[Odonata-l] The origin of the name Skimmers

[Joshua Stuart Rose]

On Oct 5, 2006, at 8:42 AM, Pilon, Michel wrote:
>
> Here what I've found:
>   "c.1420 (skimmer, the utensil, is attested from c.1392), "to  
> clear (a liquid) from matter floating on the surface," from O.Fr.  
> escumer "remove scum," from escume (Fr. écume) "scum," from a Gmc.  
> source (cf. O.H.G. scum "scum," Ger. Schaum; see scum). Hence, skim  
> milk (1596), from which the cream has been skimmed. Meaning "to  
> glance over carelessly" (in ref. to printed matter) first recorded  
> 1799; that of "to move over lightly and rapidly" is from 1697.  
> Skimmer, the N.Amer. shore bird (1785), so called from its method  
> of feeding. "
>
> As you can see a skimmer is a ustensil to skim milk by example. And  
> you notice that a bird is called skimmer so named from its method  
> of feeding. This is a tropical bird, related to the terns, that  
> catches fish by flying low with its long narrow lower bill cutting  
> the water surface.  So I imagine that the word skimmer for specific  
> dragonflies come also by the fact that there are flying very near  
> the water ("skim" the water!).
>
> Any comments from others?

This does not really apply to the Skimmers, but one of my fellow  
naturalists down here is endlessly amused by the overlap between  
odonate names in English and the names of Santa's Reindeer. Three of  
the nine sleigh-pulling critters have names now applied to genera or  
species of dragonflies or damselflies: Dasher, Dancer, Comet. He  
wants me to discover a new species and name it as some sort of Vixen...

Cheers,

Josh


Joshua Stuart Rose
Program Director
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park
Mission TX
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml
956-584-9156 extension 236
joshua.rose at tpwd.state.tx.us