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Old 09-02-2019, 09:15 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Chugiak, Alaska
Posts: 31,164
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zmf View Post


Wade -- not to point too fine a point on it, but I think starlings do "murmurations" during migrations, but GC managers don't.

I normally wouldn't mention it, but it's one of my favorite words.
My mother was from an old Charleston, South Carolina family, and “polite murmurations” was a phrase that she and other family members and friends in that city used to mean “noncommittal pleasantries.” In other words, when you need to say something that doesn’t escalate a tense situation or someone is trying to get you to agree to something that you’re not interested in doing, to deflect them without being so emphatic that they redirect their indignation at you.

I’ve also seen the word “murmurations” used in connection with birds, but it’s the colloquial usage of the word that Charlestonians of my mother’s generation employed. There’s both a verbal elegance and precision to it in that meaning, which is why my sister and I still use it that way.

There’s also the old-time Charlestonian usage of the word “pixilated” - to indicate someone who’s slightly daft, or perhaps just marches to their own drummer - that I don’t use as often since the word has taken on new meaning in this Digital Age. But “pixilated” used to be just as archaic as “bumbershoot” for “umbrella” or “throwing a fantod” for “throwing a tantrum.”

Anyway, “murmurations” is a wonderful word, and I think it’s more than flexible enough to support both biological and sociological meanings. More power to both of them!


Wade Hampton “Outdated Charlestonian Words” Miller