(Sorry, guys, got distracted reading Halopedia. Never played any Halo games, and I've got no particular interest in them, but boy, that's some epic storyline stuff, in the real sense of the word. I still have this short notion that I forgot yesterday, though.)
You know what I wonder?
What possessed J.R.R. Tolkein to decide to rename the goblins of Middle Earth "orcs?"
It's an established name from legend and myth, sure, but it had a radically different meaning from the creatures depicted in The Lord of the Rings and numerous imitative media since then.
Mostly, orcs were sea monsters. Aside from the fact that there is a genus of large dolphin often known as orcas (or killer whales-though I might explain sometime that there's evidence that orcas and killer whales can actually be considered different things), the orc was generally a massive, betentacled sea beast, sometimes paradoxically with the face of a lion.
Yes, really.
I also don't know why modern fantasy orcs are sometimes described as "pig-like," but there you go.
-Signing off.
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