Albatross

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7417
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Albatross

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat May 03, 2014 11:27 pm

• albatross •

Pronunciation: æl-bê-traws • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A large web-footed sea bird with a hooked beak and long, narrow wings, of the family Diomedeidae, that flies the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere. 2. A curse, a constant burden, an obstacle to success. 3. In golf, a score of three under par on a hole, one less stroke than an eagle.

Notes: This poor bird was accidentally maligned in a poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The albatross was beloved by ancient seamen because it flew so far out from shore, that it was usually the first indication of land seen on board inbound ships. In Coleridge's poem, a seaman killed an albatross, then had to wear its carcass around his neck in penance, hence the second meaning above. The plural is albatrosses.

In Play: Speakers of all languages find references to animals much more striking and memorable than references to objects or abstractions. That makes today's Good Word an ear-catching metaphor in all situations: "Mom, Billy is such an albatross! Why do I have to stay home and baby-sit him again?" Just look around for clever applications, "Jess Gough called her husband 'Al Batross' for several years before he finally caught on and took offense."

Word History: Today's Good Word probably started out as Latin alcatras "pelican" (or the Portuguese or Spanish version, alcatraz) but shifted under the influence of Latin albus "white". The Latin word was borrowed from Arabic al-gattas, comprising al- "the" + gattas "diver, sea eagle". Arabic gattas is the noun from gatasa "to plunge, dive". Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, home of the infamous prison, got its name for the flock of pelicans that resided there.
• The Good Dr. Goodword

wurdpurrson
Lexiterian
Posts: 168
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:43 pm
Location: Olympic Peninsula, WA

Re: Albatross

Postby wurdpurrson » Sun May 04, 2014 5:06 am

This word takes me back several decades, when I was a cabin crew member on the Freedom Birds in the early 1960s. Our flights to and from the Far East usually went north out of San Francisco and followed the polar route from Anchorage along the Aleutian chain into Japan and Indochina. But sometimes we took passengers the mid-Pacific route: Hawaii, Wake, Guam, and occasionally would land on Midway Island. The albatrosses, or "gooney birds", loved the nice level expanse of air strip for take-offs and landings. The birds are amazingly beautiful and have great endurance in flight, but can't land worth a damn. They become klutzes of the first order, approaching the ground in great anxiety, wobbling, flapping, sometimes doing 3-point (chin first) or somersault landings, catch a wing tip and ground-loop, or simply crash. I always watched them with equal feelings of humor and sympathy. Haven't thought of that in years - thanks for the memory, Doc.

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Re: Albatross

Postby LukeJavan8 » Sun May 04, 2014 12:59 pm

:lol:
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 48 guests