Topical Guide 510

Mark Dorset

Words: Meaning
Word Choice: Accuracy, Le Mot Juste
Misinformation

Reservations Recommended, Chapter 5:

     “Now tell me a little something about what you see.”
     “Well, right behind you there’s a man who’s about, oh, sixty, I guess, very fat, with big cheeks hanging down — ”
     “Jowls.”
     “Jowls?”
     “Those big cheeks that hang down. They’re jowls. Or — no — they’re wattles. Wattles because that’s what they are on a turkey.”
     Is that right? No, it’s not right. Wattles isn’t right. Wattles are nearer the neck, not like jowls.
     He thinks he ought to correct himself, but he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to appear uncertain. He decides to let it stand.
     Oh, good, says BW. You’ve taken an important step here. You are now officially leading the girl astray. She’s going to go around calling jowls wattles. I hope it’s not on the college boards.

Merriam-Webster:

jowl:
usually slack flesh (such as a dewlap, wattle, or the pendulous part of a double chin) associated with the cheeks, lower jaw, or throat
wattle:
a fleshy pendulous process usually about the head or neck (as of a bird)
dewlap:
a fold or flap of skin on the neck of some animals
loose flesh on the human throat

Nicole Cosgrove, “Dog Jowls: Everything You Need to Know,” on the Hepper blog: “The Saint Bernard is famous for its large and floppy jowls and friendly nature. These dogs were bred in the snowy Swiss Alps as search-and-rescue animals, and their large jowls helped them pick up the scents of lost mountaineers.” Image Credit: rokopix, Shutterstock.

Ellen Gutoskey, “What’s the Purpose of a Turkey’s Wattle?” on Mentalfloss: “Wattles, which hang below turkeys’ chins, also come into play during the mating process. As explained on the audio program BirdNote (a National Audubon Society affiliate), blood flows into the wattle of a tom trying to attract a mate, which turns the wattle a much brighter red than normal. This helps them stand out from other toms.”

Wikipedia: “A dewlap is a flap of skin that hangs beneath the neck of many animals. It can also be used to mean other things such as a double chin on a person or the vocal sac of a frog. […] At times the appearance of a dewlap indicates a stage in an animal’s development. For example, the appearance of a dewlap on a female rabbit indicates she is of breeding age.” Photo Credit: Alberta P. “Florida Brown Anole with brightly colored folds of skin at the throat (dewlap)”

See also:
Words TG 11
Language TG 11; Dialect, Slang, Idiolect, Shibboleths, Jargon TG 137; Idiolect, Private Meanings and References, Code Words TG 373

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