{"id":3918,"date":"2011-08-08T20:11:14","date_gmt":"2011-08-09T04:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.funcage.com\/blog\/?p=3918"},"modified":"2011-08-08T20:19:44","modified_gmt":"2011-08-09T04:19:44","slug":"top-20-weird-collective-terms-for-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funcage.com\/blog\/top-20-weird-collective-terms-for-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 20 Weird Collective Terms for Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just ask anyone who\u2019s tried learning it and they\u2019ll tell you; English, despite being a vibrant and poetic language, is a little bit of a mess. Compared with other languages English is a bit of a free for all, with strange words coming into common usage from a number of weird and wonderful sources. <\/p>\n

Nowhere is this more evident than in our collective terms for animals. It seems like it was open for season for anyone who felt like contributing to the dictionary when it came to deciding these names!<\/p>\n

Whilst the most common animals got pretty boring collective tags, like \u2018flock\u2019 or \u2018herd\u2019 it seems that the people creating these words were forced to get more creative as they got to the more unusual species! <\/p>\n

Here are 20 of their best efforts.<\/p>\n

1. An Army of Caterpillars<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

I can sort of see the logic in this one, what with all those feet, even a single caterpillar must sort of march, rather than walk. Still, an army of caterpillars? Sounds like some sort of forgotten 50\u2019s b-movie\u2026
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2. A Bloat of Hippopotami<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

Many collective terms for animals are verbs. As we\u2019ll see later some of these make no sense, but in this case it\u2019s bang on. Bloating is exactly what I\u2019d be doing if I was a large, grey, water-dwelling mammal.
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3. A Business of Ferrets<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

This one has a sinister sort of Wind in the Willows vibe. Ferrets always look like they\u2019re plotting some secret business, maybe that\u2019s how they got the name.
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\n4. A Cast of Hawks<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a> <\/p>\n

This is a nice one. It sort of gives the impression that hawks are just pretending to be hawks (when they\u2019re lucky enough to find work, the rest of the time they wait tables.)
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5. A Gang of Elk<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t mess with the mammal mafia!
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6. A Murder of Crows<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of superstition about crows being a bad omen, probably because they\u2019re carrion and spend a lot of time around dead bodies. Nevertheless, the collective term \u2018murder\u2019 seems harsh. After all, murderers don\u2019t tend to hang about the scene of the crime, chowing down\u2026apart form Hannibal, obviously.
\n<\/p>\n

7. An Unkindness of Ravens<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

This is kind of an insult to ravens, who I personally always though of as being more badass than crows. Compared to a \u2018murder of crows\u2019 an \u2018unkindness of ravens\u2019 sound a bit wimpy, like they might call you a nasty name or something\u2026
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8. An Ostentation of Peacocks<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

OK, so peacocks are little bit showy, but that\u2019s the way nature made them. I think labelling them an \u2018ostentation\u2019 is a tad judgemental.
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9. A Parade of Elephants<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

Cue semi hallucinogenic scenes of multi coloured bubble elephants, marching around and singing\u2026
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10. A Plague of Locusts<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

I guessing this name for an average sized grouping of locusts was decided on after the Old Testament was written rather than before, other wise it would make God\u2019s punishment of the Egyptians seem a tad trivial\u2026
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11. A Smack of Jellyfish<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

Such a weird choice of name! I can\u2019t see how they came up with it. A \u201csting of jellyfish\u201d might have made sense, but a smack? They don\u2019t have bones or muscles, how are they going to manage a smack?
\n<\/p>\n

12. A Siege of Herons <\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

This one makes me think of something out of a Hitchcock film…terrifying.
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13. A Singular of Boars<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

I think by this time whoever was in charge of this whole collective naming game was starting get a bit smartass about it\u2026
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14. A Kindle of Kittens<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

This one makes sense! Very cute word for a collection fluffy little things.
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15. A Hover of Trout<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

Similar to \u201ca smack of jellyfish\u201d in that they\u2019ve chosen to use a verb that the animal is incapable of doing for its collective name. Maybe in the future, when everything hovers, this will at least make a little sense.
\n<\/p>\n

16. A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

When they get it right, they really get it right! This a perfect name for a swarm of butterflies, mixing together, fluttering past each other and confusing their colours.
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17. A Shrewdness of Apes<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

A touch flattering perhaps, but a nice name all the same.
\n<\/p>\n

18. A Skulk of Foxes<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

This collective terms perfectly evokes that look foxes have when you come across them in urban environments a night, a look which says \u201cYeah, I\u2019m not supposed to be here, but what you gonna do?\u201d
\n<\/p>\n

19. A Duel of Doves<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a contender for my favourite collective term. I have no idea about its logic, but I\u2019d love to see some doves having a duel!
\n<\/p>\n

20. A Rafter of Turkeys<\/strong>
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\nPhoto Credit<\/a><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this one make me think of unethical farming, with poultry literally packed to the rafters\u2026Sorry, turkeys.
\n<\/p>\n

About the author: Jimmy Harbour is an addict for general knowledge and weird facts, as well as a personal trainer offering fitness tips and cheap gym membership.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just ask anyone who\u2019s tried learning it and they\u2019ll tell you; English, despite being a vibrant and poetic language, is a little bit of a mess. Compared with other languages…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":54362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[687],"tags":[528,989,987,996,985,992,991,988,994,986,97,995,993,926,990,6527,601],"class_list":["post-3918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-animals","tag-best-efforts","tag-bloating","tag-caterpillars","tag-collective-terms","tag-grey-water","tag-hawks","tag-mammal","tag-murd","tag-murder-of-crows","tag-owl","tag-photo-credit","tag-strange-words","tag-unusual","tag-verbs","tag-weird","tag-wild"],"yoast_head":"\nTop 20 Weird Collective Terms for Animals - FunCage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.funcage.com\/blog\/top-20-weird-collective-terms-for-animals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top 20 Weird Collective Terms for Animals - FunCage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Just ask anyone who\u2019s tried learning it and they\u2019ll tell you; English, despite being a vibrant and poetic language, is a little bit of a mess. 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