Re: Here a lek, there a lek, everywhere a lek lek lek?

I just learned something too, that you can type in ?define? and get a definition. I?m not impressed though with Google?s ?define? seeing what it turned up for lek. Try www.webster.com to get a real definition of lek as it?s used in Utah

Main Entry: ¹lek
Pronunciation: 'lek
Function: noun
Etymology: Swedish, short for lekställe mating ground, from lek mating, sport + ställe place
: an assembly area where animals (as the prairie chicken) carry on display and courtship behavior

You can even hear it pronounced!

And don?t worry about ?just falling off the apple cart?, none of us knew what lek meant when we first started birding.

Steve Summers

Cedar City

From: owner-birdtalk@utahbirds.org [mailto:owner-birdtalk@utahbirds.org] On Behalf Of MHW
Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 12:12 AM
To: BirdTalk
Subject: [BirdTalk] Here a lek, there a lek, everywhere a lek lek lek?

Hi all:

Well, maybe I fell off the apple cart yesterday and just don't seem to be up on all the hip jargon and abbreviations.

Given that, what in the world is a "lek"? I mean, how would I know if I wanted to go to a Sage Grouse lek in Carbon County anyway?

Let's see, Google define: returns a definition of "the basic unit of money in Albania." (As defined by WordNet, a lexical database for the English language, Cognitive Science Laboratory, Princeton University.) Given the context, that is surely not what "lek" refers to in this forum.

(If you didn't know, go to "Google.com" type in "define:" and the word or phrase in question, and it will return all sorts of nifty information. Pretty neat trick.)

Would any of you be so brave as to post an answer to BirdTalk, and not just send it to me personally? That way the others of us who don't know can learn what it means and get that much more from the next post mentioning a "lek." I know not all of you know what a lek is, even if you'd rather not admit it. Just like in a class-room setting, students are admonished that if they don't understand something, someone else likely does not understand either, so ask the question, don't be shy, you might just learn something. I'm sure I'm not the only one in class that does not know.

Happy Birding,

Matthew.