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Comment on Did anyone else learn that "a group of cats is called a Whisper?"

FunnyUsername@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

you only think they are goofy because they are more common, so you’re used to the terms. How is “murder” of crows any more silly than a “school” of fish?

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Meltdown@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
There’s a difference between using collective nouns that already exist in a language and making up brand new ones whole cloth.

Merriam-Webster writes that most terms of venery fell out of use in the 16th century, including a “murder” for crows. It goes on to say that some of the terms in The Book of Saint Albans were “rather fanciful”, explaining that the book extended collective nouns to people of specific professions, such as a “poverty” of pipers. It concludes that for lexicographers, many of these do not satisfy criteria for entry by being “used consistently in running prose” without meriting explanation. Some terms that were listed as commonly used were “herd”, “flock”, “school”, and “swarm”.

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