When a bird straightens and cleans its feathers with its own beak, it’s preening. If one bird is doing the same thing for another, that action is called allopreening. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Allopreen”
If you see somebody who’s trying to make themselves look attractive by messing with their hair, putting on makeup, and sort of straightening up, you might say they’re preening.
You know, they’re trying to look especially good.
Or primping.
Yeah, primping or preening.
Preening, of course, refers to the action of birds, you know, and arranging their feathers.
What I didn’t realize until recently is that there’s another wonderful word, allopreening.
Allo?
Is that A-double-L?
Yes.
A-double-L-O, preening.
I don’t know what that would be.
That’s what birds do to each other.
You preen somebody else.
And I kind of like that as a metaphor for, you know, you brush the lint off of your sweetie’s lapel or something like that.
Yeah, you make sure the collar’s turned the right way and the tie is straight, that sort of thing.
Yeah, allopreening.
