A.W.A.D. - Whose what? (animal edition)

A few weeks ago we featured terms in the "x's y" pattern -- descriptive phrases that can be called Whose whats. Going by your comments, it was one of the most popular weeks in AWAD's history. This week we'll reprise the theme with five more such terms, this time from the animal kingdom.

The English language is filled with everyday terms based on animals, from the lion's share (largest part) to the dog's chance (slim chance) and the snail's pace (very slow) but there are many unusual terms too. For this week's parade we have selected five mammals: mare, dog, sheep, donkey, and cat.

mare's nest
(mairz nest) noun
1. A confused mess
2. A hoax or an illusory discovery

[The original sense of the term was a false discovery since clearly a mare doesn't have a nest. Nowadays the term implies a confused situation. A term with a similar origin is the Greek calends meaning a time that doesn't exist: http://wordsmith.org/words/greek_calends.html]
dog's letter
(dogz LET-uhr) noun
The letter R

[From Latin littera canina, literally dog's letter. In Latin the sound of the letter R was trilled. Think Grrr! of a snarling dog. A good example of a trilling R is none other that the Spanish word for a dog: perro.]

sheep's eyes
(sheepz eyez) noun
Shy amorous glances.

[The origin of the term is uncertain. Various theories attribute the term to Gaelic or any of the various Germanic languages. It has also been suggested that the term refers to the docile appearance of a sheep's eyes.]

donkey's years
(DONG-keez yeerz) noun
A very long time

[Probably from the punning reference to a donkey's long ears.]

cat's paw
(cats paw) noun
1. Someone used as a tool by another.
2. A kind of knot used to connect a rope to an object
3. A breeze that ruffles the surface of the water over a small area.

[The first sense of the term comes from the fable in which a monkey uses a cat to pull roasting chestnuts from a fire. The monkey gobbles up all the nuts while the cat is left with a burnt paw. See Edwin Landseer's 1824 painting Cat's Paw: http://museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=2992

The second sense refers to the supposed resemblance of such a knot to a cat's paw: http://images.google.com/images?q=cat

The origin of the third sense is unknown.]

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interesting Aftermath a From Season Five of "MasterChef"

Image
Do I agree with this? You will have to read it first and decide for yourself. I had long since made up my mind before finding this article. MasterChef Season 5 Fixed: Courtney Lapresi Won Finale After Getting Preferential Treatment – Former Stripper Favoritism BY  STORMY ELIZABETH  ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 "They say if you can’t take the heat, you should get out of the kitchen, but what if you like it hot? If you’ve been watching  MasterChef this season 5 , you may have noticed that one contestant in particular seems to  be “winning” challenges  when her dishes don’t seem to be quite up to it.  Courtney Lapresi  has been billed as an “aerial dancer” on the show. So what exactly is that, you ask? It’s a fancy word for stripper. You may term what she does as burlesque, but nekked is nekked and she takes off her  clothes  when she dances, so you have to call them as you see them. Plus is it really...
Read more

The Longairc-Green Family

This is a family that was on Nanny 911 , the precursor to Supernanny , which airs on Wednesday nights. While Supernanny is a better production and leaves out some of the dopey American-isms of stupidity (such as the opening scene with a much older nanny head whose television showing the family and their issues turns around into a painting on the wall), this show has its value. These families are clueless or don't bother to try and definitely need help. This family is an exception in that the mother couldn't care less what the monsters do and will do anything to mollify them. The father is more consistent and definitely takes a much more disciplinary stance, but the mother undermines it at every step of the way. The two boys are so unbelievably rude, I'd've killed them where they stood. The little girl only wanted a moment of attention and was not doing anything negative, and the mother was awful to her. The nanny, Nanny Stella, spent the first day observing. When she s...
Read more

Shocking!

Image
I always open my day at work by starting up my various programs that I'll bounce back and forth between throughout the insanity that is my normal workday. And they are always in the same order: Internet Outlook Microsoft Excel Microsoft Word The timekeeping program, GenPro, is always running. This is not me being unbelievably anal or just a little OCD, this is logic. I know excatly where everything is. It's just good organisational skills. When I open Outlook it is almost entirely for the e-mail. Yes, I do know how to use all of Outlook (well, 80% of it, any way, but since I use my belovèd Franklin Covey Time Management system (the physical book, not the electronic solution), I only use Outlook for e-mail. What is so shocking, you may ask? Be patient, I'm getting to that. I open the Internet and the default page is Wikipedia, in English. I happen to love that site and skim over whatever interesting things it may have, such as: Today's Featured Article The word thou was...
Read more