Please someone help me with the proper word for this! I'm thinking of such word phrases as "murder of crows"...

We used to play this, making up our own group names. I.E.: a purr of cats; a giggle of teenagers; a sermon of preachers...

Any takers: Make up your most clever group descriptor. And what the heck do you call these?

It would take a whole conjugation of linguists to come up with the right word, jo.

I don't know what we call those, Jo, but if there is a name for them, I bet someone here will know it!

A puddle of puppies

A bassinet of babies..

A multiplicity of schizophrenics

A doddering of elders

A euphoria of manics

A plethora of excesses.

An enumeration of mathematicians.

an essay of trollops
a jam of tarts
a flurry of strumpets
an anthology of pros

and, as the Cockney said,
a feathering of 'ores

(first part of joke upon request)

Request: First part of joke?

A grope of leachers

A chatter of squirrels

I note that some of these are onomatopoeic, but that's not the name of them. Darn if I can remember it either.

A forgetting of alzheimer's victims.

Hoo, we are darned good! I am looking for funny ones to describe doctors and lawyers. Any help?

Yes, Hab, first part, please?

How about a nice one, along the lines of Asa's last one?

A nurturing of nurses

A menadcity of lawyers? (Asa ducking for cover lest Shufitz or John Edwards read this!)

Mother robin to father robin regarding the oddly colored hatchling: "Oh, it was just a lark..."

An exhilaration of larks

A suit of lawyers

A tort of lawyers

A consult of physicians

a cohort of genealogists

a mortise of carpenters

a hurdle of kangaroos

A virtual verbosity of linguaphiles.

BTW, virtue versus vice and vice versa.

A tort of lawyers, Jo? You mean it's tortles all the way down?

a snigger of bigots

"A snigger of bigots" is definitely a winner, in part due to its internal rhyme.

I would offer "a wordsmithery of lexicographers" and, in fact, will do so in another project just as soon as we get to the W's.

For lawyers, the phrase "a chaser of ambulances" comes to mind but that focusses on the vehicles and, even at that, not too well.


The term I've always heard for these things is simply "collective nouns."

an anticlimax of story-tellers

Four philologists were strolling through Hyde Park when they were accosted by several Ladies of the Evening.

After graciously declining the invitation, they discussed the nature of what had just transpired.

"It was an essay of trollops," said the first.

"No, it was a jam of tarts," offered the second.

"I should have called it a flurry of strumpets," put in the third.

The fourth one said, "Ah, gentlemen, it was an anthology of pros."

At which time the Cockney lad behind them chimed in with "'Ell, no, Guv'nors, it was a feathering of 'ores!"

(How do you say "Pa-da-bom" with a British accent?)


P.S. I thought collective nouns were things like waste-baskets and file cabinets...

I asked Shu about lawyers, and he gave me:

A case of lawyers

Hab,
Great story....Thanks!

A wriggle of worms

A squirm of worms
A belfry of bats

A Tussaud of wax figures!

Here are some crazy ones.

A Monet of waterlilies.

A Daedulus(spelling?) of labyrinths.

CJ thinks these things are "collective nouns." Is "garbage can" a collective noun?

A column of accountants, and, a little closer to home, a table of actuaries.

A jobsworth of civil servants (although I may have heard that somewhere - it's too good to be one of mine!)

A "shush" of librarians.

A needling of phlebotomists

As for a "shush" of librarians, Kalleh, you've met my librarian friend Faye. Have you EVER heard anyone laugh so maniacly!? A guffaw of librarians!

Uhhhh, yes, I know of two people who have the most hilarious laughs! [I wonder if there is a word for that! ]

A menagerie of men Now, that may be my favorite!

A hilarity of laughter..

A pack of camels.

a squirt of geese

a gather of squirrels

a lance of bicyclists

a hurdle of track stars

a tome of writers

a sonnet of poets

a pamper of toddlers

a gossip of quilters

a smattering of ignorants

a spatter of painters

A RoundUp of weed killers.

A Toto of tornadoes.

A dustbowl of Oklahomans.

A pack of Camels.

A split of ladies.
A herd of audiologists
A poll of census-takers.

A conjugation of English teachers.

An eccentricity of mental patients
A collaboration of authors
A dispensation of sinners