Hi, > I Like it... very Milliganesque. > I've always wondered, why is it called a shag?
Here's what Chambers says, roughly: shag, from old English 'sceacga' and old Norse 'skegg', meaning beard. Comes to mean a ragged mass of hair or something similar. Applied to the green cormorant apparently because of its crest. Presumably 'shagging' as a verb comes from 'shaggy' - long, rough and coarse. At least, that's how it should be! Bob > A while ago, Bob wrote: >>The common cormorant or shag >>Lays eggs inside a paper bag. >>The reason you will see, no doubt, >>It is to keep the lightning out. >>But what these unobservant birds >>Have never noticed is that herds >>Of wandering bears may come with buns >>And steal the bags to hold the crumbs. >>--Anon.
