the.com/courtship
an elaborate audition where both performers pretend they aren't desperately reading the reviews.
means The period of romantic pursuit and mutual wooing that precedes a committed relationship or marriage, when two people are getting to know each other with the possibility of pairing off.
from From 'court' plus the suffix '-ship' (the same one in 'friendship' and 'fellowship,' marking a state or condition). The 'court' here is the royal court — to 'court' someone was to pay them the kind of attentive flattery one lavished on a monarch, all bowing and elaborate manners. By the late 16th century that courtly behavior had been redirected toward winning a lover, and 'courtship' became the word for the whole performance of seeking favor — fittingly, since 'court' itself traces back through Old French 'cort' to Latin 'cohors,' an enclosed yard or gathering, the place where the powerful held their audiences.
- bird tactics
- Bowerbirds build art galleries to impress mates
- old meaning
- Originally meant behavior befitting a royal court
- chemical fog
- Dopamine surges mimic obsessive-compulsive disorder signatures
- spider risk
- Some males dance perfectly, get eaten anyway
- firefly fraud
- Females mimic other species' flashes to lure dinner
charles and diana — 32-month engagement (1981) before the royal wedding watched by 750 million people
jane austen's emma — novel (1815) where mr. knightley's courtship of emma spans the entire narrative
birds of paradise displays — new guinea species perform elaborate 20-minute rituals with unique dances and vocalizations for each species