A murder of crows -- Roll your own collective nouns
Warren Wetmore
>
> Hi all,
>
> Just a quick question.
>
> I just watched the movie "Murder of Crows" and one of the actors
> explained that the word "murder" not only denotes a crime, but
> is also a collective noun used when talking about a group of
> birds.
>
> Is this true? I couldn't find any evidence of this in my
> dictionaries.
I've seen "an unkindness of crows" as well.
But such group nouns are mostly literary inventions,
unknown to farmers, herdsmen and hunters. And
to biologists.
A "shrewdness of apes"? A "parliament of owls"?
LOL!
Owls don't flock together, much less engage
in Question Time.
However, a "congress of baboons" has a certain
resonance to us Meddicans.
There are a few animals left. Hurry; we can help.
-- A MEPHITIS of skunks
-- A TOWN of prairie dogs
-- A PROTECTION of hedgehogs
-- A MORGUE of opossums
-- An ASYLUM of cuckoos
-- A RACK of moose
-- An OUCH of wasps
-- A SOOT of blackbirds
-- A HAPPINESS of bluebirds
-- A COLLEGE of cardinals
-- A COMEDY of loons
-- A SCREAM of seagulls
-- A PRONK of gazelles
-- A CELERITY of cheetahs
-- A MARACA of rattlesnakes
-- A CUDDLE of koalas
-- A SNOOZE of dormice
-- A LETHARGY of sloths
-- A SQUEEZE of boas
-- A CLAMBER of chamois
-- A CLEVERNESS of chimpanzees
-- A BUGLING of elk
-- A FLUTTER of butterflies
-- An IRRIDESCENCE of grackles
-- A HARBINGER of robins
Yrs aye,
Warren Wetmore
Alan Jones
"Warren Wetmore" <WebM...@MegsINet.net> wrote in message
news:396028...@MegsINet.net
[...with major snips]
| Luc P. wrote:
. . . . a collective noun used when talking about a group of
| > birds.
| >
| I couldn't find any evidence of this in my
| > dictionaries.
|
|
| I've seen "an unkindness of crows" as well.
|
| But such group nouns are mostly literary inventions
I'm sure Warren is right. OED2 (followed by NSOED) has nothing for a "murder
of crows". It lists as obsolete "an unkindness of ravens" (from the Book of
St Albans mentioned by another correspondent). For "exaltation"" it says "a
fanciful name for a flight of larks - obsolete".
The web-sites to which some correspondents have directed us are not useful
in sorting the traditional from the modern (I don't think "a crash of
rhinos" will be found in any 15th century source . . .) and in any case even
the old terms are probably, as Warren suggests, literary inventions rather
than the ordinary words for groups of various kinds. Examples of similar
lists include the "proper" words for killing and gutting various animals,
and the kinds of hunting bird allowed to various ranks - "a kestrel for a
knave" and so on. To know these words was the sign of a properly-brought up
young gentleman in the late Middle Ages.
My guess, unless someone can come up with an ancient primary source, is that
"a murder of crows" is a more recent invention. Does it occur anywhere
before the crime novel someone cited, on which Luc's movie was probably
based?
Alan Jones
Orne Batmagoo
>
> "Warren Wetmore" <WebM...@MegsINet.net> wrote in message
>| I've seen "an unkindness of crows" as well.
>|
>| But such group nouns are mostly literary inventions
>
> I'm sure Warren is right. OED2 (followed by NSOED) has nothing for a "murder
> of crows". It lists as obsolete "an unkindness of ravens" (from the Book of
> St Albans mentioned by another correspondent). For "exaltation"" it says "a
> fanciful name for a flight of larks - obsolete".
> My guess, unless someone can come up with an ancient primary source, is that
> "a murder of crows" is a more recent invention. Does it occur anywhere
> before the crime novel someone cited, on which Luc's movie was probably
> based?
If it's not in the OED, Alan's guess is probably right. A recent invention.
I first read about "a murder of crows" in an "Argosy" magazine in the '60s...
Does that predate the crime novel? [I was waiting for a haircut in the barber-
shop, OK? "Argosy" was a publication not exactly noted for its veracity --
lots of articles about Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, UFOs, etc. -- and I'm
relying on memory, so take this with a pound of salt.]
They made the claim that crows could be observed to congregate around some
prominent geographical feature, say a bend in a river, or a large rock.
One of their number would be isolated from the rest, and "guarded" to prevent
its flight. Meanwhile, the rest of the crows would murmer, in low throaty
growls unlike their ususal, more boistrous, caw-caw-cawing, sometimes for up
to several hours. When this stopped [the magazine article claimed], one of
two things would happen: Either all the crows, including the one which had
been isolated, would fly off together, or... They'd peck him to death.
Sounds pretty far-fetched, doesn't it? I mean, what could a bird have done
to cause the flock -- sorry, I mean the murder -- to put him on trial in such
a way? Maybe this particular "term of venery" was made up out of whole cloth
by a hack author working for a sensationalist rag. On the other hand, maybe
crows really do behave this way. [They have learned to make tools; really!]
Should be the sort of thing one could look up, if one were so inclined.
This reminds me that I wanted to look up another such term in the OED: "Smuck"
was heard on Michael Feldman's "Whad'Ya Know?" live radio program last week.
[The show -- part quiz, part comedy, part music -- is broadcast "on the road"
from various spots in the US, but more often from right here in Madison,
Wisconsin. You can even listen to past shows at <http://www.notmuch.com/>
using RealAudio. But the July 1st show isn't up on the web site yet, so what
follows is, alas, dependent again on my memory.]
A quiz question was, "What is a 'smuck'? Is it: A) The end brick in a row of
bricks, turned sideways? B) The collective noun for jellyfish? Or C) What a
gentile says, when he's trying to pronounce a Yiddish word?" [Loose "quote".]
I guessed A. I thought B must have been a joke (as C obviously was) because
there is a brand of preserves, or jelly [Br. "jam"], called "Smucker's". So,
"a smuck of jellyfish" just seemed too cute. But the answer was B, so they
said. But if it's not in the OED, I think maybe I've been had. Gotta look.
--
Orne Batmagoo
Aaron J Dinkin
> A quiz question was, "What is a 'smuck'? Is it: A) The end brick in a row of
> bricks, turned sideways? B) The collective noun for jellyfish? Or C) What a
> gentile says, when he's trying to pronounce a Yiddish word?" [Loose "quote".]
>
> I guessed A. I thought B must have been a joke (as C obviously was) because
> there is a brand of preserves, or jelly [Br. "jam"], called "Smucker's". So,
> "a smuck of jellyfish" just seemed too cute. But the answer was B, so they
> said. But if it's not in the OED, I think maybe I've been had. Gotta look.
"Smuck" isn't in the OED. Neither is "murder [of crows]".
-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom
rwal...@my-deja.com
WebM...@MegsINet.net wrote:
>
> I've seen "an unkindness of crows" as well.
>
> But such group nouns are mostly literary inventions,
> unknown to farmers, herdsmen and hunters. And
> to biologists.
>
> A "shrewdness of apes"? A "parliament of owls"?
> LOL!
>
They all appear to be invented terms to me. I grew up on a farm, am a
biological scientist, and have never heard or seen any of these terms
used outside contexts such as the current discussion.
--
Robert A. Walker, Ph.D.
Biological Anthropologist
Anatomist
Waterloo, New York
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Michael Hardy
> > A "shrewdness of apes"? A "parliament of owls"?
> > LOL!
> >
> They all appear to be invented terms to me. I grew up on a farm, am a
> biological scientist, and have never heard or seen any of these terms
> used outside contexts such as the current discussion.
Weren't they coined by one of the ink-horn writers in the
1500's? -- Mike Hardy
--
Michael Hardy
ha...@math.mit.edu
<http://www-math.mit.edu/~hardy>