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leafwalker 
Group: Members
Posts: 1412
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 9:49 am |
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My wife and I were out hiking around a lake this past weekend and there was a group of swans. One was banded and we got the number. We then sent in the info and the response told us by whom, when and where the swan was banded (2007 in Neceda, WI - which we, by coincidence, visited this summer). Kind of "neat" learning about the bird. We are about 300-350 miles as the bird would fly from Neceda.
Anyway, seeing the group of swans (21) got us curious about what a group of swans is called and in finding that we happened upon a site that listed several grouping names. "Animal Congregations, or What Do You Call a Group of" put out by the USGS is kind of fun and curious. Some we/you know. Give it a try for fun and, perhaps, thinking. We all know a shrewdness doesn't mate with a pace or that that we can't drink a big gulp.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/animals/names.htm#birds
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One step at a time is good walking
- Chinese proverb
Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds, for the opportunity to rain on a tent. - D Barry
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desert dweller
Greetings
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Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 10:54 am |
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What a bunch of malarkey.
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| Post Number: 3
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TravisNWood
W Y O M I N G
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 11:05 am |
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Thanks for the link. But I tend to agree with Desert Dweller.
That's a fairly complete list, but I'd forgive about anyone for referring to a "bunch" of cats instead of a "clowder." And I have to wonder about the cultural predjudices that might account for some of the names. For instance, how is a group of eagles so distinguished as to be termed a "convocation," and group of owls a "parliament"? But crows are considered a "murder," and ravens are an "unkindness"?
I would consider myself fully free to drop many of those terms as cultural relics that don't deserve to be salvaged in light of current discoveries in biology. Crows and ravens are brilliant birds that don't deserve the verbal coloring of older and less enlightened times. The historical terms tend to distort for no good reason. Perhaps they are relics of an agricultural peasantry.
Nonetheless, there seems to be a rich verbal heritage of such terms entertaining to review, here are some other sites:
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| Post Number: 4
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balzaccom
Group: Members
Posts: 421
Joined: Dec. 2010
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 11:09 am |
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(TravisNWood @ Dec. 05 2012, 11:05 am)
QUOTE Thanks for the link. But I tend to agree with Desert Dweller. That's a fairly complete list, but I'd forgive about anyone for referring to a "bunch" of cats instead of a "clowder." And I have to wonder about the cultural predjudices that might account for some of the names. For instance, how is a group of eagles so distinguished as to be termed a "convocation," and group of owls a "parliament"? But crows are considered a "murder," and ravens are an "unkindness"? I would consider myself fully free to drop many of those terms as cultural relics that don't deserve to be salvaged in light of current discoveries in biology. Crows and ravens are brilliant birds that don't deserve the verbal coloring of older and less enlightened times. The historical terms tend to distort for no good reason. Perhaps they are relics of an agricultural peasantry. Nonetheless, there seems to be a rich verbal heritage of such terms entertaining to review, here are some other sites:
Yeah--but a crash of rhinos is very cool.
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| Post Number: 5
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Tigger
Woods Pouncer
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Posts: 10506
Joined: Apr. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 11:57 am |
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And a group of ex-wives being called whores is also really neat.
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If I'm going to be lost, in the woods is where I want to be...
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Woodswoman
Group: Members
Posts: 6440
Joined: Aug. 2002
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 1:20 pm |
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I, for one, think the list is fun. Lighten up folks. Smile 
Some of my favorites:
A tower of giraffes
A bloat of hippopotamuses
A leap of leopards
A romp of otters
A gulp of cormorants
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"Ah, Colorado: the one place in America where people wake up earlier on weekends than workdays."
~Mark Obmascik
"In the high country that we love, trails are steep.
We climb each mile, breath by breath,
and at the threshold of pain, bliss overtakes us.
~Michael Hannon"
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| Post Number: 8
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UlightBandit
ROAR!!!
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Posts: 2394
Joined: Jun. 2008
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 1:23 pm |
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a gaggle of geese.
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| Post Number: 9
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big_load
Group: Members
Posts: 21832
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 1:26 pm |
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It's interesting that the fanciful naming of groups has amused people for centuries.
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red dog
Elev 2,180'
Group: Members
Posts: 6634
Joined: Nov. 2003
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 2:17 pm |
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I have always liked the “murder of crows” thing, so I looked up Ravens
“An unkindness of ravens” – WTH ?
We have a lot of great-tailed grackles down here(they can be entertaining at times) , but they aren’t on the lists…They look to be similar to magpies, so I’m going to adopt the phase “gulp of grackles”
I’ll be able to remember that one. It amuses me
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Arizona
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| Post Number: 12
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Tigger
Woods Pouncer
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 2:18 pm |
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A kapok of Litemans...
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If I'm going to be lost, in the woods is where I want to be...
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| Post Number: 13
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nogods
Group: Members
Posts: 5423
Joined: Sep. 2007
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 3:03 pm |
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I hate reference posts like this, and here's why: Other than the term for a group of ex wives, I'm not going to remember any of them. And sooner or later the issue will come up in conversation and I'll remember that I once had a link to a website that listed all that information and then I'll spend hours trying to find the reference and won't be able to do so and will then end up cursing for hours about the frustration.
So thanks for nothing, except for getting Tigger to reveal the name for a group of ex wives. That I won't forget and will probably get to use very regularly at my rod and gun club meetings.
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| Post Number: 14
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wwwest
Group: Members
Posts: 4059
Joined: Dec. 2002
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 4:11 pm |
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What is the term for a group of ex-husbands/boy friends??
Logically, I suppose it would be "pimps", but somehow I like the Shakespearan ring of "dankish earth-vexing whore masters". Or, maybe, just "pathetic losers".
What say ye??
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| Post Number: 15
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red dog
Elev 2,180'
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 4:12 pm |
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Wouldn't that be a "dumb of men" ?
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Arizona
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| Post Number: 16
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wwwest
Group: Members
Posts: 4059
Joined: Dec. 2002
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 4:24 pm |
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I like it! Very appropriate. Seems like my wife mentioned something about that only yesterday.
Glad I wasn't listening too closely.
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| Post Number: 17
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nogods
Group: Members
Posts: 5423
Joined: Sep. 2007
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 4:43 pm |
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Confucius say man who has never been married is a man who has never made the same mistake once.
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| Post Number: 19
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isawtman
Group: Members
Posts: 356
Joined: Aug. 2010
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 6:42 pm |
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If all the ex husbands were on a Curling Team they'd be a Rink
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Franco
Group: Members
Posts: 2706
Joined: Feb. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 8:55 pm |
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I like that a bunch of kangaroos is called a mob, it reminds me of home
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Franco
Group: Members
Posts: 2706
Joined: Feb. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 10:48 pm |
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Yes, mob or drove but more commonly now we use the term herd
( our Aboriginals use the term mob to denote people that speak their own language also to mean "my people" or "my family". My wife lived for almost a year in a village with about 30 Aboriginals, 5 languages were spoken between them...)
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| Post Number: 26
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RebeccaD
Double Arch, Arches N.P.
Group: Members
Posts: 9864
Joined: Jul. 2004
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Posted on: Dec. 05 2012, 11:53 pm |
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Nope. Looks like it was used in English for a crowd before Aus was colonized. So are the aboriginals your wife knew using the English word or was it also their own? Dang, words are endlessly fascinating things!
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| Post Number: 29
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Franco
Group: Members
Posts: 2706
Joined: Feb. 2005
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Posted on: Dec. 06 2012, 12:49 am |
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"So are the aboriginals your wife knew using the English word or was it also their own?"
Yes, using the English word.
my wife could only understand their English and some Pidgin English, the language often used by them to communicate with community members that speak a different language or dialect.
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| Post Number: 30
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mtngrl
Group: Members
Posts: 3516
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Dec. 06 2012, 4:16 pm |
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...so, what would a group of "friends" be? A Giggling? A Stouper?
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“He who knows the most, he who knows what sweets and virtues are in the ground, the waters, the plants, the heavens and how to come at these enchantments, is the rich and royal man” -- from Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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