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In Discover magazine, Dec. 2001, in an article entitled "Risks" is described antelope pursued by a cheetah jumping straight up with legs straight. This is called "stotting". I could not find the word in any of my dictionaries, but I found it in several sites. Cheetahs also do it. As a guess it might be of South African Dutch origin.
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Dear wwh,
STOTTING is a grrrrrrr-eat word!!
Imagine a stilter stotting! A stotting stilter! A stilter who stots. A stilter, a sot, who stots. A star stilter, a sot, who stots. An optic star stilter, a sot, who stots.
There's a lot to stot, but I better stop.
DubDub
tsuwm, please do NOT look up the bloody word. I really like this one and don't want you to come here telling us it's a typo or something like that or can't be used in Scrabble! Killjoy!
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Stot away, Dub' Dub. It's in the brick and mortar OED even. Says it's of obscure origin but may be from a Teutonic root and then gives some possibly related words in Old Norse, Old Saxon and Old High German. Doesn't say anything about Afrikaans.
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just so, although you neglect to mention that it is mainly Scot. and is not recognized by the OSPD* (US Scrabble, that is).
*but. stotinka is recognized; it is a Bulgarian monetary unit. Scrabble really is a stupid game.
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not recognized by the OSPD
So if you don't like Mrs. Byrne Scrabble® play OED Scrabble.
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<slapping forehead with palm> how could have I forgotten to check with Mrs. B? she does have stot - with 2 n. senses and 3 v-n. and v. senses.
the seemingly unrelated n. stot is a steer, or heifer, or a stupid clumsy person (Scot.).
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Since the behavior is noted prinicpally in two African animals, why should an Afrikans origin seem implausible?
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tswum, re stot: what Byrne have you got? what do we wot?
My Byrne says: n 1. a young horse. 2. a three-year-old castrated bull n & v.i. 1. stumble, stagger. 2. bounce, rebound. 3. stammer
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Dear Keiva: Mrs.B's "bounce" would fit. Incidentally this behaviour, which to some biologists seems a stupid way of wasting energy, to a shrewdie meant on the contrary, the animal was telling the predator, I'm so full of energy, you'd do better to chase someone else who is tired.
I remember seeing on TV predators circling pack of prey animals, trying to identify a weak one.
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