Tag Archives for language

How the Oxford Comma helps avoid wrong impressions

With Oxford Comma:

I’d like to thank my parents, Jesus, and Mary.

Without Oxford Comma:

I’d like to thank my parents, Jesus and Mary.

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A Partial List of Group Names for Birds

A bevy of quail
A bouquet of pheasants [when flushed]
A brood of hens
A building of rooks
A cast of hawks [or falcons]
A charm of finches
A colony of penguins
A company of parrots
A congregation of plovers
A cover of coots
A covey of partridges [or grouse or ptarmigans]
A deceit of lapwings
A descent of woodpeckers
A dissimulation of birds
A dole of doves
An exaltation of larks
A fall of woodcocks
A flight of swallows [or doves, goshawks, or cormorants]
A gaggle of geese [wild or domesticated]
A host of sparrows
A kettle of hawks [riding a thermal]
A murmuration of starlings
A murder of crows
A muster of storks
A nye of pheasants [on the ground]
An ostentation of peacocks
A paddling of ducks [on the water]
A parliament of owls
A party of jays
A peep of chickens
A pitying of turtledoves
A raft of ducks
A rafter of turkeys
A siege of herons
A skein of geese [in flight]
A sord of mallards
A spring of teal
A tidings of magpies
A trip of dotterel
An unkindness of ravens
A watch of nightingales
A wedge of swans [or geese, flying in a “V”]
A wisp of snipe

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Pet parrot with British accent disappears from owner’s home, returns four years later speaking Spanish

Will S.' Random Weirdness Blog

Funny.

Monday, October 13, 2014, 3:36 PM – A pet parrot that spoke with a British accent when it disappeared from its home four years ago has been reunited with its owner — and the bird now speaks Spanish.

The Daily Breeze reported Sunday the reunion was brought about by a Southern California veterinarian who mistook the African grey parrot for her own missing bird.

Teresa Micco tracked Nigel’s microchip to Darren Chick, a Brit who lives in Torrance.

Little is known about Nigel’s whereabouts the past four years, but Chick says the bird’s British accent is gone and it now speaks Spanish.

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