In a previous posting I have mentioned various words that are applied to groups of animals, from a pride of lions to a mob of kangaroos, to a swarm of bees or locusts.I even suggested a new word (and a good one I think) for the massive flocks of starlings we see assembled in the Fall (a vulgarity of starlings).
Listening to a comedian on television tonight, I began to wonder if there might be a secret raft of words used to describe specific animal excrement. "Shit" after all has grown just a little too tired from over-use.
I remembered that T.H. White had used the word "Fewmet" as the correct word for the scat of
There are!
Below is a small sampling of words I have gleaned without trying too hard.
Apparently there is a book out there by Cyril E. Hare that I really must get -- Language of Field Sports - which is full of such stuff.
Can I really resist knowing a dozen animal-specific words for coppulating? I think not!
In any case, until such a book is ordered and arrived, I offer for your edification a few new words to toss out in casual conversation (note, some of these are Medieval and no longer much in use).
- Billitting: Fox scat
- Bodewash: Dried cow or buffalo dung
- Buttons: Sheep dung
- Coprolite: Fossilized excrement from a dinosaur
- Crotiles or Crotisings: Hare poop
- Fewmets: Deer pellets
- Fuants: The squat of various vermin
- Lesses: Boar, Bear or Wolf turds
- Guano: Seafowl offerings used as fertilizer
- Mutes: Hawk chalk
- Scumber: Dog crap
- Spraints: Otter calling cards
- Tath: Cattle patties
- Wormcast: Earthworm vermidung
Does anyone have any more? I know they're out there!
No comments:
Post a Comment