Nurses? Perhaps suckles? Draws from, or even drinks from are probably more fitting. If I put my mind to it I can think of numerous other possibilities. These columns are written in English, on the web site of a university in Israel where the bulk of all activities transpires in Hebrew. That undoubtedly says something about the readership, or at least the possibility of the readership. I live in two languages, and the internet most definitely renewed the use of my English, which at least in its written form had become rather rusty.
That in itself shouldn't really have much affect on anything, except
for the fact that hypertext breeds (or at least invites) associative thinking,
and associative thinking is a rather close relative to metaphoric thinking.
Metaphors show up frequently throughout the Boidem columns, and metaphors
have a way of being rooted in a particular language. Often, when I found
myself associating into a metaphor I discovered that the metaphor that
I was reaching out for existed in the wrong language. Sometimes this became
a hindrance and perhaps created a heavy-handedness in the writing, while
at others it may have added new dimensions of associative possibilities.
If I had my choice, I'd root for the latter possibility.