In our local paper this week, there was a photograph of a 'creche' of pelicans and cormorants, unusual because the two groups of young birds were clustered together, white pelicans and black cormorants. It was a biological curiosity.

I loved the soft sweetness of the term 'creche' for such groupings of birds and don't know whether the term is applied to other species as well.

this was the first quick def at OneLook:

Quick definitions (creche)
noun:   a hospital where foundlings (infant children of unknown parents) are taken in and cared for

your example sounds like a very interesting use of the word. do you suppose were they talking more about the arrangement of the birds? as like a traditional creche?

These were rather well-feathered young birds. In other words, they were not mere hatchlings. Dr. Bill PM'd me a definition that covered such groupings these young ones.

yeah, I just meant were they standing around in a traditional "creche" arrangement? the three wise men and all that...

Naw, they were all lying around like a bunch of drunk old men fallen flat on their arses.

hahaha!

Naw, they were all lying around like a bunch of drunk old men fallen flat on their arses.

Watch it, Wordwind, I was almost thrown off this board
by Jackie for being an old man and alluding to arses.
But, of course, you are the sweet Wordwind and, as such ,
it is Ok for you to say "arses".

Kiss... ... - Milum

I like the contrast between "the soft sweetness" and the "drunk old men fallen flat on their arses."

Milo, now you've really confused us -- not so long ago you teased someone for thinking MELT was Milo, and now you're posting under MELT's id.

have you gone and lost access to your own id, again? perhaps it was punisment for posting under the "Anonymous" sock...

Here's the thing, tsuwm, I posted under "stranger" because I was on a "secure" computer that belongs to GE and I don't have the skills to override thier security. (But I wonder? Why is it that that particular catagory allows complete strangers to post sans cognomen?)

And as for my "MELT" postings, she is a pal who thinks I'm brilliant, and she lets me post on her computer when I'm stranded in Hoover, Alabama.

Otherwise, I don't have the computer sophistication to appear as a so-called (what a stupid name) "sock-puppet".

Geez...give uncle Milo a little respect! I am not posting here because I want to be a pal of anyone, I am posting here only because I think that a good many of the people here have something to say.

For what imaginable reason would I, who has no ulterior motives in all of life, assume a subterfugal name?

(Ah Ha! You caught me! I made up the word "subterfugal" ) Big deal!

>>perhaps it was punisment for posting under the "Anonymous" sock
>Here's the thing, tsuwm, I posted under "stranger".. and I don't have the skills to override thier security.

nice misdirection, there; but I digress.

Because sock puppets appear friendly, non-threatening, and clearly non-human, therapists often have their patients speak to a sock puppet when they feel inhibited from speaking to the therapist. For the same reasons, and because oneself and one's sock puppet often feel like two different persons, one can speak through a sock puppet to express thoughts or facets of one's personality that one would not feel free to admit in person or fears would harm one's reputation were they actually said in one's own person. Mr. Garrison's use of Mr. Hat on South Park is a good example of this.

On the Internet a sock puppet describes a second account created by an existing member of an Internet community, sometimes to manufacture the illusion of support in a vote or argument. Other reasons include a desire to support or vote on an issue coupled with a desire to have one's "main" account stay away from the issue. These individuals are often labeled as Internet trolls.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sock_puppet"

one thing follows another..

As I’ve always said: It’s not the sock-puppets that worry me, it’s the people who wear them.

I’ve not heard the term used to describe an alter Internet persona (alter I-go?) before, but it certainly seems an apt description.