zumbooruk
n. a small cannon fired from the back of a camel
Language
Bird Talk
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Birder William Young notes that hobbyists who look for wild birds tend to identify species as much by their songs and calls as by their plumage. One way to memorize the calls is to translate them into familiar words and phrases. “Just as many people cannot remember lyrics to popular songs without singing the melody,” he writes, “many birders cannot remember bird songs and calls without thinking of mnemonic phrases.” Examples:
White-throated sparrow: Old Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody
Black-throated green warbler: trees, trees, murmuring trees
Black-throated blue warbler: I’m so la-zy
Olive-sided flycatcher: Quick, free beer!
White-eyed vireo: Pick up the beer check quick
Song sparrow: Maids maids maids pick up the tea kettle kettle kettle
American goldfinch: potato chip
Barred owl: Madame, who cooks for you?
Brown pigeon: Didja walk? Didja walk?
American robin: cheerily, cheer-up, cheerily
White-crowned sparrow: Poor JoJo missed his bus
Ovenbird: teacher, TEACHER, TEACHER
Red-eyed vireo: Here I am. Where are you?
Common yellowthroat: Which is it? Which is it? Which is it?
MacLeay’s honeyeater: a free TV
Common potoo: POO-or me, O, O, O, O
Inca dove: no hope
Brown quail: not faair, not faair
Little wattlebird: fetch the gun, fetch the gun
The California quail says Chicago, the long-tailed manakin says Toledo, and the rufous-browed peppershrike says I’M-A-RU-FOUS-PEP-PER-SHRIKE. “Once when I was staying at [birding author Graham Pizzey’s] home, a Willie-wagtail sang outside my bedroom window around 3 A.M. and seemed to say I’m trying to an-NOY you.” Young’s full article appears in the Winter 2003 issue of Verbatim.
In a Word
guttatim
adv. drop by drop
supernaculum
adv. to the last drop
stillatitious
adj. falling in drops
quantulum
n. a small amount or portion
“The Mostly German Philosophers Love Song”
By Colorado classics teacher Jeremy Boor:
MP3, lyrics, and chords are on his website.
Palinmorses
Morse code palindromes, contributed by reader Dave Lawrence:
ANNEXING ·- -· -· · -··- ·· -· --·
BEEFIEST -··· · · ··-· ·· · ··· -
DEFOREST -·· · ··-· --- ·-· · ··· -
ESTHETES · ··· - ···· · - · ···
FINAGLED ··-· ·· -· ·- --· ·-·· · -··
HEARTIES ···· · ·- ·-· - ·· · ···
HECTARES ···· · -·-· - ·- ·-· · ···
INDEBTED ·· -· -·· · -··· - · -··
INTERNAL ·· -· - · ·-· -· ·- ·-··
INTUITED ·· -· - ··- ·· - · -··
RECENTER ·-· · -·-· · -· - · ·-·
SATIATES ··· ·- - ·· ·- - · ···
SEVENTHS ··· · ···- · -· - ···· ···
SHEEPISH ··· ···· · · ·--· ·· ··· ····
SOPRANOS ··· --- ·--· ·-· ·- -· --- ···
SUBHEADS ··· ··- -··· ···· · ·- -·· ···
WAVERING ·-- ·- ···- · ·-· ·· -· --·
WRECKING ·-- ·-· · -.-· -.- ·· -· --·
ANTICKING ·- -· - ·· -·-· -·- ·· -· --·
FOOTSTOOL ··-· --- --- - ··· - --- --- ·-··
FRESHENED ··-· ·-· · ··· ···· · -· · -··
INCIDENCE ·· -· -·-· ·· -·· · -· -·-· ·
SATURATES ··· ·- - ··- ·-· ·- - · ···
SIDELINES ··· ·· -·· · ·-·· ·· -· · ···
INITIALLED ·· -· ·· - ·· ·- ·-·· ·-·· · -··
INTERSTICE ·· -· - · ·-· ··· - ·· -·-· ·
RESEARCHER ·-· · ··· · ·- ·-· -·-· ···· · ·-·
WINTERTIME ·-- ·· -· - · ·-· - ·· -- ·
ANTIQUATING ·- -· - ·· --·- ··- ·- - ·· -· --·
INTERPRETED ·· -· - · ·-· ·--· ·-· · - · -··
PROTECTORATE ·--· ·-· --- - · -·-· - --- ·-· ·- - ·
INTRANSIGENCE ·· -· - ·-· ·- -· ··· ·· --· · -· -·-· ·
He notes that, perhaps fittingly, the word with the longest run of dots is OBSESSIVE, with 18: --- -··· ··· · ··· ··· ·· ···- ·
In a Word
bedrabble
v. to make wet and dirty with rain and mud
Our change climatic
We think acrobatic
And sigh for a land that is better —
But the German will say,
In a very dry way,
That the weather with him is still Wetter.
— J.R. Joy, Yale Record, 1899
Misc
- Seattle is closer to Finland than to England.
- Is a candle flame alive?
- ABANDON is an anagram of A AND NO B.
- tan-1(1) + tan-1(2) + tan-1(3) = π
- “A thing is a hole in a thing it is not.” — Carl Andre
Detractors of Massachusetts governor Endicott Peabody said that three of the state’s towns had been named for him: Peabody, Marblehead, and Athol.
In a Word
auricomous
adj. golden-haired
flavicomous
adj. having yellow hair
melanocomous
adj. black-haired
lissotrichous
adj. having smooth hair
cymotrichous
adj. having wavy hair
crinicultural
adj. caring for the condition or appearance of the hair
floricomous
adj. having the head adorned with flowers
Punctual
Ernest Hemingway published this “blank verse” in his high school literary magazine in 1916:
Get it? David Morice followed up with this “punctuation poem” in Word Ways in February 2012:
% , & —
+ . ? /
” :
% ;
+ $ [ \
It’s a limerick:
Percent comma ampersand dash
Plus period question mark slash
Quotation mark colon
Percent semicolon
Plus dollar sign bracket backslash
(Thanks, Volodymyr.)
Isomorses
LEG and RUN share the same “bit” pattern in Morse code:
·-·· · --·
·-· ··- -·
So do EARN and URN (which are also homophones):
· ·- ·-· -·
··- ·-· -·
(Discovered by Philip Cohen.)
UPDATE: Reader Dave Lawrence wrote a script to find more of these. He found 2,900, including these highlights:
[one_third]TEMPT YAK[/one_third][one_third]ATTIC JINN[/one_third][one_third]SUAVE SINNER[/one_third]
[one_third]KILL TRUSTEE[/one_third][one_third]NIACIN BANNER[/one_third][one_third]CONVEX COBALT[/one_third]
[one_third]DRAIN NINETEEN[/one_third][one_third]WOMEN JOKE[/one_third][one_third]OMELETS TODDLE[/one_third]
[one_third]ENZYME APRON[/one_third][one_third]GOAT MEOW[/one_third][one_third]EMINENT PAINT[/one_third]
[one_third]ABSINTHE PHIALS[/one_third][one_third]NIPPLE BANANAS[/one_third][one_third]LEFTIE LEFTS[/one_third]
[one_third]CONTENT COCK[/one_third][one_third]DOTTY TUMMY[/one_third][one_third]PAPER WINGER[/one_third]
[one_third]EERIEST VISIT[/one_third][one_third]GENUINE GAVEL[/one_third][one_third]WETTEST ANGST[/one_third]
[one_third]SPEED SATIRE[/one_third][one_third]REUNITE LEPER[/one_third][one_third]COW COAT[/one_third]
[one_third]CINDER CURVE[/one_third][one_third]FUNK ELEMENT[/one_third][one_third]THOSE BAGS[/one_third]
[one_third]DELIVER BLISTER[/one_third][one_third]CAUSES CRASH[/one_third][one_third]DEFENSIVE THRASHER[/one_third]
[one_third]SKIN STAIN[/one_third][one_third]CHIMNEY CHUTNEY[/one_third][one_third]SOME VOTE[/one_third]
[one_third]PESKIER WHALER[/one_third][one_third]RANDY REMEDY[/one_third][one_third]ESTEEMED SAUCE[/one_third]
[one_third]MANGO TYPO[/one_third][one_third]TEXTUAL CANARD[/one_third][one_third]INANE FEZ[/one_third]
[one_third]REEXAMINE ASTEROID[/one_third][one_third]DEFILE BIBLE[/one_third][one_third]MILKMEN MIRROR[/one_third]
[one_third]BEAT THAT[/one_third][one_third]NEAREST DENTIST[/one_third][one_third]GRANDER GREMLIN[/one_third]
[one_third]TIGER TUNER[/one_third][one_third]SUCH HANDS[/one_third][one_third]INDEXED URINAL[/one_third]
[one_third]TICKLED NECTARINE[/one_third][one_third]JACK ATTACK[/one_third][one_third]GREENISH GLASSES[/one_third]
[one_third]BEBOP DUSTMAN[/one_third][one_third]PATIENCE WIZARD[/one_third][one_third]DRAMA NINJA[/one_third]
[one_third]BAROQUE BAROMETER[/one_third][one_third]NEURON BARON[/one_third][one_third]NEUTRON BACON[/one_third]
[one_third]DISK THEFT[/one_third][one_third]PAMPAS PEOPLE[/one_third][one_third]TROIKA COURT[/one_third]
[one_third]COLLIE TROLLS[/one_third][one_third]MINISCULE MINISKIRTS[/one_third][one_third]MATTED GORE[/one_third]
[one_third]INSULIN INHALER[/one_third][one_third]MEETING GETUP[/one_third][one_third]SELF SERVE[/one_third]
[one_third]KITTEN CAKE[/one_third][one_third]TRUTH CUBE[/one_third][one_third]CHAP TENSING[/one_third]
[one_third]PELICAN ABDICATE[/one_third][one_third]KALE TARTS[/one_third][one_third]TROUSER COUSIN[/one_third]
[one_third]VAST STREET[/one_third][one_third]DISTORTED DIVORCE[/one_third][one_third]BRUNETTE DELEGATE[/one_third]
[one_third]F*CKED ELEMENTAL[/one_third][one_third]MAIZE GNATS[/one_third][one_third]SPOUSE SWATTERS[/one_third]
[one_third]FIRMS INVADE[/one_third][one_third]CHIEF KISSER[/one_third][one_third]SWITCH SPACES[/one_third]
[one_third]THREE NESTS[/one_third][one_third]INVERTING FIRETRAP[/one_third][one_third]MOUSE OTTERS[/one_third]
[one_third]ANALYZE PARROTS[/one_third][one_third]AIMLESS RETCHES[/one_third][one_third]RAWHIDE RAPISTS[/one_third]
[one_third]MINIMAL GLANCE[/one_third][one_third]PRIESTS PRESIDE[/one_third][one_third]INBRED INTESTINE[/one_third]
[one_third]GUFFAW MILDLY[/one_third][one_third]MIDDAY GRAVY[/one_third][one_third]WONDER AMOEBAE[/one_third]
[one_third]PALE AXLE[/one_third][one_third]WHISKEY EMISSARY[/one_third][one_third]CAGED CAMEL[/one_third]
[one_third]MINTIER GENDER[/one_third][one_third]QUEER MAIDEN[/one_third][one_third]ASTERISK AIRLIFT[/one_third]
[one_third]SACRED SEQUEL[/one_third][one_third]ESPIED SEABED[/one_third][one_third]MAIM GNAT[/one_third]
[one_third]TURNIP TURBAN[/one_third][one_third_last]NIGHTIE NIGHTS[one_third_last]