Having established that a group of middle-aged mountain bikers is a ‘faff’ and my personal favourite being a flamboyance of flamingos, Mrs Binners was telling me she saw a big group of goldfinches this afternoon. I thought that seeing as the English language is just so bloody fantastic, there had to be a collective noun for them. Turns out it’s a ‘charm’ of goldfinches.
Whats your favourite collective noun? There are some absolute belters
A muddle of guinea pigs, I’ve always thought that quite apt.
A kaleidoscope of butterflies - fits perfectly
A "murder" of crows and a "parliament" of rooks are pretty cool.
And there is also a collective noun for collective nouns - it's a "catch" of collective nouns 🤣
Following on from the last post we have “An unkindness of ravens”.
I’ve never been sure if it’s true, but I was told that the collective nouns for beggars is a “fighting”.
A "side" of morris dancers.
… oh, and as this is a forum for old men who used to cycle I should add ‘a bike of wasps’.
It's only murder if there's more than 3 crows, anything less is just attempted
A muddle of guinea pigs is absolutely brilliant! I never knew that (which is exactly why I started this thread - to learn stuff)
Isn’t language amazing? Whenever and wherever these collective nouns come from, someone has clearly really thought them through
From morse, a body of pathologists
I've also heard "mob" being used as the collective noun for crows.
I think a 'faf' of cyclists/mtb's is winning so far.
I call my dog a 'flurry of fluff'
But that's a singular used in a plural context, and bad grammar.
A wunch of bankers?
A Gammon of Poms? 😲
Are these just an English thing? Do other languages have similarly specific words for groups of things or do they just say 'a group of...'?
A "murder" of crows and a "parliament" of crooks are pretty cool.
FTFY
An alternative would be a "deceit" of MPs
Terms of venery - yes I believe so... given English is largely a language that borrows from other languages.
Are these just an English thing? Do other languages have similarly specific words for groups of things or do they just say 'a group of...'?
No, it's a double entendre...there's a bit of French for you!
A Parliament of Owls is my favourite
One they should use is a multiplication of half-wits. The more there are the thicker they become
a multiplication of half-wits. The more there are the thicker they become
There's safety in numbers I guess, try starting a fight with a herd of cows and see how far you get.
Was reading yesterday about the shiver of sharks off the coast of NSW in Oz. First time I'd heard that.
Prickle of hedgehogs
When I saw the tread title a charm of finches sprang immediately to mind.
I’ve heard a group of statisticians being referred to as a sample
A scurry of squirrels
Thicket of Managers
A raft of otters - when they are floating together.
An embarrassment of Pandas - bit harsh tbf!
Are these just an English thing? Do other languages have similarly specific words for groups of things or do they just say 'a group of...'?
No. Yes - 'troupe' of acrobats for example
I like the descriptive ones - crash of rhinos, tower of giraffes, gaggle of geese, hand of bananas etc.
Favourite - probably a round of drinks.
Slainte
A loverly bunch of coconuts
probably a round of drinks.
'a round of' is interesting becuase it doesn't always mean a group of something - so a 'round of toast' is one slice of toast, but 'a round of sandwiches' despite being expressed as a plural is also just one sandwich
Is a 'round of applause' a singular thing or a collective noun?
And from the cycling press - a quiver of bikes.
An annoyance of scrum masters / agile coaches
A constellation of starfish is my favourite - bet someone had a grin on their face when they thought of that one
I’m not sure if a number of starlings has a collective noun other than a flock, but from years of experience with them raiding the feeders hanging in my tree, my collective noun for them is a squabble. Two of them will start a noisy fight over who’s got first dibs on a feeder! Noisy little wretches! 🥴
A bloat of hippos
When starlings are flying around together in a big bunch it's called a 'murmuration'. Everyone who has lived in Brighton knows this.
Other collective nouns for starlings are: 'cloud', 'chattering', and rather brilliantly a 'filth'.