"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."
Showing posts with label Flittermouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flittermouse. Show all posts

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.