Patricia in Midland, Georgia, says her mother always used the phrase black-hearted buzzard to denote someone who was evil or otherwise up to no good. Do other people use that expression? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Black...
A man in Orlando, Florida, asks if there’s a word for slowly circling a parking lot in search of a space for your car. Slang terms for this include sharking and sharking for parking, and sometimes such drivers are jokingly called vultures. This is...
A hike in San Diego’s Mission Trails Regional Park has Martha pondering terms for turkey vultures. A flock of vultures in flight is called a kettle, a committee, or a volt, while a group of vultures feeding on carrion is called a wake. This is part...
vulture v.— «In 1959, baseball was knocked flat when Pirates reliever Elroy Face posted an 18-1 won-loss record, still perhaps the most impressive ever. But Holtzman was skeptical. He knew that many of those wins were, in today’s parlance...
urohydrosis n.— Note: The word is misspelled in the article. «For instance, the vultures urinate on their own legs, which both cools them down and applies an antiseptic that speeds healing—a practice called urophydrosis.» —“Raptors wow birders” by...
vulture fund n.— «The government says it is still recovering from a devastating war and faces a new problem: Western investors, sensing a chance to rake in millions, are suing to recover old debts that they bought for pennies on the dollar. Such...