![]() The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Whatever the case, they make for some great fun facts. Next time you’re on safari, pull one of these obscure collective nouns out to impress your ranger…Ī coalition of cheetahs Image credit: Randal OrmstonĪ tower/journey of giraffes A band of gorillasĪ conspiracy of lemurs Image credit: Vladislav T. In flight, they’re called a kettle, and if they’re circling, they’re called a boil. In general, a group of hawks is called a cast. I find the collective nouns for hawks very interesting too. The origin of this and other collective nouns may have been lost in the mists of time but they are great fun to learn.Maybe you know it’s a parliament of owls, a shrewdness of apes and a murder of crows, but what is a group of wildebeest called? Perhaps the origin comes from the military connotations involved in troops coming together for duty. Why would you look at a bunch of storks and think, “Oh look, there’s a mustering over there”? Muster or mustering is a collective noun which is used for other animals and birds too (horses and peacocks can be referred to in this way, apparently). I have to confess that I am stumped on this one. This is why these striking collective nouns are so useful for helping them picture the exotic animal in question. Someone who lived in Britain a few centuries ago had probably never seen a giraffe in their life. Perhaps at this point we should consider that the old collective nouns we use now were invented when most people didn’t know what the animals in question really looked like. This is another collective noun which sounds strange at first but which makes sense in an instinctive sort of way. On the other hand, she might just have been a fruit loop who liked to use words which were unusual even then. This might help to explain why some of the words used sound so strange to modern ears. In fact, there are some people who will tell you that nearly all the collective nouns for animals we use came from the fevered mind of a 15 th century lady hunter named Juliana Berners. ![]() ![]() One thing we need to bear in mind is that these weird collective nouns are all quite old. The word parliament gives us a satisfyingly vivid image of owls sitting around in the House of Commons debating new laws. If we relate it to the human world again we might be able to use a flamboyance of reality show contestants or a pomposity of overpaid football players. After all, if any animal in the world is ostentatious it is our colourful old friend the peacock. Maybe these collective nouns aren’t quite as randomly outrageous as we all think they are. This is quite a good idea, as it lets you know who to be most wary of in your daily life. However, if we are going to use this sort of collective noun for primates where will it all end? If we extend the concept to humans then we could have a craftiness of insurance salesmen and a cunningness of traffic wardens. ![]() Here are a few you probably haven’t come across yet.Īpes probably are pretty shrewd, aren’t they? I remember seeing once on a TV documentary how they can use tools to hunt in a way which is, well, shrewd. There are many words and phrases in the English language which make you stop and think, “What on Earth is that all about?” However, few elements of it are more bizarre than some of the collective nouns used for animals. We all know that English is, quite frankly, weird.
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