NTMP 141: Bunching in a Doorway

This calls for some investigative smelling

New-To-Me Phrases, July 6, 2025

Bunching * Anting * World Gurning Championships * German Hang in a Doorway Championship * Stolen sausage secrets * Hand sausages * Wilson’s Phalarope * Hudsonian Godwit

Photo by John Cobb on Unsplash

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The Phrases, With Context

It’s the week of July 4th, aka Independence Day. It’s sticky-hot outside, neighbors are making loud noises that traumatize pets and veterans with PTSD, and hoo boy is it rough being an American for a lot of us right now. I still believe in our great experiment with democracy and the power of the people, and refuse to give in to nihilism, which to me feels like a form of obeying in advance. And hey, at least we have grilled meats and veggies with red-white-and-blue berry cakes.

Anyway, on to phrases. In this edition, we’re trying something a little different. I decided to pair up some similar words and phrases I’ve collected.

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And now for some phrases—let’s get to it!

1. Bunching

I found this via a NYT video from April showing elephants at the San Diego Zoo forming a protective huddle during an earthquake, a behavior known as bunching.

My research into this turned up a ton of fun phrases, including investigative smelling (LOL), ethogram, and doctorate in elephant behavior.

Joyce Poole, said doctorate, told the Times that bunching is a typical reaction to a threat.

When bunched, elephants often have their tusks pointed out, ears extended, eyes opened wide and trunks out, trying to smell potential threats. The formation, “like the spokes of a wheel,” Dr. Poole said, gives the group a 360-degree view of their surroundings to pinpoint any danger. The younger members instinctively seek out the most protected position inside the circle, she said.

Elephant Voices is an ethogram Dr. Poole and other experts developed that catalogs elephant behavior and vocalizations. It lists multiple ways these mammals communicate, including visual, acoustic, tactile, seismic, and chemical.

I, an uncultured rube, also learned there are elephants in China. Predictably and sadly, development there is encroaching on their territory.

2. Anting

Some bird species will allow ants to crawl on them for purposes that aren’t quite known to researchers. According to the CBC, James Audubon observed turkeys anting in the 1830s, and about 300 bird species are known to engage in this behavior.

I couldn’t find much about the reasons for this behavior that wasn’t speculative, but theories include pain relief and parasite removal. h/t to my friend Libby for this one!

3. World Gurning Championships

This competition takes place at England’s Egremont Crab Fair, an event first held in 1267, which is wild because their website looks to be about as old. It looks like “crab” here refers to crabapples rather than crustaceans.

Gurning means to distort your facial expression as much as possible. The origins of the World Gurning Championships are unknown, but at some point people started gathering at ye olde crab fair to see who could make the weirdest faces.

Here’s BBC coverage of the event, with some must-see photos.

4. German Hang-in-a-Doorway Championship

I saw this on the socials:

However—and sadly—this is not a thing. Commenters on the many variations of this post out there say it’s from a German game show called “Schlag den Star” (or “Beat the Star”). On the show, people competed with celebrities in mini-challenges, including seeing who could prop themselves up inside a doorframe for the longest time.

5. Stolen sausage secrets

I just wanted an excuse to write about this phrase, because it’s amazing. It comes from an article in the Minnesota Star-Tribune titled “Minnesota’s Hormel sues Wisconsin’s Johnsonville alleging stolen sausage secrets.”

You bet I added this to my collection of awesome headlines.

I don’t really care about a lawsuit between corporations. It’s just a great phrase, so props to this headline writer.

6. Hand sausages

I’m sort of in love with Henry the cat and his little turtleneck sweater. Here, he talks about how to use our hand sausages for good.

henrysthoughts

A post shared by @henrysthoughts

7. Wilson’s Phalarope

image by Becky Matsubara

I don’t know much about who gets to choose the names of bird species except that in the past it was often white dudes. Some of them feel AI-generated, like Wilson’s Phalaropes.

Not only is their name weird, but they act like big weirdos, too. Here’s a video of them spinning around on the water, which seems nonsensical but has a purpose of stirring up nutrients for their migratory journey from the U.S. to South America.

8. Hudsonian Godwit

This bird name reads like an insult and I am going to try and work it into a conversation. “Which one of you Hudsonian Godwits left the cream cheese out overnight?”

Here’s a photo gallery from Cornell Labs. These long-legged birbs—nicknamed hudwits—migrate 10,000 miles from the arctic to the tip of South America.

Hudson comes from Henry Hudson, who explored northern Canada and the bay that bears his name. The origin of godwit—which includes four avian species—is unknown but may have derived from the sound of their call and dates back to the 15th century.

Here’s an Audubon Magazine article from 2015 about young Chileans fighting to save the godwits’ territory there.

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Asshole Bird of the Month: July 2025

Meet Carl the sandhill crane, who bangs on this woman’s door all the time, and taught his fledgling, Junior, to do it too.

Here’s a collection of IG reels featuring Carl and his family, and here’s their TikTok.

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Bonus Bits

1. Men in women’s comment sections. The way I guffawed at these!!!

2. I need you to know two things:

   1. To find this gem, I had to type “Hoff Matthews George W Bush fart -ai” into Google

   2. I screen recorded it to my phone and played it to my entire family and NONE OF THEM thought it was funny, while I cry-laughed every time.

   3. OK, three: h/t to my friend David for this one.

That’s it for this week! Remember to keep making it weird and stay furiously curious. And take the NTMP reader survey, please and thank you!