Balkanize

Balkanize Balkanize Balkanize By Maeve Maddox A word one hears and sees a lot these days is the verb to balkanize. Especially common are impassioned warnings about something described as â€Å"the balkanization of America.† Note: the Merriam-Webster entry for balkanize is lowercase, with the notation, â€Å"often capitalized.† Balkanize was coined about 1918 as a geopolitical term to describe the political fragmentation of a specific area of the world: the Balkan Peninsula. Located in Southeast Europe between the Adriatic Sea on the northwest and the Black Sea on the east, the Balkan Peninsula is also called â€Å"the Balkans.† The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains. It’s a very large area257,400 square miles (about the size of Texas)occupied by numerous ethnic and religious groups. Following World War I the old powers that once ruled the peninsula were replaced by numerous new states. Because of ethnic and religious differences among their populations, these new â€Å"Balkanized† states were often hostile to one another. The verb coined to described the situation in the Balkans is still used to describe actual political conditions in other regions of the world: Experts Warn of Balkanization of Libya ArabSaga: Iran-Iraq pushing for Syrias balkanization Hydropolitics Propel Balkanization in Africa A Balkanized Middle East Set To Blow In addition to political connotations, balkanize and its noun balkanization have acquired an extended meaning of fragmentation that can apply to just about anything: Balkanization Of America Accelerating We Can’t Let the Internet Become Balkanized The Balkanization of English Language and Literature Signs of Balkanization in L.A. Unified [schools] Pat Buchanan Warns against â€Å"Balkanization and Disintegration† A Warning Against Rights Balkanization Ex-KGB Analyst Predicts Balkanization of US The idea of hostility implied in the term makes balkanize a popular rhetorical choice to express negativity. The allusions to the balkanization of America focus on what seems to be a growing reluctance among legislators and various segments of the population to compromise on issues that affect the country as a whole. Note: the Balkan States are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, and three states that have emerged from what used to be known as Yugoslavia: Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. A small part of Turkey also lies on the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan States in Southeast Europe are not to be confused with the Baltic States in Northern Europe. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are the countries usually meant by â€Å"the Baltic States,† but Finland and Poland also lie along the Baltic Sea. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Wether, Weather, WhetherWriting the CenturyHonorary vs. Honourary

106 Animals With Unusual Group Names

106 Animals With Unusual Group Names Leave it to the animal kingdom to bring us some unusual and fun-to-say names for certain animal groups. While it may be easy to think of all animals in terms of herds and packs, its so much more fun to learn the true group names for some of your favorite animals. Whether its an unkindness of ravens or a cete of badgers, the animal kingdom is rich with clever and creative names for groupings of animals. From a wake of buzzards to a leap of lizards, explore the following odd and awesome animal group names throughout the rest of the article, categorized alphabetically by the animals mentioned and used in fun sentences that I hope tells a compelling narrative of exploring over 100 unique names of groups of animals. From a Rookery of Albatrosses to a Murder of Crows The etymology of why we call groups of animals a particular noun truly derives from humans instinctive nature to categorize and compartmentalize identifiers in their brain. For this reason, collective nouns were created to describe particular animal groups. That way, even without the identifying noun of the animal itself, when referring to collective nouns like a shrewdness roaming the jungle, one can safely assume the speaker is talking about a group of apes. Did you know a group of albatross was called a rookery or a group of alligators called a congregation or that baboons travel in troops while badgers travel in cetes and bats in cauldrons? Its best to be wary when a sloth of bears comes lumbering through the woods, which may occur as a sedge of American bitterns, a chain of bobolinks, a bellowing of bullfinches or a wake of buzzards circle overhead. Hunters may take bloodhounds out in a sute, but a clowder or pounce of cats or kindle or litter of kittens wouldnt be quite right for the job. Still, while roaming through the obstinacy of buffalo, one might notice an army of caterpillars, or more rarely a coalition of cheetahs somewhere on the open plains. Be careful not to step on a quiver of cobras, the resulting scream may set a gulp of cormorants or a cover of coots, or worse yet a murder or horde of crows to flight.   From a Pack of Dogs to a Leash of Foxes Dogs can either be identified as a litter of puppies, a pack of wild dogs, or a cowardice of curs while donkeys travel in groups known as paces. In terms of flying creatures, dotterels travel in trips, turtle doves in pityings, ducks swim in groups called rafts but fly in formations called flocks, while groups of eagles are proudly referred to as convocations. You wont want to miss a parade of elephants or a gang of elk roaming around, and a mob of emus and a business of ferrets are not quite as frightening as they sound. A cloud of grasshoppers, though, truly is terrifying, but you can take solace in that a tribe of goats will likely eat an entire cloud if given the chance. Some names, like a charm of finches, a tower of giraffes, a prickle of porcupines and a stand of flamingos make sense just because of the creature groups they name - finches are charming, giraffes do tower, porcupines do prickle and flamingos typically stand on one leg! However, Ive never seen a leash on a fox, but a group of foxes is called a leash. From a Band of Gorillas to a Parliament of Owls Groups of gorillas are known as bands, which bazars of guillemots or confusions of guinea fowls would certainly enjoy if only they played instruments! Bloats of hippopotamus or cackles of hyenas could bask by the watering hole while a shadow of jaguars, an ambush of tigers, a troop of kangaroos and a party of jays watch from the bushes! Elsewhere in the jungle, a conspiracy of lemurs leisurely hangs amongst the vines as a leap of leopards (or lizards, as the term fits both) and a pride of lions circle the group below. Meanwhile, a mischief of mice and labor of moles fights for control over a hollowed out tree stump they both want to call home while a barrel of monkeys hoots and holler at a passing barren of mules. In the category of flight, lapwings travel in deceits, larks in exaltations, mallards in sords, magpies in tidings or gulps, martins in richnesses, nightingales in watches and owls in parliaments. A pandemonium of parrots or a covey of partridges may also take part in a gathering of birds, while ostentations of peacocks may want to stand apart from the crowds. From a Rookery of Penguins to a Zeal of Zebras Penguins travel in groups called colonies, musters, parcels or rookeries - depending on the type of penguin - while otters travel in romps and jellyfish in smacks. Elsewhere underwater, a pod of porpoises, a fever of stingrays, a shiver of sharks, and a run of salmon frolick beneath the surface.   In the air, ravens travel in kindnesses, snipes in walks, sparrows in hosts, starlings in murmurations, and storks in musterings. Groups of swans are called bevies while groups of trush are called mutations. Turkeys travel in gangs (watch out) and vultures circle in kettles. Waterfowls travel in knobs but wildfowls travel in plumps and woodpeckers descend on trees in groups called descents. On land, a coterie of prairie dogs pops up on an unsuspecting nest of rabbits, a gaze of raccoons, a scurry of squirrels and a building of rooks. A rhumba of rattlesnakes shake their tails as a crash of rhinoceroses and a congress of salamanders pass too close, and a cluster of spiders hide in response.  A mud pit full of pigs can be referred to as a passel or a sounder while polecats specifically travel in chines. Whales travel in pods and wolves travel in packs while groups of wombats are called wisdoms and groups of zebras called zeals.