If you modify or correct something, could you also list it here, so I can edit the database. If anyone wants the db, just email me (address is on my personal page). It's currently only 200K in size.
Please list candidates here. If you can find a dictionary reference for it, please say so. Many collective nouns are obscure and archaic - hence a citation from any (respectable) dictionary will be deemed to validate the term.
If you know the term is spurious, then say so. I have no problem listing spurious nouns, so long as they are clearly marked as such. Things like "a clutch of mechanics" have humour value, even if illegitimate. - MMGB
Nice one, Manning, I wish I'd thought of doing this! I'll put some more up for the collection, and many thanks for your help with this. sjc
- shelfful of books - carpet of flowers - drift of snow - isn't this singular? - hail of bullets - coil of stamps - can of worms - I think this only refers to a problematic situation, and is not a collective term for worms - coven of witches - already included - an army of frogs - already included - a bale of turtles - already included
Oh bugger. - MMGB
Sorry, really I am. :-) --LMS
- drift of snow - isn't this singular?
Wouldn't that exclusion also apply to:
- anthology of prose - heap of trash - slew of homework - wad of money
I've got a list I've had lying around on my hard drive for quite a while, which was based off of information in Paul Hellweg's "Insomniac's Dictionary." Rather than check the existing lists and cull out duplicates, though, I figured I'd let you do all the hard work for me with your fancy-dancy database. :)
Paul has a whole whack of references at the back of his book, but doesn't specify which ones these came out of. Still, the book seems well-researched, so perhaps it counts as a suitable reference on its own.
Apes Shrewdness Bears Sloth, Sleuth Boars Singular Cats Clowder Chickens Peep Colts Rag Crows Murder Curs Cowardice Donkeys Pace Doves Piteousness Ducks Paddling Eagles Convocation Elk Gang Ferrets Business Finches Charm Foxes Skulk Geese Gaggle (on the water), Skein (flying) Goats Trip Hawks Cast Herons Siege Horses Harras Jays Party Jellyfish Smack Kangaroos Troop Kittens Kindle Lapwings Deceit Larks Exaltation Leopards Leap Magpies Tidings Martens Richness Moles Labor Mules Barren Nightingales Watch Owls Parliament Parrots Company Peacocks Muster, Ostentation Penguins Colony Pheasants Bouquet Ravens Unkindness Rhinoceroses Crash Rooks Buildings, Clamor Seals Pod Snipe Walk Sparrows Host Squirrels Dray Starlings Murmuration, Chattering Storks Mustering Swallows Flight Swans Wedge Swine Sounder Teal Spring Toads Knot Trout Hover Turkeys Rafter Turtles Bale Turtledoves Pitying Whales Pod, Gam Wolves Route Woodcocks Fall Woodpeckers Descent
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