Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2002 10:22:50 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Re: Atlasing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sue Hamilton wrote: > It occurs to me that we are all probably making up new words: > > To Atlas (verb) > most often heard as "Atlasing" (or Atlassing?) > Atlasable (adj.) example: Goldfinches aren't atlasable until tomorrow. Yes we have gone and verbed another noun. Actually the usage goes back with me to the first atlas I ever worked on - Vermont in the late 1970s and I think I first heard it from the Mass. Audubon rep who got us going in VT. I wouldn't be surprised if it originated with the British and Irish in the first ever bird atlas. Another bit of jargon that creeps into atlas conversation after awhile is use of codes to describe bird sightings, "I just had a DD yellowthroat and an FY tanager, and did you get that B on the House Wren?" Ever since the 1970s I literally never see a robin crossing a road with a beakful of worms without thinking "FY!" Good Atlasing [sic], Walter Ellison MD/DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS 23460 Clarissa Rd Chestertown, MD 21620-3645 410-778-9568 rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast." - E. B. White ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================