Having been out of the office for three days, I read with amusement the
thread on censorship--amusement over one word in a long post that I
glossed and deleted. Actaully went back to find the word.

Anyway, all of this reminded me of an episode of _Northern_Exposure_.
Ruth Ann and Holling were birders, and Holling got a report from a trapper
of a Siberian Tit. The actor who played Holling gave the second word
quite a bit of emphasis throughout the episode, playing with the risque
aspect of the language. Of course, the TV played Siberian Tit calls but
showed Black-capped Chickadees.

I think Siberian Tit is once again being called Grey-headed Chickadee by
the AOU.

I just checked my officemate's Compact OED--Tit dates from 1706 in
ornithological usage; the first reference to Chickadee is from good ol'
Thoreau and his opus _Walden_ (1854). That censor Thoreau.

Anyway, I'd recommend any one that was offended stay away from an
unabridged version of Chaucer's The Miller's Tale.

Sorry for the thread-extending time warp for those fatigued by it--that's
the trouble with holidays.

Cheers!
RK

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray Korpi "Under transient skies
Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA I cannot hobble change,
rkorpi at csci.clark.edu Not now or ever."
President, Oregon Field -William Kloefkorn
Ornithologists _Alvin_Turner_as_Farmer_, #16
**Inquiries on Oregon birds
always welcome**