shereads
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- Jun 6, 2003
- Posts
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Who comes up with these? Is there an official certifying board, or can anybody do it?
Mammals
Apes • A shrewdness
Asses • A pace
Badgers • A cete
Bats • A colony
Bears • A sloth, sleuth
Buffalo • A gang, an obstinacy (I suspect these refer to old world buffalo; use "herd" for American bison)
Cats • A clowder, a pounce; for kittens...A kindle, litter, an intrigue
Cattle • A drove, herd
Deer • A herd, bevy (refers only to roe deer)
Dogs • A litter (young), pack (wild), cowardice (of curs); specific to hounds...A cry, mute, pack, kennel
Elephants • A herd
Elk • A gang
Ferrets • A business
Fox • A leash, skulk, earth
Giraffes • A tower
Goats • A tribe, trip
Gorillas • A band
Hippopotamuses • A bloat
Horses • A team, harras, rag (for colts), stud (a group of horses belonging to a single owner, string (ponies)
Hyenas • A cackle
Kangaroos • A troop
Leopards • A leap
Lions • A pride
Martens • A richness
Moles • A labor
Monkeys• A troop, barrel
Mules • A pack, span, barren
Otters • A romp
Oxen • A team, yoke
Pigs • A drift, drove, litter (young), sounder (of swine), team, passel (of hogs), singular (refers to a group of boars)
Porcupines • A prickle
Rabbits • A colony, warren, nest, herd (domestic only), litter (young); specific to hares...• A down, husk
Rhinoceroses • A crash
Seals • A pod, herd
Sheep • A drove, flock, herd
Squirrels • A dray, scurry
Tigers • A streak
Whales • A pod, gam, herd
Wolves • A pack, rout or route (when in movement)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Birds
Birds in general • A flight (in the air), flock (on the ground), volary, brace (generally for gamebirds or waterfowl, referring to a pair or couple killed by a hunter)
Bitterns • A sedge
Buzzards • A wake
Bobolinks • A chain
Chicks • (of many species) A brood; clutch
Coots • A cover
Cormorants • A gulp
Cranes • A sedge
Crows • A murder, horde
Dotterel • A trip
Doves • A dule, pitying (specific to turtle doves)
Ducks • A brace, flock (in flight), raft (on water) team, paddling (on water), badling
Eagles • A convocation
Finches • A charm
Flamingos • A stand
Geese • A flock, gaggle (on the ground), skein (in flight)
Grouse • A pack (in late season)
Gulls • A colony
Hawks • A cast, kettle (flying in large numbers), boil (two or more spiraling in flight)
Herons • A sedge, a siege
Jays • A party, scold
Lapwings • A deceit
Larks • An exaltation
Mallards • A sord (in flight), brace
Magpies • A tiding, gulp, murder, charm
Nightingales • A watch
Owls • A parliament
Parrots • A company
Partridge • A covey
Peacocks • A muster, an ostentation
Penguins • A colony
Pheasant • A nest, nide (a brood), nye, bouquet
Plovers • A congregation, wing (in flight)
Ptarmigans • A covey
Rooks • A building
Quail • A bevy, covey
Ravens • An unkindness
Snipe • A walk, a wisp
Sparrows • A host
Starlings • A murmuration
Storks • A mustering
Swallows • A flight
Swans • A bevy, wedge (in flight)
Teal • A spring
Turkeys • A rafter, gang
Widgeons • A company
Woodcocks • A fall
Woodpeckers • A descent
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reptiles and Amphibians
Crocodiles • A bask
Frogs • An army
Toads • A knot
Turtles • A bale, nest
Snakes, vipers • A nest
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fish
Fish in general • A draft, nest, school, shoal (some authors claim that the common "school" is a corruption of shoal, and therefore incorrect)
Bass • A shoal
Herring • An army
Sharks • A shiver
Trout • A hover
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invertebrates
Ants • A colony
Bees • A grist, hive, swarm
Caterpillars • An army
Clams • A bed
Cockroaches • An intrusion
Flies • A business
Gnats • A cloud, horde
Grasshoppers • A cloud
Hornets • A nest
Jellyfish • A smack
Locusts • A plague
Oysters • A bed
Some of these don't seem very official. A smack of jellyfish? Why?
Mammals
Apes • A shrewdness
Asses • A pace
Badgers • A cete
Bats • A colony
Bears • A sloth, sleuth
Buffalo • A gang, an obstinacy (I suspect these refer to old world buffalo; use "herd" for American bison)
Cats • A clowder, a pounce; for kittens...A kindle, litter, an intrigue
Cattle • A drove, herd
Deer • A herd, bevy (refers only to roe deer)
Dogs • A litter (young), pack (wild), cowardice (of curs); specific to hounds...A cry, mute, pack, kennel
Elephants • A herd
Elk • A gang
Ferrets • A business
Fox • A leash, skulk, earth
Giraffes • A tower
Goats • A tribe, trip
Gorillas • A band
Hippopotamuses • A bloat
Horses • A team, harras, rag (for colts), stud (a group of horses belonging to a single owner, string (ponies)
Hyenas • A cackle
Kangaroos • A troop
Leopards • A leap
Lions • A pride
Martens • A richness
Moles • A labor
Monkeys• A troop, barrel
Mules • A pack, span, barren
Otters • A romp
Oxen • A team, yoke
Pigs • A drift, drove, litter (young), sounder (of swine), team, passel (of hogs), singular (refers to a group of boars)
Porcupines • A prickle
Rabbits • A colony, warren, nest, herd (domestic only), litter (young); specific to hares...• A down, husk
Rhinoceroses • A crash
Seals • A pod, herd
Sheep • A drove, flock, herd
Squirrels • A dray, scurry
Tigers • A streak
Whales • A pod, gam, herd
Wolves • A pack, rout or route (when in movement)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Birds
Birds in general • A flight (in the air), flock (on the ground), volary, brace (generally for gamebirds or waterfowl, referring to a pair or couple killed by a hunter)
Bitterns • A sedge
Buzzards • A wake
Bobolinks • A chain
Chicks • (of many species) A brood; clutch
Coots • A cover
Cormorants • A gulp
Cranes • A sedge
Crows • A murder, horde
Dotterel • A trip
Doves • A dule, pitying (specific to turtle doves)
Ducks • A brace, flock (in flight), raft (on water) team, paddling (on water), badling
Eagles • A convocation
Finches • A charm
Flamingos • A stand
Geese • A flock, gaggle (on the ground), skein (in flight)
Grouse • A pack (in late season)
Gulls • A colony
Hawks • A cast, kettle (flying in large numbers), boil (two or more spiraling in flight)
Herons • A sedge, a siege
Jays • A party, scold
Lapwings • A deceit
Larks • An exaltation
Mallards • A sord (in flight), brace
Magpies • A tiding, gulp, murder, charm
Nightingales • A watch
Owls • A parliament
Parrots • A company
Partridge • A covey
Peacocks • A muster, an ostentation
Penguins • A colony
Pheasant • A nest, nide (a brood), nye, bouquet
Plovers • A congregation, wing (in flight)
Ptarmigans • A covey
Rooks • A building
Quail • A bevy, covey
Ravens • An unkindness
Snipe • A walk, a wisp
Sparrows • A host
Starlings • A murmuration
Storks • A mustering
Swallows • A flight
Swans • A bevy, wedge (in flight)
Teal • A spring
Turkeys • A rafter, gang
Widgeons • A company
Woodcocks • A fall
Woodpeckers • A descent
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reptiles and Amphibians
Crocodiles • A bask
Frogs • An army
Toads • A knot
Turtles • A bale, nest
Snakes, vipers • A nest
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fish
Fish in general • A draft, nest, school, shoal (some authors claim that the common "school" is a corruption of shoal, and therefore incorrect)
Bass • A shoal
Herring • An army
Sharks • A shiver
Trout • A hover
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invertebrates
Ants • A colony
Bees • A grist, hive, swarm
Caterpillars • An army
Clams • A bed
Cockroaches • An intrusion
Flies • A business
Gnats • A cloud, horde
Grasshoppers • A cloud
Hornets • A nest
Jellyfish • A smack
Locusts • A plague
Oysters • A bed
Some of these don't seem very official. A smack of jellyfish? Why?
