Posted on 08/27/2011 9:32:29 AM PDT by illiac
We are all familiar with a Herd of cows, a Flock of chickens, a School of fish and a Gaggle of geese.
However, less widely known is a Pride of lions, a Murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens), an Exaltation of doves and, presumably because they look so wise, a Parliament of owls.
Now consider a group of Baboons. They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all primates. And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons? Believe it or not ....... a Congress!
I guess that pretty much explains the things that come out of Washington!
I was going to guess “a Democrat Party”. So close......
LOL!!!
Murder of crows . . . cool :).
that sue explains Maxine “Commie” Waters. I ask someone to assist with some artwork.
A congress of Baboons. How fitting and prescient!
The one I remember from high school is the pod of whales.
They look like musical notes, that one might could play if we were quick enough?
Thanks for the article. I like it!
I believe that stems from a bad translation from the French, many centuries ago.
I don’t know....but I like it...very fitting
No that an Asshole of Democrats
Here is a long list of collective nouns for groups of animals:
An ambush of tigers
An array of hedgehogs
An army of ants/caterpillars/frogs
An ascension of larks
A badling of ducks
A bale of turtles
A ballet of swans
A band of coyotes/gorillas/jays/men
A barrel of monkeys
A barren of mules
A bask of crocodiles
A battery of barracudas
A bazaar of guillemots
A bed of clams/eels/oysters/snakes
A bevy of quail/roebucks/swans
A bloat of hippos
A bouquet of pheasants
A brace of ducks/grouse
A brood of chicks/hens/pheasants
A building of rooks
A bury of conies/rabbits
A business of ferrets/flies
A caravan of camels
A cast of falcons/hawks
A cete of badgers
A chain of bobolinks
A charm of falcons/finches/magpies
A chattering of choughs
A clamor of rooks
A cloud of gnats/bats/grasshoppers
A clowder of cats
A cluster of bees/grasshoppers
A clutch of chicks
A clutter of cats/starlings
A colony of ants/beavers/gulls/penguins/rabbits
A company of parrots/widgeons
A congregation of plover/people
A congress of baboons
A conspiracy of ravens
A convocation of eagles
A cover of coots
A covey of grouse/partridges/pheasants/ptarmigans/quail
A cowardice of curs
A crash of rhinos
A crowd of people
A cry of hounds
A culture of bacteria
A deceit of lapwings
A descent of woodpeckers
A dissimulation of birds
A dole of doves
A down of hares
A doylt of swine
A draught of fish
A dray of squirrels
A drift of swine
A dropping of pigeons
A drove of cattle
A drumming of grouse
A dule of doves
A durante of toucans
An earth of foxes
An exaltation of larks
A fall of woodcocks
A family of otter
A fesnyng of ferrets
A field of racehorses
A flight of birds/butterflies/cormorants/doves/goshawks/swallows
A flink of cows (12+)
A float of crocodiles
A flock of geese/lice/sheep
A fluther of jellyfish
A gaggle of geese
A gam of whales
A gang of buffalo/elk
A gatling of woodpeckers
A generation of vipers
A grist of bees
A gulp of cormorants/magpies
A harras of horses
A herd of buffaloes/curlews/elephants/horse/kangaroo/pigs/wrens
A hide of tigers
A hive of bees
A horde of gnats
A host of sparrows
A hover of trout
A hum of bees
A husk of hares/jackrabbits
An intrigue of kittens
An intrusion of cockroaches
A kennel of dogs
A kettle of hawks
A kindle of kittens
A kine of cows
A knot of snakes/toads
A labour of moles
A lamentation of swans
A leap of hares/leopards
A leash of foxes/greyhounds
A litter of cubs/pigs/puppies
A mask of raccoons
A mob of kangaroos/emus
A murder of crows/magpies
A murmuration of starlings
A muster of peacocks
A mustering of storks
A mutation of thrushes
A mute of hounds
An obstinacy of buffalo
An ostentation of peacocks
A muster of storks
A mute of hounds
A nest of hornets/mice/rabbits/vipers/wasps
A nye/nide of pheasants
A pace of asses
A pack of hounds/rats/wolves
A paddling of ducks
A pair of horses
A pandemonium of parrots
A parade of elephants
A parliament of owls/rooks
A party of jays
A passel/parcel of hogs
A peep of chickens
A piteousness of doves
A pitying of turtledoves
A pladge of wasps
A plague of locusts
A plump of waterfowl/wildfowl
A pod of boar/dolphin/seals/walrus/whales
A pounce of cats
A prattle of parrots
A prickle of hedgehogs/porcupines
A pride of lions
A quiver of cobras
A rafter of turkeys
A rag of colts
A ramuda of horses
A rhumba of rattlesnakes
A richness of martens
A romp of otters
A rookery of penguins
A rout of wolves
A rumpus of baboons
A run of poultry
A rush of pochard
A school of fish/porposes
A scold of jays
A sedge of cranes
A shiver of sharks
A shoal of bass/pilchards/shad
A shrewdness of apes
A siege of cranes/herons
A singular of boars
A skein of geese/pheasants
A skulk of foxes/larks/quail
A sleuth/sloth of bears
A smack/smuth of jellyfish
A sneak of weasels
A sord of mallards
A sounder of wild swine/boars/foxes
A span of mules
A spring of teal
A squabble of seagulls
A stand of flamingo
A stench of skunks
A streak of tigers
A string of ponies/horses
A stud of mares
A swarm of ants/bees/eels
A team of horses/ducks/oxen
A swarm of bees
A thunder of hippos
A tiding of magpies
A tittering of magpies
A tok of capercaillie
A totter/tower of giraffes
A tribe of goats/monkeys/dotterel
A trip of goats
A troop of baboons/monkeys/kangaroos
A turn of turtles
An ubiquity of sparrows
An unkindness of ravens
A volary of birds
A wake of buzzards/vultures
A walk of snipe
A warren of rabbits
A watch of nightingales
A wedge of geese/swans
A wing of plovers
A wisdom of owls
A wisp of snipe
A yoke of oxen
The Latin word corvus is the name of a constellation, and it's sometimes said that the English equivalent is "crow." Actually the English cognate of corvus is raven (Anglo-Saxon hraefn with the "a" and the "e" as a ligature)...the h in Anglo-Saxon often corresponding to a k sound in Latin and Greek, as in heart = Latin cor (root cord-) and Greek kardia or hound = Latin canis and Greek kyon (root kyn-).
Meaning that our remote Indo-European-speaking forebears were familiar with dogs and ravens, and had hearts.
I thought they lived in troops.
Got a link for list? I’d like to see what else they have.
Does this practice of having many different words to mean ‘bunch’ have any technical or scientific value, or is it a just a curiosity?
Good find!!
Weird that most animals have just one word that describes ‘their’ group. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus with baboons, lol. They get tribe/troop/congress/flange, though the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology uses ‘troop’.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Papio.html
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