pecking order
the hierarchy within a group
TRANSLATION
pecking order = die Hackordnung --- GOOGLE INDEX pecking order: approximately 6,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
A NEW PECKING ORDER
There has been a change in Europe’s balance of economic power; but don’t expect it to last for long.
The Economist
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There is a strange PECKING ORDER among actors. Theatre actors look down on film actors, who look down on TV actors. Thank God for reality shows or we wouldn't have anybody to look down on.
Hollywood star George Clooney
There has been a change in Europe’s balance of economic power; but don’t expect it to last for long.
The Economist
---
There is a strange PECKING ORDER among actors. Theatre actors look down on film actors, who look down on TV actors. Thank God for reality shows or we wouldn't have anybody to look down on.
Hollywood star George Clooney
Did you
know?
pecking order
noun phrase
- an informal social system in which some people or groups know they are more or less important than others
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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The expression "pecking order" stems from research conducted by Norwegian scientist Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe in 1921.
While carrying out research to determine how flocks of hens maintained peace in their flocks, Ebbe discovered that things were tranquil only in established flocks - ones in which each hen knew its place.
The hens learned their places in the social order while fighting over chicken feed. Once a hen had been beaten in a fight, from that point on it would defer to the victor. Ebbe used the German expression "Hackordnung" - literally pecking order - to describe this social hierarchical system.
Ebbe went on to discover that each hen knew whom it could dominate, and by whom it would be dominated. A "peck order" was thus established in the flock, which served to maintain social stability.
Hens can recognize many other hens and can remember their dominance status relative to each. One hen demonstrated the ability to recognize 27 other individuals belonging to four different flocks.
sources: Wikipedia, Stanford University
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SYNONYMS
hierarchy, chain of command, class structure, echelons, power structure
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"It's important to learn the pecking order in the organisation when starting a new job."
noun phrase
- an informal social system in which some people or groups know they are more or less important than others
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
The expression "pecking order" stems from research conducted by Norwegian scientist Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe in 1921.
While carrying out research to determine how flocks of hens maintained peace in their flocks, Ebbe discovered that things were tranquil only in established flocks - ones in which each hen knew its place.
The hens learned their places in the social order while fighting over chicken feed. Once a hen had been beaten in a fight, from that point on it would defer to the victor. Ebbe used the German expression "Hackordnung" - literally pecking order - to describe this social hierarchical system.
Ebbe went on to discover that each hen knew whom it could dominate, and by whom it would be dominated. A "peck order" was thus established in the flock, which served to maintain social stability.
Hens can recognize many other hens and can remember their dominance status relative to each. One hen demonstrated the ability to recognize 27 other individuals belonging to four different flocks.
sources: Wikipedia, Stanford University
---
SYNONYMS
hierarchy, chain of command, class structure, echelons, power structure
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"It's important to learn the pecking order in the organisation when starting a new job."
