The Walking Dead: 10 Questions That Always Confused You
1. Why Doesn't Anyone Say "Zombie"?
It is admittedly a pretty common trope in zombie media that the characters don't say the "z-word," though given the immense popularity of zombies in pop-culture, it does seem a tad silly that The Walking Dead's characters say "walker" instead.
It's an especially odd choice given that Robert Kirkman's comic books have freely referred to the undead as zombies, yet this was changed for the TV adaptation.
As for why? In a recent edition of Cutting Room Floor with Robert Kirkman, he revealed that this was largely mandated by the series' creator and original showrunner Frank Darabont.
Darabont wanted to have the story take place in a world where zombie fiction didn't exist, and so it wouldn't make sense for anyone to use the term. Kirkman further explained:
"For this story to work, you can't just have people saying, 'You shoot them in the head, y'know… just like the zombies from the Romero movies!' So you have to assume this is a universe where George A. Romero didn't create the modern zombie. So, we coined the term 'walkers' for the show."