Dictionaries Are Our Friends

So, we're publishing the American edition of John Peel's autobiography, and the subtitle is "Margrave of the Marshes." We acquired the rights to the book maybe a year ago, and it never occurred to me to look up the word "margrave" until today. Because of its proximity to the word "marshes," for some reason I'd always assumed a margrave was a kind of bird. Boy, was I wrong.

Main Entry: mar·grave
Function: noun
Etymology: Dutch markgraaf, from Middle Dutch marcgrave; akin to Old High German marha boundary and to Old High German grAvo count -- more at MARK
1 : the military governor especially of a German border province
2 : a member of the German nobility corresponding in rank to a British marquess

I started laughing so hard at my desk when I realized how spectacularly wrong my assumption had been that I had no choice but to start doing bird calls. My exceedingly lame bird call, "kuh-KAW!", sounded suspiciously like a combination of Steve Martin in Three Amigos and Owen Wilson in Bottle Rocket.

Duuuuuuuuuude: New. National. Album. (Thanks for the scoop, P'fork!). Boxer is out May 22. Get excited, people.