While it may seem either too basic to mention or perhaps overly pedantic, the first step in getting to know your binocular is learning to differentiate the words “binocular” and “binoculars.”
How many times have you heard someone say something along the lines of “Quick Nigel, hand me your binoculars! There’s a Southern Lapwing on the veranda.” While Nigel may have understood the meaning of the demand, if he took it literally he dashed inside the house to gather up all the binoculars he owned rather than simply taking the binocular that was on the strap around his neck and handing it to Reginald. Needless to say, by the time Nigel returned with an armload of binoculars, the lapwing would have certainly flown as a result of all the commotion.
A BINOCULAR is a single optical instrument with two optical channels, each designed to present an independent image of an observed subject to each respective eye of the person using it.
The word BINOCULARS refers to more than one binocular.
You may have one binocular but you would have two, three, ten, or even more binoculars.
Again, I know this may seem trivial – and yes, even the companies that produce and sell them frequently use the terms incorrectly – but as you learn more about binoculars, as well as other small personal optical instruments, both knowing the correct terminology pertaining to them and using it accurately will help when further expanding your knowledge about them and in communicating it to others.
