Birds Perched in The Tree of Language

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Bridget from Massachusetts.

Hi, Bridget from Massachusetts. How are you doing?

Good. How are you?

Welcome to the show.

Thank you.

What can we do for you?

So I work in communications for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And as part of my job, I get to write stories about the work we do with partners to conserve wildlife, and that includes birds.

And so at some point, it occurred to me that there seemed to be a lot of proverbs, metaphors, idioms in English that relate to birds. So for example, like early bird catches the worm or you know, like a duck to water.

And part of the reason it caught my attention is when we’re writing about wildlife conservation, we’re always trying to emphasize why it matters. So what are the like irreplaceable roles that birds and other wildlife play in nature and in culture? And I thought maybe that should include their role in shaping our language.

So my first question is, one, is it true that birds appear in a lot of like sayings and metaphors or am I just predisposed to notice it because of my work? And then if it is true, is that also the case in languages other than English?

All right, so Martha, this is a wonderful question because the answer is yes, right? Yes, yes, yes, yes. I keep thinking about writing a whole book on bird words because there are so many birds throughout our language. I mean, you were talking about metaphors. And I was thinking about the fact that there are so many words that have etymologies that have birds nesting inside of them.

I mean, think about the flower called columbine. That comes from the Latin word for dove because that little blossom looks like little doves all sort of huddled together. The word larkspur, you know, the blossom some looks like the spur on the toe of a lark.

And even words like there are a bunch of anatomical words. I mean, I’m thinking of coccyx, which is, of course, your tailbone. But that word comes from the ancient Greek word for cuckoo, the cuckoo bird, because the coccyx resembles the beak.

So I could go on and on about that. But you also asked about expressions involving birds. And, of course, we have a lot of those in English. I’m thinking also of, there’s an absolutely gorgeous expression in Spanish, which I think is my favorite of all.

And it has to do with the Spanish word pájaro, which shares a Latin root with the word passerine, you know, which refers to songbirds, passerine. And this proverb goes, La fe es el pájaro que siente la luz cuando el alba aún está oscura. And that means faith is the bird that feels the light while the dawn is still dark.

I mean, is there any better proverb for these dark times? You know how birds, they sense the light coming on when it’s still dark outside, and they just start singing. They just start doing their thing.

So I think of all the proverbs involving birds, I think that one is my favorite. So all of this, Martha, basically we could go on until the end of the show with not just birds but other animals. And all of this proves Bridget’s hypothesis, which is the essential relationship between animals and humans is eternal.

That we have always been a part of their world and they have always been a part of ours. Those embedded sayings in our language are just one part of that proof. It isn’t the only proof either.

Yeah, I would agree with that. Are we headed down the right path for you here? Are these helpful?

Absolutely, yeah. And you kind of got me thinking also, of course, about like music and poetry. I mean, the amount of like birds that are wrapping a song.

Oh, yeah. And then there are terms like, you know, pecking order, which is literally the order in which birds get to eat. And nest egg, which has to do with putting a wooden egg into the nest to encourage the birds to lay eggs.

We talk about people’s nose or their mouth being their beak, depending on what we’re trying to make. We talk about mothers taking their children under their wing. I’m going to be thinking about this all day.

I mean, there’s so many of these. And so many different ways to take this conversation. Bridget, you can call us every week, and we’ll just take this in a different direction. How about that?

And now it’s time for Bridget. Bridget is back again this week. Sign me up.

All right. Well, Bridget, drop us a line sometime. Let us know what you make of all this. So we appreciate your time and your patience with our blathering.

No, thank you so much for your insights. I really enjoyed this conversation.

All right. Take care of yourself.

Oh, good. You can tweet about it.

All right. Take care.

All right. Bye-bye.

Thank you.