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Re: squawk, gawk, gowk and spoke (fwd)
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From: "Jerry Friedman, Northern N. M. Community College"
<jfriedman@nnm.cc.nm.us>
>From: Tim Henderson <thenders@mail.lanline.com>
>
>I had assumed "gawk" was a verb-made-noun and the reference was to the
>tilt-headed, open-beaked, peevish-looking stare of a heron, as if he
>expects something from you (well, where is it?), and so you write. But
>that doesn't make sense if it's "night" ... So I'm confused and it's not
>just about pronunciation anymore...
I imagine the heron is a black-crowned night heron (known simply as
a night heron in Europe). They're known for squawking at night. Perhaps
Nabokov got some satisfaction from the fact that this species is found
almost worldwide (it's also mentioned in a famous haiku), so his poem could
apply in either Europe or America.
I realize this doesn't help with "gawk". I would take it to be
onomatopoeia. The connotations of gawking and gawkiness might be
involved too, though night herons are pretty compact, for herons.
(Jerry Friedman is a better amateur ornithologist than amateur
etymologist. Which is not saying much.)
<jfriedman@nnm.cc.nm.us>
>From: Tim Henderson <thenders@mail.lanline.com>
>
>I had assumed "gawk" was a verb-made-noun and the reference was to the
>tilt-headed, open-beaked, peevish-looking stare of a heron, as if he
>expects something from you (well, where is it?), and so you write. But
>that doesn't make sense if it's "night" ... So I'm confused and it's not
>just about pronunciation anymore...
I imagine the heron is a black-crowned night heron (known simply as
a night heron in Europe). They're known for squawking at night. Perhaps
Nabokov got some satisfaction from the fact that this species is found
almost worldwide (it's also mentioned in a famous haiku), so his poem could
apply in either Europe or America.
I realize this doesn't help with "gawk". I would take it to be
onomatopoeia. The connotations of gawking and gawkiness might be
involved too, though night herons are pretty compact, for herons.
(Jerry Friedman is a better amateur ornithologist than amateur
etymologist. Which is not saying much.)