The author of that article, however, is American. And the article is not an encyclopedia entry. And I don’t know what editorial standards they have when it comes to global usage.
So you may take it from me, a British person, that the general usage is different. I also briefly checked that Australia did not match the American usage, but cannot personally vouch for it.
As an Australian, my understanding is that tortoises walk around on land, and turtles swim. Sometimes people say one when they mean the other, but that’s a bit like confusing bees and wasps (i.e. people understand they are different, but in some circumstances that difference isn’t important enough to try to get it right!)
That’s exactly the distinction in British English too. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say one for the other, but of course it probably does happen.
![Hurry [Poorly Drawn Lines]](https://lemmus.org/pictrs/image/205fdaeb-5c59-4e04-96ac-b456d723fa18.webp){kind=link}
https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-a-turtle-and-a-tortoise
Not outside of the USA, where general usage is that turtles are aquatic creatures.
I am pretty sure that the Britannica is not an American publication.
The author of that article, however, is American. And the article is not an encyclopedia entry. And I don’t know what editorial standards they have when it comes to global usage.
So you may take it from me, a British person, that the general usage is different. I also briefly checked that Australia did not match the American usage, but cannot personally vouch for it.
As an Australian, my understanding is that tortoises walk around on land, and turtles swim. Sometimes people say one when they mean the other, but that’s a bit like confusing bees and wasps (i.e. people understand they are different, but in some circumstances that difference isn’t important enough to try to get it right!)
That’s exactly the distinction in British English too. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say one for the other, but of course it probably does happen.
I guess we’ll just never know.