"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Wednesday, 12 November 2008

Flittermouse


Flittermouse is one of my favourite words. It is a one-time poetic term for a bat. Other similar terms used for the bat included flindermouse, flintymouse and flickermouse. The above flittermouse was photographed by GB.

The German equivalent - Die Fledermaus - was used by Johann Strauss as the title for an operetta that premiered in 1874 and remains part of the regular operetta repertoire today.

The French equivalent is La Chauve-souris - the bald mouse.

A group of bats is called a colony, a cloud or a clowd.

1 comment:

  1. This has got to be the cutest little flittermouse I've ever seen. :)

    Die Fledermaus is my very favorite opera of all time. It's also the name of a character in the animated version of The Tick, a TV series which I highly recommend to you if you have not already acquainted yourself with it.

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