SuperAttackPea Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 http://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=ebola Why is this name not deemed inappropriate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brynchilla Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I don't think it is inappropriate. It's a virus. tk421beth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naamah D. Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 It's messed up in my opinion. Ebola is a scary thing going on right now and people are suffering. It would be like naming a Neopet Lukemia or putting HIV somewhere in their name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post siniri Posted October 21, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted October 21, 2014 Ebola is a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Ebola virus was named after that river because one of the first outbreaks occurred in a village near that river. Yes, there is a serious Ebola epidemic right now. However, that pet is nearly two years old. It's possible it was named after the river instead of the virus, or maybe it was a random combination of letters that mimicked a real thing. Or maybe it was named after the Ebola virus -- but in a context in which there was no current outbreak, no one dying of it. I have a friend whose real-life cat is named Yersinia. As in Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that caused the plague (the Black Death) -- because cats were domesticated to control the rodent population, the carriers of the vector of the plague. My friend is a doctor. Many people in the health sphere have "gallows humor"; it helps them cope. It's not meant to be disrespectful, but I can get how some people think it is. Naming a pet after a virus is not necessarily even meant to be "gallows humor," either. I know many virologists who really respect the lifeforms they work with. They're fascinated by how such a short snippet of genomic material, coding just a handful of proteins, can reproduce and thrive. Ebola is actually relatively simple, startlingly so, considering the devastation it wreaks. I know it might seem weird to find something so small and so deadly beautiful, but it's not much different than people fascinated by poisonous snakes, or sharks, or spiders. Duskitty, Xlithiumangel, nousha and 12 others 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Wildbreeze Posted October 21, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted October 21, 2014 Well would you look at this http://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=Influenza (frozen acct) http://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=Polio http://www.neopets.com/petlookup.phtml?pet=Sickness (there are several others, including Disease, Virus, Streptococcus, Pneumonia...) It's the name of a virus, not an intent to offend someone. And, as Siniri said, it's also the name of a river. The pet was also named 2 years ago, before the panic and spread of misinformation that's happening now. The problems I see lie with the people who are panicking without any actual knowledge of the virus or how it spreads, not with a Neopet. Maybe we should try to spread facts and information about the virus, instead of trying to find offense with things that shouldn't be a problem? blackberrypatch, Xlithiumangel, Ruto and 7 others 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 This is all very interesting, but I've got to go now... Abyssinia :geeky_evil: :D This post has been edited by a member of staff (Ruto) because of a violation of the forum rules. Please don't post if you can't contribute to the topic. Please check your user inbox to see if you have been contacted regarding this incident, then review our rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk421beth Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Brynchilla, I know this is off topic, but... I LOVE YOUR LITTLE GIF'S! THEY ARE SO GREAT! You change them, they're clever...I laugh every time I see it! :laughingsmiley: This post has been edited by a member of staff (Ruto) because of a violation of the forum rules. Please stay on-topic. You can PM a user if you have something to say to them unrelated to the thread. Please check your user inbox to see if you have been contacted regarding this incident, then review our rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumtup Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I personally don't find it offensive, but I'm surprised at TNT's opinion on names. Things I think they'll find offensive they let stay and others that seem innocent are deleted and deemed inappropriate. I named a pet ReindeerFart once and they deemed it offensive and deleted it. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brynchilla Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 It's messed up in my opinion. Ebola is a scary thing going on right now and people are suffering. It would be like naming a Neopet Lukemia or putting HIV somewhere in their name. Just because there are a lot of people suffering from it, that doesn't mean that it should be against the rules. There are a lot of things that can cause people to suffer, but that doesn't mean the word is against the rules. For example, people are suffering because they don't have enough food. Should 'food' be against the rules? I personally don't find it offensive, but I'm surprised at TNT's opinion on names. Things I think they'll find offensive they let stay and others that seem innocent are deleted and deemed inappropriate. I named a pet ReindeerFart once and they deemed it offensive and deleted it. Go figure. We are not meant to understand TNT's logic. It might have been the mod that saw it. Different mods might think different things are or are not against the rules. Wildbreeze 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x_emrys_x Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Wow, I learned something today! Thanks Siniri! I also do not find the name offensive. If fact, it would be fun to challenge them, and if I win take a screenshot that says I defeated Ebola! siniri 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leverhelven Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Wow, I learned something today! Thanks Siniri! I also do not find the name offensive. If fact, it would be fun to challenge them, and if I win take a screenshot that says I defeated Ebola! Now THAT'S clever! :D :D :D I also find it ironic that we can name pets after diseases, but not after medicine. I understand that medicine names are copyrighted (or whatever the term is) and belong to laboratories, but still it's quite ironic that we can name them diseases but not cures... Well, maybe I'm overthinking :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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