posted by arnie elsewhere: "Whales and dolphins invented schools a long time before we did."

Come to think of it, why do we call it a 'school' of fishes? They sure don't seem to be learning a durn thing!

I have absolutely no idea why. From what I can gather the reference to animals being together dates from 1555 but at that time was more of a general term for a collection of animals and could even be used to describe 'a large number, mass, of inanimate things'.

Any reference I can find to the kind of school children attend today comes after that date but it is an interesting choice to call them that after the definition I've just given!

gday to all,

schooling fishes form a shoal. to school is to teach conformation to a practice, so it should be a shoal of schooling fish rather than a school of fish.

and just to be nit-picky, whales and dolphins form pods. if they were to all swim the same way they would be schooling, but still in pod form. talented and versatile, aren’t they?

beans

Welcome to the board, beans!

Good point about the whales and pods.

Welcome aboard, beans!

As we become better acquanted we will be able to dispute those who claim we don't know beans.

Based on the paucity of information in his/her personal biography, I'd argue that point, Jerry! So is a group of hand held Apple computer-using whales an i-pod?

Welcome, Bean! Now, let's see more than 1 post!

Etymology online says this about "schools of fish:"

"group of fish," c.1400, from M.Du. schole "group of fish or other animals," cognate with O.E. scolu "band, troop, school of fish," from W.Gmc. *skulo- (see shoal (2)).

Then when I look up "shoal" (2):

"large number" (especially of fish), 1579, apparently identical with O.E. scolu "band, troop, school of fish," but perhaps rather a 16c. adoption of cognate M.Du. schole, both from P.Gmc. *skulo- (cf. O.S. scola "multitude," W.Fris. skoal), perhaps with a lit. sense of "division," from PIE base *skel- "to divide." Related to school "a crowd of fish" (q.v.). For possible sense development, cf. section from L. secare "to cut."

well, so it seems that school and shoal are much the same animal.
"What did you learn at shoal today, Johnny?"
"Dolphins and whales don't like the net nor being online, but do like ipods and apple mackerels."

"
School.
Kel Richards writes:

The interesting thing here is found in two distinct uses of the word school – to mean (a) and educational establishment, or (b) a swam of fish. Are these two uses related, and if so, how? Well, the two words seem to come from two different sources. School as in “a place of education” has come (via Latin) from a Greek word meaning “leisure” – and, hence, the use to which leisure is put, namely study. The source of the other school is a little more difficult to track down with certainty, but it seems to come from a group of related words in Old English, Middle Dutch, Old Teutonic (and related languages). In Old English this was scolu, in Old Teutonic it was skula (and so on). And all these words had the meaning of a “troop”, a “multitude”, a “division” (of an army). Consequently when a bunch of fish went swimming together they were a multitude or a troop or a school of fish. The word “shoal” appears to be exactly the same word, which has simply developed in a different way. For instance, an early spelling of “shoal” was “shole” – in which you can see the similarity to school. So, how are the two meanings of school related? They aren’t. They come from two different sources (from “two schools of thought”!!! Sorry, bad pun.)
"
http://www.abc.net.au/classic/breakfast/index/2003_04_full.htm

thanks for all the welcoming! i'll update my profile shortly...

beans

Please do update your profile because I am dying to hear your background.