We learned today that a group of crows is called a flock but also that it once was called a "murder" as in a murder of crows. It is somewhat poetic but a distinction without a difference.
We were intrigued so we looked it up in the dictionary - (the last place anyone ever looks):
crow 1 (kr)
n.
1. Any of several large glossy black birds of the genus Corvus, having a characteristic raucous call, especially C. brachyrhynchos of North America.
2. A crowbar.
Idiom:
as the crow flies
In a straight line.
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[Middle English croue, from Old English crwe; see ger-2 in Indo-European roots. Sense 2, from the resemblance of its forked end to a crow's foot or beak.]
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crow 2 (kr)
intr.v. crowed, crow·ing, crows
1. To utter the shrill cry characteristic of a cock or rooster.
2. To exult loudly, as over another's defeat; boast. See Synonyms at boast1.
3. To make a sound expressive of pleasure or well-being, characteristic of an infant.
n.
1. The shrill cry of a cock.
2. An inarticulate sound expressive of pleasure or delight.
Well now we are getting somewhere!
If you don't get the point of this little ramble, it is that there are crows that fly and there are folks who crow. Both travel in flocks and the noun/adjective "murders" is apropos to both. They also make a great deal of unpleasant noise and are, to our ears, inarticulate.
Lessons learned. Case solved. Noted.
"If you don't get the point of this little ramble, it is that there are crows that fly and there are folks who crow. Both travel in flocks and the noun/adjective "murders" is apropos to both. They also make a great deal of unpleasant noise and are, to our ears, inarticulate."
ReplyDeleteIt must be wonderful to live in such a place where first hand knowledge and factual information is superseded by misguided loyalty, self serving interest or just flat out denial.
Your point is easy to follow, if a person is dissatisfied with the way the village is being run and should offer an opinion otherwise, and that opinion differs from yours... they are cawing, how very open minded of you.
This blog generally publishes all comments. We will try and write with more clarity next time as obviously the post caused some confusion in certain minds.
ReplyDeleteThe commenter certainly has a right to his opinion. He just doesn't have a right to his own set of facts.
As we shift the shoe to the other foot, it appears that anyone who disagrees with "the facts" is misguided, self-serving or in denial.
Noted.