catbird seat

****************************************************************
Ready to tackle another Romance Language? Make your move
with Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?spaneng.htm&1
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for February 10 is:

catbird seat   \KAT-berd-SEET\   noun 
     : a position of great prominence or advantage 

Example sentence: 
     Nate and Brett want to buy a house but are waiting to see if the real 
estate market will change soon and put buyers back in the catbird seat.

Did you know? 
     "In the catbird seat" was among the numerous, folksy expressions with 
which the legendary baseball broadcaster Red Barber delighted listeners. Some 
say he invented the expression; others say that he dug it up from his Southern 
origins. But the facts may actually have an odd twist. In a 1942 short story 
titled "The Catbird Seat," James Thurber featured a character, Mrs. Barrows, 
who liked to use the phrase. Another character, Joey Hart, explained that Mrs. 
Barrows must have picked up the expression from Red Barber. To Red, according 
to Joey, "sitting in the catbird seat" meant "'sitting pretty,' like a batter 
with three balls and no strikes on him." But, according to Barber's daughter, 
it was only after Barber read Thurber's story that he started using "in the 
catbird seat" himself! 





You Are Subscribed As: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe, change your e-mail address or to subscribe to the html
version of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day, featuring audio
pronunciations, please visit:

http://www.startsampling.com/sm/wod/changeofaddress.iphtml

(c) 2006 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal Street
P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102

*mf mwt 021006 GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx mf*

---
You are currently subscribed to mw-text as: GCLW-MW-WOD7@xxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
leave-mw-text-979910Y@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx