If jumbo means large and shrimp means small, then what is a jumbo shrimp?

Question

My wife and I was talking and she told me to think about the word. I did, and it doesn't make sense.

Answer 1

Shrimp does not mean small; it is the proper name of a group of marine animals that happens to be small.

To use the word shrimp to imply small size is similar to calling a big football player a moose- when it's obvious he is not a moose; just a large animal. It's a slang use of the word.

A shrimp is a shrimp. A jumbo shrimp is therefore a large shrimp.

Answer 2

Okay yeah shrimp might be an adj. for small but in this case we know that were talking about a shellfish. There is small, med, and large and Jumbo of these sea critters so a jumbo shrimp would mean the largest of the critters called shrimp, that is by the way excellent when butterflied, battered and deep fried. YUM!

Answer 3

The biggest among the small.

Shrimp or Prawn?
There is often confusion regarding the difference between a shrimp and a prawn. Physically they look very similar but there is one sure way to tell them apart. In shrimps or carideans the side plate of the second segment of the abdomen overlaps the segments in front and behind. Prawns, most of which belong to the family Penaeidae of the group Dendrobranchiata, have all the abdominal side plates overlapping tile-like from the front. A more fundamental difference but one impossible to appreciate in a single specimen is that female prawns do not brood eggs but shed them into the currents where they develop independently. It would therefore make sense to call all member s of the Penaeidae "prawns" and members of the Caridean "shrimps" and this is what most Australians do. King prawns and banana prawns are names understood in this continent for penaeids sold frozen at the markets. The tiny shrimps bought in cans or froz en are imported carideans. Confusion arises when we hear Americans refer to prawns as "shrimp".

Answer 4

"Shrimp", obviously, has more than one meaning. "Small" is just one meaning; in the phrase "jumbo shrimp", the word is refering to a type of shellfish, which are designated in sizes from salad shrimp all the way to extra jumbo (sometimes called "collossal"), depending upon how many shrimp are in a pound. Take a look at any bag of frozen shrimp and you'll find this information.

Answer 5

jumbo, large, medium. small are the sizes, without breading.
But fried shrimp could have tons of breading using smaller shrimp.

Answer 6

Jumbo is the largest of the shrimp(seafood) family. You can get baby shrimp, deveined and different sizes of shrimp.

Answer 7

oxy moron, two words that contradict each other. for example

a fine mess
a little big
a new classic
absolutely unsure
abundant poverty
accidentally on purpose
accurate stereotype
act naturally
adult children
advanced beginner
aging yuppie
alone together
almost always
almost perfect
appear invisible
arid ocean
authentic reproduction
awfully nice
big baby
bittersweet
blinding light
black light
clearly ambiguous
confirmed rumor
consistently inconsistent
constant change
constant variable
cruel kindness
current history
dangerously safe
deafening silence (& loud silence etc.)
definite maybe
deliberate mistake
deliberately thoughtless
detailed summary
diplomatic offensive
elevated subway
exact estimate
false positive
found missing
forever's end
forward lateral
friendly fire
genuine imitation (& genuine replica, etc.)
guest host (and permanent guest host, a rare "triple" oxymoron)
genuine illusion
holy hell
idiot savant
instrumental song
instant classic
jogging stroller
jumbo shrimp
justifiable paranoia
larger half
limited omniscience
linear curve
liquid gas
living dead
local long_distance
loud whisper
mindless thinking
modest magnificence
Noise music
only choice
open secret
original copy
planned chaos
plastic silverware (or golden silverware, wooden silverware)
pop punk
Post-Modern
power nap
rolling stop (driving)
scatter-hoarder
solid gold plated
stopmotion
suicide victim
sweet and sour
sweet sorrow
synthetic natural gas
tight slacks
timeless moment
trained inept
true lies
virtual reality

Answer 8

a large shrimp

Answer 9

I don't know, but the idea is making me laugh.