What A Collection

Collective nouns are a fascinating quirk in the English language. As the Rinkworks site would put it in their fabulous collection of collective nouns, “One of the craziest oddities of the English language is that there are so many different collective nouns that all mean “group” but which are specific to what particular thing there is a group of: a herd of elephants, a crowd of people, a box of crayons, a pad of paper, etc. There is great diversity of collective nouns associated with animals, from a sleuth of bears to a murder of crows.” There are interesting collective nouns for various professions – a sneer of butlers or a converting of preachers, a blackening of shoemakers and an obeisance of servants. A jail would have a pity of prisoners and maybe even a talent of gamblers.

You may have one duck but when a few more join this a lone duck, it is called paddling or badling of ducks. Some call it a raft of ducks or a bunch of ducks or for the less adventurous, it is a safe of ducks or a sore/ sord of ducks. If the same bunch of ducks are in flight they can be called a skein, string, twak or team of ducks. The same skein of geese when they are not in flight but waddling around on land will be called a gaggle. A collection of swans is called a bevy, herd, lamentation or wedge. A mustering of stork. Hawks are interesting too. You could have a cast, kettle (if they are flying in large numbers) of hawks but call it a boil  if it is just two or more hawks spiraling in flight.

If it was just birds in general I would simply refer to them as a flock, flight, congregation or volery. It is not just people who brood. You could have a brood of hens or peep of chicken. A tiding, gulp, charm or murder of magpies. A collection of owls is called a Parliament. The flamboyant peacocks gathered together is called muster or ostentation or pride. Murder, horde, parcel or storytelling is to crows while a collection of ravens are called an unkindness. A clamor or building of rooks but a rookery of penguins and a pandemonium or prattle of parrots.

A collection of apes is called shrewdness while a group of baboons is called a troop. You have a clowder, pounce, dout, nuisance, glorying, glare or clutter of cats but an intrigue of kittens. An obstinacy of buffalos. It is a kine of cows but twelve cows or more are a flink. A yoke, drove, team or herd of oxen. An intrusion of cockroaches (what else). A business or fesnyng or cast of ferrets. A tower of giraffes or a bloat of hippos. A quiver of cobras, a rhumba of rattlesnakes, a battery of barracuda and a nest of vipers. A leap of leopards, a pride of lions and an ambush or streak of tigers.

There are collective nouns not just for animals and birds. There are many interesting ones for people as well. I will start with my favorite. A collection of writers is a worship (really, that’s what they are called) while a group of worshippers is called a congregation. An audience of listeners, an eloquence of lawyers and an ambush of widows (the same term as a a collection of tigers… hmmm). It has to be a conjunction of grammarians. A cutting/drunkship of cobblers and a hastiness of cooks. A bunch of critics is called a shrivel – as in may their tribe shrivel? Painters when together could be a curse/illusion or misbelieving. A collection of magicians is called an illusion just like the painters. It is a disguising of tailors but scolding of seamstresses. A tabernacle of bakers but a babble of barbers and a gaggle of women. A troop of boy scouts but a company of girl guides. If you know some more of them please do add them here.

I could go on and on but let me end by asking you what a collection of such collective nouns is called? A lot of fun for sure.

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