Pull on a tail and dive into mermaiding with the appropriate vocabulary.

But if you plan to move around on land, make sure you've got a mertender. That's the guy (often a pirate) who carries beached mermaids wherever they need to go. Walking in a tail is not an option.

The mertender's main competition for the mermaid's affection is the merman. And the odds are in his favor. There are many more mermaids than mermen.

A group of mermaids and mermen? That's called a pod.

One of the most famous pods is at Weeki Wachee Springs, a roadside attraction (now a Florida state park) that's been home to popular mermaid shows since 1947.

Katie Humphrey