[Ads-l] Buzzard grouponyms

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Mon Dec 27 19:17:45 UTC 2021


If you watch closely, you'll see that the nameless one is actually holding
the bible right-side up.

Strange but true.

JL



On Mon, Dec 27, 2021 at 1:39 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Here's my WSJ column on "kettling" from June 2020:
>
>
> https://www.wsj.com/articles/kettling-from-german-military-tactics-to-u-s-city-streets-11591968294?st=guig27ome26kyod&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
>
> On Mon, Dec 27, 2021 at 1:35 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > I learned that sense of "kettling" when it was in the news 18 months ago
> in
> > reference to the corralling of protestors at the event in Lafayette Park
> > culminating in the photo-op of the former guy holding up someone's Bible
> > upside down.
> >
> > LH
> >
> > On Mon, Dec 27, 2021 at 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.
> > > > >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list