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prettygoodwordwryneck (RAI-nek) - n., either of two small Old World woodpeckers (genus Jynx) having a sharply pointed bill and the ability to twist the neck almost all the way around.
That is, almost 180° -- which is used, along with hissing, as a threat display that is reminiscent of snakes. The species are J. torquilla of Eurasia and Africa and J. ruficollis of sub-Saharan Africa. So that's wry as in twisted, which in modern English mostly shows up in awry + neck.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
That is, almost 180° -- which is used, along with hissing, as a threat display that is reminiscent of snakes. The species are J. torquilla of Eurasia and Africa and J. ruficollis of sub-Saharan Africa. So that's wry as in twisted, which in modern English mostly shows up in awry + neck.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
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