I’m a native speaker of Mandarin (Chinese), where there’s no rat/mouse distinction either. I know that in English they’re different so I do say rat for big ones and mouse for small ones in English, but otherwise they’re basically the same to me.
Yup, even the specific species names aren’t consistent between languages. The species that is most commonly called African Soft Fur Rat (Mastomys natalensis) in English is called a “Vielzizenmaus” or “Mouse with many Nipples” in German. The German name is way better, they are more closely related to mice and their fur isn’t that much softer than on any other rodent. I don’t know how many nipples are a normal amount for rodents though, maybe they’re perfectly average
Random piece of information: the Japanese call all of them just “Nezumi” 🐁 🐀
Well the Japanese need to be more specific because they’re very different.
I can’t imaging how hard it is to Google specifically rat or specifically mice questions there lmao
Have you heard of grue?
In any case, the same applies to animals. They may not be linguistucally differentiated in the same way across language boundaries.
I’m a native speaker of Mandarin (Chinese), where there’s no rat/mouse distinction either. I know that in English they’re different so I do say rat for big ones and mouse for small ones in English, but otherwise they’re basically the same to me.
The japanese simply don’t make that distinction and it’s not a problem for them
Plenty of languages (including my Polish) don’t make a distinction between town and city, and they don’t have problems
I feel like town and city is a little less consequential than two separate species
Mice and rats are both generic names for multiple species
Yup, even the specific species names aren’t consistent between languages. The species that is most commonly called African Soft Fur Rat (Mastomys natalensis) in English is called a “Vielzizenmaus” or “Mouse with many Nipples” in German. The German name is way better, they are more closely related to mice and their fur isn’t that much softer than on any other rodent. I don’t know how many nipples are a normal amount for rodents though, maybe they’re perfectly average
Damn, you’re right, welp I stand corrected
Wait, aren’t town and city the same thing?
I think cities are bigger. Hamlet -> Village -> Town -> City -> Metropolis, or something along those lines.
Can also denote a difference in government styles: towns have a town council, cities have a mayor. Cities can be smaller than towns.
This depends on your region, naturally.