9 Sep
2005
9 Sep
'05
11:42 p.m.
Witchy wrote:
I've called it a Tit Mouse since the day they were
released :) I
think that's a bit more socially acceptable, but probably not by much.
Well, Titmouse is a perfectly respectable term:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titmouse
These birds are called "chickadees" (derived from their distinctive
"chick-a dee dee dee" alarm call) or "titmice" in North America,
and
just "tits" in the rest of the English speaking world. The name
titmouse is attested from the 14th century, composed of the Old
English name for the bird, mase (Proto-Germanic *maison) and tit,
denoting something small. The spelling was influenced by mouse in the
16th century. "Chickadee" is onomatopoeic, i.e., sounds like the call
of many North American species.
And certainly, "tit" denoting something small certainly applies
to the laptop titmouse.
- Joe :-)