snowbird

[email protected] 30 Nov 2007 10:58:23 -0000
Newsgroups gmane.culture.language.word-of-the-day
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The Word of the Day for November 30 is:=20

snowbird   \SNOH-berd\   noun
          1 : any of several birds (as a junco or fieldfare) seen chiefl=
y in winter=20
    *2 : one who travels to warm climes for the winter=20

Example sentence:
          Now that they are retired, the Crawfords have become snowbirds=
, closing up their New England home each winter and heading south.=20

Did you know?
          "Snowbird" has been in use since the late 1600s, but it has on=
ly been applied to humans since the early 1900s. It was first used to de=
scribe men who enlisted in the armed forces to get food and clothing dur=
ing the winter months and then deserted as the warm spring weather appro=
ached. Not long after, the term was applied to the northern laborers who=
 would flock down south to work as the cold, harsh winter set in up nort=
h. Today, northerners of all kinds, from vacationers to retirees, can be=
 seen migrating as soon as the first frost arrives.





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