Useless synonyms.

What's the difference...

between 'Chipmunk' and 'Squirrel'?

between 'geek', 'dork', and 'nerd'?

between 'muesli bar' and 'granola bar'?

Well, to answer these 3 questions, I searched my Mac's Dictionary app. This was what I concluded:

A) Chipmunk vs Squirrel

Chipmunk = Ground squirrel, 

Squirrel = Tree-dwelling rodent.

So, Chipmunk is a subset of squirrel. All chipmunks are squirrels, but not all squirrels are chipmunks, yet all squirrels (chipmunks included) are rodents.

B) Geek vs Dork vs Nerd

This is complicated, so bear with me...

Geek = unfashionable / socially inept person

Dork = dull, slow-witted / socially inept person

Nerd = foolish / contemptible person who lacks social skills / is boringly studious 

OR an intelligent, single-minded expert in a certain technical discipline / profession.

They're all socially inept.

So, to find out what are you, answer the following, starting from Question 1 and ending at where you see a remark in Caps...

Q1. I am...

anti-social => move on to question 2.

sociable => move to question 5.

Q2. My fashion sense is...

bad => move on to question 3.

good/so-so => move on to question 4.

Q3. My intelligence is...

High => GEEKY NERD

Average => GEEK

Limited / Below Average => GEEKY DORK

Q4. My intelligence is...

High => NERD

Average => A.S.S. (ANTI-SOCIAL SOUL)

Limited / Below Average => DORK

Q5. My intelligence is...

High => SOCIABLE VERSION OF A NERD.

Medium => NORMAL.

Low => DUMB BUT SOCIABLE PERSON.

Found out what type of person you are? Good. (p.s.: I made that myself.)

C) Muesli vs Granola

This one's even tougher for me to research on...

Muesli: Mixture of cereals (esp. rolled oats), dried fruit, and nuts. Origin: Swiss German.

Granola: Cereal consisting typically of rolled oats, brown sugar/honey, dried fruits, and nuts.

Not much of a difference, right?

After further research online, I summed up the main difference between these two food types down to this:

Sweetened?

If it's sweetened by sugar, it's GRANOLA.

If it's sweetened by honey, it's probably GRANOLA, though it could be MUESLI too.

If it's unsweetened, it's MUESLI.

Toasted?

If it's toasted, it's GRANOLA.

If it's not toasted, it's MUESLI.

Origin?

If it's invented by the Swiss, it's MUESLI.

If it's invented by the Americans, it's GRANOLA.

Calories?

And finally, look at the calories. 

Granola > Muesli 

in terms of calories, due to the sugars.

So, if you want something yummy, get a GRANOLA BAR. If you want to cut calories, get a MUESLI BAR.

So there, I hope I have closes the 3 separate cases that were brought up by Jeremy, myself, and Ernest (in order of the appearance of the questions above) with regards to the above-mentioned words that have been oh-so-often misused.

Now use 'em words properly!

See, blogs can be of public service, too!