*As long as we can remember it seems like the correct designation has been Bison ("true" buffalo being the species found in Africa and Asia). The folks in Jamestown--and Americans in general--probably don't care about the distinction, "buffalo" suits them just fine. Besides, who wants to spend a bunch of money changing the name on the signs, shirts, pamphlets, postcards and all the rest of the tourist-related merchandise?
1 comment:
My understanding is as you put it - that "buffalo" are things like water buffalo.
In Trademark law, however, there is the concept of "secondary meaning." This is what happens, for example, when the public comes to associate a word in their own inimitable way. So, while perhaps not a taxonomically proper result, the public is well within its rights to collectively decide that bison are, in fact, buffalo.
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