[Ads-l] Buzzard grouponyms

[Dan Goncharoff]

 Kettling a mob came from the German, where "Kessel" means not just a small
kettle for boiling water for tea, but also a large boiler for heating
buildings and providing hot running water.

I think the larger imagery was in mind when using the word for crowd
control.

On Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 8:41 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> MW is also silent on all of the above, including the verb. However, the
> recent transitive sense (2009), 'to corral or contain (people) in large
> numbers by surrounding and forcing into an enclosed area,' seems related.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Dec 27, 2021 at 7:59 AM Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:
>
> > Actually, and I think there are better birders than me here, "kettling"
> > is not just flying: it's that circling around an area in the air, and
> > it's not just buzzards/vultures that do it. You'll see other raptors do
> > it. I am much more familiar with it as a verb than as a noun in birding.
> >
> > ---Amy West
> >
> > On 12/27/21 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> > > There are 2 messages totaling 87 lines in this issue.
> > >
> > > Topics of the day:
> > >
> > >    1. Buzzard grouponyms (2)
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Date:    Sun, 26 Dec 2021 11:08:56 -0500
> > > From:    Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject: Buzzard grouponyms
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/kat-bergeron-cool-things-learned-060000703.html
> > :
> > >
> > > "Did you know that a group of our buzzard-vultures is called a
> committee,
> > > venue or volt? A flock in flight is a kettle. When they congregate on a
> > > feeding ground to share dinner, that’s called a wake."
> > >
> > > Almost needless to say, none of these terms is in OED.
> > >
> > > JL
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>

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