Soil or dirt?

[Sergey]

Why soil in MT is called/named "dirt" (dirt, dirt_with_grass, dirt_with_dry_grass)?

I always thought dirt is some kind of shit on the road







And this is SOIL like it must be and like it is.

[TumeniNodes]

Because in the English language, it's too hard and awkward to say "soil" (too many syllables)... so we just say "dirt" :P
We do the same thing with Aluminium... call it aluminum.
So the answer is, pure laziness

[rubenwardy]

It depends on the context. If you're referring to plants growing, you'd say soil. Conversely, you'd say "get out the dirt" to a kid as "get out the soil" doesn't sound right, as a phrase anyway.

Soil is always fertile, whereas dirt refers to both soil and infertile dirt. Those images are mud, not dirt imo.



Left is soil, right is dirt

[Sergey]

Thanks.
+1 change to future MT changelog.

[Wuzzy]

There is a meaningful distinction between soil and dirt in Minetest Game. Both are different blocks:

Dirt: http://wiki.minetest.net/Dirt
Soil: http://wiki.minetest.net/Soil

Dirt is the basic ground, but it is NOT wet like in the images. Did you maybe think of mud? There is no wet dirt or mud in Minetest Game.
Mushrooms can spread on dirt (and dirt with grass). Saplings grow on dirt. Dirt may turn into dirt with grass, dirt with dry grass or dirt with snow, depending on its light level and its immediate surroundings. IIRC papyrus may also grow on dirt if near water.

Note that “Dirt with Grass”, “Dirt with Dry Grass” and “Dirt with Snow” are other blocks with other distinct properties. Check out the respective wiki pages (which may be outdated).

Soil is the block you get when using a hoe on dirt. All the plants which grow on dirt also grow on soil. But you can also plant wheat seed and cotton seeds on it. Soil becomes wet soil when it's near water, and wheat and cotton starts to grow.