It's early days, as they say. Much can happen between now and the close of nominations. But our friends at the
BBC are leading the parade at the moment, courtesy of this gem:
President Bush nominates hawkish US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank
Hawkish? He resembles a hawk? In what way? I couldn't figure it out so I decided to look it up.
dictionary.com serves up a number of
very interesting definitions of the word
"hawk", as detailed below:
hawk:- 1. v. To peddle goods aggressively, especially by calling out.
- 2. n. Any of various birds of prey of the order Falconiformes and especially of the genera Accipiter and Buteo, characteristically having a short hooked bill and strong claws adapted for seizing.
- 3. n. Any of various similar birds of prey.
- 4. n. A person who preys on others; a shark.
- 5. n. One who demonstrates an actively aggressive or combative attitude, as in an argument.
- 6. n. A person who favors military force or action in order to carry out foreign policy.
- 7. v. To clear or attempt to clear the throat by or as if by coughing up phlegm.
- 8. n. An audible effort to clear the throat by expelling phlegm.
Which of these do you think the BBC had in mind?