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May 11, 2007

This week's theme
Expressions coined after the names of birds

This week's words
stormy petrel
kibitz
clay pigeon
jaywalk
catbird seat

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catbird seat

This week's theme: expressions coined after the names of birds.

catbird seat (KAT-burd seet) noun

A position of power and advantage.

[A catbird (named after its catlike call) is known to build a pile of rocks to attract a mate and sit on the highest point around. This expression was often used by Brooklyn Dodgers baseball commentator Red Barber and further popularized by the author James Thurber in his story "The Catbird Seat" where a character often utters trite phrases, including the expression "sitting in the catbird seat".]

"So, Stillking Films seems perched in the catbird seat. 'Things are going very well for us at the moment,' David Minkowski says."
Steffen Silvis; Stillking is Still King; The Prague Post (Czech Republic); Apr 5, 2007.

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