Chrysti The Wordsmith: Animal Verbs - 4

I'm Christie the wordsmith lately on this series we've been focusing on the names of animals that also double as verbs such as ape meaning to imitate and ferret out to dig deeply for answers or clues. Today we'll look at a verb inspired by one of the names of a strange little your Asian bird. The wry neck woodpecker or Jinx Torquil up like most woodpeckers the wry neck has a strong sharp bill and a long sticky tongue for efficient capture of insects. It climbs trees with its four toed feet and nests in tree trunk poles like all woodpeckers. But the unique thing about this bird is its ability to twist its head and neck into bizarre contortions often swiveling at 180 degrees. Hence it's common name right neck. It's Latin designation Jinx Torquil and joins the verbal imitation of its cry which two early observers sounded like Jinx Jinx jinx with the term Torquil which refers to its neck twisting behavior in Europe the bird has been associated for

millennia with witchcraft possibly because of its snake like contortions and a hissing sound it makes when threatened. Its feathers were used to make charms and potions and by the sixteenth century the bird's name Jinx was synonymous with curse or hex in modern English. The name of the bird has become a verb to jinx meaning to bring bad luck to an endeavor. From Montana State University in Bozeman. I'm Christie the wordsmith Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry Web dot com.