catbird seat: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for February 10 is:

catbird seat \KAT-berd-SEET\ noun
: a position of great prominence or advantage

Example sentence:
Nate and Brett want to buy a house but are waiting to see if the real estate market will change soon and put buyers back in the catbird seat.

Did you know?
"In the catbird seat" was among the numerous, folksy expressions with which the legendary baseball broadcaster Red Barber delighted listeners. Some say he invented the expression; others say that he dug it up from his Southern origins. But the facts may actually have an odd twist. In a 1942 short story titled "The Catbird Seat," James Thurber featured a character, Mrs. Barrows, who liked to use the phrase. Another character, Joey Hart, explained that Mrs. Barrows must have picked up the expression from Red Barber. To Red, according to Joey, "sitting in the catbird seat" meant "'sitting pretty,' like a batter with three balls and no strikes on him." But, according to Barber's daughter, it was only after Barber read Thurber's story that he started using "in the catbird seat" himself!

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