Totally agree. Lately touch switches have been riddling every electric appliance: kitchen hood, microwave, washing machine, dishwasher... I think that being easier to clean doesn't pay off for the utter loss of usability. That's why I'm very fond of Breville (Sage here in Europe) appliances: they're covered with buttons and knobs.
Direct fitness is not the only way natural selection favours individuals. Genes that make individuals past their reproductive age turn into good caretakers (including genes that improve their health) are more likely to increase their frequency in subsequent generations (through the descendants they care for). This is called kin selection.
It's funny how these thinking patterns repeat at all levels. I am from sunny Andalucia, and this flamenco and siesta stereotypes still sound like total rubbish.
You're getting downvoted, but the guidelines explicitly say:
> Please don't insinuate that someone hasn't read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that."
You know, traditional paellas already have snails as an ingredient, which aren't insects but I think still have the cultural unfamiliarity to Western palates.
Thanks to this wonderful resource I've been keeping a personal Twitter for Mr. Darwin for almost two years, narrating his voyage in "real time" (and in Spanish). He's in Chile right now, but he's having some vacation, coinciding with mine ;)
There's no need for a dictionary definition. Just as you just said, diminutives don't normally make it into the dictionary. So, "suelecillo" is a word for "suelo pequeño" whether or not it's included in the dictionary, whether or not you use it regularly. But the reverse is also true. "Bolsillo" is a "small bag", whether or not it has developed a specific meaning that grants it a separate definition in the dictionary.
And whether or not you use it regularly with the original meaning. The frequency of usage does not invalidate this truth: the rules of diminutive formation entail that "bolsillo" is "bolso pequeño". There's no arguing this statement. Just as "mosquito" is "mosco pequeño", i.e. "small fly".
The same can be said for plenty of other words. Words that have developed a specific separate meaning but are still diminutives for the non-affixed original word. Meet polysemy.
Sorry, but "cochinilla" is still "cochina pequeña", "cabezón" is still "cabeza grande", "cabecilla" is still "cabeza pequeña", and "frailecillo" is still "pequeño fraile".
It would be mistaken and a bit obtuse to nitpick on an article which states that "cabecilla" is Spanish for "small head" by contending that no, it means "leader".
Sorry, but this has nothing to do with our dialects.
You were contending that the etymology of "mosquito" can't be understood as Spanish for "little fly", which is untrue. See, "fly" is not a biological term, but a colloquial one, and describes a wide range of species (suborders, actually). So "mosquito", which originally was meant in Spanish as "pequeño mosco", could perfectly be translated as "little fly", for "mosco" is a type of "fly" and can be translated as such (as is the case of "moscón", "moscarda", "moscardón"...)
> if you understand mosquito as "little fly", then how do you call actual mosquitos?
"Mosquitos". Because context. Just as I can know "bolsillo" means "pequeño bolso" (small bag) and cigarrillo means "pequeño cigarro" (small cigar), and simultaneously understand them as the envelope-like receptacle in clothing (pocket) and paper wrapped processed tobacco (cigarette), respectively.
Actually, it is a diminutive for "mosco", which comes from "mosca". No Spanish speaker I know of (myself included) has trouble understanding mosquito as little fly.