Tobias George Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 1771ĭespite this word coming from the British Isles, the fact that it ends with a - loo and deals with toilet products has nothing to do with the fact that some speakers of British English refer to the toilet as a loo. The words appears to have been in use since the late 18th century, and in early use tends to refer more often to defenestrating the contents of a chamber pot more than kitchen slops.Īnd behold there is nurro geaks in the whole kingdom, nor anything for poor sarvants, but a barrel with a pair of tongs thrown a-cross and all the chairs in the family are emptied into this here barrel once a-day and at ten o’clock at night the whole cargo is flung out of a back windore that looks into some street or lane, and the maid calls gardy loo to the passengers, which signifies Lord have mercy upon you! Gardyloo is widely supposed to have been taken from French, although it is uncertain whether it comes from an actual French phrase (such as garde à l’eau!, “attention to the water!”) or if it was a mocking and mistaken imitation of that language.
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“They probably sound like some bird version of Pavarotti or Sinatra.Definition - used in Edinburgh as a warning cry when it was customary to throw slops from the windows into the streets “It’s important to stress that, to each other, none of these birds sound dumb,” says Lund. Some other goofy-sounding birds that didn’t make the final cut include the Greater Prairie-Chicken, which can moan and cluck at the same time the Red-breasted Nuthatch (which “makes the same dumb little honking noise all day long,” says Lund) the Yellow Rail and of course, Wild Turkeys. “Can you imagine if humans communicated in that language?” Lund says. Males use their nasally barks to impress females.
The fluffy white ptarmigan sounds more like a cartoon character (think Porky Pig or Glenn Quagmire) than an actual bird. Mated pairs sometimes perform this number as a duet, too.īut in the end, in the ridiculous-sounding-birds contest, the Willow Ptarmigan “wins by a landslide,” says Lund. The bird has many different calls, including the startling hooting sound it uses for courtship. The Barred Owl is never laughing with you-it’s laughing at you. “It’s an incredible call, physically, and can be heard from miles away,” Lund says. Bitterns are shy creatures that tend to hide out in the reeds, so their ability to resonate can be a bit of a bombshell. The sound of a dripping faucet may drive humans crazy, but for the American Bittern, it’s similar to a mating or territorial call. “It’s jarring because the sounds they make are so at odds with their graceful presence,” says Lund.
Females often make a high-pitched whistling noise when they’re feeling frisky-a sign that they’re ready to get down and dirty with their mates.
The Bald Eagle has a “bark” that’s far less threatening than its bite. People liken this sound to a chainsaw snore, Lund says. “For such a famously cute bird, it sure sounds dumb.” The Atlantic Puffin is silent when out at sea, but on land it makes a creepy cackling noise to communicate with others in its nesting colony. His top five choices include the Atlantic Puffin, Bald Eagle, American Bittern, Northern Barred Owl, and Willow Ptarmigan. not so much.īirding blogger Nick Lund, also known as The Birdist, picked out some of the weirdest-sounding birds for NPR. Some birds have excellent singing skills.
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