[Leica] Why are these birds called boobies?

[pdzwig at summaventures.com (Peter Dzwig)]

The term booby still exists in (UK) english, although these days it would be
regarded as antiquated (like, for example, "popinjay". My 197x CHambers
Dictionary gives: " A lubberly lout; a stupid fellow; a boy at the bottom of 
his
class; a sea bird of the gannet tribe, absurdly easy to catch". I believe 
that
the name was given to the bird by the Spaniards because it was clumsy 
("stupid")
on land and hence easy to catch.

Peter Dzwig

Tina Manley wrote:
> At 02:32 PM 5/5/2009, you wrote:
>> No, it's not sharp. But he didn't pose for any length of time.
>>
>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/hwulff/various/N-SA00-090430096.jpg.html
> 
> 
> Hilarious - and perfectly illustrates the name.
> 
> From Wiki:  The name "booby" comes from the Spanish term bobo, which
> means "Stupid" or "Fool"/"Clown". This is because the Blue-footed Booby
> is clumsy on the land. Like other seabirds, they can be very
> tame.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-footed_Booby#cite_note-0>[1]
> 
> Tina
> 
> Tina Manley
> www.tinamanley.com
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 

-- 

===========================================================
Dr Peter Dzwig