• FundMECFS@lemmy.cafe
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        3 days ago

        It’s actually bears. The north is named by the Greeks after the Ursa Major constellation in the north literally “big bear”. So it’s the bear place. While the south is the opposite of the bears.

        Happy coincidence it ended up matching polar bear ranges.

        • MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca
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          3 days ago

          You’re absolutely correct, I was riffing on the commonly mentioned fact you said. Similar to the “mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell.” meme people mention often.

      • Ms. ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip
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        3 days ago

        Doesn’t ‘ant’ mean not and ‘arc’ is without? So it’s really closer to ‘without penguins’ and ‘not without penguins’

        • Ooops@feddit.org
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          3 days ago

          “Arktos” is greek for bear.

          The arctis is the region towards the bear, meaning the constellation so north… while the antarctis is the opposite direction (ant(i) = opposite).