Male hippos can weigh over 7,000 pounds and have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat that helps them float and, yes, makes them look bloated. That’s not to say the name isn’t appropriate. Somehow, in all the terms of venery crafted over the centuries, poor hippos were left out until the early 20th century, when they were given this rather unfortunate collective noun in a hunting and fishing manual. As language has evolved, this name now suits clever apes even more astutely. However, when the term was coined in the 15th century, shrewdness meant wickedness, which was likely related to the natural mischievousness of monkeys. Given the close connection between humans and primates, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was an adept way to describe a cluster of intelligent monkeys. That, plus the loud, harsh cries they make when in a pack, contributed to this macabre name. ![]() There’s also a rumored "crow parliament" where hundreds of birds will gather only to kill off one of their own. Coincidence or not, they’d often appear in cemeteries, on battlefields, or just about anywhere disaster had struck. Dark-winged crows, however, had an opposite reputation. We're not quite sure why a "piteousness of doves" deserves our pity, but we'll give it to these heavenly creatures. It's a reference to a Geoffrey Chaucer poem titled “Parliament of Foules” (fowls), which was written in the 14th century. Lewis’ classic tales, The Chronicles of Narnia, feature a council of owls that meet at night to review the affairs of Narnia. There are multiple literary references to a wise group of owls. Although they were never fully adopted by the science community, they've managed to stick around as a clever way to show off your animal (and vocabulary) knowledge. The terms of venery eventually found their way into books. It wasn’t scientists who coined fanciful names like "a charm of hummingbirds" or "a cauldron of bats." Rather, 15th-century Englishmen (who were typically wealthy and educated) would come up with names for animal gangs while hunting. "Venery" is an old-school term for hunting. The following are a comprehensive live list of animal collective nouns, for your reference and ease of perusal.The History of Collective Nouns and Venery When it comes to animals, things can get a bit tricky, since animals are creatures that roam either on their own, like a lone wolf other times, they live in groups, such as any of the herd species.īecause of the variety of ways in which animals live with respect to quantity or count, English has evolved to reflect their ways of social or asocial living. ![]() In English, nouns (which are names given to people, places, things and ideas) come in two kinds, singular or plural, as mentioned in the above section. We’re not talking about the band, Animal Collective, though they do make good music. Plural nouns refers to more than one person, place, thing or idea. Grammar rule: singular nouns refers to one subject or object. Language is structured to reflect the count of subjects (or sentence objects) by distinguishing between when there is one of something, or more than one: i.e., singular and plural noun forms. When we speak or write, we communicate in count or number even if we don’t consciously realize it. We hope you find these names entertaining, at the very least. ![]() ![]() Regale in the absurdity of these animal collective group names, such as an implausibility of gnus, or a mischief of mice. It’s safe to say that this list is pretty wild, pun intended. A list of all the animal collective group namesĭid you know that animals have collective noun terms? This post is ALL about them: we cover the names for animal collectives, broken down by species and animal type.
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