has dive experience based largely on how they describe the gear. Like when there's a report of a dive incident, we can tell if the narrator is a desk cop, or a police diver.

Maybe I'd be unhappier if everyone knew the secret lingo??? And there sure is a lot of it, some of which I don't know:
Scuba Slang and Technical Terms — Road Trips and Resistance

 

[runsongas]

flippers are an archaic term in usage for fins. cousteau and mike nelson come to mind.

 

[cerich]

flippers are an archaic term in usage for fins. cousteau and mike nelson come to mind.

it's a more accurate term than FINS, which divers started using to make themselves feel superior to "mere snorkelers". Marine mammals use flippers for propulsion, fish use fins.

 

[Kimela]

@nolatom - I totally get you!! But sometimes I think I'm just looking for somewhere to direct my irritation!! I'm also known to get worked up over lose/loose, choose/chose, their, there, they're, and other such errors (until I make them ... at which time I crawl into the nearest corner!).

I suppose one might argue the importance of getting the science of oxygen versus air or other gases correct. But as long as they're saying cool things about divers I'm ok with it (or at least I'm trying!!).

 

[Fastmarc]

it's a more accurate term than FINS, which divers started using to make themselves feel superior to "mere snorkelers". Marine mammals use flippers for propulsion, fish use fins.

Never really thought about it before, but I think you might be correct.
A quick google search: flipper vs fins:

"The technical difference is that a flipper is a modified limb and a fin is not. So a dolphin has a fin on his back and flippers where a mammal's forelimbs are. With this, most fish would have only fins, aside from the lungfish which have leggy fins to walk on land. Sea turtles would have flippers"

We have modified our limb, so...

 

[kelemvor]

Maybe I'd be unhappier if everyone knew the secret lingo??? And there sure is a lot of it, some of which I don't know:
Scuba Slang and Technical Terms — Road Trips and Resistance

Clearly someone at the WKPP had some input there

I like to use the term "flippers" just to rile people up sometimes.

 

[Marie13]

Cringeworthy. Makes the person using it sound like they don’t know what the heck they’re talking about.

 

[cerich]

Clearly someone at the WKPP had some input there

I like to use the term "flippers" just to rile people up sometimes.

me too.. LOL

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Back in the dark ages, we were told they were cylinders, not tanks. Only the ignorant called them tanks. A bottle held the post-dive refreshment.

Tanks, cylinders, flippers or fins don't bother me. Goggles do a bit, because they have a clear aquatic meaning that is different from the mask.

Oxygen is just wrong. It's an air tank, unless there's tech diving involved.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Never really thought about it before, but I think you might be correct.
A quick google search: flipper vs fins:

"The technical difference is that a flipper is a modified limb and a fin is not. So a dolphin has a fin on his back and flippers where a mammal's forelimbs are. With this, most fish would have only fins, aside from the lungfish which have leggy fins to walk on land. Sea turtles would have flippers"

We have modified our limb, so...

By that definition, wouldn't the pelvic and pectoral fins on a fish be flippers?