the.com/talon
nature's switchblade, deployed at terminal velocity by something that hates your tiny mammal guts
means A talon is the sharp, curved, hooked claw of a bird of prey, used to seize and kill.
from From Old French 'talon,' meaning the heel of the foot, which traces back to Latin 'talus' — the ankle bone. So the word started as something humble and earthbound, the back of your foot, before it climbed up into the sky and grew a curve and a point; the sense narrowed in English to the gripping claws of hawks and eagles, the part that does the catching.
- crushing force
- eagle talons grip harder than a human hand
- always sharp
- never dull, since they grow continuously like nails
- owl secret
- one rear talon swivels to face forward or back
- poker tell
- raptors kill by puncture, not by squeezing slowly
- word root
- comes from Latin for heel, talus
harpy eagle talon — south american raptor with 5-inch talons, largest and most powerful eagle in the americas
philippine eagle talon — critically endangered bird of prey with 4-inch talons, national bird of philippines
golden eagle talon — eurasian raptor with 1.5-2 inch talons, used in falconry for over 4000 years