orcs and goblins- what's the difference???

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Farael

I might be mistaken, but I understood that Uruk were the rather biggish fighting orc types created by Sauron and Uruk-hai were the "improvements" by Saruman.

As I noted above, Uruk simply means Orc. I believe that it is the word for Orc in the Black Speech, although I am not certain of that. It is generally used as an attentuated reference to Uruk-Hai.

Uruk-Hai were bred by Sauron, although Saruman also used them. The misconception that Saruman bred the Uruk-Hai comes, I believe, from the films.

The tracker Orc in Mordor is referred to as Snaga, which is a term used to refer to smaller Orcs. It comes from the Black Speech for "slave". Snaga seems to be a term of abuse, used by larger Orcs, rather than a separate "breed" of Orc.