I don’t recall that our English teachers emphasized the different names of groups of animals during their classes. Either I dozed during those tedious lessons, or they were never given to us. I just can’t recall. As I read books, magazines, newspapers and watched movies and videos, I picked some of them. However, there are some groups of animals, I didn’t have the faintest clue existed.
Some of the most common ones I had no problems with are:
- A school of fish.
- A herd of cattle.
- A flock of birds.
- A swarm of bees.
- A litter of cats
However, I had no idea the following terms existed in the English language. But that’s nothing new, English as you all know, has been a tough cookie for me since I was six.
Are you familiar with the names of the following groups of animals?
- A shrewdness of apes.
- A sloth or sleuth of bears.
- A tower of giraffes.
- A band of gorillas.
- A bloat of hippopotamuses.
- A wake of buzzards.
- A gulp of cormorants.
- A sedge of cranes.
- A bask of crocodiles.
- A shoal of bass.
And the list goes on and on for mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. A dear friend recently sent me a link which includes a lengthy list of these unusual terms which I thought you could use as a reference website. If you like to write in English, sooner or later, this site could be your deus-ex-machina.
And now you know the rest of the story of my experiences with the English language. Good Day.
The only one I’ve heard of from the list above is band of gorillas – the rest are unfamiliar. Some, like “bloat” of hippos sounds to me like it might be poetic invention – I suspect there’s a difference between what writers come up with and what people actually use.
I knew more from the list you linked. Some I actually use from time to time – covey of quail, flock of chickens, brace of birds. I did notice the author said “brace” applied only to a pair – we always used the word for the entire haul of quail or pheasant a hunter brought home.
One of my favorite Texas/southern words is “mess” – as in, “I’m gonna cook me up a mess of fish for supper”. Now that I think of it, I’ve only heard it used for fish or occasionally birds, and ones that are ready for cooking. I guess it’s a collective noun that covers multiples of anything – “mess of shrimp” works as well as “mess of catfish”.
Morning.
I, too, am unfamiliar with those terms but then I try to limit the numbers of those animals surrounding me.
I can cast some light on the use of “mess” as related to cooking as it is the natural result any time I am preparing meals.
jim of jim and nena
fort worth, tx
@Jim & Nena and Linda:
This is the first time I hear the term mess related to cooking. I know some men, and women create a mess while preparing a meals, but I know this has nothing to do with the meaning both of you are referring too.
Enjoy the weekend,
Omar.-
MY favorite collective name is a “Murder” of crows.
Thursday morning the mobile fish market came by and I got a “mess” of wonderful pink shrimp. $5/lb (starting Dec.12th that will be 500 grams, but somehow I don’t think the truck guys selling veggies and fish are going to be buying new metric scales). I cooked up a wonderful shrimp fra diavalo. Pigged out that night and had a yummy lunch yesterday.
I know from past experiences that “cambios” are not instantaneous, just because a new law was written in a clean sheet of white paper. Changes take time, and for several years, we will still buy products by the pound. Adaptation is a slow social process. I know that the Panama government is aware of this hard fact.
Enjoy your delicious mess of shrimp my dear friend.
Take Care,
Omar.-
Thanks, was looking exactly for this, although I would very much appreciate some references.
Other than a job well done, I’d like to point out that a group of kittens is called a litter, while I believe a group of adult cats is referred to as a “Clouder”.
*Clowder, oops.
Insects:
Army of Ants
A Constituency of Caterpillars
An Intrusion of Cockroaches
A Cluster/Flight of Dragonflies
A Swarm/Business of Flies
A Scourge of Mosquitoes
A Horde of Gnats
A Flutter/Flight of Butterflies
A Grist/Hive/Erst of Bees
Savannah/African Animals:
A Pride of Lions
A Bloat/Thunder/Crash of Hippos
A Cackle of Hyenas
A Leap/Lepe or Leopards
A Tower/Corps of Giraffes
A Coalition of Cheetahs
A Flange of Baboons
A Congregation of Alligators
A Cluster of Antelopes
A Train of Camels
A Parade of Elephants
A Conspiracy of Lemurs
A Gang/Mob of Meerkats
Oceanic Animals
A Mob/Troop of Kangoroos
A Colony of Koalas
A Mob of Emus
A _______ of Echidnas (does not exist).
Birds:
An Exaltation of Larks
A Charm of Blue Jays/Hummingbirds
A Siege/Sedge of Herons/Cranes
A Gaggle of Geese (on the ground), a Skein/Wedge of Geese (in flight)
A Brood/Aerie/Convocation of Eagles
A Cast/Kettle of Hawks
A Cast of Falcons
A Peep of Chickens
A Rookery of Albatross, also a Gam of Albatross (when mating or looking to mate)
A Gulp of Cormorants
A Badelynge/Sord/Waddling of Ducks (on land), a Paddle/Raft (on water), a Skein/String (when in the air)
A Tittering/Murder of Magpies
A Flush//Lute of Mallards
A Parliament of Owls
A Pod of Pelicans
Other Cool Ones:
A Blessing of Narwhals
A Consortium of Octopi
A Culch of Oysters
Can’t think of any others…