Beary Strange
Arachnodemon
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2013
- Messages
- 670
I'm having this conversation with someone that has...suffice it say, gone downhill very quickly. She keeps referring to medically significant spiders as "venomous to humans". To me, this is an unnecessary and odd qualifier. Whether it's dangerous to humans or not, it's still venomous because it still has venom glands. If a medically insignificant species bites a person, it's venom doesn't simply not exist because it's biting a human. It's just not dangerous. Last I checked venomous means "secreting venom or capable of injecting venom", not dangerous. She's also suddenly jumped from "having an interest in spiders" to having a degree in behavioral ecology that focused on spiders. Realistically I know fighting about this isn't worth it but she's become so rude and condescending that I'm livid right now.
I'm really interested to know what others think of this "venomous to humans" terminology.
I'm really interested to know what others think of this "venomous to humans" terminology.