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 ] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=mare's+nest -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The previous two sheets of this piece are a mare's nest of scratched out half sentences, words replaced and replaced again and clauses arrowed in or arrowed out." Gary Covington; Learning to Write; Sun Star (Philippines); Dec 30, 2007. Sponsored by: uppity (UP-i-tee) adj. Rebelliously assertive; not inclined to be tractable or deferential. Smart, witty, and old-schoolish too. http://uppityshirts.com Subscribe to http://delanceyplace.com -- a carefully selected non-fiction book excerpt free to your email each day. It's the thinking person's daily quotation. ............................................................................ Knowing what / Thou knowest not / Is in a sense / Omniscience. -Piet Hein, poet and scientist (1905-1996) Discuss this week's words on our bulletin board: http://wordsmith.org/board Remove, change address, gift subs: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/mares_nest.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/mares_nest.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/mares_nest.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
