Board Game Arena

Half a rule question, half a joke

"Anatomist" bonus card give point for birds with body parts in their names (eye, belly, head etc).

So it seems that "dickcissel" should count toward this bonus, should not it? It seems however that it does not.

https://cjleo.com/2022/09/26/wingspan-b ... #anatomist

Any idea why?

https://ebird.org/species/dickci

Because it's a slang, not a formal term. Same as the birds that have "c*ck" or "ti*" in them.

A better question is: Why aren't the birds who have "horn" included? Since... HORN in my opinion, does sound like a formal anatomical medical term.
Any ideas?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_(anatomy)

Kind of sad that the game creators made such a blushy mistake...

It is very strange that horn is not included.

Indeed.

I can even imagine the Great Horned Owl and the Horned Lark:

"Dude, we got horned and they forgot to give us the Anatomist Bonus Card..."

After reading a bit on the internet, it appears the general consensus is that the logic of the game creators was that Anatomist should contain the birds that actually have those body parts.
The 2 "horned" birds don't actually have horns like a reindeer, for instance.

But then again... the bonus card specifically says: "Birds with body parts in their names".
There is nothing about "actual body parts".
If they wanted that, they should have been more specific: "Birds with body parts that are mentioned in their names" - or something...

So I think the game developers or whatever, messed up on the anatomist, and those "horned" birds should be taken into account, just 'cause they have a body-part in their names, regardless of the actual existence of that particular body-part.

I get a new bug report about "horn" not counting for anatomist every other week. The intentional reason that it doesn't qualify is because the anatomical part of the bird's name needs to refer to a body part the bird actually has. Horned lark and horned owl are so named because they have distinctive feathers on their heads that look like horns. They don't actually have horns.

To put to rest any ambiguity about it, all of the names of body parts that qualify are printed on the card.

That is essentially also the answer to the unoriginal joke/question that inevitably pops up in any online community related to this game. Dickcissel's name is an onomatopoeia of its call, and other birds about which this topic arises also have etymologies that are completely independent from the contemporary slang terms.

There is, however, a fan-created bonus card for which all of these birds would qualify: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/213958 ... 4#31092664

paramesis wrote: ↑14 December 2022, 03:55 I get a new bug report about "horn" not counting for anatomist every other week. The intentional reason that it doesn't qualify is because the anatomical part of the bird's name needs to refer to a body part the bird actually has. Horned lark and horned owl are so named because they have distinctive feathers on their heads that look like horns. They don't actually have horns.

The bonus card says: "Birds with body parts IN THEIR NAMES", not "Birds with body parts that are mentioned/appear in their names".
So sorry, it's messed up and the difference stands in a simple detail.

Another counter-example...

If this bird was in the game - CrestLESS Curassow (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crestless_curassow), should this bird count for Anatomist, given your logic? And given that it doesn't have an actual crest, but has the "crest" in the name.

paramesis wrote: ↑14 December 2022, 03:55 I get a new bug report about "horn" not counting for anatomist every other week. The intentional reason that it doesn't qualify is because the anatomical part of the bird's name needs to refer to a body part the bird actually has. Horned lark and horned owl are so named because they have distinctive feathers on their heads that look like horns. They don't actually have horns.

I realise that it's the designer's error rather than yours, but "horn" doesn't exclusively mean a bony protuberance. It also means "a crest of feathers, a plumicorn, as in the horned owl, etc." (Oxford English Dictionary).

Those of you who are seriously complaining (and not just joking around) need to take this up with the game's designer, not with the developer who's given us a decent implementation of the game.