howdy process

howdy process
 n.— «Vivian, who arrived at the old Central Texas Zoo in 1966 as a teenager from the wild, had literally bitten the heads off two previous suitors. But the third time was the charm: Vivian reacted well during the “howdy” process—zoo parlance for slowly introducing animals to each other with a mesh safety barrier in between them.» —“ Senior citizen animals thrive at Waco’s Cameron Park Zoo” by Terri Jo Ryan Tribune-Herald (Waco, Texas) May 25, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Further reading

Gig, as in a Short-Term Job

Chris in San Antonio, Texas, a professional musician, asks where the word gig comes from. While gig is now the standard term for a musical engagement and has broadened to any short-term job, its early origins are murky. It may be related to the term...